My precious flower

8| Hunting down

PLZ COMMENT (especially funny & cringe ones)

Isbah's POV

"Its going to take so much longer if we roam around cluelessly like this!" Romesa said a little annoyed. We both were on edge now since it was annoying now being able to find the men when we had been riding around for more than an hour.

"I could try a trick I learned recently. Not sure how well it would work though" I said as a last resort and cued Chand to halt. I unmounted him and walked a bit away so as not to be distracted. I knelt on my knees and placed both my hands on the grassy ground. I closed my eyes and entered a trance-like state. It was like I was alone in an empty void. Suddenly, I began to feel rhythmic heart drops like one feels when falling all of a sudden. Butterflies flapped vigorously in my tummy. My arms felt really hot as one would feel on a very hot day under the sun. Slowly, color and shape began entering the void and I saw the blurred ground with small indents like footprints trailing along the right. I pulled my eyelids open and I was back in the real world. I quickly got up and mounted Chand.

"What happened?" Romesa asked keenly

"I might have found out which direction they are headed" I said and steered Chand to the right. From there, we used other visual aids to help us through what the most reasonable path would have been for the men to take during a hunt. We rode for a while but no sign of the men.

"I think we should probably head home now" I said with hopelessness, "If we can't find them in general, how are we supposed to find the Shehzada. I don't even know what i'd say... this was dumb idea" I sighed

"Well we are here so lets not give up just yet. And you are supposed to be brave like you said you were!" Romesa reminded me

"I thought I could do this but I don't think I can do it now. I didn't even prepare what exactly to say"

"Excuses excuses, lets find them first and then deal with what you're gonna say"

After a bit more time of searching around, we began to her faint chatter like it was coming from a long distance and both our ears pecked up. I looked and Romesa and she at me with a smile. I squeezed Chand with my legs a bit tighter and he began waking fast. Soon, we were close enough to hear their loud voices filling the forest area. They were probably on break because of which they were talking so loudly. We hid behind some bushes with Chand at a safe distance to remain unnoticed and scanned through them secretly, trying to see which man might be the Shehzada. There was a lot of chatter going on so it was hard to recognize or hear anyone's name with clarity. I adjusted the scarf on my head as I began to fidget. Doing this felt wrong but there was no other choice left.

"What about him?" Romesa whispered while pointed to a tall handsome man in a larger group of men who were chatting together

"I really have no clue" I whispered back and shook my shoulders

"I can take him if you don't want him" Romesa joked

"Romesa!" I exclaimed trying to keep my voice low and prevent myself from chuckling

Suddenly, we heard heavy footsteps behind us and we both quickly turned our heads to look. We were surprised to see a man behind us looking at us with folded arms. He had light brown hair and a slim figure. His eyes were a light brown and would have seemed quite handsome had I not known him as a brother already. It was Romesa's brother.

"Bh...Bhai" Romesa stuttered. His face held pretty serious expressions now, even a bit of anger. His intimidating aura was slightly lessened since we looked down at him from Chand's height.

"What are the two of you doing here?" He asked in his deep serious voice

"We came to see you!" Romesa blurted out 

He raised an eyebrow observing the both of us, "Why?" he asked slyly

Romesa and me looked at each other in worry not knowing what to say and I guess he understood we weren't telling the truth.

"I am going to ask once again, Why are the two of you here?" He asked again

I knew we weren't going to get away with lying and I had no excuses so I told him the truth, "We.. I wanted to meet his Majesty the Shehzada" 

Romesa's brother looked at me like I had lost my mind.

"So, the two of you came all the way into the forest during a men's hunt to talk to the Shehzada?" he asked baffled with slight anger in his voice

Me and Romesa just looked at each other and then at him silently like criminals proven guilty

"Why do you want to meet him?" Romesa's brother asked and suddenly I felt a ray of light that he might let me meet him after all.

"A pro...proposal has been sent from him to me, bhai" I said in limited words but he didn't look as surprised as I thought.

"I heard rumors about that but didn't know they were true. Regardless, congratulations to you Isbah for that engagement tie. However, if you want to meet the Shehzada, then this is not the right way and neither is it respectful. It is your parent's responsibility to host a meeting between the two of you if you want to meet him" He said looking at me with a stern gaze while I kept my gaze low

He then looked at Romesa and addressed us both, "This is no proper way to just show up at a men's event. You both should know better that no sane person would allow such a meeting under these circumstances"

"But bhai.."  Romesa began to say and he cut her off

"Both of you go home now!" He said strictly and slapped Chands bum cautiously which made him start trotting the other direction. I looked back one last time only to see Romesa's brother standing there looking at us with his arms folded.

The ride back to Romesa's house was silent and tense. It seemed as though we had come back after loosing a war. When we reached her house, Romesa got off Chand and looked at me in the eyes. 

"We tried Isbah but unfortunately it didn't work. Your best option now would be to try and convince your parents. I could say we could try again but it would be very shameful for you and for me. We both know your parent's love you. Talk to them openly" Romesa said and I nodded weakly. I then ordered Chand to begin walking again without giving Romesa a final goodbye. She sadly looked at me disappear into the distance.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW!!