FULL NOVELXO Chapter AFTERMATH AND THE GUILD MEET
When Aarav woke up, it was still dark outside. He was in his room at Reva's house. He got up and saw that Galade was lying beside him covered in a cloth. Nobody could be seen around, so he assumed they were asleep. He got up and went to the kitchen to get some food, he took it and went up to the roof of the house.
There was a small room having glass walls and a table , he sat there for some time then finished his food. And sat on the railing looking up at the night sky. His head was still aching very badly , and he still felt tired , so he again fell asleep on the roof itself.
He was dreaming again, and that meant he was back in the body of the glowing being. He was reading something written in Sanskrit sitting in his dim lit room , when there was a knock on the huge door.
"Yes..." The glowing being said.
Two guards entered and bowed to him, "Why do u do that? I'm not in the throne room!" he said to the guards.
"Because we respect you my lord!" said the tall one among the two guards."Lord , we have someone whom you had asked us to bring to you..."
"Is it him?" he asked to the guards.
"Yes , my lord! He was found in a bar in the market by one of the guards! Shall we bring him?"
Aarav nodded, and then the guards brought a pale and skinny looking guy , he looked sleep deprived and poor . The moment the man saw Aarav , he pushed the guards and fell on Aarav's feet. He was weeping , the man said,
"My lord, please forgive me my lord, i'm innocent ..."
Aarav kept the book that he was reading aside and looked at the pale man. He asked,
"How can someone who killed two mortals be innocent ?"
The man wept even loudly , the guards pulled him back to his feet. The man said,
"My lord, i have a family to feed , i had no other choice, i had taken a loan from them , so as i couldn't pay it back, they took my wife and daughter. Please my lord, mercy!"
"You could have come to us..." Aarav asked him.
"I'm sorry my lord, i was scared ..."
"Okay then, from tomorrow you will work in the palace , but as a punishment to your crime, you will have to serve here for your whole life! If u agree to this ,then alright, but if u don't , the prison is open "
The man again fell to his feet, he cried ,"Thankyou my lord, you are great. But i want a favour my lord, please i beg you. I cant be alive with a guilt that you helped me and i didn't repay you..."
"Alright what is it..."
The man went out of the room and brought a girl in her twenties inside with him.
The man said, "My lord, accept my daughter as your wife ..." the girl had her head bent and the moment she lifted her head , Aarav felt his heart beat stop, it was a young , but as always , beautiful Shubhanka .
The scene changed, Shubhanka's hot and delicate lips could be felt on his. Then he could feel a dagger in his chest. She said,"I will always love you ..."
Again the scene changed and he saw a head rolling towards him and looking at Nakul's seared head, woke him up.
He was lying on the roof in the morning sun, he went down and saw all the gang was sitting in the hall. They were all speaking and the moment they saw him , they all went silent.
All the eyes were staring at him."Uh...what happened?" He asked them.
Pranay spoke , "You shouldn't have done it!"
Megha said, "How did u do it in the first place? Its impossible...."
"Do what?" Aarav asked them ,completely clueless .
"You shouldn't have killed Nakul!" said Reva.
"Wait, a minute, i didn't..." Aarav said, but Mayank interrupted ,
"We saw blood on your sword, it explains everything...Aarav, i know , he tricked us, but punishment for that isn't death!"
"What?"
Pranay said, "Aarav , if anyone would have killed him, i thought that even if u were the last person, you wouldn't do it..."
"Guys , why are u jumping to conclusions? Atleast hear me out. I didn't kill him, i myself was half conscious, a masked man came in and cut him, i swear i didn't ...."
Reva said, "Atleast give valid justifications, its impossible for anyone to enter or leave once the charms are put! And as for killing him, how did break the unkillable charm?"
Aarav was fed up of justifying , his own clanmates whom he treated not less than family were doubting him, he said,
"Guys , believe it or not , i didn't do it!"
He just turned walked away , out of the house. He stepped out and pulled out his phone ,and realized that he was asleep for a whole day and also he saw his mom's message .
I'll be out of town for a week , food and sales department conference at the city, hope you'll look after yourself . love you...
"Great..." he murmured to himself. He walked and walked , till he reached the park. He found the spot where he had fell unconscious . He saw that at some distance the ground still had patches of wetness. A chill went down his body seeing it. He bent down and touched the ground , and remembered what the man had said,
'You are strong, the PRIEST was right , we'll meet again'.
"Who the hell is the priest?"
SWOOSH
Something went past his ear at great speed and hit the ground. It was an arrow .
"What the...."
He looked at the arrow , and saw a piece of yellow parchment was tied on the back. He removed it and it read ,
'Don't think much . You wont find a single thing proving that you didn't kill him! Tell your clanmates that the boy was killed by the 'The Justice Blade'.
"Why should i ? As if they'd believe anything i'd say!"
He got up and put the parchment in his pocket and pulled out the arrow , and sticked it in his sock. He had just left the park when his phone rang,
A: "Hello?"
D:"Hey, Aarav, you know right, that you have a girlfriend?"
A:"What?...I mean, yeah, yes ofcourse....i'm just a bit busy..."
D:"Yeah, i know, you are quite busy, you're skipping college too nowadays. You atleast remember that i invited you to my friend's house party today?"
A:"What?....oh yeah , i remember , im coming right away..."
D:"You forgot didn't you? If u really wan to come , then its at 7:00. Okay bye..."
She didn't wait for a response , she hung up. Aarav felt stupid for ignoring her. He hit his forehead and headed back home.
LOCATION: Palace of the Mauryas. Black kingdom
The room was large , but completely empty except for a semicircle table with chairs , surrounding another single chair infront of them.
A man in his fifties was sitting on the single chair, and around the table heads of the Maurya, Hoysala, Pandya, Chola and Chera dynasties were sitting
The Mauryan queen was sitting in the centre , the king of the Hoysalas to her left , queen of the Pandyas to her right and king of Chola and Chera to the left and right ends.
Their head was the queen of the Mauryas , that is, Reva's mother , she said,
"I ,Subhadra , Queen of the Mauryas , declare this meeting to begin. So , Airavat , king of the Sanagamas , what justification can you give to the actions of your son, Nakul? He betrayed and almost killed my daughter and her clan. If it wasn't for the actions of the knight Aarav , she would be dead by now and you would happily be ruling this guild, explain"
(A guild is a group of clans)
The man in the chair facing the semicircle table , was looking frustrated and angry . He said,
"I take no responsibility for that boy's action , i don't even consider him as my son!"
The king of the Hoysalas , who had recently attained his post as a king said, "Sir Airavat , you are a respected honorary of this guild and not to forget your army is the third largest in the guild..."
The old and experienced king of the Cheras said addressing the young Hoysala king ,
"Boy , you don't know how to handle such a situation , you need to learn , let us old men speak ,watch and learn." The Hoysala king smiled and nodded .
The Chera king said,
"Airavat, ill come straight to the point. He's your son, that means your blood , he betrayed us and that means someway or the other you too can betray us at some point. Is it possible?"
Airavat said, "I said i don't consider him as my son, i don't know to whom did my wife opened her legs to, that such a filth was born to us..."
To that the queen of the Pandyas said,
"Mind your language , Airavat . Dont forget she's a woman and a queen. She's your wife!"
Airavat said, "I"m sorry , i apologize for what i said. I understand my son made a mistake and i think he's already got his part of the punishment , not to forget he's already dead!". A tear rolled down his eye.
The king of the Chola's said,
"My queen, i think , there is no point in discussing , the boy is already dead and that's more than a punishment , not to forget he also was accused of killing two mortals for no valid reason."
The Mauryan queen nodded , and the group discussed for a while . Finally she said,
"As a conclusion, we have decided , that whatever the cause , Airavat, you should not be blamed, we know where your loyalties lie , since you have proven your trust innumerable number of times. But still ,we have agreed that , just as a formality , you will pay , 10000 gold , 25000 silver and 50000 bronze as a due payment , and in return your elder daughter will marry the Hoysala king , Abhishek .And as for the brave knight , Aarav, i will talk to him myself. Is it clear?"
The Sangama king smiled and said,
"It turns out that my son did what he couldn't do while alive. I will be honoured to have Abhishek as my son-in-law"
And this way the meeting was adjourned. The queen of the Mauryas, bent low to speak to the young Hoysala king , she said,
"Its known that the girl you are going to marry is known for her beauty, take good care of her. Anyways , if i were any younger , you would surely be my husband ."
"It would be my pleasure " The young king blushed and replied.