Love Over Pride

Confrontation

"What has that wall done to you, Baahu?" Kattappa asked.

Amarendra glared at the wall some more.

His mother's decision should not have surprised him, but it did.

She had allowed Devasena to fight.

And he was pissed off, surprised, annoyed and happy at the same time if that made sense.

And now, he was glaring at a wall.

Yep, he was going mad, he decided.

Kattappa shook his head. "You know that you can't brood over this when we have an army at our gates."

"Hmm..." Came the grumbled response of the King.

"Baahu?"

"........"

"Baahu."

Silence again.

"BAAHU!" Kattappa screamed, losing his patience at being ignored.

Amarendra looked over at him. "What is it, mama? And why can't you call me normally?"

Kattappa dearly felt like banging his head on the wall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Devasena kept a watch over the army as they ran around (in an orderly manner) to get their weapons prepared and to get the plans with the army formations.

She chuckled to herself.

Her husband wasn't happy. And he had this grumpy face that was oh so cute and it made her want to kiss him.

She had peeked into the court and found him there with Kattappa. And he was glaring at the wall. She laughed quietly, knowing why he was doing that.

He looked like a child who was denied something.

Sivagami had rolled her eyes and laughed when she found out. Her son would have to deal with it.

As amused as Devasena was, she felt a bit sad for she felt as though she was responsible for her husband's grumpiness.

What if he wasn't concentrating on his work because of her?

She wanted to be his strength, not his liability...

She bit her lip, contemplating her decision again.

~~~~~~~~~

"Do you think I'm your liability?"

The blunt question from Devasena made Amarendra start lightly.

"Of course not, Deva!" Amarendra said. "Wherever did you get that idea?"

"You've been glaring at that wall for a long time now."

'Why is everyone so concerned about that wall?' Amarendra thought to himself.

"I'm just worried, Deva." He told her. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

"Amara, you know that I'm leading the cavalry in the war." Devasena told him. "I won't be in immediate danger. You on the other hand..."

Amara blinked. Did she just flip the tables?

"I'll be fine, Deva."

"Hmm... I did hear things from Kattappa about you during your last war." Devasena said.

Amarendra smiled. He liked his wife praising him.

"You were reckless as well." She said.

Amarendra's smile faltered away.

"How mean, Deva."

She stuck her tongue out at him. He couldn't resist sticking his tongue out too. If Sivagami saw him, he would've had his ears pulled by now.

"Do you know who the enemy is?" She asked.

"Apparently they're from a kingdom called Singhala." Amarendra replied. "Not much is known about them so I've sent spies to gather more information. Meanwhile we are preparing for any situation."

Devasena nodded.

"So, are you going to use the little trick I taught you?" Amarendra asked.

"If you mean shooting three arrows at once, then yes." Devasena replied.

"You picked it up quickly." He told her. "It took me two days."

"I do better under pressure so that probably factored in." She said.

Amarendra shook his head. While his wife and mother shared a similar pride, they both were rather humble about their accomplishments.

He really wished that the two of them would take more credit.

"If we need reinforcements, we can contact my brother." Devasena told him. "He still feels that he owes you a favor for defending Kunthala."

"I do not believe we would require his help." Amarendra said. "However I'm thankful for his offer."

Devasena nodded. "So we're clear now? You won't go and glare at that wall again?"

"Okay, enough about that wall."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2020 is terrible.

Now that I've said that, I can continue with what I need to say.

I hope you all are coping with the pandemic and lockdown. Things are difficult at the moment, but hopefully we will pull through this together.

I know I posted that I would update after my boards, but the pandemic messed around with my exams. Hence the delay. (My batch is cursed at this point)

Luckily it's all fine for me now and I decided to update.

For those curious, this is supposed to be a 10 part story. And we've reached part 7 already.

Yep, three more parts and the story is done. Don't worry, I've got it all planned out so you won't have to wait for updates longer than you had to last time.

I hope you are all safe!

~Amarasena24