NOVEL~*Hiding behind a Stranger*~THREAD 49 - CHAPTER 54 - Page 108

Originally posted by: karkuzhali

Encounter with the Satan

❤️

The Forests..

'Please keep them safe...' Heera gazed at a constellation of twinkling lights patterned across the dense black skies, as she tried to read her future

SO beautifully the painting sits against these words!

'Shall I have it checked, baisa?' Gokul offered, recognising her dilemma.

'Yes...' she muttered through ragged breaths 'Gokul... take a spear and a sword... be vigilant... if you find anything unusual, come back immediately...' she paused 'if you sense danger, use the owl's hoot to warn us'

'As you say...' Gokul acknowledged.

|Last we saw of this poor boy😭

'Please... no... no... no... no...' Heera turned away from the horrors that now lay at the entrance of their tent - the hazy sight of what appeared to be Gokul's body hacked to pieces.

Her ghastly hunch had come true. Khalil's men had been lurking out there!

Suddenly, a hideous man thrust himself through the tent flap, right into their faces, jolting them from their spots.

🤢

'SAVAGES!'

Exactly😡

A rage was born. A simmering rage that slowly thawed her numb spirit. 'No...' she rediscovered her fingers and feet that'd frozen stiff in terror all this while.

👍🏼

'SHE' the man paused, stepping out from the shadows 'is their Sahiba!'

His tall profile stood out, even amidst such mammoth brutes. And as he began approaching her, one heavy boot-step after another, he seemed to bring the darkness along with him.

God... imagining facing such a man alone!

'Khalil' she instantly knew.

🤢

A moment later, she wished him back 'Wa-Alaikum-Salaam...'

It instantly wiped out the sniggers and the smirks.

Heera! If only Akbar had seen any of this..

'Do you know who I am?' he barked 'Maybe you've mistaken my identity...'

'Mistaken your identity? No... I wouldn't even dare to do such a thing'

'I am standing beside the hacked body of my soldier... I would be lying if I said I'm not petrified'

'My family has borne the brunt of your wrath...' she paused 'only 'I' would be the fool, if I underestimated the extent of your power...'

😆

He had to see this girl for himself.

SNAP! He snapped his fingers at a fellow-soldier, who brought the flame torch close by.

Then, grabbing the veil from her face, he flung it behind her head.

It was a moment of utter humiliation for the heiress. To have a man - to have THIS despicable man - treat her this way, in front of her own people. To have fifty pairs of eyes leering at her. It was a moment of sheer horror - to meet Satan face-to-face for the first time. His reddened eyes told of stories from hell. His features riddled with scars were a curse just to look at. It was a moment of immense anger too - to see the face that was the last face jiji saw.

🤢

'Mashallah... your sister was a beauty... but YOU are something else altogether!'

So, was jijis's final message - their childhood poem - not meant to ask HER to hide? Was it a clue letting her know where the SCROLL had been hidden?

Heera nearly took her palms to her mouth in shock 'But if the original Farmaan is still out there, safely tucked away, WHERE is it hiding?'

ufff imagine coming to know this through Khalil😕

Wonderful choice of pics. 👏

The Chase.

Another splendorous pick...

'Would it still be a waste of time, if I told you I know where the original Farmaan is?'

'I'm not lying... if I die today, the secret of the Farmaan dies with me... and that serves no purpose'

'Anyway, not interested in that silly document...' Khalil sighed 'Huzoor had his best spies... even our best officer... keeping a close eye on you and your people, over the past few weeks... when THEY couldn't find the Farmaan... our Huzoor lost patience too! So YES...' he spat near her foot 'this conversation IS A WASTE OF TIME!'

😵 Ouch!

'Best officer... keeping a close eye... over the past few weeks...'

The colour on her skin became pale. And paler. Till it'd faded to a ghastly white as the air from her lungs was steadily sucked out.
'Don't worry about me... I've grown immune to such poisons and venoms!'

Double ouch!😵

She recalled the man who made that statement, and the confidence with which he'd made it.

'Khan Sahib? Could he be the...'

Triple ouch!😵

how could she overlook the fact that he'd been very fair to her people? Despite their many differences, he had given them shelter when they had nowhere else to go. Why, he'd even stepped forward to save her maids' honour when no one else would.

And what about the many occasions, when he had watched out for her? Saved her life?

'Just stay safe, Sahiba...'

😭

'Best officer, did you say?' She resumed from where she'd left off, though uttering every syllable through a throbbing headache, was turning to be sheer agony. 'I was thinking... the Shehzaade must've wanted the Farmaan badly if he put his best men on the job...' she paused 'even his best men couldn't find it... so, one could only imagine the kind of name and fame it'd bring to the man who actually does hand him the original Farmaan!'

😆 Gotcha

She looked as delicate as a flower. In spite of that he couldn't uproot her. Why? From where was she deriving this resilience, this invisible strength?

'Alright...' Heera drew in a quick breath 'It's in the 146th pot, outside the 23rd room in the East wing on the first floor...'

😆

'She will lead me to the Farmaan...'

'I'll make her my slave!'

😡

In Isolation..

Had they walked all around the camp, to the opposite side, in order to isolate her from her people? Had they brought her to a spot not far from where the horses were standing?

Perfect picture for this again! ❤️

No sooner than she was left alone, the tears that'd been forcefully suppressed, swelled up - one after the other. 'Oh God!' she lamented the humiliation she'd had to bear at the hands of these monsters. She cried, frightened and uncertain. She cried for her people, for poor Gokul, and for her jiji. And she cried about the unresolved doubts and feelings about Khan Sahib that simply refused to go away.

😭

'The Marwari racer...'

Discreetly pulling out the yellow kerchief from the side of her skirt, she unfurled it open on her lap. With her wrists tied and her eyes barely able to see what she was writing, the lady had to use her fingers to guide her.

It was a wild berry plant. She'd found her 'Ink'

😭

With a sigh, Heera pulled her kerchief out and began tying the bright cloth to the horse's reins - where it would be visible. It was a struggle to do so with trembling palms and bound wrists, but she managed it somehow.

Once done, she glimpsed into the animal's eyes and then placed her head against it, making a final plea 'I'm not very good with handling horses... but I am going to try...' she gently stroked its neck 'my people say you're a special horse... if so, please prove it... please find someone... anyone... please bring some help to us, if you can...' she paused to wipe a tear 'and if you can't... please find your way to Parnagarh... warn them of what's to come... you did this for jiji... do it for me too... now go... quietly...' she gently nudged it on its way, hoping the sound of its hooves would not draw anyone's attention to it 'and may the Goddess be with you!'

😭

'Khuda... have I not been a dutiful servant of yours? Have my prayers ever been half-hearted? Then... why? You've blessed me with success in every other venture... but, when it comes to my life's most important venture, I can't see success... why? I challenged Huzoor that I would stop Khalil... that I would find the Sahiba... but...' In a spurt of hysteria, he glimpsed up, questioning Mother Nature for being nothing but a mute witness to his plight 'Tell me... they ARE here somewhere, are they not? In a remote corner of your dense jungles? My men think I may be losing my mind... am I really going mad?'

😭

But when he came to his third gulp, he froze. His eyes remained shut, the drink sitting in his mouth. His senses had just picked up on a faint difference in Bahadur's soft whinny. It was faint, but it was 'different'.

😎

Akbar waited, wondering if it conveyed something, not even swallowing the mouthful in case he missed out on any other telling signs. And slowly but surely, a couple of other horses behaved in similar fashion - breaking out into low noises - the noises they made whenever they recognised one of their 'own', out there in the distance.

But, how could it be? One of HIS horses? Out there?

😎

'Shhh...' Akbar put his palm up.

His men fell quiet.

And a few moments later, the hooves were heard.

'Go on, Bahadur...' he let out a sharp whistle 'go bring it back here...'

😎

Shuffling its hooves on its spot, as if warming up for a game, Bahadur vanished into the darkness, to obey its master's wish.

One...

Two...

Three...

Four...

By the time the young man's fingers had counted to forty, Bahadur was visible again, returning with another steed by its side.

'The Marwai racer? The Sahiba's horse?' Akbar's eyes widened 'Without a rider?'

'What are you doing here alone, my boy?' he brushed its neck in order to calm the nervous horse down, trying not to let his own anxieties show 'Where's your rider and...' his glances fell upon the bright yellow kerchief tied to its reins 'What's that?'

Akbar was tempted to frantically yank open its knots to find out what the kerchief contained. But when he brought the cloth closer, he stopped. The lavender perfume wafting from its folds was familiar.

His heart stood still. 'It's hers'

❤️

'My friend' he whispered, his voice overwrought with emotion 'You will take me to her, wouldn't you?'

The Marwari racer lowered its head, as though in submission to his orders.

The next instant, Akbar had seized his bow and strapped the quiver across his shoulder 'Pick your weapons... they've got to be nearby...' Grabbing onto the reins, he flung himself atop Bahadur in one agile leap 'we have to ride faster than the wind'

Ufff the man!