Royals

19 - Bittersweet Revelation

It was like the cave, only a lot more dusty and unkept than the one she visited a year ago and that visit changed her life. She froze at the entrance as Aditya turned to her apprehensive of her diffidence. "What is it?" He broke when he couldn't take the pin drop silence that had settled in along with Maisha's sudden stone cold behavior. Maisha had that dramatic air about her or maybe it was that she was feeling too many things at that time that her brain went numb. The excitement, pleasure, love, an impending adventure, an air of lurking threat and uncertainty and most of all the slightest possibility of her finding a way back home created an unsettling havoc in her mind and a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She did not want to go in. The last time time was too much to handle and now, she couldn't bear to even consider the possibility that this room might help her get back to her real life which she didn't want anymore. " It'll be alright love. I'm here with you, aren't I?" Aditya kissed her hand reassuringly as she caved in ever so slightly allowing him to pull her inside. Maybe she's scared of dark. That was the thought that came to his mind but it wasn't convincing him whatsoever. He decided to ignore her resistance and carry out the task at hand.

Maisha settled down on a small bench painted with dust and spider webs like an obedient child as Aditya scanned for something, perhaps an old book or a parchment from the bundles stacked on musty shelves. "I had decided a few years ago to close off this tunnel but luckily I forgot about the matter. When you told me the facts you told me today, I was most certainly relieved that I hadn't disposed off these papers," Aditya grinned cheekily which eased her a lot as his hands skimmed through the books, shelf after shelf, rack after rack like a skilled librarian. "I used to come here a lot when I was little." He admitted.

"Elaborate please?" Maisha egged on, curiousity getting the best of her. Just how much more talents does thus man possess? She couldn't help but wonder.

He chuckled heartily as he had successfully managed to take his wife's mind off of whatever it was that was bugging her. "Well, in my training years, this room was a part of the Palace. The content, I mean. It was a repository of the written citations of all the research being carried out in different countries of the world. At least,we tried to keep it up to date but it was impossible, you know. The only material we got our hands on were our own or some useless research of the allies which even they had failed to accept. The ones with no proof.

"Whenever I had a bad training day, which was quite often, I found my solace in one of those rejected articles which had theories yet to be proved. It was fascinating. Acharya Ganraj kept my hideout a secret for quite a long time. But eventually when I decided to ascend the throne, it was best thought that the repository should be closed down and the materials burnt since everything that was left was useless to the Treasury. So I got an underground room dug put where everything was moved. Although five years ago I had made up my mind to close this tunnel once and for all but I guess, I just forgot," he smiled sheepishly pulling out a stack of betel barks tied securely with a thin jute rope into a neat bundle.

He sat down beside Maisha, opening up the knots and blowing off the dust from the upper wooden plate. "What is it?" Maisha asked as her hands traced the Sanskrit engravings in the bark.

"I remember reading something about time travel when I was young. Maybe this will help us," he said eagerly handing her the first parchment to read. "I don't understand Sanskrit," she admitted as her cheeks burnt bright red. Aditya just guffawed.

"What!? Sanskrit is optional in schools of modern Hindustan," she defended rather harshly as Aditya just sighed melodramatically with a sorry face for modern India fueling her anger even more. He enjoyed it thoroughly. Before she could attack, he started reading out the scriptures translating them as he read on.

"Time travelling, although not proven yet, is a natural phenomenon just as travelling through space is. Time and space are like twin brothers inseparable from one another but having a distinct identity at the same time."

"Where is this all leading to?" Maisha huffed impatiently.

"Maybe we can skip the introduction." He said as his eyes scanned the text at the Cheetah's speed. He handed her a few pages before the movement of his brown orbs slowed down a bit settling on the page. He held out his hand as Maisha handed him the bark piece he had handed her. "Aah, yes. This might be relevant," he muttered to himself before turning his attention to her reading the content out loud.

"Space time matrix is a kind of oblivion where their definition is interchangeable. Space is synonymous with time. This state of oblivion is the connecting link between all the infinite alternate universes present in any moment and any spot both of which can never be determined at a single time. If we consider the time to be a predictably changing quantity as it is in our universe, we can travel into space which we normally do. And if we imagine space to be a predictable dimension then we may be able to travel back or ahead in time. When you enter that state of oblivion, the space is represent time and time represents space. The longer you stay there, the farther you get away from your starting point and the farther away you go the longer you travel back in time. What? This doesn't make sense!" Aditya turned to Maisha exasperated. Maisha was in deep thought as she asked him to repeat the entire thing.

After two more repetitions, it started making sense to her. She vaguely remembered Dr. Maverick's words and the tiny dots connected. "I think time travelling was discovered in ancient India," Maisha looked up to him before continuing, "I think I understand it now."

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Author's note: I know it's a short one but consider it as a pre diwali bonus!!!! Love ya my lovely squeaks❤️❤️😉