12 12. Oh! It's his Birthday
It was made sure that not a single demon was left alive and the dungeon was broken down completely. When Amir along with several other royal soldiers went inside the dungeon for one last inspection of evidence, there was something that he never understood the meaning of. A summoning ruby pendant- blood red in appearance, which could be spotted from a long way. Amir picked it up and brought it back. He kept fidgeting with that in his hands, didn’t want to believe what he was thinking could be true. But it didn’t make sense, not at all.
“Is it really you? Jishan?”
Later that day when they got back to the palace, everyone except the crown prince and princess were asked to go back. The two of them had to report the incident to the court where obviously Lord Aryan was present beforehand. He could finally sit after seeing the Crown Princess entering safe and sound. Lord Aryan had no children of his, so the Crown Princess was like his own daughter too. However he was pretty offended by what she had to suffer. Amir explained the situation to his highness at the court in front of every other official present.
“....He left before I could obtain an answer from him. I apologise to his highness,” with that he ended his explanation as he stood with his head bowed low looking straight at the ground, his thoughts all entangled in his head, his face unable to form any expression.
“Did you get hurt anywhere?” Lord Aryan asked the Crown Princess but she only nodded in denial and said, “No I am alright. He didn’t touch me at all.”
That wasn’t what everyone was suspecting but it was indeed a relief. Thus nobody questioned it any further. However Lord Aryan spoke up, “It’s a relief that you are all safe and situations didn’t worsen but my highness, I beg your pardon for my insolence,” he bent forward to bow in apology, “But if Amir is the target of the first demon prince Jin, then I am afraid we might have to rethink their engagement.”
Neither the king nor Amir showed any exceptional reactions. The king especially saw it coming, however Crown Princess had a very shocked face right there and no wonder the entire court was in an uproar. It wasn’t since long they were engaged. To have such a failed engagement, the concern now laid in whether it would directly hit the relations between both kingdoms. However the king only allowed it and said, “I understand Lord Aryan. You have full right to do as you wish. This is quite the serious concern, so it’s only fair to look at all odds before proceeding. I am also glad that the children were all safe.”
The Crown Princess finally returned with Lord Aryan to Diamond kingdom the morning after that.
Another round of enquiry began the next morning when all the three older siblings gathered in Vinasaka’s room early in the morning demanding an explanation.
“He is my friend, I told you,” a sleepy Vinasaka explained, rubbing his eyes half asleep.
“He doesn’t look like he’s from the gurukul, then where did you meet him?” Amir was stern.
As if in an instant, all his sleep left his eyes and he jolted up straight to look at his brother, cleared his voice before saying, “Brother... I....I...IAMSORRY!”
It wasn’t like Amir had no idea about Vinasaka sneaking out now and then but this ‘friend’ business was rather new.
Mihas said, “His vitality though...”
“What about it?”
“It’s not ordinary.”
“What do you mean?” Vinasaka looked at Mihas with large eyes.
“Strong...it’s very strong but I can’t quite estimate!”
“You can’t?” Amir was stupefied at the answer. This has never happened before. It is said that people with a disadvantage in one of their senses, are generally sharper with the rest. Mihas, similarly, had his own way to estimate other’s strength.
“I don’t know...may be because it’s not completely evolved yet. They are still not the age after all.” He was clearly troubled by it because it only makes sense if he had completely evolved but he tried to suppress it, since neither of them wanted to believe that Vinasaka was in contact with a shady individual and may be in danger as well.
On the other hand, Vin had super proud eyes when he said, “AMAZING ISN’T HE? He taught me swords!”
No wonder...no wonder! All their questions regarding how Vin was able to fight earlier were answered. Zaharia was comparatively quieter and you know why. She was the one who allowed him out once and had been let on about the topic of ‘friend’ from before, yet she had been concealing that big of a fact. She was scared to utter a word lest he should actually be in danger.
However, talks ended and it was decided he wasn’t allowed to meet him anymore as expected and Vinasaka acted like he was devastated but deep down this little mischief knew he would definitely do it anyway. It’s just that he would have to stay put for a few days at least to gain the trust of his siblings. Thank heavens, he had already anticipated this and let Mir know beforehand but it was a relief that they had at least not found out about his not coming back yesterday, the reason why he is still alive. Vinasaka gulped at the thought of it.
The past five days, he had been bored to death despite the fact that birthday gifts had been pouring for him from all over the kingdom. He was watched by Amir personally so he couldn’t take his chance but it was his birthday finally. His friends at gurukul didn’t dare approach him after that incident because of the fear of being told off about not helping him back at the forest. He was all alone on his birthday also, but to his surprise that day, when he came back to his chambers from the garden, it was all dark.
It wasn’t a first for him. Sneak attacks, surprise murder attempts on him were actually something he had dealt with since when he could process his memories. This might have caught him off guard but he knew what he was supposed to do.The only thing that he wondered was how these people are now able to penetrate the strong barrier around the palace.
However just as he was about to write the scroll to summon his brothers and sister, the scroll burnt by itself. That was bad, real bad! As he started chanting mantras by himself, a loud scream and he found himself in front of his overly excited siblings who decorated his chamber with beautiful ribbons and lanterns and candles all around. Upon removing the cloth, the table, with a set of beautifully garnished dishes lay there waiting to be jumped into.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. They prepared for a surprise for him?! Seriously? He couldn’t be more touched. Even Amir told him he would take him to the town market that day since it has been a long time since he had actually been let out. His happiness knew no bounds, almost to the extent that he for a minute there, forgot that he was about to meet Mir.
It was already late evening. Vinasaka was allowed to ask for anything that day and Amir would buy it for him and he took full advantage of it. He got a ton of things for himself and obviously the shopkeepers were extra polite to them even offering them discounts. However, they was shunned when Mihas politely refused saying, “Save it for those who need it.” They had a really fun time together after quite a long while.
It was almost time for them to go back when Vinasaka bumped into a guy in the middle of the street who apologised to him several times over since he knew they were royals and explained himself, “I was actually playing with my friend, I am sorry I didn’t see you there.”
That was it. In a flash of a moment, his entire body was stiff, when he finally realised what he had forgotten. It was him- he had invited and asked to remember the birthday. Vinasaka was positive that Mir had been there but it was he himself who forgot it like an idiot. He ran, like crazy without thinking anything else. Seeing him like that suddenly, Amir ran after him as well but well who could stop him there!
Wasn’t it too late though?
How will it be possible anymore?
He still ran and ran until he was finally in the woods.
“MIR...MIR?” He kept shouting, hoping that he might get answered. Somewhere he knew, he was late. He was being watched by his guardians, but they decided to not disturb him for once and just kept watching over. As he sighed and turned away in dejection, he heard someone calling, “Vinasaka?”
It was Mir, his voice. Right there he stood, with a smile.
He continued, “I thought you wouldn’t come.”
Right that instant, Vinasaka showered him with every word of apology that he had in his vocabulary and even joined his palms in forgiveness.
“I know I am late. Please forgive me. I forgot like an idiot. I am sorry. It’ll never happen again. Really really sorry. I --,”
“That’s okay, at least you came. Happy birthday!” Mir presented him a box with both his hands stretched forwards towards Vinasaka, seeing which Vinasaka pointed at himself with a question mark with his face.
It was a lunch box!
“No way!!!! You have been waiting for me since then?” Vinasaka felt even worse and to show his remorse and appreciation, he instantly opened the box and started munching them one after another with a broad grin.
“Thi—izz shoo goof,” half of his words were chewed up along with his food. Mir stifled a laughter at the way it sounded.The friendship between the two even kindled a flame of warmth in the hearts of the onlookers. To be honest, Vinasaka’s brothers and sister did feel bad for him when they saw him without friends and lonely most of the time, so they didn’t want to ruin this friendship if they could help it. As a result, they chatted for a bit uninterrupted and Vinasaka was really glad that Mir wasn’t mad.
Who knew that the very next day, Vinasaka would be lying half dead in his chamber, the royal palace all rushing like anything in order to try to save him; all because of that particular lunch box!
