Sikva, capital city of Kavish

In the dark city where everyone was at the city square for the Rati festival, a pair of tiny-belled-anklets tinkled in rapid intervals. By the sound of it, one could guess it as the dancing anklets but hearing it in a quiet place could frighten some especially at night. The tinkles were heard in a few places in the city, one place at a time as if the wearer was in search of someone or something.

The sound of the anklets then reached the dark empty temple, she retired for a break in the premise. Nakshathra dropped her head on her palms, disappointed at her futile search. The scene of Dhruva in the crowd and disappearing the next moment was still vivid in her mind. Her happiness knew no bound as she rushed down the stage as soon as she saw him at the end of her performance but when Arunya regarded it as her imagination, every bit of excitement drained out of her.

Could it be, she thought and wanted to prove her friend wrong thus she commenced her search for the man she saw in the crowd. Her eyes would not betray her, out of many other occasion and leisure times why would her silly mind want to think of Dhruva during her performance? Nakshathra huffed at Arunya's quick conclusion. But with her search unfruitful, perhaps Arunya was right.

Her guards Janardan and three others sat with her at the temple premise, accompanying her silently. They had no idea of why she was running everywhere in the city but they followed her nonetheless without a question. Nakshathra swept her glance on all four concern and exhausted faces. She should at least tell them why; they were her friends after all.

"You think I have gone crazy," she affirmed as she recalled her frantic behaviour on going around the city.

Everyone who had seen her running on the streets would have thought the same. Or worse they might think she was trying to elope especially when her guards tailed her. There were enough reasons to pick up and make stories, one of them would obviously be Abhimanyu. She drummed her fingers on her knees.

Her guards quickly retorted to her claim. "Not at all but if you don't want us to start thinking you became one, tell us. Only if we need to know," said Janardan, a little uninterested. Heads snapped at Janardan for telling her otherwise.

"I have been searching for someone, actually," she begun. "Remember the guy who helped Arivu? The one I asked to stay in Rishi Bhadra's ashram?"

"Oh, yes. Stay for free. I remember," chuckled Revanth, one of the guards and the rest nodded in agreement.

As much as she didn't want to do it, she did. A stare that wasn't even considered as a stare, they disregarded it with another round of cackle. "Yes, I let them stay for free. The place was such. Anyway listen, I was told they left a few days after the fire incident but I saw one of them in the crowd at the end of my performance. I'm looking for him." Nakshathra bent forward and whispered to avoid being heard. No one knew who was in the dark temple with them and it was safe to be cautious and be silent.

They looked at each other as if passing message through their eyes, each one had a glint of mischievous in their eyes. Slowly one by one smirked. "What's going on? Why are you looking for him? Care to share?"

The guards revealed they had doubted about it when they heard Nakshathra and Arunya spoke about Dhruva every other time since she recovered. It had only been a doubt all the while until that very moment. Nakshathra hid her suppressed smile behind her hand possibly her shyness too, she wasn't sure why she did it but it came to her naturally.

"Oh, finally!" Her guards hooted merrily; birds perched on the trees flapped away from the noise.

"Shh..." she sibilates, her index finger on her lip.

"Well, I don't know what's his feelings for me and I hope I did not imagine him in the crowd just now... But we didn't see him anywhere, did we? Could it be my imagination like Arunya said?" her voice cracked a little.

Unlike Arunya, the guards guessed Dhruva's possible return and his appearance at the festive could be real. "He might have gone out of your sight for a reason," they said, hypothetically.

Sitting in the dark with dim light from the lantern they had lit in the temple didn't help her much. The more she discussed with her guards on Dhruva's disappearance the more she got confused. Nakshathra abandoned her guards at the temple, picked up a lantern from the temple and headed to the riverside to get some relaxation.

The dark sky with shinning crescent and stars watched the gleaming strong river flow towards the ocean. The sound of the water hitting the rocks and sweeping the edge of the riverbed was what she needed, ferocious yet controlled. The monsoon wind blew with chilling crispness, Nakshathra hugged herself and minced closer to the river.

As if her legs had their own mind, they stride along the edge of the river. With the little help of the lamp, she carried along, Nakshathra tried to balance herself on the rocky edge. In the cold and wet weather, she had no idea why she did what she did but it did give her some excitement. Even some not-so-great possibilities of her falling in the river came in her mind. She shuddered at the thought and diverted her way back to the temple.

But on one wrong step, her leg slipped and lose its balance, her body weight throwing her towards the flowing river. Nakshathra almost felt her eyes pop out of its socket, her heart out through her mouth as she saw her mild reflection, suspended inches away from the water. Someone had caught her hand at the nick of the time, saving her from another fatal fall.

"Careful, Rajakumari." She heard the voice said and pulled her away but her creative mind disregarded the call and instantly worked a scene in her head of her falling into the river, being washed away down to a steep channel. Nakshathra quivered at the image formed in her head. I could have died.

After an incident of what she would call as a narrow escape, Nakshathra shuddered away from her own imagination only to realise the person who saved her held her hand in a tight grip. They were merely an arm's length away when she lifted her small lamp up to her face to get a better view.

Nakshathra could have sworn to have her heartbeat stopped from a second when their eyes met. Her stretched lips shrunken, her eyes got wider and her hand slowly dropped to her side. An inexplicable moment of silence passed between the two of them.

"Dhruva..." she mouthed, breathing live into their static moment.

The cold wind gushed in every direction, pregnant clouds loomed above them and thunder rumbled threatening for a heavy downpour yet none moved from their spot. Although she had been in search of him for the past couple of hours, seeing him in front of her seemed unreal. How did he know she would come to the riverside, was he following her all the while?

Nakshathra lifted the lamp once again to confirm the man in front of her was indeed Dhruva and not as Arunya mentioned—a look alike. "So, we meet again," her voice shivered in the cold, catching her breath and calming her trembling hands and shaking legs.

He however, tightened the grip around her hand and pulled her closer to him. "What were you trying to do?" Dhruva's husky voice reverberated with a tinge of anger.

Nakshathra had another series of heartbeat skips. His presences, their proximity and simply him had her dumbstruck to even utter a single response.

"Who in their sound mind would walk at the edge of the river at night? What would have happened to you had I not been here to save you?" Dhruva shook her out of her trance.

Blinking away, she spoke "I would have got washed away," in a monotone before averting her gaze from his intense stare. Warmness engulfed her despite the chilly weather.

She looked up when his loosen hold grew tighter around her hand again. Had not it been for the lantern, Nakshathra wouldn't have seen the glimmering tears pooled in one of his eyes and a tear cascaded down his cheek from another.

Involuntarily, Nakshathra cupped his cheek and wiped the tear. "I'm fine and am still in one piece," she joked but either of the hardly laughed.

"I... Don't do this anymore, understand?" Dhruva whispered and let go of her hand.

She nodded and from nowhere butterflies found their way into her, fluttering in her stomach. The man she had been thinking of ever since she woke up from the tragic fire was standing before her now. She had much to know, so much to say but, "So, we meet again," she said putting enough distant between them for a normal conversation, otherwise she feared what she would do without her control.

The corners of his mouth turned up. "Like a continuity from the time we last met...," Dhruva spoke as a matter of fact. Though it wasn't how he anticipated to meet her, life surprised him with how fate and circumstances have allied together. He chuckled softly at the play of fate. Life is a circle after all, you meet again from where you left.

"It does seem like that," she agreed, hands falling to her side once again. "Were you following me?" she asked. If his answer was a yes, she swore she would throw rocks on him for making her run around the city.

"No, why?"

"Were you in the crowd earlier, watching the performance?" Nakshathra countered him with another question.

"Yes, I was."

She let out a breath, at least she was sure she didn't imagine him there. "Then why did you leave so soon. You could have waited and meet me before you go, right?"

Dhruva averted his gaze from her. How am I to tell her why I left, why I shouldn't be here at all? "I had my reasons, Rajakumari."

Nakshathra nodded her head mindlessly; her gaze fell on the flowing river. Her mind debated on what she should say to him next. Should I tell him I... What is it that I have for him? I wanted to meet him so badly and now he is here, I have got nothing to say? Maybe I should just leave. No, what if he leaves again without telling me?

Nakshathra couldn't allow herself the kind of confusion to take control, she sat on one of the many rocks and gestured Dhruva to a nearest one. Her fingers alternatively drummed on her knees and bunched her saree restlessly as she tried to assemble the right words in her mind before speaking. The rush of the water increased rapidly and so did the damp in the air.

"Now that you are here, I... want you to know that I'm grateful for your help. You saved me not once but twice ... a thank you won't be sufficient to repay you. Not just for me, but your favour to my people is even greater than saving my life. You brought them back home safely. Dhruva, you are an acquaintance I would like to have with me...."

Shiver ran down his spine when she tore her gaze from the river and set right on his. They sparkled so bright he wanted to see them up close. Closer than they were earlier. A splash of water from the river pulled him out of his drift. "I just did what I felt was right, to bring the lost back to their family, that's what anyone would have done. As for saving you, it's destiny. I was sent to save you, I believe."

Dhruva smiled in a way it tumbled her heart. The light from the lamp highlighted his enticing facial features at the same time something was pulling her back too. Her mind begun to ready itself for a rejection from him even before she could share anything with him.

"So, why did you come back?"

Dhruva scratched the back of his neck. "I learnt about the Pareen alliance coming for you. I have also heard about prince Abhimanyu. So, I thought I should give a heads up about him," confessed Dhruva.

"Why would you do that? Do you think you could have stopped it? My brothers couldn't..."

"I don't know if I could have helped you stopped it or not... all I knew was he wasn't the right man for you... especially after knowing you. You deserve someone who would respect you and put you in an important place in his life which Abhimanyu won't."

"Will you?" She asked him.

Nakshathra's question caught him off guard.

He shied away. "I'm... I'm just..." His mind and heart battled within, each contradicting to the other. Debating to uncover his disguise and take her hand right away while the other cautioning him for an uncontrollable riot that might start from the very union. "I'm just a common man, I doubt I could provide half the comfort you have in your palace..." he lied.

"I don't need an opulence lifestyle Dhruva... I never dreamt of it either..."

"I am afraid I can't give you."

"I didn't ask if you can give me those... will you do what you said Abhimanyu can't?" Nakshathra asked, firmness injected in her words as she looked straight into his eyes for an answer.

Silence followed with only the raging river and howling of the wind surround them. Nakshathra hugged herself tight occasionally rubbing her arms to keep her warm. The lover boy in Dhruva wanted nothing but to keep her warm from the cold weather but as the prince of Durja, it was best he stayed in his place. Each time Nakshathra tore her gaze from the lamp to him, his heart leaped to say how much space she had taken in his heart for simply no reason.

He knew what lies behind her question and he knew he had his answer as well. Yes. Yes, I can give you more than just respect and importance. I could give you, my life. And when his look down at his palm, the turned over family ring reminded him of their enmity. Has the queen really renouncement her enmity? There was no answer for it.

There seems to be an invisible magnetic ball levitating and revolving between them. He could feel the constant pull toward and push away from her. At one moment, he wanted to tell her truth and the other moment, no. He was swaying away, uncertain of himself and the future for them both together.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you that," she broke the silence.

"It's... fine..."

"When are you leaving?" Nakshathra diverted their topic of conversation for her own sanity.

"Tomorrow."

"Can you meet me before you leave. I'll be at Koshilkoot tomorrow."

"I will," he answered instantly, without a second thought.

The speed of his answer was the only thing which lifted her spirit on the cold night. A small ray of hope, a way to nurture her tender feelings for him. Maybe she would use the opportunity to disclose to him of her desire to only have a happy and peaceful life and not a plush life. Dhruva could be anyone, a farmer or a fisherman; he could be anyone, she didn't care. Beyond his helping and kind nature, he had something else that attracted her to him. An aura of love, acceptance wrapped around him and she wanted to be in it with him.

For the time being, she knew she had to wait. Tomorrow might not be as how she anticipate; it might turn sweet maybe sour too. Nakshathra glance up the dark sky when a heavy drop of rain fell on her hand then another, followed by burst of shower.

Dhruva pulled her to get cover under a nearby tree. "Let's wait till the rain reduces a little," he said as he scanned for a better shelter close by.

The act took her by surprise but she was quick to recover. Nakshathra stepped back and glanced above them. Under the large tree, its canopy thick but she knew it was a matter of time before they get drenched in the rain. "Quit it now. There isn't any nearby place for a shelter. If we run, we'll get wet, for sure."

He turned to her, "we'll run then," he said. It sounded as if him suggesting her to leave everything behind and go with him but she should have known better. "Which way?" He asked.

Such a disappointment, she huffed and glanced at the temple, her vision blurred through the rain drops.

"Temple, my guards are there." Nakshathra did not wait, she grabbed his hand and sprinted in the direction with another hand shielding from her eyes from the rain.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Throwing her braided hair behind her shoulders, Nakshathra tore her chamber door open. Sunlight filled her chamber. Janardan was waiting for her at her door front with a big smile, fresh and ready for the day. Her eyes scanned for the rest and raised an eyebrow.

"They promised to catch up with us later. Last night's rain really took a toll on us. How about you, good?" He asked, marching behind her in a steady speed.

She nodded her head in respond and continued to walk past the array of soldiers stood along the wall. It was a new day and she expected herself to be in her best state regardless of how it would turn out by the end of the day. The entire night had gone by mulling over between her intuition and her desire.

Every sign she received from Dhruva last night had been both welcoming and repulsing, it made her sleepless all night. When Arunya woke her up the next morning, she had fallen asleep on her work table drooling over her scattered scripts added to her wet hair spread over it. Thank God for it was just empty sheets. Nakshathra scurried to the bath area without sparring a word to Arunya and got herself readied for the day despite Arunya's offer to help.

"You should have taken the extra hour to rest, Janardan. I thought I made it clearly yesterday."

"You did but I wanted to accompany you today. It's an hour ride from here and you are not advised to go far without us... If any of the princes knew—" Nakshathra raised a hand and turned to give a knowing smile with a nod.

"Where are you going, Nakshathra? Please finish your breakfast before you go. Nakshathra!" Arunya ran after the duo with a plate in her hand. "You haven't eaten anything since last afternoon, you will fall sick. Nakshathra!" She called, desperate for Nakshathra to stop in her track.

Nakshathra did stop. Her eyes taking in the girl before her, dark circles peeked under her eyes and shoulders sagged. Arunya was on the verge of falling sick herself and she was worried of her well and fit lady. "More than me, you should take rest and eat well. Look at you, Arunya. You are the one going to fall sick not me. For once, listen to me and take a day off," ordered Nakshathra and scanned for an attendant in her vicinity.

Someone under her order will make sure Arunya gets her share of good sleep and rest. "Don't worry about me. I'll have something later." Nakshathra had said before sending her away with a maiden to look after Arunya. Arunya's feeble condition had Nakshathra worried.

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