Devika:

I ran, under the moonlight.
I ran into the palace, my heart pacing wildly. In sheer disbelief of what my father had told me.

"Wh-where is Raja ji?", I asked panting for breath.
The servant just pointed towards the bedroom.
I immediately rushed down.

Suddenly, everything seemed to become clear before my eyes.
Mrinalini Devi, the Gurumaa I worshipped, had given Aviram a deal. A deal in which Aviram lost everything he held dear.

And yet, the man who I assumed was heartless, took it.
He took it and gave up what was rightly his, for me.

I stood at the threshold of the shut bedroom.
I suddenly heard voices.

"Oh.. oh.. no.. Vinay.. you really are-", the voice was muffled by the man with her.
After a moment she spoke again, "You don't need to muffle my voice anymore, my ex husband is gone."
"Oh.. you are so right..", the man, Vinay ofcourse, said seductively.

I immediately stepped away from the door.

Oh Devi Maa.. these devils have taken away his room too. Where on earth is he?!

I looked down, almost panicking, when I noticed something on the carpet.
I bent before the stain.
On the red and golden carpet, it was like a blot.

A blot of dark red.
I looked at little ahead to find another similar blot.

Blood, it is.

Reluctantly I stood up, with bated breath. Barely breathing.
I carefully followed the blots on the carpet.

They.. they hit him..

My heart sank drastically as I dragged my feet towards the forbidden area of the palace.

A cold chill ran through the place.
I had been here several times to practice in solace. It was a beautiful place to be in, but today, the rumoured stories of spirits seemed to haunt me - for the first time.

"Ram..", I mumbled, only audible to myself.
I walked down the corridor, to the courtyard where I had danced so many times.
The marble was as cold as ice.

"Aviram.. Are.. Are you here?", I asked a little louder.
I looked down, there was the stain of blood, right before my feet.
And then it disappeared.

I turned to my side.
A door stood ajar.

It had once been the rooms for the royal dancers. I dragged myself to the door.

Tears rolled down my cheeks. I felt overwhelmed with emotions. I had ruined his life. The man must have come under lots of guilt because of the way I broke down that day.. and he must have done this foolery.
He had even hid the favour he had done me.

I called him the beast and yet he went ahead to sacrifice everything.

And from how it looked, even his life.

I shut my eyes, drawing in a deep breath.

I pushed the door open.
There was darkness in the room.
I softly said,

"Aviram?"

There was silence and then I heard something.
I immediately pulled out my phone from my bag. I turned the torch to find him.

His back against the wall, right before me. Barely awake.

My heart wrenched.
His shirt was off, and on his whole upper body were thick marks of whips.

I gasped.

Just a few hours, and the Aviram Raghuvanshi had been strapped off all his pride, physically injured and thrown in one corner of the palace that was his.
Power was cruel.
And it was crueler when you lost it.

I drew in a deep breath and walked down to him.

"How.. how could you.. Anamika..?", He mumbled, as if dazzed.
I knelt before him, letting my tears slide down.

I carefully placed my hand on his cheek.

"Who..?", He whispered in pain.
"Devika.", I replied, carefully brushing his hair back.
All these days, I had never seen a strand of his hair from one side to another - but today it was a mess.

"Are.. are you okay?", His defeated voice had a tone of urgency, "Did.. did he hurt you?"

I edged closer to him, his eyes were shut. I noticed a bruise on his forehead too.
I could not stop my urge to break down into a flood of tears.

All because of me. He did all this for me.. he paid my graduation fees.. and he paid of the price of my dream..

"I am okay.", I whispered to him. I softly placed my hand on his cheek, wiping off what felt like a tear.
He turned his head slightly towards me, finally opening his eyes. A blur of tears they were.

"I... I..", he mumbled.

Just then a sharp voice rang.

"Take him away! Fast!"

My heart skipped a beat.
I immediately turned.

I could see the outline of a girl. The voice said it was Nayantara.

She immediately jogged into the room with a torch.
Wearing her usual t shirt and denims, she looked absolutely panicked.

"Take him and leave. I know a backdoor that you don't.. I will lead you. Take him and go, otherwise they will kill him.", She said desperately.

I realised I did not have time for questions.
Something in the girl's tone said she was on our side.

I used my complete possible strength to make Aviram stand. He assisted me, as I wrapped his left arm around my body, standing slightly ahead of him so that I could support him.

Nayantara immediately turned and walked out. I pulled Aviram out with me. He was barely awake anymore. Too numbed by all the ache.

Nayantara lead us to a doorway.

She pushed open the door and stood aside. A car, an old Maruti Alto stood before the door.

"Santosh will take you to the hospital. Papa had financed it so they will take no money for his treatment.", She said, as if she had everything planned.
Clear in her head.
And somehow calling him Papa seemed like the most normal thing to her.

"And?", I asked almost reflexively.

"You are on Instagram or any social media?", She asked.

"I am on Instagram.. the ID is devikadancex.. ", I mumbled awkwardly. She immediately pulled out her phone and searched.

"That's you?", She asked showing me the profile.
"Yes.", I said as Aviram's grip around me tightened. I knew he couldn't stand for long.

"I will text you about everything. Don't call me at all. Whenever I text, you will reply.", She said.

Absolutely perplexed by the turn of events I simply nodded.

She finally glanced up.
At him.

Glistening in the moonlight I saw tears in her eyes.
For some odd reason, she too had extremely expressive eyes, I realised.
And today, in them I saw remorse. As if a guilt of a lifetime had been loaded on her.

"And..", she said, more to herself than me, "Tell him I will always be Aviram Raghuvanshi's daughter."

I felt Aviram stir a little, he had heard but he couldn't exactly process it.

I forced a smile and nodded.

She immediately looked away, realising I had noticed her tears.
"Take care of him.", She said, almost commanding.

Somehow I did not feel any anger towards her. I just nodded and pulled Aviram towards the car.

Was this the start of his exile?
Or was this the taking a step back to attack more dangerously?

Only Fates knew.

•••

Drop in your views!