Pre Dawn, After the Pindari War, Kunthala Kingdom

"This wall has also been breached" she mumbled, as she moved forward. The King nodded his head as he paced up to match her steps.

Amarendra watched them from the balcony, going around the back garden, from one segment of the breached frontiers to the other. Looking up, he noticed that dawn was yet to break, though a faint flush of the morning sky and the hanging moon almost made it ethereal. The chill in the wind heightened the senses, enhancing the setting.

Even though the garden beneath was a mess - bloodied and broken. The marble statues by the ponds partially wrecked and battered. He could see men clearing bodies and debris from inside the garden.

He was tired, of course but he was restless. Neither could he sleep, nor could he close his eyes. A warm feeling of happiness coursed through his veins. Only to be countered by an icy cold onslaught every few minutes. The Note from his Mother had been very disquieting. 

"Why? Oh Why?" he thought, shaking his head, trying to untangle the sneaky feeling from pervading his soul. The most beautiful moment of my life - why did it have to turn into something else immediately? Why couldn't they have savoured some more happiness?

His eyes were now fixed on the figure at a distance. He noticed that she had not yet changed. However instead of the bow and arrow, she now had a sword in her hand. Unsheathed.

A slice of a quarter moon hung in the sky, shivering with anticipation, willing to fade into oblivion for time being. Its intoxicating push pulled him to the garden, his heartbeat quickening with every step. Once his identity had been revealed post war, the Queen had personally seen to it that while Katappa had been shifted to the royal guest rooms, Amarendra himself had been shifted to the royal quarters.

She had not been particularly interested in Katappa's protests, of him being a servant to the throne of Mahishmati, and hence to be confined to the lower chambers. The Queen's reasons - They had been their saviours.

And now very soon, the two families and the two kingdoms would be tied together through holy matrimony.

The King had benignly smiled all the while.

...

"... we need our best masons ... the villages would have been destroyed too ... I need to go and visit ..." her words reached him in flashes, as he strode ahead. He was touched by the concern and compassion in those words, and in her voice.

But then everything about her was exquisite and exceptional. Amarendra Baahubali was love struck, he smiled as he shook his head. This was a new beginning for him. He breathed in deeply, the cool early morning air now ruffling his hair, soothing his senses.

"And I will come with you ..." he stated as he reached the brother-sister duo.

There was surprise in her eyes as they turned towards him.

"Maharaj ... Rajkumari ..." he continued, bowing in reverence.

The look in her eyes changed from surprise to something else, he noticed. A sort of realisation. That they were not strangers anymore. There was so much more in her eyes that he wanted to comprehend, but he knew that he would have to persevere for time being.

The King was visibly agitated now, as he clasped his hands once again

"Thank you once again for standing by us and for saving the people. We had no inkling about the attack. Our spies had yielded nothing"

Amarendra frowned

"That's strange. I am sure the Pindaris would have been planning this for long and amassed all those men. I guess we need to be more careful from now onwards and build up a more effective spy system and news channel"

The King nodded thoughtfully as they walked towards the northern end of the garden.

He continued

"With your permission, I too would like to go and check the adjoining villages ...' he glanced towards Devsena.

The King smiled, nodded his approval, and left.

He walked towards her slowly, eyeing the sword.

"Just in case ..." she said as she sheathed it with graceful finesse. He was super impressed. This woman definitely knew her way around her weapons, he realised. Made him fall for her some more.

"You haven't even changed ..." he stated, taking in the cuts and scrapes on her face, hand and fingers, his fingers now itching to touch them. To acknowledge them.

Acknowledgement to a warrior. From a warrior.

Devsena looked at him curiosuly. He had changed by now, the silk of his garments murmuring against the wind. She could however make out that he was still tensed and worried.

"May I?" he enquired again. He knew this was all too knew for her, and he didn't want to creep her out. Those flirting games were now over. Knowing and respecting her decision would be the key for him.

"Had to ensure that no intruders were left behind" she answered, looking up at the sky.

"So when do you want to leave for the visit to the villages?"

Her question caught him by surprise. She looked at him, a smile spreading across her face.

...

A few hours later

Devsena dismounted from her horse and walked towards a clutch of trees by the fields, offering shade. She patted her horse affectionately as she waited for Amarendra, who had moved a bit ahead to check on Katappa.

"I am going to take you to Mahishmati, Balaka" she whispered in hes ears, as she felt herself blush. She was already thinking of a life in Mahishmati ... with him, wondering what lay ahead of her, of them. of their new life together.

She had been restless following the war, following his commitment to her, of her to him ... and she did not know what to do with these feelings. It unnerved her. She knew she needed to think and put things into perspective.

Little did she know that Love however did not bother of follow rules or wait for perspectives to develop.

The way her heart had sped up when he had approached them in the morning, in the garden, she knew that this was their destiny. All the cheeky games and the flirting had now given way to something more intense and committed. This is how it was supposed to be. To be together, their fates intertwined forever.

And she had no qualms about admitting to herself that he was the man that she had been waiting for so long. She jcouldn't have shared her life with anybody else.

"Amarendra Baahubali ..." she whispered, his name honey laden in the sweet morning air, surrounding her.

"At your service, my Queen" his voice was a lazy drawl now, his breath fanning her right ear and cheek. He placed his hand on top of hers resting on her mare, his fingers filling in the spaces between hers.

And this is how galaxies collide ... Devsena thought, as she struggled to calm her heartbeats. She had been so lost in her own world, that she had not heard him approaching.

This is bad, very bad ... she muttered under her breath.

"Your mind is somewhere else, my Queen?" he asked. She could sense the mischief in those words as they tossed and twirled around them, the mare choosing that exact moment to shy away and move towards the other horse.

Not that he let go of her hand exactly.

Devsena turned towards him, smiling

"It's exactly where your heart is, my King"

He grinned in response as he placed their conjoined hands on top of his heart. His other hand reached out to reverently touch the single tendril of hair that now curled on her forehead.

"Is it?" he asked, his eyes smiling.

"It is" she nodded slightly, her lips carving into a smile themselves

"Last word always?" he teased

"Always" she iterated.

The END

NOTE : The word Ishqiya means Romance. Though thought of as an urdu word, Google mentions it as a word in Uzbek [Source : Google]