Part 11 Who intimidates whom?
Without caring about anything, Khushi ran towards Arnav, shouting.
"Arnaaaaavvvv... Arnaaavvvv..."
Arnav looked at her confusingly.
"Bend down..." She shouted.
"Whaaat?" Arnav frowned.
She pushed him a bit away in no time, and the arrow crossed between Arnav and Khushi and fell down. Arnav looked at the fallen arrow and then at Khushi.
"Look at there..." Khushi pointed at the opposite bank.
Arnav saw a man with a bow ran into the forest and vanished. He looked at Khushi shockingly who was also shocked. He was shocked not because someone tried to kill him. It was because Khushi saved him from getting killed. If she was a spy of his enemy, she would not have saved him. What he thought about her was not true. Was not she a spy? Was she really a visitor?
"You asked me to bathe in the bathroom. It must be you who should have done that. The danger is waiting around you..." Khushi said fearfully.
"It doesn't mean I should be hiding in the house like a coward," he said taking the arrow.
"You could fight with your enemy if they are brave... but, they are cowards... that's why they are trying to kill you being hidden, bloody cowards..." she said angrily.
"Not all enemies are in the same category. We could not expect them to give the face of"
"But, being cautious is not important to you?"
"Yes... I should have been cautious" he said smelling the arrow edge.
"What is that?" She frowned.
"The arrow edge has been poisoned"
"My God... poisoned? that means you would have died even if its edge had scratched you..."
"Mmm"
"By the way, who it could be?"
"Don't know... Enemies to the commander of a force is not a big deal though"
"I'm sorry..."
Arnav was taken aback.
"Why are you sorry?"
"Because of me, you have to come to this village. If you are alone, you would not have stayed here" she regretted.
"Danger can be anywhere. No matter if I stay in a village or riding the chariot. You don't have to blame yourself for something that's not your mistake. In fact, I should thank you. Because of you I got to know about the serious issue..."
"What if the arrow edge touched your skin? Would not the poison have mixed in your blood?" she asked nervously.
"That must be the plan"
"God... it's scary... I would not have forgiven myself. I would have died guilty for sure"
Arnav smiled contently.
"I don't fear death"
"It doesn't mean you could die simply... you are a warrior. Your death should be a history..."
"Yeah... I too want the same. I expected Ashoka's call for the Kalinga War. But I'm disappointed. He didn't call me"
Khushi was silent.
"Maybe, he has another plan. He may invite me to his next war. Then I will appear on the battlefield all fresh"
"Why are you so passionate about the war? Is not killing people a sin? Do you even think about the after-effect of the war? Women lose their husbands and sons... children lose their fathers and brothers... at the end of the war, what would remain? Dead bodies, pools of blood, and the chopped parts of the human bodies... would you ever feel bad about it?"
"War is our DHARM... we are Warriors... we are trained to fight. It's running in our blood. My mother will also cry if I die. It doesn't mean I should be behind her leaving the war behind. My grandfather fought for King Chandra Gupta Maurya, my father fought for Chandra Gupta Maurya's son Bindhu Sara and now, I'm fighting for Bindhu Sara's son Ashoka. We are expecting death every second. This is how our life goes. Warriors took birth to fight. There was no second thought in it"
"What if a king decides to quit war? What if he decides to stop fighting but starts following the path of LOVE and MERCY?"
"It can never happen. It will be against the King's regulation"
"What will you do if Ashoka makes such a decision?"
Arnav chuckled.
"Ashoka? Do you know who he is? Do you know what his arm power is? He fights with a lion alone and wins... Quitting war will not be on his mind"
"This is not an answer to my question"
"Ok, if Ashoka makes such a decision, I will also quit the war and follow in his footstep"
"Are you sure?" she asked with blazing eyes.
"Yes..."
"You should not change your perspective... ever..."
"Never... I will never change my perspective... but it will never happen. Ashoka will not think of quitting war"
Khushi smiled folding her lips. Arnav frowned. Why did she react this way? Arnav wrapped the arrow with his wet clothe. That was when Khushi saw something on his lift bicep.
"An insect is there..." She pointed at his bicep.
"Mole..." Arnav said simply.
Khushi looked at the mole widening her eyes.
"It looks like a bug"
"Let's go" he smiled, covering his upper body with a towel.
They walked to Ganga's house.
When they reached the house, Khushi found a man with a metal box taking Eshwar somewhere. Seeing Arnav, the man stopped and bowed in front of him.
"Namaste"
Arnav nodded his head.
"One minute..." The man excused himself from Eshwar and came to Arnav.
He stood hesitating to speak as Khushi was with him.
"He is the doctor of this Village" Arnav introduced the man to Khushi.
"Namaste" Khushi said joining her hands.
"She is from a foreign country to know about our kingdom. You can speak in front of her," Arnav said to the doctor.
"I have passed the King's order to the villagers. People who don't have kids will meet me soon. I will talk to them and will find out the REAL problem."
Khushi lifted her brows getting amazed. She just thought to solve Ganga's problem but Arnav wanted to do it for all the people of his country. What a vision...!
"You can include your assistants in this. Form a crew. The government will pay them. I will take this issue to the Prince and will ask him to expand it all over our kingdom" Said Arnav which surprised Khushi more. So this team was going to find out the real issue of married couples and would teach them about intimacy if needed. Great...! What an authorized action...! She wondered.
"As you say, commander" The doctor went to Eshwar. They headed to the medical center.
"You are capable to become a KING" Khushi appreciated.
Arnav walked with a smile.
"You disappointed me..." Khushi said, following him.
Arnav stood and looked at her frowning.
"Why? What did I do?"
"I thought you would say, I don't want to become a king... I should not even think of it because I'm a loyal servant of this country... but you didn't... you just smiled"
"I just accepted your appreciation... because I know you said that to appreciate me"
"But what if your Prince Aparajith saw you smiling for my appreciation? Won't he take you wrong?"
"But he is not here"
"What if his spies follow you? They will definitely tell him about you and he will misunderstand you"
"Why do you think so deeply?"
"Not more than you do... I just wanted to solve Ganga's problem but you...? How quickly you took action kingdom-wide and acted so fast...! You are amazing!"
Arnav folded his hands and smiled.
"What do you want me to do now? Should I accept your appreciation or should I be rigid?"
Khushi sighed.
"Commander Arnav, you a nice man. I just don't want you to face problems. That's why I said"
"Prince Aparajith knows me... not only about me, he knows about people around him. He hands the issues to the person only after analyzing a lot about it"
"Won't he get angry with you for making a decision without his consent?"
Arnav removed a ring from his hip belt and showed it to Khushi. A sword-holding lion was in the ring.
"This is the seal of our kingdom. Very few authorities in this county have this ring. This ring means I can make any decision without anyone's consent. This ring gives me the power to make any decision" he again kept it in his hip belt.
"I thought you are wise... but you made my thought wrong"
"Why?" he asked her plainly.
"Then what? The matter of the SEAL ring should be kept secret but you broke it... what if I steal it from you? What if I came only to steal it from you?" She asked shrinking her eyes intimidatingly.
Arnav's facial expression changed. He moved towards Khushi with a dangerous gaze. Khushi gulped down hard, seeing his suddenly changed expression. She moved back with fear and stood hitting on a big neem tree. Arnav leaned towards her.
"You can't steal it from me, girl. I will catch you even before you touch my belt. Even though you stole it you could not do anything using it because our authorities knew, not everyone could have the ring. And I will pass the order to all the important authorities to arrest the girl who looks like an ALIEN. They will not have a problem finding the ALIEN because no one is like you here" he stopped, looking at her who looked horrified.
Arnav laughed at her making Khushi confused.
"Are you scared?"
She nodded yes.
"Don't be... I just am kidding"
He moved back.
"Is it?"
"Yeah... you are a nice girl. If you are here to steal it, you would not have saved me from the arrow... you would have stolen it easily after the arrow had hit me. So, stop your drama of intimidating me" he walked with a smile leaving Khushi with a cute smile.
To be continued...