Dharani's POV:
Arjun began telling me.
"It happened when I was 12 years old and Dev was just two. We had a man called Rahul who was our caretaker. I was very close to him. He was like my godfather. One day dad found out that someone from our palace is working for our enemies, conveying them all our secrets. Upon further inquiry, Dad found out that Rahul uncle was the one. We had solid proofs and orders were passed for his immediate arrest. Rahul uncle begged and pleaded to forgive him. The last thing I remember him telling me was that he always loved me and that he would remain loyal if I could help him out."
Arjun paused and a tear rolled down his eye. "And then..." I asked placing my hand on his shoulder and he continued as his voice shivered.
"I being the stupid ten-year-old that I was pleaded dad to release him. Dad ignored me and I protested. I stopped eating and used to cry every single day begging dad to bring Rahul uncle back. Dad finally gave in and Rahul uncle was released and his job was restored. However, what happened next was unexpected. My little brother Dev was kidnapped. Wanna know who did it?"
"Rahul uncle..." I asked. Arjun nodded and broke into tears.
"I was responsible for that," he spoke as he cried, "I was responsible for everything. We tried to get Dev back but we couldn't. My mother lost her happiness. I've never...never seen her happy. Dev would have grown up to be a happy young boy. Our family was shattered and I was responsible for it. All because of me...."
"Arjun please don't blame yourself," I said as I tightened my grip and he hugged me and cried in my arms like a baby letting all his grief out.
"Please don't cry," I said as I tried pacifying him though my voice is also shaking cause I am in tears myself. "Our Dev is also like your brother, right?" I asked. "He was always with you, despite our constant fights."
"Right," he said still sobbing, "but what about the Dev who was kidnapped. We had no clue regarding his whereabouts..."
"He will be fine," I assured, "God is there to help. Just don't lose hope."
Arjun nodded.
"You want to know why I imprisoned Swetha, cause she reminded me of Rahul uncle. She is your friend and yes she might be innocent but I didn't want to take any chance. I don't want you to face anything even remotely similar to what I've been through and no I am not telling all this because I want you to change."
"No no I understand," I assured, "Your experiences have molded you but trust me sometimes you just need to see the positive side. The world is not full of Rahul uncles. There are people like you who fight for the right even if it is against their instincts. People like Deepak and Priya who are loyal and genuine and people like amma who could treat even strangers as their own children."
"Maybe..." Arjun whispered.
"What if Dev was adopted by someone like amma who was caring. Maybe he was living a better life with lots of love and fun. Maybe he will meet you soon."
"Are you sure?" Arjun asked me.
"Of course I am," I replied, "I don't want to boost myself but my grandma says that according to my horoscope I am a lucky charm for people around me and I am damn sure that I brought luck into your life."
"Really?" Arjun smiled. I nodded.
"Why does my luck fight with me every day then?" he asked.
" It's because of the situations. Else luck is always your friend," I replied.
Arjun smiled again and we continued talking and teasing each other till late at night. After which we went into our rooms and slept. The next day morning we got the news that Acharya is back and that he wanted to meet us. I asked Priya to take care of Chutki and we went into Acharya's chamber.
"What did you learn in these seven days?" he asked us and we took turns answering.
"Some idiots...I mean some officers are misusing my name," Arjun said.
"People assumed I didn't fight for Swetha," I said.
"Some think my training is too difficult to handle," Arjun said.
"Thankfully people got along and nobody cared if someone is from Mitra or Anjan," I said.
"People are afraid to complain about wrong things," Arjun said.
"People are helpful and there is virtually no problem of unemployment," I said.
"Are you missing something?" Acharya asked.
I nodded. "It is not a coincidence that we were assigned a portion where we had Sonu's family on one side and Manoj uncle's family on the other side. This was all planned, Acharya. Planned by you, but you didn't know about the officer pestering Manoj uncle's family.rRight?"
"Yes," Acharya smiled, "How did you know that?"
"The official papers you gave us were a shade lighter than the original ones," Arjun answered.
"Perfect," Acharya smiled again. "Now that you've known what the problems are, try coming up with solutions."
"Sure," we answered in unison.
(Hey guys, thank you for making it till here. So the next chapter will be published on 30 December 2018. So stay tuned. Thank you and love you all.)