The man lying on the ground had already lost his senses but the loss of colour from the remaining three culprits indicated the terror which they were feeling. Seeing the condition of their friend, none of them had the guts to open their mouth.
Seeing such a brutal treatment given to the culprits, one of the soldiers mustered up his courage to put forward his perspective, " your highness, they can loose lots of blood because of the injuries and can die also. We, soldiers are not allowed to kill someone without orders so I think we should give them a lift till palace henceforth let our king pass the judgemen..." his voice stuck in his throat when Ritha's gaze went stoic on him. He didn't have the courage to add further seeing the penetrating gaze of the princess.
Ritha slowly and gradually took calculating steps towards the soldier and stopped directly in front of him.
She spoke after a minute of silence, "did you see what they all were doing with this young girl?"
The young soldier lowered his head and wobbled his head upside down in agreement.
Ritha spoke further, "what if instead of this young girl it was your sister or wife? Still you would have cared for these culprits so much? "
As soon as the image of his innocent sister painted in his mind in the place of this young girl, the soldier's blood boiled and his whole body trembled with anger. He couldn't even reply back to Ritha's question due to the anger flowing in his veins.
"See, this is the difference! This girl is also somebody's sister or daughter. She deserves respect and these goons will pay thoroughly for their deeds. And as far as their death is concerned, I'll take the full responsibility if they die before reaching palace." her eyes turned towards the men who were now cursing their fate. They didn't know that events would take a three sixty degree turn. They were expecting to have fun with this girl but now their life was in trouble. They couldn't even deny their crime because they were caught red handed.
One of the men was glaring at Ritha with hatred which irked her even more. She warned him in her calm voice which was coated with anger, " if you want to reach palace with your eye balls intact, I suggest you to lower down your eyes." The warning was more than enough for him to understand and others to lower down their eyes.
All four were tied to four different carriages and Rithambara intentionally stepped on the one who was glaring at her and then came to sit inside where Aquila was sitting with the girl.
Ritha looked at the girl who had stopped crying but she was traumatized to an extent that she couldn't even speak. She was whimpering in a way that her shoulders were shaking while Aquila was trying to calm her down. Ritha looked at Aquila and gestured her to interchange their position.
After settling herself next to the young girl, she ordered the carriage rider to proceed towards the palace. With her blonde hair,light brown eyes, pink lips and defined face there was no doubt that the girl was a beauty but the tears in her eyes broke Ritha's heart. Her rosy cheeks were stained with tears and hair was sprawled wildly.
The white furry shawl was slipping down from the girl's shoulder so Ritha wrapped it properly and lovingly stroked her hair in order to give her support and assurance. She kept whispering soothing words in her ears and kissed her forehead.
Feeling the warmth which was radiating from Rithambara, the young girl hugged her tightly and kept her head on her shoulder to seek more heat. She felt secure in Ritha's embrace and the screams and painful beggings of the culprit which was giving her heart immense satisfaction.
They could clearly hear the painful screaming of the culprit which was tied with their carriage. The path here in this region was muddy because there were mostly fields around so it was bearable for all four of them. Main problem would arrive for them after half a mile when road will become rocky.
Aquila was watching the scene expanding in front of her with flummoxed expressions. She couldn't believe that the lady who was beating someone mercilessly could show so much affection but one thing caught her attention. The white furry shawl was now partially drenched in red colour making her gasp in horror. She looked at the source of the red stream and found it to be Ritha's hand.
Few of the glass bangles which she was wearing had poked her skin making a way for blood to flow out. It might have happened when she was mercilessly thrashing the culprit's head in the carriage. Many of the glass pieces were still stucked in her skin. She looked at Ritha's face which wasn't showing any discomfort towards her injuries instead she was more worried about the girl.
Slowly and gradually, the dominance of the red blood was increasing on the snow coloured shawl therefore, Aquila said to Ritha, "your highness, please look at your hands, they are bleeding intensely. "
Ritha was in deep trance thinking about Justus because it was getting very late. Her reverie was broken by Aquila's voice and she glanced at her hands. She saw broken bangles and blood oozing out through deep cuts but she didn't pay heed to it because her attention was solely fixed on the girl who was leaning on her shoulder.
When Aquila couldn't take it anymore, she went near Ritha and plucked out the pieces of glass and sent a reassuring smile towards Rithambara which she returned. Ritha acknowledged the affectionate gesture of Aquila and passed her a kind smile.
Finally the girl was no more hiccuping so Ritha patted on her back
and then asked her name. The young lady hesitated a bit and then answered, "Rosa."
Ritha smiled widely at her and asked about her age and came to know that she was just 15 years old. The girl was not yet in the condition of talking about the incident therefore she didn't enquire further.
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Back in the palace when Augustus returned after a long day of dealing with few diplomatic matters, he found Justus whining in Cato's arms. He came to know that he was waiting for Rithambara who was out exploring the city of Florence.
This news was enough to escalate his temper. They had been attacked by numerous times within a short span which made him more worried about her safety.
'This lady is not understanding the seriousness of the situation. If she wanted to see the city of Florence, she could have asked him. He would have gladly shown her around.' he thought.
All the worst scenarios which could hapen to her were taking a toll over his mind. He couldn't afford the thought of anything happening to her.
'What if her life is in danger? What if something happens to her? What if eagles found her?' his heart was beating with double the rate because of anxiety. It was pretty late and yet there was no sign of her.
Being away from her made him realised the intensity of his feelings which he had developed towards his wife in such a short span of time. He had Justus in his arms who was crying non stop for his mother. He thought that his mother has left him. Augustus was trying to calm him down.
He was constantly pacing at the entrance of the palace glancing out once in a while. King Atticus looked at his son who was hell worried. He went near him and patted at Augustus's back and assured him that soldiers are there to protect her but Augustus's heart was not able to keep it's calm.
After few minutes, Augustus heard tapping sound of the horses and he instantly rushed out. He saw Ritha descending down from one of the carriages accompanied by Aquila and one other girl about whom he didn't bother to inquire at the moment.
He had already lost his temper and shouted furiously on Ritha, "Where have you been? "
Author's Note
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