Kindle to Rekindle 2

85. Clash with a Vowed Nemesis

Sometimes, too much trust is also detrimental. It makes you cast a blind eye to foreseeable dangers. 

Excessive tiredness, both mental and physical, made Nimrit fall asleep on her seven-hour-long journey to the place that she called home. Her mind was blank and unlike other days she did not have any dreams. It was a sound sleep as the car crusaded on the highway. Even the honking of the car or the close overtake by vehicles didn't wake her up. 

Only when the car suddenly braked did Nimrit open her eyes, trying to register where she was after banging into the seat ahead. "What happened?" she asked the driver in a groggy voice. 

"Some people are blocking our car." The driver replied in a fearful voice and Nimrit forced open her eyes to see clearly. 

Standing with two other boys was Nimrit's sworn enemy, Dickey. The men from the security car got down promptly and aimed their guns at him. Dickey laughed mockingly and gestured for Nimrit to come out of her car. 

Nimrit hesitated but, trusting her security, got down and stood face-to-face with Dickey. 

"Hello, my dear niece." He tried to embrace Nimrit but she stepped back. Dickey made a sad face and then folded his hands above his chest. "I am sorry for blocking your way but I have something important to tell you. Your Prince has restrained me from stepping in Swarnbhoomi so I thought to meet you here." 

"I've given you more than enough. What more do you want?" Nimrit asked irritably.

"This time I want to give you something," Dickey replied and leaned in close to the boy next to him, whispering in his ear. 

With a voice that trembled with both gratitude and regret, the boy disclosed the secret he had been holding onto, "Princess, my brother Krishna and I, Mohan, belong to Bilaspur and are workers for the ruling party. We were asked to keep track of your activities, and we were the ones who convinced people to send you subpoenas stating they were not satisfied with what they were getting. But, after your speech that day, we realised the people of the ruling party, specifically, one member was misguiding us for his gains. You were doing so much for the people that even the government has never done. My father has been a farmer all his life, but his dream of owning a farm in his name has come true only because of you. Princess, we are sorry for all the trouble you faced because of us." 

"You could have said all this when I was in Bilaspur. This is not an appropriate place." Nimrit spoke in a commanding tone. 

The other boy Krishna folded his hands and said, "Princess, we apologise for this inconvenience but it is only now that we have got our hands on this evidence." 

Krishna showed the video of a man sitting with a glass of alcohol in his hands and looking heavily drunk. "This is Mr Rajpal Chaudhary, the next in line for the Chief Minister candidacy. He is highly determined to take the position of the current CM and knows he could achieve this by trapping the forgotten princess of a once-mighty kingdom. He tried to get your attention by threatening you in various ways, but when you didn't budge, he instructed us to create a negative impression of you among the people. He lured us with generous payments, and my brother was guaranteed the MLA ticket for our constituency. We played our part well until you came like a storm and swept everyone away."

"We may have continued to comply with him if he didn't ask us to kill you," Mohan confessed and Nimrit's eyes grew enormous as fear crept in. 

Dickey touched Nimrit's arm and said, "That's not all. He..." Nimrit jerked his hand away so Dickey stopped speaking. 

Krishna gave the phone to Nimrit and she played the video where Rajpal Chaudhary was seen cussing Krishna and Mohan for backing out of the plan. He even slapped Mohan and pushed him to the ground. "I knew people from the lower caste couldn't and shouldn't be trusted. Swine. Do you want to protect that girl who calls her father a monster? Parbatjeet was a king, a royal, and if he wasn't strict with his people, they would have swiftly pushed him out of power. His wife was a madwoman—who accepts a woman like that? His daughter is no better. Who donates a huge sum just because they did not like their father? I'm warning you; this is all a facade. If you want to fall into her trap, then die with her. I would have already killed her if my friend from Swarnbhoomi hadn't stopped me. It's because of him that I had to back out. She has taken away my victory, and I won't spare her. My friend has assured me that he will help bring Princess Nimrit down. If you don't want to help me, then don't. But Nimrit's Noor will soon turn into darkness."