The Battered Crown

Chapter 26 : The Mirror reveals a secret

"I knew you would come back injured."
Viaan winced at Vidyut's words.

"Well, how was I supposed to know about a dart injuring me. Daggers, spears and stones are turned away but a dart finds it's way through the tower's defences. I don't think my ancestors tested everything to ensure the speaker's safety."

"It appears to have no poison on it or magic. Just a simple one to hurt you in a minute way. I will pull it out now, on the count of three."

Nairiti pulled it out even before the counting even started. Her surprise element did not prevent him from pain. He bit back a groan and inspected his forearm. Blood wasn't oozing but still he shuddered from the words written on it.

There will be more.

More as in darts or something else, he wondered. What else could someone do to hurt him? If he became king, he wouldn't have to think about his family but his people first. And that meant putting his family at risk. He knew that was the way his brother lost his son. And now, Viaan was on the same path. He could not save his family when he was a prince. And a king wouldn't put his family first. Only time would tell what would happen next.

He bandaged the wound and inserted the dart. The words were slowly blurring away and after a few minutes, they were gone entirely.

Nairiti frowned at them and picked up the dart. She inspected it for a long time and then put it in a small bag. She then placed the bag in an iron box she had fetched earlier.

"Why did you do that?"

"It is made of sea metal. I've not seen it since I left. But now, this raises so many questions." She frowned.

"Questions like what?"Vidyut asked her.

"Like how someone managed to mold sea metal into a dart and how they got it in the first place."

"Why is that important? Someone would have sold and someone could have bought it and forged it in a furnace," Viaan told her.

Nairiti looked him dead in the eye and replied," It is called sea metal for a reason. Only one kingdom has it and if someone is getting it from there, there is a huge secret and an even big storm looming upon us."

"You mean?" Vidyut asked her.

She nodded.

"Velika isn't lost and defeated now. People are still living there."

"You mean the kingdom Urmika where everyone was killed. And the survivors were the people who fled before the killing wave." Vudyut asked her.

"Yes, the survivors wouldn't go back there. But if there are people there, the kingdom could be reestablished again. There are many options. I thought here was nothing left there. But this changes everything."

That meant Nairiti could go back to her kingdom and rehabilitate that place. She could preserve their culture and heritage.

"And you will want to go, right?"

Nairiti looked at Vidyut in surprise.

"Why would you think I would go?"

"I'm no fool, please. For one,  your name clearly tells us that you could be from the three kingdoms surrounding Adhira. And I could see the happiness when you realised that Urmika wasn't a memory. And the most important thing is that only natives call it Velika. Even Viaan knows this."

Viaan indeed knew that so he could only nod.

"I never gave you any  credit but you are right. I will go back once I get to know the total situation there. Viaan, could you send some scouts to the boundaries of Adhira and enquire about Velika? I want to know what was happening there these past eight years."

"Sure, I could. And about the coronation, what are your plans?"

The three of them reviewed every single security detail and the guests involved. They made back up plans for every back up plan.

Exhausted, Viaan returned to his room to take some rest. He noticed the toll all the events took on him. His hair dye was long gone and he looked the same person he was before he left Mihira. But his inner soul was different.

He sighed and touched the mirror in defeat. He felt a bolt of lightning through his body. Viaan staggered back and looked at his reflection. His reflection was smiling crookedly and Viaan frowned at the scene. He rubbed his eyes and pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.

His reflection kept looking at him in amusement. Viaan looked back and around the room to see if someone was playing tricks on him.

"I'm you, you silly person. But also, I'm not you. You can see me because of something you did. But hey, no one else can, so you are not crazy."

Viaan looked at the mirror Viaan and saw him speaking.

"Who are you and don't answer me in riddles?" Viaan nearly screamed.

"Whoa, what's the fun in that? And do you have to scream? I'm getting mad in here. See my luck that I have to leave my world and get tied to you, my opposite in every sense." Mirror Viaan sighed in a dejected manner.

Viaan rolled his eyes at his mirror self. It was like talking to a child and Viaan was running out of patience.

"Tell me the truth now. And don't you dare try speaking in riddles."

"Sun god, you are moody. See I'm your mirror self or rather I'm you in a different world. Normally we don't know each other but somehow I got binded to you. Now you can talk to me and see me when you see a shining surface. And who doesn't want to speak to me or see me? I'm the best person there is."

"Wait a minute. Why are we binded?"

"Hey, one minute, I was enjoying my day and then I was feeling pain and seeing light. You pulled me in sp fast that I did not get a say in the matter. I already miss my family."

"You have a family?"

"Of course I do. I have a mother, father, brother and a sister. Like you but they are the better versions of them. And we are all happy there. Even Sharavi is delightful than the one here. So serious she is, that I didn't recognize her. Almost but hey, she is my better half so I'll know her anywhere."

Viaan was getting a headache listening to him drone about his amazing life.

"I'm leaving now and I hope to not see you in the mirror morning. So please vacate that place."

"Now that's the humor I like, and hey till you let go of me, I can't leave you."

And Viaan was gone before he could hear more blabbering from the mirror Viaan.

Author's note :

Thank you everyone who are still reading this book inspite of my unscheduled updates. Here's a chapter for you. And from now, weekly updates like before.