"Hayden!" she cried, her eyes soaky and widened.

She walked over quickly and threw her hands around my neck to hug me tight. "Happy Birthday, dear!"

The mixed feelings of happiness and giddiness was something I had never experienced before. It was odd. My eyes were stuck on Doctor, who stood up quite seriously reading my expression. He must have realized that I was in terrible shock finding her here but I wasn't reacting in a way I was supposed to.

She was still holding me, pulling me closer in her warm embrace. First thing that I wanted to do was to just lean down on her shoulder and cry my heart out. Finally my wait for her was over. Standing only a few inches away after all was my only remaining family.

But before I could do anything about it, a righteous person's face flashed vividly before my eyes. I hated myself to do this, but it felt right to forget her twenty years of love she had showered upon me, with just one conversation I had with Shourya.

"What are you doing here?" I was finally able to open my mouth and speak, my eyes still lingering on Doctor, indirectly and sarcastically thanking him for my birthday surprise.

She slowly pulled away, letting her hand still rest on my neck. I had to avert my focus from Doctor and sharply look at her. Her eyes were puffy and her lips blotchy. Traces of tears were visible on her cheeks. It was painful to see her in that state, yet I was trying to stay strong not to just let it go.

"You have changed a lot in a year," she sobbed, a single tear running down her cheek, "Aren't you excited to see me?"

"Thank you for coming," I said without blinking.

She stepped back in disappointment, "Are we thanking each other now?"

"Aunt, why are you here?" I asked, pressing my eyes, finally finding my voice that came out too harsh.

"Hayden," she said, scandalized, "We always meet on your birthday."

"You weren't here last year," I reminded her, "I had to celebrate while crying for my parents, with the people I hardly knew."

She opened her mouth and then quickly shut unable to answer me. But I answered it for her.

"Oh, of course," I said, raising a single eyebrow, "You are here because police might not be keeping a track of you anymore, right?"

"Hayden, stop it," Doctor said it, before she could, "What did I tell you yesterday?"

"So is this the happiness you wanted me to have for today?" I asked him walking completely inside the cabin, "Thank you very much, Doctor."

"I told you not to be angry at her," he said, his voice raising, "It wasn't her fault."

"SHE RUINED SOMEONE'S LIFE!" I bellowed, "SHE IS THE REASON SHOURYA IS SUFFERING FOR YEARS."

"And you have no choice except to forgive her," Doctor said, "Whatever she did, she had to do as a daughter of a king."

I stood slack jawed, staring with revolusion at Doctor. I clenched my fists and fought to remain in the spot.

"She had to do it?" I asked, before my anger bubble my brain, "only because she was Rawat's Princess? I can't believe out of all people you said that."

"You are blaming me?" said my aunt, at once, "Without even giving me a chance to explain?"

"Fine," I said, whirling around, folding my hands, "I am here. Explain."

She sniffed, her voice caught in her throat, her lips quivered as if she was struggling to form words. She quickly wiped her falling tears and said, "I was just ten years old, I didn't know what I was doing. At that point of time, it was the right thing to do."

"And you thought escaping, for god knows how many years, is the right thing to do as well?"

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, "Do you want me to beg for his forgiveness?"

I paused, thinking and then said, "Shourya is a good man. Asking forgiveness might actually seal the deal."

"But it happened a long time ago, Hayden," my aunt contradicted, "and I was just a child."

"It might be some mistake you did in your tender age, Aunt Tanya. But that mistake costed him his everything- his clan, his parents, his identity. He is forced to bound with that one person who killed my parents, your sister you were so jealous of."

"I wasn't jealous, I swear," she said, quickly, "Hayden, how long have you known me? The truth is, I just wanted to be like her, like something she was predicted as. Only if I knew it was a false alarm..."

"So do you atleast accept your mistake?" I asked, not wanting to prolong the conversation anymore.

"You can't take his side," she said, firmly, "You can't chose Shourya over me."

"Why not?"

"Because I nurtured you. I loved you. I deserve you to love me back. I am your Aunt, Hayden. We share the same royal blood. We are family."

I glared at her, unable to understand what she actually meant. Did she mean that just because she claimed to love me, just because she changed a few diapers when I was little, she wanted me to forget the horrendous sin she had committed? I think not!

"You know what," I said, turning around to see Doctor, and words casually flowing out of my mouth,"If possessing royal blood inside my body means to forget and forgive all the mistakes that is costing other people's life, then I don't need such kind of royalty. I don't want to be called as a grandson of a greatest king. I refuse to be someone belonging to The Clan of Rajya!"

I couldn't decipher what sort of blunder I just committed, but my statement suddenly created a huge impact on Doctor. He simply went ballistic on me.

"YOU STOP THERE, RIGHT NOW!"

I flinched. A high menacing electric white sparks emerged all around his palms, that grew into lambent flames encircling all up over his arms. I stepped back watching him in an extreme anger for the first time. My Aunt gasped loudly, her mouth hung open in shock.

"You take your each and every word back, young man," Doctor continued yelling at me, his eyes widened and nostrils flaring. The flames that he had created reducing steadily "You cannot deny what you are!"

"Oh yes I can," I said, not even caring if he might throw a few deadly attacks at me and I might not be able to resist, "You know why? Because I just did."

"HAYDEN..."

Doctor kept on shouting my name but I didn't care. I walked back to my Aunt and said, "Until and unless you accept your mistake, and apologize of what you did to Shourya, I don't want to see you or talk to you again."

"Wha..."

"Don't forget he was your friend!"

I glared at her for the final time before I dashed out of the cabin. I heard a low feeble sound of cry, that made me stop just for a second, a wave a guilt flaring within my heart. But I didn't look back and I resumed walking instead. Placing quick heavy steps, I went ahead straight into the lobby, to find my friends who were already having their breakfast.

Pruthvi and Leena were sitting side by side, across Nazira. I hesitated at first but I was too angry to even to think about it. I dared myself and sat next to her, slightly brushing my arm against hers. Realizing we were too close, she dragged her chair aside and I certainly wasn't glad she did that.

"Wha...what happened?" asked Leena, slightly stammering in apprehension, watching me shoving the pancakes on my plate.

"It's my aunt," I replied, furiously.

"Your aunt?" asked Pruthvi, surprised, "She is here? How did she get here?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean..."

"I did not ask her, okay?" I said angrily, that even startled Nazira a little. Few of the heads in the lobby turned towards me and then quickly reverted back to their normal position to murmur among themselves.

"Don't tell me you fumed over Shourya with her?"

I just having the fork near my mouth to take the first bite, but I couldn't eat the piece. Instead I dropped it on my plate when Pruthvi muttered.

"I did," I replied with a lower voice, and dropped my fork on the table, "And I think I went overboard."

Guilt finally took over my pride. No way I was going to feel this now. My aunt deserved to have a bit of torment about it. But I couldn't deny the fact that I wasn't in my finest behaviour with her as well.

"Come on," said Leena, placing her hand on mine, "You know what you have to do."

I sighed heavily, understanding what she wanted to say. Pressing my eyes shut, I hesitatingly nodded. I pushed my chair back, and made my way back towards the training room to find her. That was always the thing with me, it had become a habit to mess things up and then strive hard to make it right. For instance, everything that had happened with Tyrell.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I walked back towards the training room, and in those few minutes I had, I rehearsed a fine conversation to rectify my mistake. I noticed Doctor and my aunt standing near the entrance of the training room. It seemed as if he was trying to stop her to go anywhere else just yet.

"This is the year the Fest, Tanishka," he was saying, "and it's about to begin in three days. You should return to Dakshinpur earliest by tomorrow."

"The Fest?" My aunt said, finally standing still on the spot, "I've totally forgotten about it. Oh God, it's been twenty five years! Is Hayden..."

"Hayden cannot visit Dakshinpur, atleast for this year,", interjected Doctor, "If everything goes well according to the plan, he might attend the following year but not for now. His presence is required somewhere else."

I furrowed my brow, taking slow steps towards them. It didn't take much time for me to realise that he was talking about the job he was going to give me. Doctor then noticed me approaching. My aunt followed his sight and turned around, looking at me impatiently.

"So?" Doctor asked, raising his eyebrows, as I stood before them.

"I take my words back," I responded immediately.

"Good. I hate to nag on your birthday but here it comes-I sincerely suggest you to think before you speak anything. It's good for you and for the people you care. Do we understand?"

I nodded solemnly.

"Now I should leave you two alone," he said and before he walked away he gave an assuring pat on my shoulder.

I looked at my aunt for a while waiting for her to start but she seemed to have left with no words.

"So, er..." I began, "You are leaving for Dakshinpur?"

"Hayden, your uncle and I got divorced..."

"What?!"

"...and Doctor thinks it's better for me to go back to Paramarashtra for good. Sharad's palace is the only home I can see right now for myself."

"Whoa! Back up," I hedged, and waited for a few moments, unmoving except for the trembling sensation my body was experiencing, "you and uncle...what happened?"

"That day when you called me to bail your friend out, things went totally unpredicted. He doubted me and I had to tell him everything, about you, about your mother..and about me. He couldn't take it as well as you father did..."

"So my father knew," I said, "Great! That makes me feel so much better."

"Hayden..."

"Are there any more bombshells left to drop? Or is it enough for a day?"

"Hayden, why are so stressed? I came here to spend some quality time with you before I go back to..."

"Aunt, I am really sorry about you and uncle. Part of it is my fault," I cut her, and blinked to hold back the moisture in my eyes, "but you have no idea what's going on with me...with my friends. That person...Shashi Thribhuvan, he is doing everything he can to kill me. My friend is in grave danger and he doesn't even know it. And it is all because of me! I end each and every day actually feeling contented that I spent my entire day without hearing anything bad. And yesterday Doctor told me that I might not survive at all, that this is going to be my last birthday. Okay may be I don't care about me surviving and all but...I just need my friend back, that's it."

I was pouring all my melancholy out, expecting a token of sympathy from her. I wanted her to say something that might heal my broken heart but with what she chose to say, completely tore it apart.

"Oh my, you are so like King Harsh!"

I gritted my teeth, putting an effort to swallow my retort but I replied very calmly, "If I were anything like King Harsh, I would have not let any of these crazy stuff happening to us. I would have straight away killed that tall, lean, surprisingly handsome looking monster if I had the chance."

"Whom are you talking about?" She asked, furrowing.

"Who else? Shashi Thribhuvan."

"Tall and lean?" She asked, and bit her lip before she said, "Is that how he looks now?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, nonplussed.

"I know I was only ten when I last saw him but, I do remember how he looks. Sara always used to mock his appearance. May be you are talking about somebody else, because Shashi looks just the opposite, someone who is plump and short."

I gawked at her. My aunt must have noticed the apparent shock registering on my face as I watched her taken aback. I felt a small drop of sweat trickling down my forehead. I was really too absorbed in thinking about ways to save Tyrell that I completely forgot about the portrait I had seen in the Rawat's palace.

I raced my mind. The family portrait of the three Thribhuvans was what I was picturing. There was Shashi in it and there was someone else, looking just like the one I had encountered over Uilani Hill, thinking it was him.

Doctor had mentioned that day when we had the talk, that he would soon clear the confusion. Now he was back with a new job. He had specifically indicated that I forgot my responsibilites. Was he talking about this confusion we were having regarding Shashi's appearance? Did he really find something out?

"Hayden," said my aunt, stepping forward and looked deep into my eyes, taking my hand, "Trust me, everything will be fine."

Everything will not be fine, I thought, not atleast for a while. My mind was still lingering on the job that Doctor was about to send me for, the job that was demanding my life. Well, it was just a matter of few more hours and I might be off to find out what in the damn world Shashi Thribhuvan was really up to.