CHAPTER: 17
Vidhyut hesitatingly lifted his right hand while his other hand clenched itself into a fist at his side.
The fingers moved forward with the belief that they will pass right through the opaque surface but to his astonishment, the unexpected occurred.
A zing of electricity right through the stone door where his fingers touched the surface as the whole surface seemed to be coming to life as the sparks flickered back at him and he removed his hand right away.
His left hand massaged the injured hand after he tried shaking the pain off in reflex. The spark on the stony surface was gone the next second but it was followed by slight trembling of the walls and pillars of the mahal.
Vidhyut looked around as fright coated his features and the shouts of the workers working inside the mahal could be heard but they stopped the next second.
He took some steps back and stared at the door with wide eyes while the warning bells from the Soul Sanctuary resonated in his ears then he walked away.
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The group returned at noon, before the time they were expected to but the authorities had already been informed since all the students and students were now huddled in the restaurant of the resort for lunch.
Vrishti got informed too as Naaz went to help her come downstairs where everyone from the group waited for them.
"You wouldn't believe what happened today!", exclaimed Lee.
Gurnoor and Namrita sucked in a breath through their teeth at the loud voice while Shayon chuckled nervously.
"We were going to the Ruins and we had just crossed the fields where the construction has been going on that we saw the mahal tremble"
"Only you saw it with those humongous binoculars of yours. Why did you even bring it, do you expect to discover some white tigers in these abandoned woods?", Naaz muttered.
"it did", Lee pressed but everyone turned to Namrita who spoke out.
"The teachers rescheduled it for tomorrow since the government workers requested some privacy for today"
Lee scoffed, "What are they searching for, some mummy I guess?", he remarked sarcastically.
"Actually yes, If you put it that way", Shayon intervened which took everyone's attention.
They stared at him indicating him to elaborate.
"As we all know the history of the Raya Dynasty and how the last descendant died while protecting his kingdom, rumors had that he had a history with the princess of the rival kingdom and that her remains could be found somewhere hidden in the royal chambers of the mahal", Shayon said in his velvety voice.
"Why are they searching for it now, couldn't they have looked for it when they searched for Dhrisyam Raya and Vidhyut Raya?", Namrita asked.
Shayon shrugged in response.
"What's that princess's name?", Naaz asked suddenly.
"Varsha"
Vrishti's movements halted when she heard the name, she looked up at Shayon who had spelled that out. His eyes were on her with a strange expression that Vrishti couldn't decipher.
"Anyways, let's go eat. I can't wait to try the masala dosa-s", Lee said getting up from his chair.
Everyone followed but Naaz put a hand on Vrishti's shoulder, "Let me bring your plate, what will you have?"
Vrishti chuckled even through her red nose and throbbing head, "I don't even know what's on the menu but bring me something light to eat", Naaz nodded and got up.
Apparently, juices were also being served, everyone came with their plates and a glass of fruit juice, Naaz brought one for her and another for Vrishti while Namrita held the plates but before Naaz could give Vrishti her orange juice, a glass of lime juice got placed before it.
Vrishti looked up and saw it was Shayon who smiled at her and pointed at her unaware of the glass for her in Naaz's hand.
His eyes widened a little when he saw Naaz placing the plate and the glass in front of Vrishti, then everyone settled down.
" Umm...I already feel nauseous so can't drink both of these", Vrishti explained pointing at the two glasses and she munched on her cucumber sandwich.
"It's okay I can drink it for you", Lee smiled cheekily as he took the lime juice but he didn't stop there and before anyone could respond, he gulped half of the lemon juice and poured it into his pineapple juice.
Gurnoor shivered visibly with a displeased expression on his face, "What are you doing?", he emphasized each word.
Lee giddily mixed the two juices and picked up the glass to show everyone the pale yellow color, "Look isn't it beautiful?"
With a childlike expression, he stared at it like a toddler showing his first drawing to his parents.
Then he took a sip himself, "Mhmm, and tastes good too".
Everyone just shook their head and hid their laughter.
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The weather was nice today, the mellow breeze billowed the soft cotton kurti Vrishti was wearing but she clutched the crumbled piece of paper which had escaped from the stapled pin.
She absent-mindedly traced the foreign text her mother had scribbled, it was quite ancient and there had been nothing written about it on the internet. She wondered how her mother had gotten a hand on this.
Then her eyes went to the name written on the corner, the oy place where it had been written
Varsha
Was she really the princess of Vaisallis?
Her head throbbed a little, she couldn't quite wrap her head around all of this. That's when she heard the crunching of leaves and turned behind to look at it.
The chains of the rings rattled a little when suddenly a figure appeared.
him
Vrishti can't forget the man she saved or the fact that he didn't need any saving. He still stood there amongst the most shaded part with a backdrop of fresh greens of the garden.
She wondered if others could see him but looking at the students and some tourists scattered around the brighter part of the garden who pay no heed to the translucent figure in the spring sun, the answer had been clear.
When their eyes met, he advanced but he might have deciphered the look on Vrishti's face because he stopped at a considerable distance and spoke, " I mean no harm".
That low and deep voice again, like the sea waves sloshing against the rocks.
"I need your help"
Those words were followed by him bending on his knees as he rested his elbow and looked at her with sorrowful eyes and uttered those words again, his glassy eyes seem to reflect the sun.
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readers I know this is a literal slow burn, but I have to set the background and the environment for my characters to open up and the plot to play out well. if you have noticed I've added little titles on the chapters, lemme know what you think about them.
thank you to my readers who have been supporting me so far, I am grateful to each one of you 💐