|| Bhanupriyaa : The Rule of Love ||

6 | Dead End

The rain had soaked her, Suthanu felt quite odd walking through the streets with clothes sticking to her skin. Dhruv had handed over her a blanket sorts that she wrapped around her,feeling a little better.

She knew she had to end it sooner,this news wouldn't take long to reach her man and once he knows - he wouldn't back off without a battle. The battle that she didn't choose for him,it was hers and she will deal with it. He had already a lot running through, she knew.

" Can't you understand or has my words turned inaudible to you?", the scream of a man turned Suthanu's attention. The women to whom he apparently was speaking started to shiver , her hands slipping to the sides trying to hide the tremor.

"All I need is one chance", the lady was almost in the verge of a breakdown,"Let me do sales for a living". Suthanu noticed the pots filled with arts lie beside the lady. It was such an open area that people passing by looked on with sympathy.

"A woman in this realm of men? This territory belongs to us," the man retorted with a tone steeped in arrogance and chauvinism.

"And where is it written that it is yours?" Suthanu's voice rang out, cutting through the tension like a sword forged in truth. The people around her, and even the man himself, were taken aback by her audacity and unyielding spirit.

"Who are you to intervene?" the man growled, his features contorted with anger, his eyes fixed upon her.

The princess of this very land,Suthanu was tempted to scream for a moment.

"Who I am should be of no concern to you," Suthanu snapped back, her words laced with determination. "But as for this land, I believed it belonged to the king, our rightful sovereign."

"The king who is not a king", the man shot back.Suthanu was sure, if at all any of her brother's were at her place now - a dagger would be lying at the man's neck.

" The truth is Dharmaraja is our king, it's a truth that cannot be eliminated", a women spoke up.

The man was taken aback to hear the sudden voice especially from a lady. The commoners had been against the royalty for quite a long time but this sudden spark of change spelled disaster to them if it spread.

"Men, what do your eyes behold? Shall we allow women to encroach upon our marketing domain?" The man's words rushed forth, tinged with desperation. Some of the men rallied to his side, while others threatened the women in their households, coercing them into silence.

Suthanu noticed that the surrounding hadn't changed but even that little change from the lady ignited the spark of hope in her heart. The lady who was fighting for her survival now sobbed as Suthanu went to her side holding her palm.

" Strong females of this land,listen she is not the only one who has to fight for her survival. I am sure there are many more who need a living and the means to survival is to work. Why do you have to be deprived of the same by people who have no authority?", Suthanu's words fuelled the men. They were on the verge of rebellion when the sound of hooves brought them to a standstill.

' Adi ' , Suthanu didn't have to turn to see him. She knew it was him,his presence was known to her like the back of her hand now. Suthanu brought her veil, close to her face.

"Satyabhamanandan," the man whispered reverently, and the people bowed in respect as Bhanu dismounted his horse, folding his palms in greeting.

"What is the cause of this commotion?" Bhanu inquired with gentle concern.

"I can explain, Rajakumara," Suthanu replied, her voice carefully composed beneath her veil. Bhanu listened attentively, his eyes scanning the crowd and fixing upon the woman who had been wronged.