30
I was running in a beautiful garden while Adi was playfully chasing me when suddenly Meihu came infront of me out of no where. I turned back hoping to run into Adi's arms but he was no where to be found.
"What are you even happy for?" Meihu asked, "He was about to hit you today."
"No, Meihu," I immediately defended, "He was just trying to prove a point."
"The point that he is capable of violence," Meihu completed and my smile immediately disappeared.
"Today he did this," Meihu said raising her hand upwards. "Tomorrow he will do this," she said and was about to slap me.
"No don't," I screamed and woke up from my dream.
"Vaishu, what happened?" Adi who was working on something at his table asked concerned.
"Just a bad dream," I said and got down the bed to walk towards his table. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"Me?" Adi signed, "One of the ministers came up with the proposal for the crown to take over the sales of agricultural produce.
I remember this proposal was made during my father's time as well but got rejected and I am looking at the records to see the reason.
""There are so many records to go through," he said pointing to the books infront of him.
"It was rejected because investigation proved that it would cause loss for farmer's with lesser land," I said as I remembered reading it. "You will find it in this record," I said and pulled out the relevant record from the pile of books infront of him, "Somewhere in the first few pages."
Adi admiringly looked at me and smiled.
"Show me the exact page too," he joked.
"I do not remember the page," I said, "But I can help...."
"No I will handle it," Adi said holding my hand, "You have done more than enough. It is getting late. Go sleep."
"Can you join me," I asked hesitantly, "I am a little scared and will feel safer if you are beside me."
"So you want me to ignore the royal work?" Adi asked seriously.
"No..what I mean is...."
"Joke," Adi immediately confessed, "It was a joke."
"Oh," I said.
"Perhaps the same God," I replied, "who came up with the chaotic idea to make my husband the most loving yet the most annoying man in the whole world."
Adi looked at me surprised and since I do not know what to make of it, I assumed the absolute worst.
"I..I did not mean to call you annoy-"
Adi shut me up with a quick kiss. The impact pushed me back a little but he also had the courtesy and to place his hand between the wall and my head just in time so that I do not accidentally get hurt.
"How many times do I have to remind you, Vaishu?" he calmly scolded, "That your words are adorable and not offensive?"
"I do not enjoy being cautious either," I gently opossed, "But I am already doing a lot of things that are outside the norm. I just do not want to fly too high and get my wings chopped off."
Adi chuckled.
He found that funny?
"Silly Vaishu! Fairies are meant to fly high," he stated as a matter of fact taking me by surprise.
Never in my life did I think men like Adi would exist....
"Anyway," he yawned, "Now I am sleepy too. Good night!"
"Good night," I said and went to bed too but all I did for the next couple of hours was to think of him and how much better our married life would have been if Meihu did not interefere.....
I woke up the next day to see Vaishu working on the records.
"Vaishu I told you..."
"It is done," Vaishu interrupted and gave me the papers. "I also looked through the other proposals and made a list of pros and cons so that it will help you with your decisions."
"Good job!" I smiled, "But now I will not have much to do."
"In that case...." Vaishu asked, "Shall we go to the temple together?"
"Of course," I replied, "It is just a few feet away from the palace. I will have a shower and we can go right away."
"No, not that one," Vaishu interrupted, "The Kalika Devi temple in the middle of the city."
"Oh Vaishu," I said disappointed, "That cannot happened. The general will not give us the clearance until we put in a 2 month advance notice."
"But...you can talk to him..." Vaishu said innocently.
"He would rather die than listen to me," I stated as a matter of fact, "That is the one place where he has authority over me.
..power to even punish the king should he disobey.
...an opportunity he is waiting for since years.
.." "Anyway," I said realizing that I am getting carried away, "He always has a soft corner for you so.
....give it a try....maybe he will agree. ..."
"The one near the city hall?" the general asked, "I am sorry, your highness, but I absolutely cannot allow that."
Would it kill this man to accept a simple request from the queen? This is the first time she ever wanted to go out of the palace and heartless Kanda just had to say no.
"But general Nanda, I really want to visit," the queen requested.
"Visit after two months, your highness," cruel Kanda replied.
"The Goddess should not have to wait for us, general," the queen said in attempts to convice.
The general stopped turned towards the queen and smiled.
He is going to say 'yes'.
"The goddess is everywhere, your highness," he said, "You are always free to visit the temple within the royal grounds."
"General..."
"Your highness, I would break every rule for you if required," Kanda interrupted, "but not the security protocol." "Please forgive me," he said for one last time before leaving.
"Knew it" I laughed, "The general is the king of rejections."
"But I really want to go to the temple," Vaishu said disappointed.
"Like I said Vaishu," I consoled, "We can always go to the temple within the royal grounds. As much as I would love to disagree with the general....God is everywhere and I do not see anything special with that particular temple."
"The panditji in that temple is the one who fixed our marriage," Vaishu said, "I owe my happiness to the goddess in that temple....and I...kind of....want to show her how happy I am and thank her for the blessing."
"Hmm..." I said thinking.
Such an innocent wish from Vaishu...and she never ever asked anything from me before...and neither did ever step out of the palace in all these months.....
"Change your clothes," I said, "Wear something simple. I will take you to the temple."
"But...the general.." Vaishu opossed.
"Hell with the general. He does not need to know," I said, "I will take you through a secret passage."
"Where is the queen?" the general asked us outside the library.
"Why? Do you want to make her cry again?" I asked in attempts to hide the fact that the Queen and King left the palace a long time ago.
"She cried?" the general asked genuinely concerned and I felt terrible for lying. "For being around you?" he continued and I looked at him annoyed.
"I am not dumb, Gati," the general stated, "If I made the Queen cry, the king would have killed me by now." "Speaking of whom..." he continued thinking, "The king was missing for quite a while now...."
"Maybe he just does not like being around you," I countered.
"Wow! Gati finally has a comeback," the general said sarcastically.
"Wow! Kanda finally started paying attention," I said imitating him.
"Gati you-" the general was interrupted by a song.
"The queen....eloped....with the king...." Pallu started singing as she danced in the corridors without a care in the world.
"What the hell?" the general shouted.
"BAHHH" Pallu immediately screamed and ran away.
"General....calm down...." I tried to convince.
"Stay out of my way Gati," the general said and quickly walked away while I hurriedly followed him.
This is not going to end well......