A FEW WORDS:
Saree - A traditional dress (It's a long fabric that's draped over as a dress (I suck at explaining, you can Google it lol))
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❝My heart is so full of you, I can hardly call it my own.❞ 
Liana Radulescu

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THE NEXT MORNING

THE morning sun rose over the horizon, bathing the training grounds in its eternal halo as clouds floated around. A small yet lethal crowd stood under the sky, determination running like stardust through their veins and igniting the pools of their eyes.

The Maharani entered the grounds, her normal traditional attire exchanged for armors and chainmail as Shree and Aziza stood to her left and right respectively.

The people in front of the sovereign bowed down in courtesy but she gestured for them to stop as she silently eyes the crowd – A group of women from different places, women of different ages yet the same struggle. All of them wore the same expression – determination and hunger. Determination to prove themselves, hunger to finally show what they're capable of, one chance to prove that they weren't the dirt of a man's feet but rather the poison that will be their doom. They were here to show that they were the descendants of the queens who died but never bowed to someone else.

The pools of honey in the queen's eyes burned with authority and power as she looked at the warriors in front of them, some as young as sixteen to some as old as in their mid-forties but all of them tired and ready to fight.

"Why are you all here?" The monarch asked, feeling the hunger surge through the entire grounds, electrifying the air and fueling their bodies with an unknown fierceness.

A woman, in her early twenties walked in front of the crowd – the fabric from her saree covered her face, "We want to fight." Her voice was angry and pained.

"Zara already told you what we want. We want to fight even if it's up until our very last breath. Until the crimson blood is running through our veins and the heart in our chest is thumping, we will fight." She let down the veil in front of her face and squinted – adjusting to the light – before continuing, "We will fight to show that we are more than just a trophy or someone who exists to please others. It's a war for our kingdom and we will fight to save our kingdom and end this eon-old fight of oppression." The woman took a step forward.

"If we can't bring down heaven," Zara said as she kept a light hand on the woman's shoulder, "we will raise hell."

Another girl, one on the younger side, looking about seventeen stepped next to the woman, "I am tired living in fear. I want to fight." She looked around to all the other girls, "We all want to fight."

The sovereign nodded with understanding and looked over to the crowd, speaking loudly, "We have lived our entire lives, belittled, hit, hurt. We have lived out entire life in fear of the unknown but not anymore. We are done with them acting like we are nothing more than scum, for they have forgotten that the goddesses that they worship are women."

"And if a woman can be a safe space, a safe haven and paradise. She can also become doom, destruction and chaos. A woman who is determined and knows what she wants can break down the gates of heaven and unleash hell on whoever gets in her way and that is what we will do, we will show these people that our kingdom rightfully belongs to the people and no one else, that we will go down with a fight."

The crowd broke into nods and chants as the queen ended her speech. 

"Looks like we might win this." Shree gave a smile, "Brilliant."

"So let's start?" Aziza asked, nodding her head in the most monotonous way possible as if she still didn't believe the new recruits.

"Oh we have started," Akira gave a side-glance to her and walked around, taking in a good view of the people in front of her. Her index finger glided effortlessly over her sword hilt, "All we needed to do was to strike a match stick; the world was already ready to burn."

The queen paused for a second, her scarred hands intertwining with each other as she grit her teeth, her jaw hurting a bit from the action, "The next time someone tries to attack us, they will regret it."

An echo of triumph rang through the grounds, all the women nodding their heads. It was time for a revolution.

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The sky was painted in streaks of orange and pink as the sun dipped below the horizon. The queen called out to start wrapping up the training session as sundown approached. Soon enough, the swords were returned back to their places along with armors and the other weapons, the women had returned to their chambers, ready to rest from a day of toil. Akira bid off goodbyes with small smiles to everyone who crossed her path and she made her way to the terrace. 

Standing there, she inhaled the sweet scent of flowers that the winds carried and ran a hand through her hair. Beside the tornado of turmoil that churned in her gut, she finally felt a little at peace. The training had helped her get her mind off all the things, people and events. 

"So, when did it happen?" A nonchalant voice asked her from behind, standing out against the temporary calm of the world. 

"When what happened, Shree?" Akira didn't bother to turn to look at the curly-haired girl. The sovereign closed her eyes, letting herself feel the gentle winds and the soft glow of the dipping sun on her skin. 

"You know what I am talking about, Akira." She responded calmly as she stood on the queen's right, looking at the kingdom ahead.

"No I don't." The sovereign looked at her advisor for a moment, trying to decipher what she had meant. Then, the queen's gaze fell and she saw a glass flask in Shree's bandaged hand, "Back at drinking?" 

Shree shrugged, her face illuminated by the sun as she kept looking ahead at the gradient horizon, "It makes things easier."

Akira hummed a faint 'yes' and held out a hand towards the flask. Shree silently gave the flask to her and the queen took a swig. The alcohol burned her throat a little, prickling her eyes just ever so slightly but Shree was right, it did help resolve some of the uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. So, chasing the freeing feeling that the alcohol provided her, Akira took another sip. 

The two girls stood in silence, just staring at the kingdom that lay ahead. The only sort of exchange between the two of them was when either of them took the alcohol container from the other. After moments of serene silence, Shree finally spoke, toying with a ring on her index finger.

"Well, did you notice something?" Shree commented, – she was always the most observant one our of the three of them – changing the topic,  "Aziza is acting differently."

"She is preoccupied with everything that's been happening." Akira answered mind-lessly, shrugging in a lose manner. "Veer's not around to help her out either, so-"

"No," Shree sighed, taking another sip, "She's hiding something. Whenever she hides something, she becomes hesitant and snappy, something she's been doing like since the past few days. Something is wrong but I can't figure out what it is."

"Maybe," Akira nodded, wondering what the commander could be hiding from them, "but I don't think so. Aziza always speaks her mind, I don't see why she would hide something from us."

"You're right..." Shree exhaled, still not looking at Akira, "Now answer me. How did it happen?" 

Akira handed her back the flask, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, still knowing nothing, "I still don't know what you're talking about, Rajashree."

Shree looked at the queen for a moment - deep in thought, wondering whether the queen was bluffing or if she really didn't have idea – before muttering tentatively, "When did you start caring for him?" 

A small laugh left the brink of the queen's lips as she tossed her head back. The alcohol provided a little warmth to her cold insides, a feeling that she had missed terribly since the only person who gave it to her had left, "What? When did I start caring for who?"

She knew with every fiber of her being who Shree was talking about but she couldn't utter his name out even if her life depended on it.

Shree hit Akira's right arm with her left elbow, her expression dead serious, "Stop laughing Aki. You know who I am talking about," A pause, "Kartik." The smile from the monarch's face faltered as Shree took his name, "When did you start caring about him, Akira?"

"Never," Another string of laugh left the monarch's lips, this time to hide the crystal clear lies in her brown eyes, lies that she was so aware that nobody paying enough attention could see, "I don't care about him, never did."

Lies.

"That's a good joke." The advisor said as she took a swig from the flask again, closing her eyes momentarily. The contents of the flask were now only halfway filled, "That's a very good joke Aki. I didn't think you had it in you to humor me."

"It's not a joke." Akira sighed, trying to con her friend into believing her, trying to con herself into killing those thoughts that ran wild in her head and slowly tortured her. 

"We have been friends since when?" Shree asked rhetorically, looking Akira in her eyes, "Since we were born right? For about 21 years, give or take?" And Akira nodded. 

"I know something is different with you when I see it, Maharani Akira Singh." The minister stated calmly, giving the sovereign a small knowing smile, "So, you might as well tell me when and how it happened."

"There's something different with me?" Akira cocked an eyebrow as she took the flask from Shree and took another sip. The monarch closed her eyes as the vile liquid burned down her throat, effectively erasing a few memories that crashed in her head again and again like the never-ending tides of the sea. 

"Yes, obviously." The curly-haired girl shrugged as if it was more than obvious, "You're smiling again."

"I always smiled Shree-"

The advisor cut her off, taking the flask too, "No, no this is different. Let me correct myself - you are actually smiling, not giving those easily believable oh-so-fake ones you have giving since..." She paused a little, giving Akira a sad smile with hesitancy in her voice, "Since you became the queen."

The queen opened her mouth to contradict but Shree continued, "But now you seem more at ease as if a billion ton weighing brick has lifted off your chest, like someone has finally gave you the permission to exhale the breath you have been holding for years and not to mention..." Shree smiled to herself, looking back at the dominion ahead, "the way you look at him. Anyone with eyes can see that you care for him, Akira."

Care was probably not the word Shree wanted to use but she knew that the monarch's feelings with like a thin layer of ice, ready to shatter if she put too much pressure on it.

The monarch scoffed, trying to hide the truth from the girl beside her, "I do not know what you're talking about. I look at him the way I look at anybody and everybody-"

"No," This time the minister laughed, her eyes closing as she shook her head ever so slightly, "No, you don't. This is different and you know it. You look at him like he's the only cure to the poison this world has to offer, the only one who can provide you enough warmth to save you from shivering. It's like he is your..."  Shree struggled to find the correct words, "like he's your refuge, your safe space."

'I guess we both are ultimately just looking for a safe space and I think I found mine, in you.' The words from the letter flashed in front of Akira's eyes. 

"Safe space" That's the only thing that left the brink of her lips, a blank canvas dropping in front of her eyes.

The minister shook her head again – still smiling – and gave Akira a side glance, "You might not know it yet but you do." And with that, the advisor turned around, ready to leave, "You can't lie to me and you know it."

Shree had almost left the terrace when Akira spoke up all of a sudden, making the advisor slow down in her path.

"You know, one night I was right here, right at this very terrace," The sovereign began slowly, further halting her friend in her path, "I guess it was just a few days before you found me outside the library with that book he gave me."

Shree turned around to look at the monarch's back. Akira looked up at the faintly glittering stars as she continued, "It was deep into the night and almost everyone was asleep, I believe. I couldn't sleep because of everything that was going on – Mahapuram, the war, you know the gist – so I had come up here, hoping that the fresh air would help me clear my head."

Akira paused, still looking at the sky which was in the process of turning ink black, the darkness eating the light whole and leaving behind sparks of fireworks that twinkled brightly, "But when I came here, I found out I wasn't alone. He," A small smile infiltrated her lips as the intoxicating liquid turned her insides into a pile of ash, drawing out the truth out of her cunning tongue, "was here too. He said he couldn't sleep either, said he wanted a breath of fresh air."

Shree took another sip out of the flask, listening as her friend recalled a story not so old, "So we stood here and talked for a while about nothing is particular really. He asked me about the constellations and I answered – after giving him a lot of side sarcastic remarks, of course – and just like that an hour or so had passed. Then, just before I was about to leave, he stopped me and asked, 'What is your favourite colour?'"

The smile of the monarch's face widened by a little fraction, a motion that could not be ignored by the eternal entities in the sky, "A very silly question, I know but since he had asked a question, I answered. I told him that I didn't have a favourite colour, that I didn't have enough free time to ponder over such meaningless questions."

Akira looked over her shoulder, meeting the hazel eyes of her advisor, "He looked at me offended," A small laugh left her lips, "as if I had insult his most precious belonging and told me 'Everyone has a favourite colour Maharani. You have one too. You might not know it yet but you do.' I disregarded the comment and tuned around, leaving for my chambers. But sleep didn't come to me as early as I hoped and I couldn't help thinking about what colour might be my favourite."

Shree looked at Akira with a confused smile, her crease on her forehead deepening, "And did you find out what colour was your favourite?"

The sovereign nodded and looked back to the already faded sun, now just remembered by the last streaks of daylight, "I didn't realize that I did in fact had a favourite colour until I met him at the library a few days later."

Akira paused, "Light brown... with specks of hazel in it - that's my favourite colour even though it doesn't truly qualify as one lone colour."

Shree sighed, the smile was still settled over her lips and knowing nothing more to say, she said, "Shubh ratri Akira."

And turned around, this time actually leaving the terrace, leaving the ruler alone to ponder over her thoughts.

"Shubh ratri" The queen said slowly but the voice got carried off by the winds to some place unknown, away from her grasp.

'Light brown with specks of hazel in it, that's my favourite colour.' 

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A/N - So dun dun dun, anybody know what 'light brown with specks of hazel' means?
If you do, AWESOME.
If you don't, no worries, stay tuned and find out.

Stay corrupted ♥️
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