Wednesday, 24 June 2020

The Betrayal Story - Part 18

After relishing the snacks and drinks, the king got to the point of his visit, “I have a question that has been bothering me since you left.” Roopali hesitated. She understood immediately what he wanted to ask. She smiled nervously, thinking how she will hide the truth. “What made you leave our palace? Is it because you aren’t happy with our treatment or someone said something to you or did we make you uncomfortable?”

She didn’t reply. She was numb. She had to spill beans now which she didn’t want to.  The king noticed she was nervous and signalled his guards to leave. She was filled with emotions. Her gaze was bent down. “You don’t have to be scared of anything. You can tell me if anything is bothering you.”, he said. She gulped , thinking how she would hide the truth.

She turned behind to hide her emotions that were spilling out from her eyes. “No one bothered me and there is no flaw in your treatment towards me. You have been too good towards me, your highness.” , she said. “Then why did you leave the palace?”, king asked. “I am a commoner. The palace is abode for the royals. It was time for me to shift from the palace to place where commoners reside.”, she said.

The king was furious. He stomped towards her and grabbed her elbow to turn her towards him. Tears had welled up in her eyes and she began to cry. The king’s heart melted. “I am sorry for being harsh towards you.”, he said softly and loosened his grip towards her. He stood there for few minutes and left helplessly.

There was a spy watching from a window close by. He stood where no one could see him. He thought he could find something worthwhile to tell his mistress who had hired him .  There was nothing. He headed towards the palace and told the guards that he wanted to meet the queen. They took him to Gayatri who waited impatiently for him.

“What news do you have ?”, she asked. The spy narrated her everything he had seen. She gave him his reward in small bag of gold coins. The spy excitedly checked it out and saw it was half as promised. “Why do you look so surprised? You didn’t find anything that’s interesting. Find something good then I will reward you what I had promised or else I will get you killed.”, she said.

(To be continued)

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