Hollow Promises

Chapter 6

Ambareesh's POV:

That night I couldn't sleep.

I just couldn't...not after the discussion I had with my Father a few moments ago.

"Have I taught you nothing?" my father asked, his voice a pitch above a whisper as I read the scrolls on the desk before me.

"No father, actually, you have taught me quite a lot," I replied before I took another drink of Aarush's horrible wine. "Why do you ask?"

"Do not be coy with me boy. What happened between you and me today was unacceptable. You tried to interrupt me in front of your wife-"

"She is not my wife yet," I said, smashing my hand against the oak desk and rising from the chair. "This woman, this Chandravati Rathod, is insane, borderline demented, and she took a swing at Alman Ali Khan. It escalated, and then she . . . she stabbed his fucking eyes!"

My Father glared, his eyes blazing as he stepped forward. "As she should have. You had no right to interrupt her. If the tables were reversed, what would you have done?"

I would have killed the person slowly.

"You cannot possibly be on her side. You should be on my side." I almost wanted to laugh at the thought. "Imagine if it had been Mom, or Malavika, or Rajyalakshmi. What would you have said to them if you saw them act as Chandravati did?"

"What are you ? Four ? I am on the side of the family, as you should be. It was not your mother, or Malavika, or Rajyalakshmi. It was Chandravati. Chandravati, who will become your wife in less than seventy-two hours. Make peace with her."

Seventy-two hours?

"Why in the hell are we getting married in three days?"

"So you don't kill each other before the week is out. Our people have been notified, and by morning, the world will know. Every gossip Country, every news Scroll, and every damn Royal member in the world will know the Rathods and the Raos are one. This means you two will have to pretend so fucking well, you fool yourselves that this isn't just some arranged marriage, or so help me God, I will set you both on fire."

The fact that my father, Vikram Rao, had just raised his voice and cursed in the same breath was proof enough he was serious. He had set a man on fire before . . . two actually.

Taking a seat once again on the chair, I turned and stared at the roaring fire that lit Aarush's chambers. This day had not gone how I planned, and while my bones were aching for sleep, my mind could not stop racing.

"Son, do I approve of what Chandravati does? No. I do not, and that is because of the simple fact that I was raised differently. And by a man much more controlling than myself. The strongest survive, however, and the key to survival is to evolve with your environment. We have made so many strides. No longer are we just uneducated Kings with Knives. We have evolved, the Kingdom has evolved, and now it's your turn. Chandravati Rathod is your evolution, embrace it and make peace."

It was only when the door shut after him that I allowed myself to relax.

I filled my mouth with the horrible brown liquid in my hands, but even that didn't help my mind drift from the beautiful, dark-eyed woman who was to become my wife. Our moment in these fucking chambers made my blood boil and other parts of me ache.

She did not fight like a woman, but like a trained man, and the way she had looked-like a lioness about to rip apart her prey-made me want her even more.

I wanted to have her on that damn wall behind her, and she would be wanting it - I wish it were that easy as killing.

I should feel her nipples respond to me as they pressed against my chest through the thin material of her dress. Her eyes should be begging, and her lips should part for me as she held back moans of pleasure.