The following evening Tiasha invited Duryodhan for a walk in the royal garden after dinner.

Tiasha arrived dressed in a baby blue blouse skirt and uttyaria and minimal golden jewellery. Hair tied in a loose low bun, a few curly stands of hair framing her moon-like face.

Tiasha entered the royal garden and went straight to Duryodhan. Duryodhan smiled seeing his Sakhi approaching him.

-"Greetings, Sakhi.", Duryodhan greeted.

-"Good evening, Sakha." Tiasha smiled. Her heart leapt seeing Karna there standing with her Sakha.

Duryodhan invited his two Mitras for a walk in the garden. He said he himself had an invitation from someone for the walk, and he wanted to introduce said person to his dear Mitras.

Karna and Ashwatthama were surprised to see Tiasha there. And what did she just call him?

-"Come Sakhi, let me introduce you to my Mitras, this is Mitra Ashwatthama, he is our guru Putra, and you already know Mitra Karna."

-"I already know who they are Sakha, but your Mitras don't know me..."

-"Oh sorry, Ashwa, Karna, this is Tiasha, or Kumari Tiasha, if you want, she is my Sakhi."

Ashwatthama looked at Tiasha and Duryodhan.

-"Angaraj already knows me, Sakha." Tiasha gave a warm smile to Karna. Karna blushed. He never expected her to say that out loud. He thought she might have forgotten him. If not then also she won't let anyone know that they knew each other.

Duryodhan eyed them, "How?"

-"I became a guest in his house for two days, after he saved my life." Tiasha kept looking at Karna.

Duryodhan asked, "What do you mean saved your life Sakhi?"

-"You haven't heard?" Tiasha shifted her attention to Duryodhan.

-"What?"

-"Everyone in the castle is talking about me, Sakha, showing me sympathy which I didn't ask for and you are saying you haven't heard my story?" Tiasha asked amused at the expression of the three warriors before her.

-"No, I haven't heard anything, I was going to ask you about yourself during our walk."

"Well..." Tiasha started narrating her story as they sat under a tree, near a artificial lake.

When she finished she noticed Ashwatthama clutching his fists. Duryodhan was fuming and Karna...

His face was red in anger, his teary eyes fixed on her face.

Tiasha sighed.

Duryodhan stood up, "Ashwa, Karna be ready we are going for a war against Banga Pradesh."

Tiasha shot up from where she was sitting, and Karna and Ashwatthama followed.

-"Sakha, what are you saying?"

-"I am going to give you your justice Sakhi, I will wage a war against your relatives and will bring them to your feet."

-"Sakha, calm down. You can not rush something by your emotions. Think rationally, you are in no position to wage a war, and besides..." Tiasha lowered her head.

Ashwatthama noticed Tiasha's saddened expression, he put a hand on Duryodhan's shoulder, silently telling him to calm down.

He asked, "Besides what Kumari?"

Tiasha blinked her eyes to control the tears forming in her eyes.

What a funny situation this is. She has made a friend who is willing to wage war for her. And all of it is a lie, the story she told them. She felt guilty. But she can't do anything. Her hands are tied.

She said in a teary voice, "That place has nothing but pain for me there. I have no one there. I have made a family here, I have friends like you. I don't want to go back. I wanted a new start away from all of it, I found it here, among you. I don't want to go there. I don't want to be alone anymore, please let me stay here."

Seeing her teary eyes and hearing her words Duryodhan calmed down, "No, you don't have to go anywhere, you stay with us, here."

He took Tiasha in his embrace, "I promise you Sakhi, you will never be alone after this, we will always be there with you."

Tiasha saw Ashwatthama and Karna smiling at her, "We promise, we will never let you be alone anymore."

They thought her past experiences brought tears to her eyes, but she knew that was half true. She never cried over her bad fortune or horrible experiences. She felt guilty lying to these people who were loving her like a family she never had.

Tiasha smiled. Duryodhan beckoned his two Mitras and they shared a group hug.

Duryodhan releases Tiasha from the hug, "Tomorrow is Mitra Karna's coronation, and you will be there with us." Tiasha nodded with a smile.

Ashwatthama smiled, "It's getting late, tomorrow is the big day, we should head back. You all need some rest."

They were going to head back inside when Tiasha stopped Karna.

-"Angaraj, can I talk to you for a second?" Tiasha said in a small voice, a pink tint visible on her cheeks. This whole time, Tiasha had been trying to conceal her racing heart, brushing her face and maintaining a confident look. However, now she failed miserably.

Ashwatthama had a frown on his face, but he masked it with a small smile. while Duryodhan was grinning playfully, and Karna nodded with a blush on his cheeks.

Duryodhan set a hand on Ashwatthama's shoulder, "Come Ashwa, we are not needed here anymore."

-"It's nothing like that, I just want to ask something..." Tiasha pouted.

-"Sure you do Sakhi."

Duryodhan and Ashwatthama left while giving one final teasing glance towards the duo.

An awkward silence enveloped them as both of them stood at a loss for words.

Finally, Tiasha broke the silence, clearing her throat, "How is Radha maa?"

Karna sighed remembering his last encounter with his mother, "She is ok." During all of that, he forgot to mention to Radha that he found her daughter. She will be happy to see her again. Radha Maa always talked about her after she left. She had made a permanent place in his mother's heart.

-"I am sorry, Angaraj, I couldn't talk to you before, and I am sorry I couldn't tell you anything about myself when I stayed at your place."

-"It's okay Devi, you don't have to apologize, I understand, you must have your reasons."

-"It's hard for me to talk about my past. so..." Tiasha tried justifying looking down.

-"I understand." Karna smiled sympathetically.

-"I want to go see Radha maa, I promised her I would go back as soon as I can, I need to explain everything to her." she looked at him with hopeful eyes, "She will be there tomorrow at your coronation right?"

Karna sighed and gave her a sad smile, "No Devi, my parents won't be there tomorrow, the burden of the crown is mine alone, they didn't want to be a part of it."

-"Your crown is not your burden, and even if they are not physically present they are always here."

Tiasha softly touched the skin above Karna's heart. A wave of electricity passed through both of their bodies. They blushed furiously and Tiasha stepped away from him, realising how close they were standing to each other.

-"I will always be there for you, just like you promised you will be there for me."

Karna smiled warmly at her then cleared his throat, "It's late, I think we should head back. I shall escort you to your chamber, Devi."

-"There's no need, I will be able to..." Tiasha got cut off by Karna, "I insist, Devi." He wanted to have a little more time with her.

Tiasha nodded. Both of them kept sealing glances at each other as they walked towards Tiasha's chamber.

Karna and Tiasha stood in front of her chamber.

"Good night, Angaraj."

"Good night Devi." they smiled at each other. Karna turned to leave while Tiasha kept standing at the doorstep until he went out of sight. she went back inside, a toothy smile and a blush appearing simultaneously on her face remembering what just happened.

A pair of hazel eyes watched this interaction from behind a pillar.

-XX-

A short update, I just wanted to write a cute moment between Karna and Tiasha. I hope you like it. Do tell me if you want more like this one. Because I enjoyed writing it so much.

Thank you all for your love and support. When I first started writing this I never thought so many people would read and actually be interested in my story. Now I have 222 votes, more than 50 comments and 3.5k reads. This is insane. I don't know how to thank you all. Leave a comment and let me know which part you liked and what you didn't like.

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Take care, Adios, my lovely readers.