21
This is a dream...must be a dream....
"What a wonderful dream to have!" I said outloud laughing.
"Dream?" the general said offended, "Ms. Sruthi this is not a dream."
"Right, as if the arrogant and headstrong general would ever apologize," I said sarcastically.
"Miss. Sruthi I can hear you," the general said trying hard to keep calm.
"Of course you can," I said, "You are my imagination!"
The general rolled his eyes.
Meanwhile I saw the king walking by.
Why is the king in my dreams?
The general called the king to get his attention.
"Your highness, please tell Ms. Sruthi that she is not dreaming and is just straight up being dumb," the general asked.
The king looked at me.
Usually I would panic but now this is my dream! Everything is my imagination!
So I continued to remain confident.
"I would not jump to conclusions about being dumb but Sruthi, you are not dreaming," the king plainly stated.
"Mmm hmm and why should I believe you?" I asked.
"What did you say?" the king who is now clearly angry asked.
"Your highness...." the general said hesitantly, "Let....let me handle this..."
Aww is the general is trying to save me from the king! How sweet!
"Yes let him handle this," I added, "You do not have a place in my dreams. You should go to the queen's dreams. You are all she ever talks about!"
"Ms. Sruthi you are being...." the general paused when the king lifted his hand.
"What exactly does the queen talk about me?" the king asked.
I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I spoke. "About how nice you are....how compassionate you are...how good looking you are..."
I could see the king's frown turn into a smile.
".....and how much she enjoys the training and how she is pretending to not understand it so that it does not progress...and..."
"Wait! she is pretending to not understand?" the king asked surprised.
"Your highness, Ms. Sruthi is clearly intoxicated....please do not..." the general tried to interrupt.
"Hold on general," the king said seriously and turned back to me.
"Is Vaishavi more skilled than she lets me believe, yes or no?" he demanded an answer.
"...Yes..." I said nervously.
"Vaishu...." the king signed in frustratation and stormed away.
"Wait why is he angry?" I asked confused, "If this is my dream...the king would never be angry with the queen...."
"Finally!" the general said frustrated. "Hell with the apology," he added and threw the flowers away to follow the king.
(Any guesses on what Adi will do now?)
"Are you busy, Vaishu?" the king asked as he stormed into the library.
"No, just reading a novel," I answered.
"That's good, come with me," the king said and led me towards his private chambers.
"Your highness, I think you should..." the general tried to stop us.
"Step back general. That is an order," the king said and opened the doors to his chambers prompting me to join him.
"Are you...angry?" I asked the moment he closed the door.
"No, I am not," he said walking towards the sword stand.
"But it looked like...."
"If I am angry, I will explicitly tell you Vaishu. Do not overthink this," the king said as he walked back with two swords.
"Let us battle," he said giving me one of the swords.
"With...real swords?" I asked surprised.
"We should start someday...." the king said and took a couple of steps back.
"Ready?" he asked. I hesitantly nodded.
"Starting in 3...2...1," he made a count down and within in seconds the sword approached me. I did manage to block the strike but that swift attack was very very unexpected.
Adi never did this before!
However this is just the beginning. Before I could fully bring myself back to composure, he attacked again. I managed to defend. An another attack move immediately followed and I found myself making swift moves again and again, to save myself.
I could feel the adrenaline and my heart beat raising. Everytime I assumed it would not get any worse, his speed of attack kept increasing, almost as if he is testing how far he could go before I give up or fail to make the defense move at the right time.
I do not know how I did it, but I managed to hold myself for a decent amount of time until his moves got sooo unpredictable and quick that I accidentally used the wrong tactic and failed to defend.
In that intense moment of battle, I definitely should have gotten hurt but Adi pulled me towards him at the right time and I found myself infront of him with my face towards the wall, him behind me and one of his arms wrapped around my waist. The other still holding a sword that would have reached closer to my neck had I not stopped it with my own sword.
It is at this moment that I realized what a battle field looks like.
It has nothing to do with Adi. I am fully aware that he will not harm me but the fact that two swords are inches away from my neck and that if I or he accidentally loose control, that would result in my immediate death is terrifying until.
...I felt his hand leave my waist and found it wrapped across my shoulders instead.
A move that was intentional, so that if an accident were to happen, the strike would hit his forearm and not my body. This calmed me down a little.
Adi gave me a few more seconds where I tried to push his sword down before he finally spoke.
"Retreat?" he asked calmly.
"Yes," I nodded.
"In 3...2...1..." Adi made a countdown and we both slowly pulled our swords back.
I never appreciated the countdowns. Always thought they were unnessary, but today I realized the importance. I could only imagine the number of accidents that could happen if one of the two swords that were clashing each other with full force was to suddenly be removed.
"That was fantastic, Vaishu," Adi complimented and took the sword from my hand.
"That was intense. I could still feel my heart beat," I replied.
"Happens to every great warrior," Adi said as he brought me a glass of water.
"Why did you do that?" I asked confused.
"Should I not be the one asking questions?" Adi said, "How did you manage to hold yourself up against me for 3 whole minutes given that you were struggling with the basic defense moves this morning?"
"That is because...you did not use your full potential," I tried make an excuse.
"I used more than enough to make it a challenge. You know that too," Adi said.
I remained silent.
"What is it with you hiding your accomplishments from your own husband?" he asked playfully.
"I did not want to hide anything..." I replied, "I just...I just did not want this to happen."
"Did not want what to happen?" Adi questioned.
"This..." I answered, "I do not want us to battle....I like the calmness and playfulness of our practice...I do not want it to get serious..."
"And you think I wanted it to?" Adi said surprised. I looked at him confused.
"Vaishu...when have I not made it abundantly clear that the training and the battle are just excuses?" he asked looking into my eyes, "Excuses to hold you and keep you closer to my heart."
That statement made me smile and I looked away blushing.
Someone needs to take this glass of water from my hand because I am scared I might accidentally drop it as my heart is so full of love that it snatched my focus from everything else.
"Having said that," Adi continued now holding my hand and the glass to make sure I do not drop it.
Was my nervousness was this obvious!
"It does not hurt to, once in a while, have a glimpse of how awesomely skilled my wife is," he continued.