Prithvi... [Vol 1] (Ongoing) (Winner of Wattpad India Awards 2019)

Chapter 22

"Wait!" Nandini said swiftly, hit by a sudden inspiration.

"What now," Prithvi spun, frustrated.

"We could go by the terrace door. Our terraces are connected, aren't they?"

"And I suppose your boyfriend is waiting on the other side to open the terrace door from the inside for us," he said coldly.

"Oh….I forgot," she said in a small voice. "All right, let's go in."

"No, maybe we should wait here and see if you get any more brilliant brainwaves," Prithvi said acidly.

Mortified, Nandini looked at her feet, feeling tears prickle her eyes.   

"One tear…and you'll regret it," he said in a flat tone, and turned towards the door. Nandini swallowed the lump in her throat and climbed up another step, and the tinkle of her anklets seemed to resound in the stillness.

"I should take the anklets off, shouldn't I?" she asked suddenly. "What if they hear me?"

"It doesn't matter, they are ones who shouldn't be here. I don't want the light on only because I don't want your family to see anything nasty that happens here," he said unperturbedly.

Nandini felt another frisson of fear and sighed glumly…..so he fully intended for something nasty to happen to whoever was inside.

Grinning as he turned away, Prithvi turned to the door again and pushed it open noiselessly. He stepped inside casually and Nandini followed close behind him, trying to adjust her eyesight to the darkness. But he switched on the flashlight right away and as the narrow beam of light came alive on the walls of the living room, she peered around nervously.

"Maybe you just imagined it and there's no one here," she whispered hopefully.

"Maybe you should just go back if you are such a coward," he retorted, not bothering to keep his voice down and looking around with a frown.

"I am not a coward," she said indignantly.

Then a slight scrabbling sound came from somewhere in the corner of the room. She jumped in fear, caught of his hand tightly, and crouched behind him.

"Yes, your courage is quite awe-inspiring," he said dryly. Nandini glared at his back and let go of his hand right away…..but didn't budge from her safe spot behind him.

Seeing that she had not accepted his final offer to flee, he turned around and locked the doors from the inside. Nandini, who had almost run up against his back when he had swung, squirmed uneasily as the lock clicked shut, feeling foolishly self-conscious.

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After swiftly scanning the rooms and the kitchen on the ground floor, Prithvi moved towards the stairway, followed by a very nervous girl.

Nandini had been chanting the Hanuman Chalisa in her mind since they had entered the house, trying to have some courage. But as they moved up the steps, she was getting panicky again. There had not been anyone below, so if Prithvi was right about the intruder, the man must surely be upstairs. Her hands had already been cold, but now she felt as though they were turning into ice.

As they reached the middle of the steps, she stumbled slightly. Prithvi instantly caught hold of her upper arm to steady her. It was a fleeting contact and he immediately withdrew his hand….almost as though he had scalded his fingers, she thought gloomily.

As Prithvi passed by the switchboard at the top of the steps, he flicked on a switch and the landing was flooded with a dim yellow light….which revealed a man who was evidently hurrying out of Prithvi's room.

Nandini gasped in fear, and the man stared dumb-founded at both of them, looking as shaken at the meeting as she was.

"So you were going to leave without meeting me," Prithvi enquired.

The question seemed to have roused the man out of his shock, and displaying remarkable recovery, he whipped out a gun out of nowhere and pointed it at the boy and girl. "Move away from the stairs. I don't want to kill anyone, just let me go."

"So you'll fire if I don't move?" Prithvi asked interestedly, moving slightly as he asked so that Nandini was completely sheltered from the gun's direction.

The man swallowed nervously and gave a shaky nod.

"Prithvi, let him go," Nandini whispered frantically.

Instead, as she watched in dismay, he began to walk towards the man. Before he walked out of reach, she grabbed hold of his arm near the elbow in panic.

"What are you doing!" she asked, terrified.

But he impatiently shook his hand free and walked up to the man calmly until the gun's nozzle was just a few inches from his chest.

With every step he had taken, the thief's sweaty face had turned paler, but he had not made any attempt to fire the gun or launch any kind of attack.

Now Prithvi stood opposite him, staring with ice cold eyes….unblinking. And the man's condition became pitiable….with shaking hands and sweat pouring down his face.

Nandini looked from one to the other…..her heart thudding like it was going to explode any minute now.

Then Prithvi lashed out lazily with a hand, knocking the gun out of the intruder's hands. The man jumped to grab hold of it, but Prithvi hit him hard on the face, and Nandini clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle a cry.

Unrelenting, he caught the man by the scruff before he fell down and then dragged the struggling man effortlessly to his room and flicked on the light.

Prithvi surveyed the wreckage of his room with rising fury. The cupboard was open and its contents lay littered on the floor. But his eyes were searching for something ….something invaluable…

And then he saw it…thrown by the side of the bed….a plain wooden case….

It was open….and empty.

Prithvi hauled the man to the middle of the room, pulled the man around to face him and slapped him hard….so hard that blood spurted from his mouth. Nandini, who had hurried after him to the room, gasped in horror.

The man staggered and Prithvi pulled him up again violently.

"Where is it?" he demanded icily.

"I – what?" the man choked.

"The gold chain in the case, where is it?"

"I don't know," the man pleaded. "I didn't take anything."

Another blow landed on his face and his cheekbone cracked.

"Stop it! Don't hit him!" Nandini cried, rushing forward to intervene. Prithvi turned towards her, and she stepped back fearfully at the sheer rage in his eyes.

"Get out and go home if you can't watch," he said coldly. "I'm already paying your family 10 times what this pigsty is worth as rent, should I pay extra for you to stay out of my business," he asked ruthlessly.

Nandini flinched as though he had struck her too….it would have been kinder if he had….Anything would have been kinder that what he had just said….. She looked helplessly at the groaning man who had staggered back to his feet, and then slowly turned around and walked out of the room, fighting back tears.

She was climbing down the stairway, and was almost in the middle of it when there was small movement and some faint sound beside her, and suddenly, a coarse hand clamped itself over her mouth. And she felt some sharp pressure near her neck. Instinctively she bit into the flesh of the hand. The man grunted in pain, caught a handful of her hair, and slammed her head against the wall. Her cry was smothered in the hand on her face, and then in a daze of pain, she felt herself being dragged back up the steps, into the room.

Prithvi, who had stiffened at a sound in the corridor, had flung down the limp man to go and investigate. And now he swung around to see a second stranger stride into the room, half pulling Nandini in front. One hand clutching her hair cruelly, the other holding a very polished knife to her fair neck. There was a bruise on her forehead, and her eyes were half-shut and watery with pain; she seemed barely conscious.

Appearing almost blinded with rage, Prithvi moved towards them. The man immediately pulled her hair back further, lifting her head and exposing her fair throat, and held the knife to her throat.

Prithvi came to an abrupt halt.

"Let him go, your highness," the man said in a low voice, watching the white-faced boy staring at the knife. "Let us both leave peacefully."

"Let go of her," Prithvi said icily. "Or you'll never leave this place at all."

"I'll leave her once we are out of this house," the man replied flatly. "We have been warned not to hurt you, your highness. But I have no such hesitation with regards to the girl. Her life is of no value."

Nandini had been fighting to stay conscious….she heard the words that were being said but was finding it hard to think. His highness…why was this man calling Prithvi that….She heard Prithvi say something and then the man yanked her hair back viciously once again. And the shock of the attack, more than the actual pain, finally claimed her…..and everything went dark.


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Nandini opened her eyes and grimaced at the harshness of the electric light in the room. She was lying on a bed in someone's room. What was she doing here…

And then she remembered…..

She struggled to sit up, and immediately felt another small wave of dizziness overpower her. She fought it off with every bit of willpower she had. When she could open her eyes again, it was to see Prithvi walking slowly towards the door, his back to her. But he was walking in a manner that suggested that every step was painful, and his shoulders were hunched. Had they hurt him somehow.

"Prithvi." It came out as a feeble whisper, and she was sure he would not have heard her. But he froze at the door step and turned around swiftly to see her sitting up and trying to get out of the bed.

Tears of relief blurred her vision. He was safe. But she felt a jolt at the sight of his face. The bandage on his forehead had become bloodied, but it was the whiteness of his face that alarmed her. He was looking at her as though he could scarcely believe his eyes.

"You're ok. I was so scared. There was no one in the room" she croaked, feeling like she could breathe again now that she knew he was fine. "What happened….those men…where are they…have they gone," she asked desperately, as she lowered her feet to the ground and stood up unsteadily.

He didn't answer, and continued to stare at her, some colour returning to his handsome face, which was showing both shock and relief. She found something troubling in his motionless posture and had a strange feeling that he hadn't heard a single word she had said.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" she asked anxiously, and started to rush towards him. But before she had taken more than a couple of steps, he moved with astonishing speed and covered the distance between them in a second. And in an action that turned her rigid with shock, he strode right over to her and seized her in a crushing hug that drove the breath out of her body.

Astounded and caught totally unawares by this unforeseen moment, she stood with her hands immobilized by her sides, her chin resting on a broad shoulder, feeling emotionally powerless to say or do anything as propriety demanded.

"Prithvi," she whispered, with an involuntarily tremulous voice, trying to bring in some sense. But at the sound of his name from her lips, he only tightened his embrace further, as if he was afraid of…and didn't want to hear her say anything rational. The strength of the grasp startled her, and still she didn't try to disentangle herself, feeling an inexplicable concern and warmth mingle with confusion and alarm. She wanted to break away from the embrace, but her heart and limbs refused to cooperate with her. He would have to let go of her…it was the only hope she had.

Then he muttered something, though the words were muffled as his face was buried in her hair. She only heard a couple of words…..

And then she understood.

"I'm okay," she said softly, "I'm not hurt, really". And rapidly, all the unexpressed fear, anguish and relief, experienced in the past 15 minutes seemed to engulf her, and hot tears once again clouded her lovely eyes, and began falling freely. She had been fighting with herself to keep her hands by her sides so far. But she couldn't battle anymore….she didn't want to…and slowly and uncertainly, she finally gave in to her heart's diktat, and returned his embrace.

Why couldn't these strange men leave him alone….why were they hounding him like this. Every time he stepped out the house and she had to be away from him, she feared for him. The fear had taken the form of a constant ache in her heart, and had become part of every waking minute that he was out of her sight.

After a timeless moment, he relaxed his hold slightly and drew back, but he still didn't pull away from her. He gazed down at her flushed countenance, guilt overshadowing his face at the tiny bruise at the side of her forehead…. One hand came up and traced it delicately. Something about the gentleness of the touch filled her eyes with tears again.

"Don't cry," he muttered

"I'm-I'm not!" she whispered, lowering her eyes.

He sighed, and then bent his head and rested his warm forehead against hers, with their noses touching lightly and eyes closed. The action felt disturbingly natural….as if they had always been standing like this…. like this was how it was meant to be…

Then the old clock in the room chimed with a tiny sound and broke the silence….and brought in awareness….And the fragrant and fragile web that had woven around the two individuals in the room seemed to shatter.

Both of them froze instantaneously.

Then Prithvi's arms around her loosened and he pulled away from her. And without meeting her eyes, he turned away towards the window, looking into the silvery night outside.

Feeling extremely confused and blushing uncontrollably, Nandini stood wringing her hands in nervousness. She looked at the clock. It showed a half past eight. Had they really been inside the house only for 15 minutes?

"Ma must be waiting…we have to go back," Nandini murmured, staring down at her toes, while a guilty pink coloured her cheeks.

He didn't say anything, but turned around and walked towards the door. As he walked past her, in an unexpected and casual move, he caught hold of her hand wordlessly. And without meeting her gaze, he gently led the astonished girl out the room and down the steps. It was only when they stepped into the courtyard that he finally let go of her wrist.

"The lights are still on in the rooms….and you haven't locked the door also," she said hesitantly as they opened the gate into Vrindavan.

"I need to go back," he mumbled. "I'll just leave you inside and go."

"Where are those men, Prithvi? And did you get the gold chain you looking for?" she asked uncertainly, not wanting to infuriate him again, but needing to know what had happened.

"I've locked the men in one of the rooms," he said vaguely. "And the chain was with the second man." Nandini sighed in relief as they entered the house.

"Your forehead! What happened?"

With the unerring instincts of a mother, Sarojini's eyes had fallen on the bruise on her forehead the instant they had stepped into the house, and now she was hurrying over to her daughter.

"I-I dashed against a door on the ground floor because there was no light," Nandini said quickly.

"I'm sorry," Prithvi muttered in her mother's direction.

"It was just an accident, wasn't it? Why are you apologizing for that, Prithvi?" Sarojini asked in surprise. "Come with me, Nandini. I'll apply some salve on it."

Nandini turned around as her mother shepherded her inside, and uneasily saw Prithvi exiting the door. Why was he going back….what was he going to do with those men….

Outside, Prithvi took the cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number.

"Be here in 20 minutes," he said woodenly when the call was answered. "I have two packages that have to be delivered to someone."



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A middle-aged man hurried along the marble-floored passage towards the biggest rooms in the palace. At the door, he whispered to the royal guards, and one of them went inside.

He returned in less than a minute and asked the man to go inside.

A velvet curtain separated the bedroom from the enormous sit-out, where a very old man was sitting on a golden throne in all his finery. Some feet away from him was an artist sitting before a huge canvas, painting a life-size portrait.

"The men have returned, Your Majesty," the man said, looking acutely scared.

"And…"the king demanded, not sparing him a glance.

"Both are injured very badly. One of them has a broken face, and the other has multiple fractures. They were dumped at the palace gates by a stranger, who drove off immediately."

Strangely, the news seemed to please the old man. "I assume they met Prithvi," he asked, looking very satisfied.

"Yes, they did," came the nervous reply.

"I expect nothing less from my grandson, Manohar," the king said proudly. "But if I hear he has received so much as a scratch on him because of your men, I will have both yours and their hands cut."

Manohar gulped in fear, knowing it was not an empty threat.

"Did they find it in the house?"

"No, your majesty. They didn't find anything."

"Hmmm…what about the second task? Do your worthless men have any information as yet about who attacked him the last time?"

"Not yet, your majesty. But we are doing our best to find out."

"Yes…find out. And be quick about it. I don't wish to go out of practice before I can bring about the death of the man who dared to take Prithvi's life. After all, it has been a long time since I fired a bullet into a living creature. Now tell me everything that happened while they were in the house, Manohar."

"Only one of the men was in any condition to speak, and then too, his speech was extremely unclear. From what I could make out, they had searched through the rooms and were about to leave when they ran into Prithvi. There was a girl with him. One of the men tried to steal a gold chain, and then apparently tried to escape from Prithvi by using the girl as hostage. And he had his whole body smashed for that. And the other -"

"There was a girl with him?" the king frowned, finally looking at Manohar. "Who was it?"

"She is the daughter of the family next door, the one whose house has been rented by his highness."

"So she is the granddaughter of the priest," the king said quietly. "The worthless offspring of an insignificant family."

The import of the king's displeasure was not lost on Manohar.

"I am sure there isn't anything to be concerned about, your majesty. It is common in these times for boys and girls to only be friends."

"If it turns out to be anything more than that, you know well what must be done."

"I agree it is slightly troubling. However - forgive my impudence for saying this, your majesty - I believe our prime issue is the return of the prince to the fold of the royal family. Any other problem can be taken care of easily. But so far, the prince has been regretfully steadfast and unfaltering in his refusal to return. If we can manage to convince him, I assure you, your majesty, the girl will be a very minor problem."

"It would be in the girl's interests to be a trivial problem, and never come to my attention again," the old king sneered. "Because unless it is to join the legion of servants, no girl of common blood will ever cross the threshold of this palace. Not as long as I live….and not while she lives either….."

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