Cittaja || Indian Historical Romance

51.

The edge of the city had an old dilapidated house. An old whore house that some ancestor of his used for fun. When that shifted closer to Anand Bhavan where they became concubines, the building was left behind empty. Manas was already there with some soldiers already hosting Shakra's latest victim. Shakra's boots rang over the marble flooring of the building.

His hands itched to choke someone. All the anger from the past few weeks was piling up within him. Mayurakshi's stunts, Yuvika's complaints, his siblings largely hating his wife, and many others.

Jayraj is the latest victim of Shakra's effective spy collection. It was as if Shakra had copied certain aspects of Shatrujit into his genetic making and arrived like that. One of them was having an elaborate network of spies. However, he wasn't able exactly pinpoint all of Shatrujit's spies in all. He also doubted that somewhere some of his spies worked for Shatrujit.

When Shakra's eyes finally fell on Jayraj, he saw a busted lip, seventeen or eighteen bruises over his body, and sweat on him. "I hope you are doing well, Jayraj." Shakra greeted with a grin. Holding Jayraj's jaw, he checked the injuries on his face. "Well, Manas was pretty welcoming. I've seen people in worse states when they are left alone with him." He chuckled.

"Yuvraj, please believe me. I am innocent."

"Four of my spies saw you with Manjiri. Don't worry. I'll soon get to Lalit too. I know he's planning against me. In a while, his head will be in my hands." Shakra's blade touched Jayraj's throat. The coldness of the blade was a reflection of the coldness that Shakra had when dealing with enemies. "I don't give second chances to people."

"To most people. To some he does...." Manas commented under his breath but Shakra heard it. The blade turned to Manas' throat. Manas' eyes stayed on Shakra's fearlessly. "Are you going to kill me? If yes then get on with it. I'm not going to cower in fear of you."

Shakra pulled away the throat, "No. I've planned something much better than death for you."

"Yuvraj!!!!" They heard Karma come in with an expression on her face that surprised Shakra. The happiness on her face was a telltale of something brilliant. Karma quickly approached them and took a moment to understand why the two close friends were on a standoff with each other. Shakra signaled her with the knife in his hands to babble. "Rajkumar Abhinavjit finished his training at his maternal home. He is returning to the Kalika Empire. I just heard it when some of the guards from Machilipatnam arrived at Ambikapuram."

The itch to kill someone fell by 50 degrees in Shakra. "That is one of the best news I have heard, Karma. When is he arriving? Machilipatnam isn't very far away from Ambikapuram."

"They are saying that by the evening, Rajkumar Abhinavjit should reach Ambikapuram." Karma smiled.

"Perfect!!!" Shakra turned to Jayraj. "That's a piece of good news for you. I thought of taking out my rage on you but it turns out my little brother is showing up and I have so many preparations to do. So, I'll wind you up quickly."

Shakra quickly slit his throat. Some blood got over his shoes and he made a face. He had less time and now he stained his shoes.

"I need to get this blood off my shoes. These are my favorite shoes!!!" He exclaimed and handed Karma his dagger. He quickly left for Rang Bhavan to prepare for Abhinav's return.

Shakra found Mayurakshi sitting by the riverside of Rang Bhavan. He sighed at the sight. His siblings and mothers largely avoided her as much as they could. Her father and Rudra were the only two who approached and spoke to her. Abhinav's return gave a slight hope that at least one adult sibling would try to ease the family tension.

"You seem to like Taarini," Shakra said and sat beside her.

"She seems so full of life and excitement which touches the part of me that wishes it could be the same. The excitement with which it runs towards the sea sounds like a girl who has achieved all the freedom she wishes for. The force of her flow will drown everything else unless it is tightly reigned to the banks."