If

arrow & a kiss (double update)

He was the only one Khili trusted with her, other than a very few female servants, which were picked by Kafur as well. Padmavati did not question this matter unlike the rest, she knew trust was a very tender thing, built on and of experiences that one can not always rationalize. Awful resemblance with romance.

Kafur held back an urge to tap his foot impatiently to the floor, watching her gather her dress and the masses of fabric enveloping her, moving like an old woman rather than a young, atrocious queen. She even seemed like she was struggling to stand straight. Khilji aged women well before they were supposed to be, Kafur thought. Mehrunissa would be the first on the list of proof.

Padmavati sighed shortly and turned back to Malik Kafur, expecting a brief of today, some information, but he declined wordlessly, knowing there is no need and averted his eyes. 

***

The Khilji Army marched towards the walls of Malwa, they stomped their feet to the soil with confidence and pride.

The doors of the castle were untouched, as Khilji wished to be the first one walking in there. Malik had protested the idea due to the dangers it might cause but Khilji laughed it off.
"Their king poisoned himself so that he wouldn't have to face me. Their men failed to protect the women, they shared the same fate with the king. The captives were so scared to die that they took our side. Now... What kind of danger can I possibly face, Kafur? Maybe someone who is actually brave enough to look at me? That would be rather entertaining."

Kafur remained quiet and watched the soldiers cheer and yell with their ultimate wilderness. This much passion and craziness only came to surface when Alauddin Khilji himself motivated them. Otherwise never, not even in the battlefield, the men were capable of creating such bestial sounds nor acting the way they do now. Their heavy swords was stabbing the air for the last fifteen minutes even though they were partially fed and exhausted from the road. What Malik saw was undeniably clear, and it made him fall for Alauddin once again. Fighting for their own lives didn't fill the Khilji soldiers with such strength, Kafur could see it in their eyes. The spark, the feeling of completeness, the hope and the great faith to conquer till the ends of the world; this fire belonged to Alauddin and it took over two thousand soldiers like a wildfire in seconds.

If only he could have him like Padmavati can... The thought made Malik's hands claw and his insides shiver. The world would be theirs. No, the world would be Alauddin's, and Alauddin would be his. There would be nothing but them in the history, their great unmatchable glory.

Kafur's eyes wandered on the horizon and the heights of the castle. He wasn't sure that the castle was perfectly safe, but knew for a fact that another clash with the enemy was not going to happen considering the amount of people they have killed. Perhaps they would find some scared women and little children, snuggled in corners and dark alleys, and babies hidden under beds; left to the enemies' mercy. Kafur did not enjoy that part of the war. It was not exciting nor flattering, yet he had seen men taking great pleasure. 

 He heard a female's voice right then, a shocked, silent gasp. He tought he imagined it, a distant memory from a battlefield playing in his mind, a slender woman struggling on the ground to get free from a soldier's assaulting grasp. However, he discovered that the source of the voice was right next to him, Rani Padmavati, throwing her dupatta away to gain freedom of movement, her eyes locked to a point far away. It took him seconds to understand what she was doing.

---

Padmavati rode next to Khilji and thought it was careless and very mannish of him to underestimate that "what dangers could he possibly face". Nothing could save The Castle of Malwa from the conquest at this point, but Khilji's life would still be under threat by a surviving hater, -or a crowd of haters, considering his awful reputation as a Sultan- and it would still mean danger. She heard leaders losing their life soon after their victory. She had a crippling  feeling that he might share the same fate with those men when she looked around her.