Strings Attached ✨

10. Cat and Mouse

Ziya looked at me with disinterest and proceeded to fix her hair with Maya holding the mirror in front of her.

Suddenly I felt a shift in the energy of the garden. Before I turned around to inspect, I caught sight of Ziya jerking up and fixing her clothes and hair and putting up an elegant smile on her lips.

I turned back and there it was. The "prince" was here. I suddenly remembered our argument the night before and once again, my chest swelled up with unwavering pride.

He came inside through the gate and looked around as if searching for something.

Suddenly, our eyes met. He stood so far away and still I felt him looking right into my soul.

Agastya ~~

" And the next case, your majesty…." ….the minister said while kneeling down.

He stopped as signalled to him.

" Let's take a break. " …I declared.

I could hear the courtiers sigh in relief. I knew it was as tiring for them as it was for me.

Aksh stood behind me and waited for me to leave. I got outside the courtroom and looked around the place.

" I saw a hare in the garden, roaming around with a girl behind trying to catch it." …He said while looking everywhere but at me.

I glared at him.

" Just saying. It was a beautiful scene." ..his voice trembled a slight but still the mischief was crystal clear in his eyes.

" You should consider thinking that you 'say' excessively. You're dismissed. Meet me at the private courtroom with the schedule for the rest of the day." ….he nodded his head and walked away towards the gate.

I walked towards the said garden to see the said hare. The hare. Yes.

Aksh ~~

His schedule for the day was already fixed, infact, the break wasn't in the schedule. Obviously, I knew what the "break" was for.

Instead of being the blindly obedient assistant I was taught to be, I decided to be sneaky and follow him.

And he reached where I knew he would reach long before he even started walking.

He was so absent-minded and restless the whole time. And then suddenly he wanted a break.

He never did so much as even stop to process the cases on any usual day. And suddenly he wanted a break now.

Who's to be accounted for this ?
The hare. Yes.
The female hare.

I hid behind the tree to see his eyes searching everywhere and suddenly coming to a stop in a particular direction. I followed his eyes and mine landed on "the hare".

He walked towards the group of ziya which now included ruh ?
Doesn't sit right. Going by ruh's aura, she wouldn't like ziya. Hell! I don't even like the way Ziya behaves. She's just too full of herself. Sticking to Agastya as much as she can.

" So..? You're done with your tasks for the day ? " …his authoritative voice reached me.
Really? Duh ? 
Ruh looked a bit timid but she came forward and regained her composure.
I smile lit up on my face automatically seeing her handling such situations so nicely.

" I haven't been given any tasks as of yet. So I decided to take a look around." ..she said as she looked Directly at him and answered bravely.

And then I could hear the chaos unfold. Ziya looked at her with rage and the two other girls gasped.