Warrior Hearts

Facades Unveiled

"Manik, what're you doing?" Rohit asks, as I close in on the location of their voices. The two of them are separated from me by a wall of greenery. Curious to learn more about the cause of this celebration, I peek out through in between the leaves. Sure enough, standing on the other side is Malhotra, and Rohit. Although the former's back is turned towards me, I can see the rim of a goblet in his hand.

"Breathing in a sigh of relief!" Malhotra exclaims, spreading his arms out on either side of his body. "Rohit, my friend, I feel free after weeks." Confused at Malhotra's words, I continue to shamelessly eavesdrop on the two.

"As if you were entrapped at your in-laws." Rohit says, grinning at his friend.

"Oh for fuck's sake, hell yes, I was!" I wince, as Malhotra's tone rises yet again. What in the world is he saying? "Good God, you can only imagine the way my skin used to crawl every time I had to sweet talk that...that girl." A gasp escapes my lips, as my stomach plummets to the ground. That girl...How could Singhania refer to me in this callous manner? More importantly, however, what in the world is he saying? "My throat burned every time I sang songs of her praises. The bullshit that I had to spew!" Scoffing, Malhotra lets out a laugh of disbelief.

"You mean your wife?" Before he can so much as complete this sentence, Malhotra's free hand drives a punch straight into the centre of Rohit's stomach. "Holy shit, Manik," Rohit gasps, doubling over.

"That's for calling her my wife." Malhotra explains, straightening himself, and tugging at the hem of his coat. Rolling his eyes, Rohit straightens up.

"Am I wrong, though?" He asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Of all the people, Rohit, you best know that I didn't have a choice." Malhotra replies, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "How else was I supposed to acquire her kingdom? It's not like that girl would willingly hand it over to me." I wince as Malhotra once again refers to me in that lowly manner. "And you know her lands are of the utmost importance to me. I swear, Rohit, you should see the golden eggs she's sitting on."

"That reminds me," Rohit says. "How'd you gain access to her kingdom's maps? To be honest, Nandini didn't seem the type who would willingly unveil all of her land's secrets to you."

"Oh come on, you underestimate me." Malhotra says, his tone dripping with triumph. "I convinced that stupid girl to take me to the library, and believe it or not, but everything was lying spread out just for me. One glance at the maps was enough to confirm what I already knew, and then all I had to do was approach her father and add the finishing touch to a perfectly laid out trap."

"Manik, I still fail to understand as to how you managed to pull this off." Rohit says, reaching forwards and placing his hand on Malhotra's shoulder. Waving his goblet in the air, Malhotra shrugs once again, almost as if all that he's accomplished is not a big deal at all.

"Now usually I'd take credit for my work," he says. "But just this once, I won't. You know why? Because she's a stupid girl, who might act all tough on the outside, but is soft on the inside. Frankly speaking, I'd say that she made this quite easy for me."

"Why?" I find myself asking, as I step out from behind the wall of greenery. For some reason, as I do so, my voice cracks. Rohit's eyes find me, first, over Malhotra's shoulder.

"Fuck," he hisses, as Malhotra swivels around to meet my gaze. For the briefest of seconds, I catch a flash of panic in his eyes. However, as always, Malhotra manages to compose himself in no time. Smirking, he lifts his goblet in my direction.

"Ah," Malhotra sighs, nodding at me. "Look who cared to join us."

"Why did you do it?" I ask, my voice barely audible to myself. I cannot seem to locate even an ounce of strength within me to so much as raise my voice by a few decibels.