The Apple of his eyes

Chapter 3

On a very fine morning, birds were chirping. The sun was warm but not hot. The buzzing sounds of people going for work could be heard. Vedhavalli was in her luxurious palanquin with her friend Maha. She enjoyed these type of early mornings. Now that she is visiting her Krishna, she was over the moon.

Only thing she hated was travelling in a Palanquin. She preferred horse riding but her mom refused to let her travel on a horse. "A princess should act like one" her mom would say.

She came out of her thoughts when her palanquin came to a halt. She looked outside the curtain to find her brother coming towards her. She stepped out of her palanquin.
"Vedhavalli, we are in the border of vanjinagar and kakatiya kingdom. Thr temple is 20 minutes from here. The king of kakatiya has requested to refresh ourselves in the common royal house of the both the kingdoms. He will be here in a while." Bharath said pointing at the bungalow nearby.
Vedhavalli nodded at him and walked towards the royal house. The royal house was built by Vedhavalli's grandfather, the late king Mahendran Adithyan and his friend,  the late king of Kakatiya kingdom king Jaganath who is also the grandfather of king amar. They want the house to be the symbol of their friendship.

On each and every wall portraits of both the family could be seen. It reminded Vedhavalli and Bharath of their childhood days. The days they would spend their family vacations here. They stopped coming here when Vedhavalli was 13.

7 Years ago.
Both the families were resting after in the lounge area when a sudden trumphet sound was heard. Both the families were shocked to hear the sound which indicated to prepare for the fight. A war you could say.
The royal house was attacked by  bandits. It was too late for the family to be prepared. The bandits carried a gun and killed the crown prince Mahendranath (named after his father's best friend) who was also the father of King Amar. Both the kingdoms suffered because of the loss. 6 months later, King Mahendra Adithyan died in his sleep. Another year later, Jaganath, who couldn't accept the death of his most beloved son and his bestfriend died of heartattack.
After that, the two kingdom was never the same again. Amar had to take over his family and the kingdom at a very young age. Vijayan Adithyan was also busy with his kingdom.
Indulged in their own thoughts, Vedhavalli and Bharath was interrupted by a voice.

"You guys are here? I was searching for you in the lounge area." Amar was over the moon by seeing his childhood friends. He forgot he was a king for a second.

"Amar!" Bharath shouted and jumped at him for a hug.

"Bharath, how long has it been!" Amar took a second to look at his friend and turned to Vedhavalli. His eyes also travelled to the girl beside Vedhavalli.

Vedhavalli's eyes were almost glistening because of tears.

She came near Amar and folded both of her hands and greeted him.

That's when Amar realized she is not the same little girl who would jump at his back and order him to walk around the house. She has grown up into a lady.

"Amar, I'm so glad to see you. How is Pranavi amma back home? Is she coming to the temple? Did you receive the sword I sent you? I made it myself with the help of our chielf Blacksmith. Oh! Why didn't you reply to my letters?" Vedhavalli asked politely yet it sounded like scolding her bestfriend.

"Calm down Vedhavalli, for a minute I thought you've grown up into a fine lady. But I was wrong. Both of you, sit. I'll ask someone to bring a refreshment drink." Amar said and looked at the girl beside Vedhavalli.
"Maha, you should sit with us too. I remember all of us playing together years ago. Hope you are fine?" He didn't know what to talk with her but he wanted to have more conversations with her. His heart was beating fast again after 7 long years. His hands was shaking anticipating a reply from her. He wondered what she would call him now.
"Maharaj, thank you for remembering those days. And yes I'm fine under the protection of Vedhavalli." Maha said politely. She had no idea what was going in his mind. But somewhere, her heart longed to see him all these years.
"You are hurting me Maha. You call your Rajkumari by her name and you call Bharath as Brother. But with me, you are adding honorifics." The mighty and the most feared king Amar acted like a child.

Maha's mind was blank. She looked at Bharath for help because she knows Vedhavalli would have a sly smirk on her face by now. She finds every ways to tease her.

"Do you want her to call you Bhaiya?"
Bharath questioned. He had a teasing tone in his voice.

Hearing him, Amar's heart skipped a beat. "What! No! I mean.. I" he struggled to form a sentence.
"Forgot it. I'm going to my room to freshen up. You three should get ready soon. Also, I want you guys to meet my good friend. He will be there at the temple." Amar said changing the topic.

"Is that the british friend you mentioned in the letter?" Vedhavalli questioned in a very low voice since none should hear the words british friend.

" Yes. You will befriend him too. Trust me." Amar said.

"The number one enemy of the british in the south has an english friend. It is unbelievable Amar." Bharath said.

"You'll believe soon." Amar said. The three of them retired to their room. Maha followed Vedhavalli.

Compared to her room in Vanjinagar, the room here was small. But it was decorated according to her taste. She looked at her paintings one by one on the wall and suddenly her eyebrows wrinkled. She was shocked as well.

"Vedhavalli, what happened? Are you okay?" Maha asked worrily.

"Maha, look at these portraits. I look like the present me in all of these. I was never here. And there's no way these portraits are brought from vanjinagar, because I never sat for a portrait in the last 7 years." Vedhavalli was utterly shocked.

Maha was silent too. She was immersed in the portraits. "Vedhavalli, these look like recently painted potraits. Lets ask king Amar later about this." Vedhavalli agreed with her friend.

Suddenly she remembered something at looked at Maha and raised her eyebrows.
"What's cooking between you and Amar?"

"Between us? Vedhavalli! Don't speak nonsense!" Maha tried to silence her

"Nonsense? Maha, there was something in his eyes while he looked at you."

"Enough Vedhavalli, you should get ready now." Maha didn't want to take her conversation further. She knows she can't win a argument with her friend Vedhavalli. 

In few minutes, the troops brought by both the kingdoms gathered to march towards the temple. The four of them, was walking towards their respective palanquin and horses.

"Oh yes, Amar! I wanted to ask you something. How did my recent painting end up here? I never got my portrait done after the attack. Then how? Vedhavalli questioned.

"You'll get the answers in the temple Vedhavalli." Amar smiled and walked towards his horse.

Vedhavalli was confused. She decided to ask him later about this and moved towards her palanquin.

(Author's note)
Hi everyone, english is not my first language. Please let me know if there are errors. I'll rectify it. Please leave a review on the comment section.
Thank you all.