5K Votes!!!

Abhinandan POV

I came back to Pratapgarh, and after some time, Rudra arrived, too.

"Abhi!" he called out for me from the outside. My soldiers would not have let him in.

"Abhinandan!" he called even louder, and I pressed my hands against my ear, sitting on the couch. His blood stuck on my attire, and the comforter of my mental peace was tearing apart.

My ethics hang between being a brother and being a revenge seeker.

I will never forget that he betrayed my family, and I knew the reason why he did so. I was okay with that. I was OK with him betraying me. But, the moment she included Nandani in all of these, it was unacceptable. A true warrior would never hide behind a woman.

"Abhinandan, please, let me in, please," he begged loudly, and a soldier approached me.

"Yuvraj, there is a man outside calling for you," he informed me, and I closed my eyes, pressing my face down into my knees.

I did not want to hear him.

But he was my sister's husband now.

"What should we do?" he asked, and I inhaled sharply, controlled my tears and looked at him.

"Let him in," I declared.

I knew this would change the whole trajectory of our lives. A person always has a choice: peace over war, life over death, forgiveness over revenge.

And, it was never in my heart to put the latter before the former.

The soldier walked away from there, and I palmed my face and pressed my back against the couch.

In only a few moments, Rudra marched into the chamber and hurriedly walked closer to me.

"Abhinandan, listen to me," he almost begged and sat before me, kneeling.

"I know whatever I have done is unforgivable, and I do not deserve your forgiveness. But, Nandani, she is innocent," he said, and I sighed deeply.

"She is anything but innocent," I declared, and he stepped closer before catching my attention.

"She is. She loved me, always, and all she wanted was to marry me. Her only mistake was trusting me blindly. She knew everything I had been through and chose to stand beside me. Her love for me is pure, so pure that it becomes venom by touching me. She is unnecessarily targeted," he said, and I chuckled.

"You called her a scar," I reminded him. I had seen the letter my father found in his chamber before he left. It was not signed, but I knew it was him who had done this.

"And, yet, I proudly wear that scar as my Queen. She sits beside my throne," he exclaimed, my brows thinned with confusion.

"Throne?" I asked.

He nodded. "I won, Suryagarh," he declared, and I chuckled.

I did not know about it. When, how, what? And, seeing his eyes not move even a tiniest bit, I realised he was speaking truth. I looked away for a moment, unable to digest it. But, as soon as the shock wore off, and the sprinklers of proud rained over me, a smile appeared on my face.

He was a King now. Oh My God.

"Bastard!" I laughed even more and cupped his neck. He smiled weakly, and I questioned.

"What happened to Surgami Dev Singh?" I asked, referring to the former King of Suryagarh.

"He ran away," he said, and I nodded, asking.

"Why?"

He lowered his gaze for a moment and then stood up to sit beside me.

"Long story short, he extended his hand in marriage with Nandani. After what happened between her and me, she decided to arrange a Swayamwar, and all the Kings and Princes arrived. In that, she chose to marry him, my uncle, the elder brother of my late father, the King," he said, and I laughed even more.

"Now, you know how it feels when someone gets on the last nerve, especially Nandani," I asked, and he nodded.

"It was the last thing I was expecting. I mean, I never meant to serve the scar letter, but I forgot it in the chamber. I had already realised my mistake a long time before leaving. Trust me, nothing happened that night. I did not even touch her. She is pure and innocent," he said, and I lowered down my gaze.

"Why leave her then? If you wanted to marry her, love her, why did you leave?" I asked, and he wiped the blood off his lips.

"Because she was a Princess, and I was nothing but a King's guard. I had no place but a tiny room in my own Kingdom. And seeing her spending their life as a commoner was the last thing I would have ever wanted. But she planned otherwise. She enraged me to the level where I found her walking out from the Surgami Dev Singh's chamber after midnight," he said, and my eyes widened with shock.

"No way!" I declared, and he nodded.

"Yes, she did it. You tell me what choice I had rather than doing what I did. She did not want to marry anyone other than my uncle, and I did not want her to marry my uncle. And the way he slut-shamed him. I lost it, Abhi. I lost it all. I waged a war against him. I killed the soldiers who chose to stand beside him, and he ran away. And, I claimed the throne. And, since your sister was promised to be the Queen of Suryagarh, I married her," he finished, and I inhaled sharply.

"Did she want to marry you?" I asked, and he chuckled.

"Well, in that she is not-so-innocent," he declared, and a broad smile appeared on my face.

"She played you," I laughed, and he nodded.

"I dare not speak it aloud because she is my beautiful, intelligent Queen-wife. If she ever learns that I dared to say it... she will begin cleaning the whole Hind," he said, and I laughed harder.

I knew it. A lone tear rolled down my cheek.

"Now, you know her," I agreed, and he nodded.

"I love her so much, Abhi. I cannot even tell you how much so much means to me. After knowing who exactly my father was, she was the only person I wanted to live with and hold on to. Because I know that she might get mad over me but would never want me hurt," he said, and I gulped silently.

"You know now?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Your mother told me," he said, and I placed my hand on his.

"It would be dreadful to realise that your whole life you worked on for the wrong thing, for the lies," I could not stop myself from saying. I nodded, letting the tears fall down his cheeks.

"I am so sorry, Abhi. I am so so so sorry. I know Nandani would have forgiven me, but what I did to you was unforgivable," he said, and I turned to look at him.

"You are the only culprit. It seems like all the people around me are betrayers. Or maybe I was standing on the wrong side," I muttered weakly, and he immediately hugged me.

"You are not. You can never be. I never wanted your father to discover that Nandani slept in my chamber. I thought she would wake up and go for hers. I backed out... I backed out when I realised that I would end up hurting her beyond repair. Bu... but everything just happened. Trust me, I swear on my mother. I did have bad intentions but was not capable of implementing them," he muttered in a broken voice, and my heart told me to believe him.

Stupid heart of mine!

I immediately hugged him back.

This was the last time I believed him. The next time of betrayal would be his death.

"I am so sorry, Abhi," he begged, and I inhaled sharply and patted his shoulder.

"You have lost your best friend but earned a brother-in-law," he chuckled and pulled back.

"Urgh, if someone finds out that the King of Suryagarh and the Prince of Mahabaleshgarh are crying over something, they would mark that as the funnier moment in history," I exclaimed, and he laughed.

I clapped twice to call for an attendee.

"Bring something to eat," I ordered, and Rudra immediately stood up.

"No, no, I must leave. Your sister would be crying out of worry," he said, and I nodded.

"Tell me, when are you going to Mahabaleshagrh? She is eager to meet you," he said, and I smiled weakly.

"Never. I might have listened to whatever you said, but I have not forgiven anyone—not my parents, Nandani, or anyone," I declared and stood up.

"But, Abhi, she is worried for you," he tried to say, and I walked away. She does not have to. I was just worried for her well-being. She is happy, and I am content with that." I finished and asked the soldiers to help him leave the Kingdom.

He sighed deeply and walked away from there silently.

I spent the rest of the day taking a bath and drowning in the intoxicated liquid. My head hurt to think about any of them.

My parents, Rudra, Nandani, Trisha, and all of them.

Even if I had forgiven them, I would not know if things would ever return to their previous state.

I felt like dead. My body burnt in the sunlight, lying on the bed of the highest chamber of Pratapgarh, half-naked, high and lost.

My eyes did open, and I noticed the brightness invading my gaze, but it was too dark to penetrate my soul.

I lay under the sheets. The attendees walked in to ask if I needed anything, but I could not figure out what I needed.

"Yuvraj!" suddenly, the secret informer of mine walked in with worry on his face.

"What?" I asked lazily, and he stepped closer.

"The former King of Suryagarh, Surgami Dev Singh, is found near the Pratapgarh territories," the moment he informed me, my eyes snapped open.

"And, the army of Suryagarh finding him?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"No, I think they do not know," he said, and I looked at his face, noticing that he had more to say.

"I think he is planning an attack on Suryagarh too," he finished, and I immediately stepped down from the bed. "The hag!" I cursed out, and my head spun like anything. I quickly sat back and asked an attendee to prepare a bath for me.

I need a clearer mind to act.

After getting ready and preparing my soldiers, I began to move forward towards the Mahabaleshgarh.

But, in the middle of the forest, I found Rudra, Ranvijay and Agastya riding towards me.

"What is it?" I asked, immediately pulling the horse's rope. He lifted his front two feet to put the break.

"Nandani," Rudra breathed out, and my heart immediately split in two. "Nandani is missing," he finishes.

"What the fuck are you saying?" I immediately stepped down the horse and ran towards him. Grabbing his collar, I pulled him down, and Agastya immediately held me from behind.

"Abhinandan, Surgami Dev Singh kidnapped her," he informed, and I looked at him with confusion.

"How the hell did he come in here?" I asked. They looked at each other.

"I thought you were helping him," Ranvijay said, and I knit my brows.

"Why would I? If I had to wage a war, I am capable alone of doing it," I stated, and Rudra caught our attention.

"Let's not waste time and ride to the place that Suman told us about," his words quickly hurried us, and we all reached to find my sister, only in a complete, long nightgown, held under a knife to her throat by an oversized, muscular, tall man. My fingers shook as I noticed her condition.

My blood boiled to kill Rudra instantly. She was in here because of him.

But it was too late. He stepped down from his horse and inhaled a deep breath, looking at her.

"Comfortable, little bird?" he asked, raking his eyes from left to right. I followed his gaze to count the soldiers we needed to fight.

But, the scary part was that my sister was a captive of them.

Before we began the fight, I considered all the possible plans to escape her from the man, but Rudra started a tricky game.

"Clearly not," Nandani looked pissed off.

"It's good too," I angrily grabbed his collar when Rudra said it.

But, to my surprise, instead of panicking, Nandani asked the butcher to kill her. They went into a wordy fight, and I stood yelling at him until I understood it was just to distract them. At the peak of their drama, Rudra pulled out a needle knife and threw it right into the butcher's hand. He backed out and walked forward to Nandani immediately.

I inhaled deeply as I looked at them. My eyes widened with shock, along with Agastya's and Rnavijay's, when she slapped him.

"What if you missed it?" she asked, and he smiled, hugging her. "Not possible, my love,"

I rolled my eyes, feeling disgusted. How could he show his love and do such things in front of his brother?

Mannerless couple.

I looked at them together. She did not look like she was in pain with him. She seemed absolutely fine, even better. Her face was glowing despite what had just happened.

A calm on my face and a tiny smile on my lips appeared when I saw him caring for her. It did not seem like an act. It was natural.

And it was proven right when he saw the marks of fingers on her cheek and brushed her hair lightly. He definitely knew something.

After that, what he did made me feel slightly proud of him. He grabbed that tall, muscular man and began punching him.

Meanwhile, I grabbed the collar of Suryadev, who tried to run.

"Kaha chacha,"

"Where, uncle?"

He was anything but an uncle—a serpent in the history of Kingdoms.

I noticed that butcher screaming at the top of his lungs when Rudra put his feet on his back and fisted onto his shoulder-length hair. A bitter, metallic taste came over my tongue as I saw him pulling his hair tightly to the extent that his flesh started to tear apart, and blood began oozing out.

This was not it. He kept pulling it so hard that his skull opened, and his brain's inside flesh became visible. The blood pooled around him before he died.

I looked away for a moment. It was way too brutal.

The soldiers of Surygarh held Surgami Dev Singh captive, and I walked towards Nandani.

"I missed you, Nandani," I could not stop myself from saying, and she immediately hugged me.

"I missed you too, Nand," she broke into little cries, and I released the hug.

"I am sorry for whatever happened," I said, realising that she was just the victim of an illusion—an illusion people proudly call love.

"I am sorry how it happened," she said, and I smiled weakly.

No doubt she badly wanted anything but Rudra. I was right.

"We should head back home, Abhi. You are coming, too," Rudra's voice caught my attention, and I caressed Nandani's head a little and asked.

"Learn to request, man," I teased him, and he inhaled deeply.

"Alright, you are coming too, Abhi, request," he said, and I sighed deeply.

I would surely make him beg over something someday.

"I will never understand what you saw in him. Such an egoist man he is," I exclaimed, and a tear rolled down Nandani's cheek. She hugged me tightly once again.

"You are coming, Nand,"

She begged in a breaking voice, and I knew people would call me a moron for melting over this.

But she was a sister. I loved her.

"Alright, sister," I could not stop myself from saying and kissing her head. I knew she loved me too—maybe more than Rudra, too.

Maybe she was just enjoying being a Queen with Rudra, nothing else. That man deserved that.

"Come," Rudra said, asking for her hand. She looked at me, and I nodded slightly and muttered.

"We are coming behind. I said, referring to Ranvijay, Agastya and me.

They climbed the rose, and we rode back to the Suryagarh.

But, strangely, we reached before them, and it worried me to wait for her.

The doors opened, and I noticed him walking in with her in his arms.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

I rolled my eyes, and my teeth gritted. I could not settle for one thing.

Did they love each other or not?

After a few more banters, I finally found a guest chamber in Suryagarh and washed myself before sleeping.

I decided to talk to Nandani with a fresh mind in the morning and did exactly like this.

The next day, I went to meet her first.

I asked an attendee to guide me towards her chamber, and I sent the informant, who let me in.

When I found Rudra around her, I clicked my tongue with frustration and asked him.

"Why are you always around her?"

He smiled and took a step forward.

"Because she always needs me," he said, and I rolled my eyes. His voice was so irritating.

"Why do you always need him?" I asked my sister, but he chose to reply, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Because I am the only one who can fulfil all her nee-,"

"Shut up, Rudra," I immediately cut him off.

"Alright, I am leaving you two alone. Please do not fight over me," he said, and I scoffed.

"Oh, do not give yourself that much importance because you are not," I said, and he smiled before leaving the two of us alone.

"Idiot!" I cursed before he left. And Nandani chuckled.

Nandani and I had a long conversation about whatever happened. And I realised no one was wrong. It was just that the situation played well. We all dived into the well of miscommunications and became each other's enemies.

Also, I did not care for anything or anyone because no one cared. I was just happy because she was happy with him. That was what I ever wanted. We were twins of the same age, with the same understanding and maturity. So, I could not blame her because I knew more than she did.

Because I did not.

She knew what she wanted, and she pursued it and got it. In the end, she was happy, and she looked delighted, and I was pleased with that.

It went late in the morning till we talked, almost at breakfast time, and I asked her to ask for Rudra so that he could join us too.

It did not matter, but he was part of our family. And I wanted it for him, too. It was the prime purpose of bringing him into my home. To make him happy with a family.

I did not know he was seeing a family-in-law in us.

After breakfast, an attendee informed me that Guruji was here, and I was surprised.

We all walked out and took his blessings. He looked slightly weaker than before.

I heard him addressing Rudra.

"With the grace of God, we have found an eligible bachelor for our Trisha. We have decided to marry her on the twentieth day of the next month," he finished, and I stood frozen.

It was happening.

I could not trust her before, but now her father sent invitations.

No.

No. No. No.

She could not marry.

Not after what she did to me. She had not even appropriately apologised.

"We will surely come, Guruji," Rudra said and then Guruji turned to look at me.

"Prince Abhinandan, I have also gone to Mahabaleshgarh to invite your family. I will be delighted if you will also come," his expressions were stiff while talking to me. Something had changed.

He looked angry at me, but I just smiled weakly.

"Ji, Guruji," I muttered.

Suddenly, the world started to suffocate me, and I took a step back. I heard Guruji suggesting Rudra do the crowning ceremony next week, and I muttered.

"I have to go,"

I wanted to run away, leave this place for once and all. It was eating me raw all of a sudden. It was killing me.

"What? Why?" Nandani asked, and I took a few more steps away.

I needed to do something. She could not marry like that. Not after I denied her. I would lose her forever. I might not see her ever.

The mere thought of someone else touching her inappropriately was killing me. I could not even imagine it in my darkest of thoughts. Leave someone; I could not imagine myself touching her either. She was too pure for that.

 I raked my fingers in my hair to keep my composure and stepped back.

"Something is urgent," I declared and rode back to Pratapgarh from there.

I had to think of something. I had to do something.

 But what?

I needed my mother.

Fuck everything.

I cursed out. The next day I quickly rode back to my Kingdom. Mahabaleshgarh.

Another Update!!!

Do not forget to vote, comment and share the book.

Love You All ❤️❤️❤️