Part 22 Prince's Proposal
Arnav came to the subway following Khushi.
"Khushi, please don't be upset. I will find a way to get rid of their evil plan"
Khushi looked at him turning behind.
"Who is upset?" She asked casually.
"Are not you?" Arnav asked surprisingly.
"Why would I be?"
"Didn't you hear their plan?"
"I did"
"Are not you scared?"
"They just planned... they are not Gods to succeed in every plan"
Arnav looked at her wondering. How could she be so casual after knowing their plan?
"Khushi, they are planning to abduct you"
"They can't... before they prove me a spy, won't you prove their thievery?"
Arnav was stuck. Of course, he would do that but how? How could Khushi be so confident about him when he himself was not?
"Khushi, what if I could not do it before the given time? We have only nine days, Khushi"
"Ok, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to tell King about their plan"
"Neither the Priest nor Hemadri would accept your allegation. We need proof. They would easily turn the table because the priest is on the opposite side. The king has a huge respect for him. Then how could the King trust that the priest is also in the conspiracy?"
Arnav became thoughtful.
"I have an idea," Arnav said.
"What?"
"I'm going to create a good image about you in the ministry. So, they will start trusting you that you won't harm us"
"But how will you create a good image?"
"What's that... Kara... or something... it didn't come into my mid..."
Khushi frowned.
"You used the trick on Hemadri's man..."
"Oh, Karate?"
"Yeah... I'm going to say, you are going to teach the trickery to the women of our Kingdom. So that, they could protect themselves from the men who try to harass them"
"Wow... what an idea Sirji..."
"Sirji?"
"It's a respectful word in our country"
"Ohh..."
"Do you want me to show what's Karate in front of your ministers?"
"Yeah... I'm going to convene the court tomorrow. Everyone will be there, including the Priest and Hemadri"
Khushi's face brightened. This was what exactly she wanted. She wanted to prove them wrong with the video Prof in front of everyone. Because she knew MOBILE was something that could be explained CLEARLY, in AD600 people's way. A naughty chuckle escaped from Khushi's throat.
"I'm ready..." Khushi said.
"You don't worry, Viraj is trying to bring a border Villager to the king. We can easily prove ourselves if he brings one"
"I don't care about myself, but you, Arnav. Before leaving your Kingdom, I want to prove you RIGHT" Khushi said worriedly.
Arnav stopped walking and looked at her disappointedly.
"Can't you be without talking about leaving our kingdom, Khushi?"
"However I should go, right?" She shrugged her shoulders off.
"Why? Can't you settle down here?"
"How could I?"
"You know, the daughter of Seleucus Nicator married Chandra Gupta Maurya and settled down with him"
Khushi looked at him sharply. She got stuck understanding the meaning of his words. What was there in Arnav's mind? Did he want her to settle down marrying SOMEONE or marrying HIM? She was perplexed. She didn't want to prolong this talk. She was a Time Traveler. This won't work. She composed herself, taking a few seconds, and said,
"Hmmmmm... (she sighed) I too thought the same. I was so happy when Hemadri asked me to marry him..." She said sadly.
As she didn't expect, Arnav clutched her upper arms and said,
"Stop making fun of a serious issue, Khushi. Stop pretending like you didn't understand what I said" he said and tightened his jaws.
Khushi saw his face in the light of the torch, which showed his face RED. She shrugged his hands.
"I didn't understand what you said," She said and tried to walk, Arnav again stopped her.
"No problem if you don't understand. Let me tell you directly. I would like to marry you, Khushi. I love you"
Khushi widened her eyes. The great Prince Aparajith wanted to marry her. She nodded no.
"Why?" Arnav asked losing his patience. No one ever denied Prince Aparajith.
Khushi took a deep breath and said.
"I'm a possessive girl..."
"So?" he frowned.
"You are a Prince... you will marry many girls after becoming King. I could not tolerate that. I want a ONE WOMAN man as my partner. You can't be one"
Arnav rolled his eyes annoyingly.
"If you have so much knowledge about King and his married life... You should have known the reason for their multiple marriage...right?"
Khushi was silent.
"They got many marriages because they wanted to strengthen their kingdom. Right?"
Khushi nodded yes.
"In this case, I have no such scene here because Ashoka is a ruler here. We are his under kingdom. We can't expand our kingdom. Then why would I marry many women?" he put a clear point in front of her.
"Anything can be changed in the future..." she said remembering Ashoka was going to change upside down.
"Don't you trust me?"
"Try to understand Arnav... there are princesses longing to marry you"
"What about my long?"
Khushi got stuck.
"I don't know what made you talk like this" she averted her gaze from him.
"Your character... I feel content when I'm with you. I feel to be with you for my whole life. I want you to be with me, Khushi"
"Prince Aparajith..."
Cutting her,
"Arnav... call me Arnav... I told you only a few people have the right to call me Arnav. I don't like them call me Prince Aparajith"
"We have a very big deal to sort out. We have to concentrate on it first. We will talk about THIS later" Khushi said.
"Don't you like me, Khushi?"
"I like you, respect you, but marriage is different"
"If you like me, you can marry me"
"Arnav, try to understand. I won't suit you. Our cultures are different. I can't become a Queen... it needs some values, Arnav"
"I'm not blind not to notice your approach toward every problem. You respect elders, love girls, play with them joyfully, admire our kingdom, solve people's problems, find solutions to every issue... what else do I need more than this...? These are Queenly Values every Queen should have. You have all of them, Khushi. I didn't see a difference ever in your eyes, be it solving Ganga's problem, be it saving me from the poisoned arrow... You consider everyone as your people. This is what the Queen needs..."
"What if I'm really a SPY?"
"Shut up, ok...?"
Khushi rolled her eyes.
"I know how the spy works... You have no single feature of a spy... I will kill you if you address yourself as Spy... understand?" he said wrathfully.
Khushi was taken aback. He talked coolly even when she denied his proposal but lost his temper when she addressed herself as a spy. How BIG his TRUST was...!
"Give me some time..." Khushi said.
"How long?"
"Two days?"
Arnav nodded ok.
"I hope you won't break my heart"
Khushi got stuck. BREAKING HEART? She felt bad for Arnav. What the hell she had done? She should not have come to the palace. She should have left the place right away. She could leave the place right away, using the sand clock but it would lead people to mock Arnav. She could not be the reason for it. Arnav was a Prince. Being his friend, saving his respect was her duty. What would she do now? Would telling him about the sand clock solve their problem? Would he understand? She was confused. She didn't expect Arnav would fall for her charms. Why not if she was so cute and attractive?
They came out of the subway. Arnav closed its path and walked with Khushi. He was glancing at her from time to time but she didn't look at him and thinking something deep. He knew she was disturbed... he made her disturbed... he didn't feel bad about it. He just said what he felt for her.
The next day, he was going to convene the court. Everyone will be there, including the Priest and Hemadri. Of course, a few common people too. Khushi would show them what was Karate. She would be appointed to teach Karate to girls.
Arnav's actual plan was something. He had decided to announce his marriage with Khushi. That was the best way of protecting her from the problem as well as from Hemadri. Who would dare to punish the would-be wife of the Prince?
But, Khushi had some other plan to end the issue. She was going to create a big blow in the court the next day. That would become a reason for Arnav to fall for her more and more harder.
To be continued...