When Ram woke up he saw Tashi lying on the floor unconscious. No one else was there. He was confused. Why would Fergox lock us in a room together? He quickly went over to Tashi and tried to wake her up.
She woke up and Ram hugged her tightly. He never wanted to let her go.
They looked around and saw that they were in a square room with no doors or windows. Just blank walls.
“Are you alright Tashi?” Ram asked.
“Yes,” she said with a weak smile. “Yes I am. Are you doing well?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” Ram answered.
“Why are we here?” she asked. “And where are the others?”
“I don’t know. I woke up and there was just you,” Ram answered.
“Why would Fergox put us together in a room?” Tashi asked.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Ram said.
“Well there’s nothing to do but wait. Let’s talk about something else,” Tashi said brightly.
Ram smiled at her and she beamed back. “I promise you that we will get out of here.”
“I know we will,” Tashi answered. “What shall we talk about?”
“I really want to know more about you. When we get out of here, we will get married to join our countries together and I want to know more about you before we get married. I think that it’s best if we know about one another first,” Ram said.
“Yes,” Tashi said smiling. “Well I was born in a little village in Kai. My father died when I was quite young. I didn’t know him that well but my mother never let us forget him. Then my mother fell very ill. My brother and I looked after her all the time, we didn’t always have the money to buy the medicine she needed and one day I found out that we were too late. She was dying; she was too far into her illness to treat it now.” Tears started rolling down her cheeks. “So she wrote letters. She labelled each one with our name and the time we should open each letter. She put them in boxes and gave them to us. A few days later, she was gone and we were sent to live with her brother, Uncle Harry. The letters always come in handy. She gives us advice on what to do when we have no idea what will happen. The last one I read was labelled ‘Your fiancé.’” She looked up to see his eyes deeply absorbed into the conversation.
“You don’t have to tell me what it said, it was written by your mother for you and it’s your choice who you want to share it with,” Ram said. He reached out and held her hand.
“Thank You. I probably will tell you one day,” she said.
“I will wait for that day. Where is the box full of letters?” he asked.
Her hand flew up to the pendant around her neck. “They’re in here,” she said.
“How?” Ram asked confused.
“I told you before that we have a sorcerer at home. Well, I asked him to put a spell on it so that they can always be with me. I’ll show you,” she said. She unhooked the necklace and took the pendant in her hand. She closed her eyes for a second then she opened them and opened the pendant. There was a blinding light and Ram had to shut his eyes. When he opened them, Tashi was holding a plain brown box the size of a large book.
“That’s amazing,” Ram said. “What’s the next letter labelled as?”
Tashi opened the box and looked through the many white envelopes. She lifted one out and read aloud: “Your wedding.”
“And the next one?” Ram asked. He put his hands behind his head, lay on his back and looked up at the ceiling.
“Why do you want to know?” she asked.
“I want to imagine what it will be like when we get married,” he answered. “So what’s the next one?”
“Your honeymoon,” she said with a smile.
“I can imagine what that will be like,” he said with a smile.
Tashi laughed.
“After that?”
“Your In-laws”
“Alright, that I can’t help you with. My father is a very strange man to deal with. I still don’t understand him sometimes. Oh well, what’s next?”
“Responsibility in your new home”
“Oh please, that’s boring to deal with.” Tashi laughed. “Next?” he asked.
She picked up another envelope and blushed deep red.
Ram sat up and faced her. “What? What’s the next one?”
“Nothing. I’m going to put them away now,” she started packing them up again.
“Why? What did I do wrong?” he asked, slightly upset.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Tashi said, still packing the letters very neatly.
“Then why? I was having amazing daydreams about what you were saying,” Ram asked. “Now my dream will be incomplete.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know this may sound bad but I don’t think your dream will ever come true unless we get out of here.”
“You’re right. No wait. You’re just changing the subject, aren’t you?” he asked.
She smiled and nodded.
“Please can you tell me. I need to know or I’ll go crazy. Please?” he asked. “I’ll tell you about what I dreamed of.”
Tashi considered this for a moment and then shook her head.
“Please?” Ram whispered quietly. He lifted his arm and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.
“Alright but you have to tell me your dream first,” she said.
“That’s not fair,” Ram said.
“I promise I’ll tell you,” Tashi said. She had finished packing the box.
“Alright, but first put that box away,” Ram said. “How do you put it back in?”
“Oh, that’s easy she said. She lifted the box with one hand and lifted the open pendant in her other hand. She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again she shut the pendant. The box in her hand dissolved into smoke and drifted into the pendant.
“Wow!” Ram said. “Here. Let me put it on you.” He took the necklace out of her hand and fastened it around her neck.
“Thank You,” Tashi smiled sweetly at him.
“So in my dream, we had a wonderful wedding with a ball before and after it. We went on a beautiful honeymoon to a hot place somewhere. My father started ordering to look after you properly and you and I were always separated because now that there is a lady in the house, she has a lot of responsibility. And I was always upset because I always planned something for us to do together and it was always cancelled. And then...” he stopped.
“And then...” Tashi prompted, smiling amazingly at him.
He smiled back. “And then I stopped dreaming because you didn’t tell me what was next on the agenda for our lives.”
“Do you really want to know?” she asked, blushing a little.
“Yes. Wait. Let me guess first,” he said.
“If you want to,” Tashi said.
“Meetings with important people?”
She laughed. “No.”
“Money?”
“No.”
“Is it really obvious?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Does it involve me or you?”
“Both of us.”
“Meeting family friends?”
“No,”
“Oh sorry. I forgot,” Ram said. He removed his jacket that was too large for him and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“But now you’ll get cold,” Tashi said.
“No, I’m fine,” Ram said.
“No you are not,” she stated. “Come here. We can both easily fit in here. It’s very big for you so we can fit together.”
Ram moved towards her and slipped inside the jacket with her.
“Are you alright?” she asked.
Ram didn’t say anything. He bent down and caught her lips, quickly but tenderly. She kissed him back softly. His lips were strong and she had never had a kiss like this before. It was more than just a kiss, it was part of them. Ram pulled her closer to him and he placed his hand gently on the back of her head like he never wanted the kiss to end.
Ram let go of Tashi and pulled away from her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what came over me, I just... Tashi, I love you,” Ram said. “And when we get out of here I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I won’t force you into anything but I just wanted you to know before you make your decision.”
There was silence as Tashi absorbed this.
She looked up at Ram and said: “I love you too. I do want to spend the rest of my life and I do want to get married to you.”
“You do?” Ram asked, not believing his ears.
“I do,” she said.
Ram bent down and kissed her softly on the lips.
When they pulled apart, Ram asked: “So can you tell me what was written on the letter so I can conclude my dream for now?”
“I thought you were guessing,” she said.
“Okay. Do you want this to happen?” he asked.
She blushed as bright as a tomato.
“Why are you blushing?”
“You’ll see,” she said.
“So?” he prompted. “Do you want this to happen?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Alright. Do I want this to happen?” he asked.
“I...I don’t know. I think so. I hope so,” Tashi said, still red in the face.
“I don’t know. I give up. What did it say?” Ram asked eagerly.
“It said ‘Pregnancy’,” she said quietly. She had barely said it and didn’t know if he heard. She looked up to see Ram frozen. He was staring at her with wide eyes.
“Did you just say that you wanted my baby?” he asked.
“You don’t want children do you?” Tashi asked. “Oh no. I didn’t mean to load everything onto you at once. Oh no. Oh no,” she said. She stood up, dropped the jacket and walked away from him.
“No,” Ram said. He stood up and walked towards her. “I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming, because all of my dreams have just come true.”
“What?” Tashi asked. “You want to have children?”
“Yes!” he said with a massive grin on his face. He lifted her up and spun her around. “Yes I do! Of course I do!”
Tashi laughed and held on tightly as Ram spun her around. He stopped and they both fell on the floor in peals of laughter.
“Having fun are we?” a voice said.
They both turned to see Tom standing there.
“I was told to give you these,” he snapped his fingers and a pile of clothes, pillows and a few blankets appeared on the floor next to them. “And to tell you to sleep because you will need it for tomorrow.” Then he disappeared.
“Wait!” Tashi called.
Tom came back. “Yes.”
“What’s happening tomorrow?” she asked.
“I knew you would ask that?” he said. “If you want to know then you’ll have to kiss me.”
“NO!” Ram said angrily.
“Alright,” Tashi said. “But you have to tell me first. I give you my word that I’ll kiss you. I can’t escape from you so there would be no point in lying.”
“Fair enough,” Tom said. “Tomorrow there will be some sort of test for both of you. I don’t know why Fergox wants you to do it but he will test you on something. I don’t know what the test will be until tomorrow and it can last a very long time so you might want to sleep for as long as you can.”
“Thank you,” Tashi said. She took a step towards Tom but Ram grabbed her arm.
“No Tashi! That information wasn’t worth anything to us. That was as good as saying nothing. I can’t watch you do that,” Ram pleaded.
“I can’t go back on my word,” Tashi said, looking deep into his eyes.
“Yes you can,” Ram pleaded.
“No Ram, I literally can’t,” Tashi explained. “Many spells and enchantments are put onto a Princess at home and one of them is that I can never go back on my word. No matter how big or small it is. There are consequences if I do.”
“What consequences?” Ram asked.
“I don’t know,” Tashi said. “Ram, please. The consequence could be death or torture or something as bad as those two.”
Ram didn’t let go and Tom was getting impatient.
“Well then. I’ll have to do it the hard way,” Tom said. He snapped his fingers and Tashi was in Tom’s arms. “Now, kiss me.”
“No! Leave her alone,” Ram started to come up to them.
“I don’t think so,” Tom snapped his fingers and Ram was roped to the wall.
“Kiss me,” he said to Tashi. “Those ropes will get tighter and tighter if you don’t.”
“No. Don’t Tashi,” Ram’s voice was getting weaker.
Tashi crashed her lips against Tom’s and moved her mouth according to his. Then she pulled away from his mouth and looked at Ram. Tom was still holding her in his arms and he didn’t let go.
“I can see why those two are always fighting over you,” Tom said.
“Let Ram go,” she said.
He ignored her and pushed her to the nearest wall. He kissed her lips roughly and held her in place securely.
She pushed him away. He didn’t come after her.
Tashi was panting heavily. “One kiss. That is what I promised. Let Ram go and leave.”
“Let him die,” he said and disappeared.
“NO!” she shouted.
She ran over to Ram and started pulling the ropes off of him. The ropes burned her hands (because of the magic) but she carried on. Eventually they all came off and they both collapsed on the ground. Tashi’s hands were bright red but she could feel burning under her skin. It slowly faded and then she focused on Ram. The ropes had cut through his clothes and into his skin. Tashi saw some ointment appear a few centimetres from her and grabbed the bottle. She recognised the labelling on it and saw that it was for cuts and burns.
“Why are you crying?” Ram asked.
Tashi hadn’t noticed the tears falling down her cheeks. “Have you seen the state you’re in. Look at you. It must be so painful.”
“Not painful enough for you to cry about,” Ram said. He reached towards her and wiped the tears from her face.
“Take your shirt off please,” Tashi asked. “I need to put the ointment on your cuts.”
Ram removed his tattered shirt and laid it aside.
Tashi put the ointment down and went over to the things that Tom brought. She brought them all to Ram. She lay a blanket on the floor and put a few pillows there too.
“Lie down,” she ordered.
Ram lay down on the bed that Tashi had made, he winced when he moved. Two buckets of water and some towels appeared next to the bed. Tashi dipped the towels into the water and cleaned Ram’s cuts. When she finished the water had turned a pale red colour. She put the ointment on the cuts but there was a large cut on his abdomen that would stop bleeding. She looked worried and looked at Ram.
“What do you need?” Ram asked.
“I need something to bandage you up or infections could get inside you and you could die and I couldn’t bear that,” Tashi said in a rush of emotion.
“I’ll be fine,” Ram said.
“No you won’t!” Tashi said. She was shaking her whole body and she realized something. She got one of the towels and saw that it was too small to wrap around Ram’s entire body twice. She looked at her skirt and had an idea.
“What?” Ram asked at her knowing look.
“Close your eyes,” she said.
“Why?” he asked carefully.
“Just do it please,” she said.
He closed his eyes. Tashi wrapped the towel around her waist as a skirt and pulled the other one off.
“You can open them now,” she said.
Ram opened his eyes and stared at her. The towel only came up to her knees and her long slender legs were visible.
“Stop it!” Tashi blushed and held the skirt in front of her legs.
“I’m sorry,” he said and looked away. “What are you going to do with that?”
“Cut it and wrap is around that big cut on your abdomen,” she said.
“How are you going to cut it?” he asked.
She held up her arm. “With this.” Tashi had a thick glass bangle on. “If I can break it, I can use the sharp edge to cut it,” she explained. “Can you try to break it? It won’t come off my arm. I don’t know how Fergox’s maids managed to get it on me.”
“I’ll try,” he said. “Come here.”
Tashi walked to him and dropped to her knees. She held out her arm and Ram took it in his. He examined it carefully and sighed.
“I can’t break this. The only way you can break this is to hit it against something, but then that would hurt you.”
“Do it,” Tashi said. “Hit it into the wall. It should work. I would do it myself but I can’t. I’m too weak. Please?”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Ram whispered.
“You have to,” she said. “Please, just do it.”
Ram held her hand in place and crashed it into the wall. Tashi gasped. The bangle was chipped slightly. Ram hit it again but with much more force. Tashi made a small squeaking sound. It was almost broken. Ram hit it into the wall one more time and Tashi screamed. The bangle has snapped into 2 large jagged pieces and one piece was stuck in her arm. She pulled it out quickly and went back to Ram.
Blood was dripping down her arm but she concentrated on cutting her skirt up and wrapping it around Ram’s body. She was losing a lot of blood but she didn’t care, she just carried on healing Ram. When she finished she wiped her blood from Ram’s body. She was about to wipe her own arm but the buckets of water and the towels disappeared.
“No!” Tashi said weakly.
“What?” Ram started to get up.
“Nothing, I’m fine,” Tashi said.
But it was too late; Ram had already seen the cut on Tashi’s arm.
“Oh God,” he said. He stood up and went over to her.
Tashi was losing consciousness. “I’m fi...” she managed to say.
Ram held her in his arms and was suddenly angry. He looked up at the ceiling and shouted at Fergox. “Do you want her to die? Do you really love her?”
A bucket of water appeared next to him along with some towels and a bandage. Ram cleaned the blood and wrapped a bandage around her arm.
“Thank You,” she said softly, looking into his eyes.
“You must be tired,” he said.
“You too,” she countered.
“You should change into a night gown. I won’t look, I promise,” Ram smiled.
Tashi moved to where the clothes were and quickly slipped out of the clothes she was wearing. She put a pink nightgown on and found some clothes for Ram.
“Are you done?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said as she found another pillow.
Ram turned around and was stunned by how beautiful she looked. She was wearing a pale pink nightgown with no sleeves or straps! It fitted her body perfectly and flattered the curves of her body too. It had a plain silver design on the bottom and she had a pair of pink slippers to wear too. He went over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist from the behind. He rested his head on her bare shoulder and she smiled at him.
“That’s a nice dress you’re wearing,” he said.
“I like it but they’re all the same, bare shoulders. I feel so cold sometimes,” Tashi explained as she made a makeshift bed on the floor.
“Wear one of my shirts,” he said as he kissed her cheek.
“There’s only one and you need it more than me,” she said. She picked up his clothes and stepped out of his arms. “Here, put these on while I finish making the bed.”
Ram took the clothes and got changed, watching Tashi the whole time. Then he walked back to her and helped her make the bed.
When they had finished, Ram lay down and pulled Tashi down with him. She laughed and covered Ram with the blanket. She lay down next to him and he covered her up.
Ram moved in to kiss her, but she put her hand on his lips.
She leaned forward and whispered: “Goodnight.” She smiled and turned around on her pillow.
Ram wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. Tashi giggled and turned around. “What?” she asked.
“Face this way. I have to see you or I’ll go mad,” he said.
“Alright,” she whispered and closed her eyes.
Ram moved towards her and kissed her sweetly on the lips. Tashi smiled and kissed him back. Then she drew back and wished him Goodnight again.
Tashi fell asleep instantly. Ram turned, looked up at the ceiling and waited. Not long after, Tashi started to become slightly uncomfortable and moved around on her pillow to try and find a comfy place. She moved towards Ram and rested her head on his chest. Ram smiled and hugged her tightly. She shivered and he covered her with the blanket. He wished that she could stay there forever. Safe in his arms. Always away from harm.