Aditi was terrified, her hands trembling as she caught her friend.
She was looking all over for Rivannah after her dance performance.If the friendly janitor hadn't told her that he saw Rivannah coming to this classroom...
Her regal and indifferent friend was lying broken before her eyes.Her whole body was limp and feverish, and her forehead had a huge wound. Her hair was matted with blood and sweat. Her sari was torn in places and her knuckles were bruised.
Aditi's heart plummeted in sheer anxiety, and she pulled out her phone. The tension overwhelmed her and she couldn't even think of what she was going to say.
All words died on her frozen lips as the person picked the phone.
*
Abhimanyu had never felt so helpless.
He almost didn't want to believe what Aditi had stuttered over the call. Rivannah couldn't possibly be...how did this happen all of a sudden...?
But the truth mocked him in his heart.
Something terrible happened and he wasn't there to protect her.
Abhimanyu hurried out of the noisy auditorium, his mind in chaos. He didn't care for his image, or what other people would think. He wouldn't even come to this festival, if it weren't for Rivannah. He strode against the corridors in anger and worry. Man Singh rushed behind him, barely able to match his pace.
" Your Highness, you can't be seen with her!" Man Singh tried to reason, " There are too many people around! Please trust this lowly servant, and let me handle it!"
" Don't stop me, old man." Abhimanyu said intently.
Man Singh took a step back.
He had been with Abhimanyu since the day he was born, but he had never seen such anger blazing in his young lord's cold eyes.
" The media is here." He tried one last time, " If they caught you with Rivannah, they'll make a web of lies and rumours about your character! The opposing party is hunting for your weaknesses, and they wouldn't hesitate to use it against you!"
Abhimanyu didn't even glance or respond to his words. His eyes were hard like steel and his steps didn't even falter. Man Singh could only suppress his worries and doubts and follow him obediently.
Abhimanyu's determination was unyielding.He didn't care for the world and its limitations.His heart was pounding against his chest, and his mind was filled with desperation he'd never felt before. He needed to see her. He needed to make sure she was okay. And if she wasn't....
His entire body froze when he entered the classroom. His mind became blank.He saw the blue sari she was wearing. He saw Aditi crying and shaking Rivannah, begging her to wake up.
That moment felt unreal to him.
"Y-Your highness!" Aditi cried, desperately," What's wrong with h-her? Why isn't she opening h-her eyes?"
Abhimanyu fell to his knees and held her against his chest, gently tucking her hair away from her wound. He pulled out his handkerchief and pressed it against the gushing blood. Riva whimpered faintly in her stupor but remained unconscious.
" T-take him a-away." Rivannah whispered faintly.
Abhimanyu scowled at her words. She subconsciously rejected his help. Why was it so difficult for her to rely on him? But the pained expression on her beautiful face felt like a punch on his guts.
He shove aside the panic and frustration, and decided to take her to the infirmary. He barely crossed the threshold, when he was stopped by a familiar figure.He gritted his teeth, and cursed whoever was up in the heavens.
Vikram's stance was hostile and he demanded angrily, "Leave her, Abhimanyu Chauhan!"
" You are misunderstanding!" Man Singh jumped in, and hastily explained, " We were crossing this classroom, when we heard this girl's calls for help! The door was locked so we broke it open, and the poor girl was lying unconscious. His Highness was only trying to take her to a doctor!"
Vikram's hateful expression did not change at all.
He glowered at him, " Why is she unconscious? What did you do to her?!"
" Don't make me your enemy Ranawat." Abhimanyu said meaningfully.
He didn't pay much attention to him. His mind was affixed on Rivannah.He walked past him, but Vikram blocked his path again.
Aditi said pitifully, " Riva needs medical attention. I'm begging you to let him go."
Vikram's eyes softened as he heard those words. Riva was the priority here. He didn't know how she got into such a state, but he was frantic and distraught to see her wound.
She needs to be taken to the infirmary urgently.
An unfamiliar emotion overwhelmed him. He couldn't let Abhimanyu touch her. Abhimanyu would have never met Riva before today, yet he was holding her so intimately. As if he cared for her.
Vikram crossed his hands and declared, " I will take Riva to the infirmary. She's a student of this college.It's my duty. You are a mere stranger. You've done enough."
Abhimanyu hated how Vikram twisted logic and made a trap that he could not escape.
How could he explain his relation with Riva?
In anyone's eyes they were two people who were poles apart.Any attempt at an explanation would jeopardise Rivannah's identity.
Vikram cocked his head, seeing his obvious reluctance, " Why are you hesitating? You don't even know her.Unless...you're using her to gain a favourable image for yourself? That's low, Abhimanyu. Even for a politician."
Abhimanyu scoffed at the accusation.He would never use Rivannah like that. He couldn't even explain how important Rivannah and her well being had become for him.
" It's not like that!" Aditi interjected weakly, " I asked him to help me. I couldn't do it myself."
Vikram's lips curled into a mocking smile," It's noble that he helped you. But I'm here now. You don't need to worry, Aditi."
" What's wrong if I help her?" Abhimanyu demanded.
" She's not your person.She belongs to my college and my club. I've been taught to protect those I under my wing . Besides, you don't care about her like I do. Or you wouldn't have wasted her time like this. The wound on her head might get infected. She must be in unbearable pain right now. You're only helping her for your own selfish needs."
Abhimanyu felt at loss of words. He was helpless, unspeakably helpless.
" I'm asking you for the last time, Abhimanyu Chauhan." Vikram held his hands out," Give Riva to me."
" Your Highness..." Man Singh whispered, pleading with his eyes.
He only stood still and said nothing as Vikram took her from him. His hands burned at the sudden loss.
Rivannah hissed a little at the movement, and her eyes fluttered open drowsily.
"Shh." Vikram said, softly in her ear, " I've got you."
Abhimanyu stood as still as a statue, his chiselled face etched with a frown. He had never failed so miserably before. If only Vikram Ranawat hadn't turned up....Abhimanyu clenched his fist. The taste of defeat felt bitter.Vikram's words -no matter how harsh and ridiculous they were- didn't agitate him.
But how dare he take Riva from him?!
Abhimanyu's grey eyes were like a swelling wave of turbulent waves. His face was dark with anger. Abhimanyu felt a strange emotion in his heart. It burned him fervently.
Then suddenly, his brows raised ever so slightly, as if he realised something.
Besides, you don't care about her like I do.
Vikram's affections were too blatant. Whether he was aware of them or not, he would unmistakably profess them to Riva or try win her heart. Like every Rajput, he had already seen her as his.
Thus the veiled jealousy and anguish in his eyes.
But Abhimanyu would never let that happen. He would keep Riva apart from Vikram until he's forced to forget her. Or he had many ways to make him vanish from her life.
After all, Rivannah was his person.
" Your Highness!" Man Singh interrupted his resolve, " There's someone else in the classroom! Maybe the princess meant us to take him away!"
*
" Your Ladyship,"Amba said carefully, " Dare I ask you something?"
" I know what you're thinking, Amba." Badi Maharani-sa sighed, as she sat in her white Mercedes, " I don't know why I came here either. Perhaps I was curious, or perhaps I felt like I was neglecting Rivannah."
" The Princess is a formidable orator." Amba praised, " I had never seen someone speaking so articulately."
" I never doubt her skills in argument." Badi Maharani-sa smiled faintly, looking at the college. It was a good thing she was able to go inside and watch Rivannah without being noticed. She had assumed that Rivannah would be resentful of her new life. But she seemed to have assimilated well.
Perhaps she wasn't giving Abhimanyu a hard time like she thought.
" We'll go to Bhawanigarh." she told the driver.
" You won't meet the Princess?" Amba asked. She thought her ladyship wanted to meet her granddaughter.
" No." Badi Maharani-sa refused.
She stared out of the window longingly until the college was out of their sight.
*
" Riva, you need to come out." Aditi said, persuasively, " You haven't had your breakfast! You got injured yesterday, and you need to replenish blood!"
" I know Abhimanyu's downstairs." Riva's voice was gruff," And I'm not listing to his lectures again! I didn't know where Vikram came from. It's not my fault!"
" He's not mad at you." Aditi lied nervously, knocking the locked door, " He just wants to make sure you're okay!"
" You're not a good liar." Riva said from behind it, " I saw him fuming as he clambered down his car. And he rang the bell thrice impatiently. You can't push me to the lion's den!"
Aditi agreed with Rivannah's deductions. Abhimanyu hadn't uttered a word since his arrival, except, "Get her here." Most importantly, Man Singh was nowhere to be found.That had never happened before.
Either the old man had taken the day off or he couldn't handle Abhimanyu's anger and got fired.
Aditi opened her mouth to convince Rivannah again, but froze when she saw someone on the stairs. She could recognise the heavy thuds.She was terrified of him. And with due reasons.
" Rivannah." She knocked the door raptly, hoping that her friend would open it and she could hide with her.
" No, I won't! I'm done with Abhimanyu Chauhan! Who does he think he is? He has no power over my life! I didn't choose to get locked with that bastard! I had to beat him up out of self defence! He always makes it my fault! You know why, Aditi? Because he's an egoistic, self righteous bastard!"
" He came running to save you." Aditi said weakly, looking down at her feet.
He heard it, he heard it, he heard it, she's dead, she's dead she's so dead-
" Am I suppose to make him my knight in silver armour and ride to the sunset?" Riva scoffed.
" No, Rivannah." Abhimanyu gritted his teeth, " You can leave that for Vikram." He'd be more than willing to.
The small space was so silent, that Aditi could hear her thudding heart. Then with a bang the door opened, and Rivannah glowered at Abhimanyu. Her forehead was still bandaged but otherwise she looked like a fearless lioness.
" You. Were. Eavesdropping?" She choked in anger.
" Your voice echoing off the walls." Abhimanyu retorted, " And particularly the profanities spoken under my name."
He looked extremely intimidating in his three piece blue suit. He was a head taller than Rivannah, but that didn't seem to affect her as she jabbed a finger into his chest.
" I have a whole list." Rivannah said.
" You won't need it. I'm not mad at you." Abhimanyu swallowed uncertainly, " I was only worried. But you look fine. I'll forget tomorrow if you'd do the same."
" You won't ask me about the man?" Rivannah was surprised.
" No. He's not a problem. He was so brutally beaten up, he begged us to leave him. He swore he wouldn't say a word or even come to that college anymore." Abhimanyu's proud smirk didn't match his sorry tone, " And I don't care about Vikram."
He couldn't believe how smoothly the lie rolled off his tongue.
" Did I scare you?" Riva mused, smiling as she looked up at Abhimanyu.
" You did scare me." Abhimanyu agreed, " But not with your fighting skills. There's a lot to be desired there. I never realised you were so fragile. They had to put two glucose drips to get you awake. Or so Aditi told me."
Riva turned her head to express her betrayal to her best friend. But Aditi was nowhere to be found. She had undoubtedly tiptoed downstairs when they were bantering.
" You should just rely on me." Abhimanyu whispered softly into her ear.
Happy New Year everyone!
Abhimanyu knows about Vikram's blooming emotions now....what would he now?