The Unexpected Bond

22 |The park.

SHIVANI'S POV :

I stir and swirl the carrot trying to wash it properly for my gazar halwa. I wore a yellow kurta with wide pants and did my hair in a side braid. Elegant and simple. I never let anyone else do my makeup or dressing up because why do you think i persuaded fashion if i can't even get ready myself.

I take the bowls out for what I was making. After half an hour of discussion akshara and i have finally come to the decision that i'll be making gazar ka halwa. I am not bad at cooking at all. On my goal to be the perfect daughter I have learned almost everything so that I don't disappoint my parents even in the slightest opportunity I get. Cooking, combat, career. I have excellence in all the three C's of a women's life.

But still all I ever got is fine. Never good. And i ached to get the 'good' word. To be perfect.

Akshara sits on the chair opposite the table monitoring me while eating an apple. Yes, she does have a master in cooking too because she's a royal but this is my ritual so i decide to do it on my own.

I remember making gazar ka halwa once on vani's birthday and i also remember her examining it thrice in case of any signs of poison just because bhai went to kitchen right before i served it. She didn't die but she got her periods two times that month and she won't stop bragging that bhai must've put something in it. She always has periods two times in one particular month of every year by the way so bhai didn't go jail of course.

I collect all the ingredients and start my work while all the workers standing behind Akshara observe me. I told them to leave the lunch on my hands today so all they have in work is satisfy akshara's commands.

While working my thoughts run back to what akshara said. Everyone likes gazar ka halwa but riansh doesn't. Since the time she told, I've been having debate with myself whether i should make something different for him or not.

Why should I?
•He helped me
•He defended me
•He behave nice with me

Why i shouldn't?
•He's our enemy
•I am here for business
•He's...........

Tsk. I bite my bottom lip. Why is it getting so hard when i didn't even start what i came here for.

"What's wrong?" Akshara asks in her observing tone.

"Ah, nothing just thinking something"

"Want me to put a song on so you don't stress?"

"Can you?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Why not" she shrugs and smiles. A servent bends over and whispers something to akshara and her smiles fades a smuch. Her eyebrows gets together and she trys to act cool to me.

"It's fine if you can't" i confirm her in worry.

After a minute of silence she replies "No, I'll put it" and walks towards the door. When she reaches, she closes the huge door and comes back. As beautiful as the mansion is, it's even scary. The door are bigger then the ones present in our house, the fans are the size of the ground, and the paintings of their ancestors hangs big on the corridors which almost startle me everytime. The mansion is cover in yellow walls and brown stairs. The house is neat and clean from every corner but is as lonely as a house could get.

Yet when i was checking the mansion this morning I found a dark corner upstairs which consisted a storeroom. When i entered the room my heart suddenly twisted and it felt like a palm grabbed it and is taking the oxygen away from my lungs. The air inside made me breathless and the floor gave chills down my spine. The door from the inside had many scratches. Some looked like nail scratches while some looked like someone had punched them non stop. A sudden suspicion cut through me. What if they keep someone there, there enemies? And torture them to death? Sorely possible because why would a room like that exist in such a cool textured mansion. I took pictures and kept it too send them to father. That's what I came here for. I shouldn't be guilty, they are commenting a crime.