15
"So when we hold the sword a little lower, it can be a...." Adi was standing infront of me and explaining the different ways to hold a sword when I heard the sounds of rainfall. I immediately looked out of the window.
Adi snapped his fingers to bring back my attention.
"Is the rain distracting you?" he asked.
"Sorry," I apologized, "It is just that when it rains, I get an intense desire to sit down, wrap a blanket around me and have a cup of warm tea."
The general was anxiously roaming outside the king's private chambers shaking his head and murmuring something to himself.
'king' 'insane' 'scare' 'queen' were some of the words I heard and I managed to connect the dots. I still hate him, but I must admit, his concern for the queen is admirable.
"What the hell is this?" he asked the moment he saw me.
"Tea," I answered, "The queen usually requests for tea whenever it rains....so I thought...."
"Thought what?" the general exclaimed, "Put her at risk."
"By...giving her tea...?" I asked confused.
"Come on Ms. Sruthi..." the general said frustrated, "Even you must know that the king-"
He paused when the king opened the doors to the private chambers.
"Your highness," we both bowed in unison.
The king nodded in acknowledgement.
"Is that tea, Sruthi?" he asked.
"Yes, your highness," I answered.
"Bring it in," the king said and opened the door a little wider for me to enter.
Through my peripheral vision, I could see the general gasp and continously blink his eyes in disbelief.
"Let us see how well you could defend yourself," Adi said and walked behind me.
From the five moves that he barely taught me in the past week, I am sure I would do great!
"Relax Vaishu," he kept both his hands on my shoulders and assured me before stepping back, "You will do great!"
Did he just....read my mind or something....
I was still thinking about that when he pulled me close and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. I was barely able to reach for my sword before I felt his sword on my neck.
"Come on Vaishu," he said a little disappointed as he lowered his sword, "Why did you not do anything?"
"I...don't know..." I said, "Can we try again?"
"Alright," he said and stepped back.
This time I am prepared for everything. Even if he pulls me back right now, I should be able to defend myself....except he didn't.
Instead he twirled me around and pulled me towards him so that we are facing each other.
"Vaishu....." he said again frustrated.
"But Adi....you changed the move...." I oppossed.
"You expect an assassin to inform you of his moves before hand?" Adi argued.
"I do not expect him to hold me in his arms either," I said but I immediately regretted. "No...no...I should not have said that....should not have said that....disrespcting the king is...."
"Shush Vaishu!" Adi interrupted me, "Stop thinking." "I also happen to be your husband. You can make fun of me." he assurred, "I am not even wearing my crown."
"Just because I cannot see it does not mean it is not there," I said in a low voice.
Adi rolled his eyes. "Here you go," he said pretending to shift the crown from his head to mine, "The invisible crown is now yours."
It has been 11 days and the general is still standing guard outside the chambers, as anxious as ever.
How could he be so oblivious to the beautiful relationship that the king and queen share!?
Perhaps the king finds the general's concern amusing and remained silent on purpose.
Either way, I hope he learns the truth because his constant questions are killing me from the inside. The interactions are a perfect combination of joyful and exhausting.
"Miss. Sruthi," he saw me and here we go again....
"Did everything go well with the queen yesterday?" he asked.
"Uh...yes..." I replied.
"Are you sure?" he asked again, "The king had a really bad day and he was very angry right before he met the queen. He has this brutal habit of carrying his anger to the battlefield."
Yes, I know that!
We all saw the king step in with a furious look on his face. We were all worried for the queen and that was the first question we asked when she reached her private chambers.
"The king did not show his anger on me," the queen simply answered with no further details and it took another couple of hours of begging before she finally revealed the truth.
"I promise you, everything went fine," she said. "As a matter of fact," she paused for a second before smiling and continuing, "The first thing he said after meeting me was 'I had a really bad day, Vaishu. I cannot wait to spend my time with you and make my day better.' "
I still remember how every single one of us in the room went "Awww" at the same time.
King Adinath single handedly raised the standards for men, across the Nine kingdoms, and his general is worried he would hurt the queen.
How naive?
"Miss. Sruthi, answer me?" the general asked again.
"I assure you general," I answered, "The queen is the safest she could ever be."
"Yes...but..."
I cannot have this anymore.
"Curious question general," I interrupted, "Do you happen to hear any shackles of swords?"
The general stopped talking and looked down thinking....and he quickly realized that nothing is as serious as he assumed.
No shackles of swords! They are not battling!
They are simply having a nice time together.
"Hmm..." he nodded, "....I think....I should leave..."
"I think so too," I said.
The general looked at me.
I thought he would yell as usual but not this time.
"Thank you, Miss. Sruthi," he genuinely said and left.
I was reading in the library when Naina came in running.
"Your highness, the king is here," she said.
I did not even bother looking up. The ladies played this trick on me, so many times.
"I will not fall for it, Naina," I said still engrossed in my book.
"Yes Naina, the queen will not -" Pallu paused. "BAHHH" she shouted and ran away and that's when I realized - Adi is here!
I immediately looked up. Adi narrowed his eyes and shook his head pretending to be disappointed.
"I am so sorry Adi, I...." I said standing up.
"Shush Vaishu! Stop thinking," Adi interrupted as he walked towards me.
"What is that book?" he asked Sruthi pointing at the book Pallu gave her while running towards the back of the library.
"Pallu picked up a book for the queen, your highness" Sruthi answered.
"Can Pallavi read?" Adi asked.
Sruthi shook her head. "She just picks up books at random," she answered.
Adi did not like that. I could sense it.
He took a deep breath to compose himself and looked at me.
"Vaishu, is a 15 year old making choices for you?" he leaned in and asked me in a very low voice so that I am the only one who could hear him.
I remained silent.
"Everyone, except fot the queen, get out," he commanded and within no time the library got completely empty.
"We need to talk," he said looking at me.