An Indian Princess - A Modern Day Fairytale (Completed)

Chapter 9.6

Dedicated to booklover2929.

Part 6 of 6

Nidhi and the tiger walked for the first hour together.  She just wanted to be close to him.  As they walked she told him about everything that had happened in the last week.  Nidhi told him how the creature caught her and locked her up in the cave.  She told him how she missed him and worried about him. 

When the village came into sight Nidhi stopped and sat down on her knees by the tiger.  She hugged him close, she didn’t let go immediately.  “I never want you to be away from me again.  I miss you so when you are not with me.  I feel like we need each other and when you are not with me I feel like a part of me is missing.  You and I are like two halves of a hole.  We need each other to exist or I need you to exist.  Arii and Ruh trust you now and they will help me to come and see you.  We are going to the school tomorrow and I hope that you will be close by.”

The tiger nodded and placed his head on her shoulder.  He wanted so much to tell her that he felt the same, that he can’t live without her and that he had missed her too.  All the days that he was kept as a prisoner had been hell and he worried about her every second.  The creature knew his secret now and that was dangerous.  What if Nidhi found out about him, would she accept him or hate him?  He could feel that time was running out for him and he needed to go.  He pushed away from Nidhi and with his head pushed her away from him.

“Yeah I guess it is time to go.  Three hours to sunset, I don’t want to be outside with that creature running around.  You should be careful too.  I will see you here just after dawn.”  Nidhi said as she hugged him again.  She got into the auto rickshaw and watched as the tiger moved into the woods. 

“Will he be okay?”  Nidhi asked to no one in particular.  She still worried about him and she would worry until she saw him again in the morning. 

“Yes he will be okay, you shouldn’t worry about him.”  Arii answered.

“I feel that he feels uncertain of something, he is worried.”  Ruh said as he drove through the gate of the village. 

“Why would he feel that?  I assured him that I would be safe and I will see him tomorrow.”  Nidhi said confused.

“So you are telling me that you are not worried about his safety?”  Ruh asked and Nidhi understood.

“Yes I am and I will be worried about him till I see him again in the morning.”  Nidhi looked at the people in the village and saw that Raj was sitting in front of the house that they were staying in.  “I don’t have the energy to deal with him right now.” 

“I don’t think any of us wants to deal with him.”  Arii said and Ruh nodded in agreement. 

“He is like a spoiled child and when he doesn’t get what he wants he throws a tantrum.  He has an ego and he thinks he is god’s gift to women.  So irritating.”  Nidhi said with disgust. 

As soon as the auto rickshaw stopped Nidhi got out and walked past Raj.  She tried not to make eye contact but he was faster than her, he grabbed her arm forcefully.

“Nidhi, babe, where did you go?  He said with a fake friendly tone.  “You were gone for so long.  Did you run into that tiger again?  I would really like to know more about that.”

“Let go of my arm and no I don’t want to talk about that.”  Nidhi pulled her arm out of his with force and went into the house and ran to her room.

Once she was in her room Nidhi sobbed and fell to her knees.  She rubbed her arm where Raj had man handled her and she could see a bruise form through her tears.  What had gotten into him?  Why did he have to hurt her like that?  Nidhi cried a little more and when she felt her stomach rumble she went to her bathroom and took a bath.  When she was done she thanked the gods for keeping the tiger save.