' now. ..who is this neela. .? "

Suman's restlessness hightened time to time. ..she had her own reason for her restlessness. ..across the kingdom, there are so many kings who had more than one weddings in their lifetime. ..

  Though it meant to the welfare of the country , suman believed in concept of only one woman in a man's life. ..

Now, Neela. ..another  girl in her heart warmer' s life crushed her mentally. ..she didn't want to wait for shravan at his chamber. ..she left his room with obvious desperate. ..

She fell on her sophisticated bed with a 'thud '...Krithika who already slept at  one corner awoke with a jerk. ..she wasn't aware of her lady's turmoil. ..

" suman. ..are you okay. .? "

Suman didn't utter a word. ..

Krithika jerked her shoulders. .it was always the royal habit. ... ..sometimes it's better to stay away than recreating the same issue. ..

Krithika chose to be silent. ..her mind deciphered the possibilities of her lady's introverted behaviour. ..

She dozed off slowly. ..

Suman's thoughts still roared. ..

' suman. ..it's common that he may have another   woman in  his life ..may be  his sister. .?'

She consoled her at possible way. ..With the same hope,  she closed her eyes deliberately to get some sleep. ..

On the other side, shravan wasn't aware of Suman's thoughts. ..the long , overtired day   engulfed him into deep sleep. ..

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  Morning sun beamed his rays in  to the deeper chambers. ..Suman clenched her eyes to the shiny rays. ..she rubbed her eyes and woke up. .

  Krithika and poorni stepped in with smile. ..

" suman. ..you woke up. .?Then get ready fast. .. water and sandal powder is ready to bath. ..you have to see some wonder. .."

" wonder. .?"

Suman arched her brows. ..

" suman...neela. ..I must say shravan has his best ever companion. ..she is too intelligent. .."

Krithika spoke with real wonder. ..

The name ' neela '  itself irritated suman. ..

" suman. ..I must say. ..she is the prettiest. ..her magnetic eyes. ..shiny skin. ..voluminous hair. .."

Poorni described neela ' s  beauty. ..

" leave her appearance, the way she take care of shravan. ..she doesn't leave him alone for a second. ..she always stood at his side. ..Their relationship is an ideal one. .."

Krithika added some more. ..

" mmmm. ..shravan is not less than her. ..He ensure his warm touch on her ,no matter where they are. .."

Krithika and poorni were  completely oblivious to their lady's death glare. ..infact, they  had oiled their lady's already  blazing thoughts. ..

They left the room unaware of what they had informed suman with. ..

'  the prettiest. ..caring. .woman. ..they are not leaving each other alone. .? Shravan kept on touching her. .? Doesn't he feel ashame to touch her in front of everyone. .? What about that woman. .? Doesn't she feel embarrassed. .?If  not. ,what kind of woman she is. .?"

   She out sketched neela ' s  character without even knowing who she is. ..

  Krithika and poorni 's  words induced her to  know more about neela. ..she finished her chores as fast as she could. ..

She descended down to the first level. ..and pumped with guruji. ..

" suman. ..what happened to you. .?"

He rubbed his forehead where he got a lump. ..

" sorry guruji. ..I haven't noticed you. .."

' didn't noticed. .? '

Guruji nodded to her despair. ..and stepped up to his chamber. ..

Suman understood her inner feel, she paused at the first level door to regain herself. ..

She huffed once...her princess pride turned her to stiff ...

   She planned to ignore shravan. ..and wanted to show her princess pride to neela rudely. ..

At the open space, she could see only Ranjith with some soldiers. . checking the weapons. ..

" ikkkummm. .."

  Soldiers bowed their head at suman and stepped back. ..

" yes. ..princess Sumantha. .."

Ranjith said reverentially. ..

" Ranjith. ..may I know how far the arrangements are. .?"

She inquired him for name sake. ..

She didn't want to show him how much   she was waiting to see shravan. ..

Ranjith, as a dutiful soldier..started to lecture her about the arrangements they had done so far. ..

' I don't know how shravan is managing you. ..just tell me where is he  .?'

Her mind yelled at Ranjith. ..

   Ranjith noted her eyes wandering around in search of shravan. ..

" princess. ..I think it would be better to hear it from my friend. ..there he is. .."

  He pointed  shravan who was discussing something with vela at one of the watch towers. ..Suman looked up. ..she couldn't see any woman around him. ..she couldn't control her enthusiasm. ..

" Ranjith. ..where is neela. .?"

She managed herself to ask Ranjith about neela. ..

" there she is. .."

He pointed a crowd. ..

Suman delivered a thanks to him and swiftly reached the crowd. ..

Not only maids but also krithika and poorni too took part in the group. ..they were chattering something. ..probably about neela ...

Suman sneaked into the crowd and shocked to see the horse. ..

" neela. .?"  Her tone mumbled...

" here she is. .."

Suman let out a sheepish smile. ..she ran back to her chamber again. ..

Suman shut the door and stood leaned at the wooden door. ..she clenched her eyes while recalling what she had seen amid the crowd. ..she bit her lips harder while recalling neela as Shravan's horse. ..

She slapped her forehead on her ignorance. ..

'How stupid am I. .?How did I even think that shravan would have an affair. .? Suman. .go. ..hung yourself. ..stupid. ..idiot. ..you are too desperate. ..jealous. ..admit it. ..you spoilt brat. ..'

   Her inner feel teased her. ..

Relectantly, she agreed that she loves shravan more than anything. ..she didn't know why she had tears in her eyes. ..perhaps, happy tears. ..

She swirled around herself laughing at her heart. ..her tears continued to flow. ..

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For the entire day suman couldn't see shravan. ..He didn't even come for either meals. ..He spent his whole day in instructing men. ..discussing something. ..

 
   Suman felt bad that she couldn't even see him once since morning. ..she was walking across the balcony. ..the evening blossoms started to spread the fragrances. ..birds returned back to their nests. ..

   She turned down her eyes to the open yard at the fort entrance. ..

  Soldiers were practicing sword fighting. ..as a fond lover of sword fighting, suman observed their techniques. ..

Shravan entered the ground with vela and Ranjith. ..

Shravan instructed some changes to the soldiers at their techniques. ..

   All of a sudden, vela drew his sword and called shravan for the open duel. ..

Shravan. ..smiled broadly. ..

He removed his angavastra that covered his upper body. ..He prepared himself with a mild warm up. ..

He took the position. ..

Suman awestruck to see his rippled body. ..His sculpted muscular  body made her to gasp. .He wore a gangan which was worn by the warriors. ..He wore no other ornaments. ..

He smiled at vela as if he called him for a game. .

Shravan's right hand held the sword tightly. ..

Suman looked his muscular frame again. ..He was not less than 6 feet in height. ..she hadn't been to see his bare body earlier. ..now, she couldn't believe her eyes that he would be this much specified. ..

'  I don't believe him to be a simple soldier. ..His appearance, command over the group, bravery,  even the way he stand. ..He is not less than a prince. ..no prince could stand in front of him. ..'

   Her head beamed with pride. ..

She continued to look. ..guruji joined her. ..

" suman. ..oh. ..they started to fight. ..even I wanted to enjoy. ..let me join you. .."

  He stood beside her and was  ready to enjoy the duel. ..

  Vela who invited shravan for the duel stood defended. .

Shravan slowly forwarded and allowed vela to strike. ..Vela tried hardly to hit him. .Whereas, shravan didn't hit him. ..instead, he blocked his blows. .to be frank, shravan didn't fight. He stood as like he plays with a little kid. ..He handled vela with out much effort. ..

Vela...With his continuous strike, grew tired. ..though, he don't want to leave it so easily. ..He swung the sword recklessly. ..

  Shravan understood his motive. .He stepped back twice and swirled around. .He escaped from vela 's heavy blow by arching himself like a bow. ..

Till the end, shravan didn't raise his sword against vela. ..

Vela 's eyes streamed with tears. ..He slipped the sword at floor and hugged shravan. ..

Shravan hugged sobbing vela. ..

" vela. ..you did really well. ..you fought with me nearly ten minutes. ..I survived because of my luck. .."

  Shravan consoled him. .Vela looked up. ..a smile appeared in his face. ..

" shravan. ..there is some limit to tease. ..it was my pleasure to duel with you. ..you are brilliant. ..i am honoured today. ..thank you my friend. .."

His excitement echoed in his words. ..

   Suman who was witnessing everything stood rooted. ..she too shocked while vela swung his sword recklessly. ...shravan managed him by arching back. ..

Suman wondered how Shravan's  rippled body could be so flexible. ..her eyes were open to see him bending back so easily. ..

The other thing she noted was his unbounded skills. ..as far as she knew, vela is too good in sword fighting. ..

Shravan handled him like a kid . Though  Vela 's words  didnt reach her ,yet she could feel his excitement. ..

  something seems amiss. ..she decided to ask shravan directly. ..

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Yeah. ..the next one is here. ..have a happy read friends. ..pen down your lovely comments. ..

Love,
Arulpirai. .