7 I'll kill you

The next day morning she wakes up early and the maids come in to do her daily chores .

"He probably won't eat with me today so no need to dress me up so much I'm just fine with a normal attire "

"But that's our duty ma'am . It's what His Majesty has instructed us with and besides His Majesty may have been really busy or else he would have never done it . Trust me "

"Really ? Well I'm not sure about that may be I'll understand him if I spend more time with him "

"Yes you will ."

She smiles at her and moves down to the table . To her surprise the King was already present waiting for her .

"Good morning My Lady ! "

"Good morning Neil . Hey what's with this choice of dresses . I just want some simple stuff. "

" Really? I thought you would like it. Well you are a tomboy after all . "

"Whatever . " She frowns . Her eyes land on the flower vase kept in the middle of the table .

"So pretty flowers . They are very rare to be found . Now don't tell me ' flowers are just flowers what's so special about them ' in your monotone voice ."

"Flowers are just flowers ! "

"I'll kill you !"

"You are just overreacting . "

"I'm not it's just that such kind of species are rare and they have exceptional medicinal properties. So my reactions are obvious ."

"You do seem to know about it a lot"

"Well ... my siblings are herbalists and I did read a lot of books about it ."

"If you are so interested then you can have a look in our garden . We do have a lot different kinds of them , don't we Neil ?"

"Yes your Highness . I can take my lady if she wants to "

"Sure !" Alisha jumps but Zen asks her to finish her breakfast first to which she abides . Zen then takes her to the gardens .

"Wow why didn't you show me this before . You are supposed to show me stuff like these . This is amazing . I guess the soil here is suitable for these plants . They are all very well maintained too ."

"Yes . These are taken care by the gardener but some special herbs are taken care in another room by our court herbalists ."

"Really I want to meet them ..." Her eyes lit up and Zen wonders how much excitement she shows to things like these which dint interest him at all .

"I'll take you to the nursery but the herbalists aren't working today . It's their day off "

"Ah I see. It's alright I'll meet them some other day . "

They both walk together admiring the beautiful flowers and plants. Soon they stand near a pond of water . Zen pushes her into the water to make fun of her .

"What do you think you are doing ? " She peeks out of the cold water shouting at him .

"Watching you like this makes me happy for some reason " He smirks extending his hand to help her come out .

"You are evil " She grabs his hand and pulls him into the pond as well . "But I'm even more evil." Laughing as hard as she could she comes out feeling cold .

"Now that was fun . I didn't knew you still play such childish pranks "

"Huh... Thanks to you my clothes are all wet now " He says as water drops from his hair . They both sit on a bench under an arched roof .

"It's alright not like you were wearing a cloak and other fancy stuff . You had fun didn't you ? "

"What do you mean by fancy ? I didn't actually have any fun but it has been a while since I last came here "

"Why ... why does he have such cold , dry eyes ?" Alisha says to herself .

A maid then comes and offer coffee to them . Neil walks up to them . Alisha notices something sparkling behind the bushes far at the corner and pushes Zen down to the floor as a bullet hits her arm . She assumed someone was going to shoot and that they were aiming Zen.

"Alisha are you okay ? Talk to me !" He screams as the coffee cups lie broken on the ground beside him . He takes her in his arms and hefted her unconscious body quickly to the court physician . He was very upset . He was shocked . He couldn't speak for sometime . The doctors treat her and no severe damage is reported . A proper amount of rest and healthy food was what she needed . She lied on her bed unconscious.

"She was happy . She was laughing just a few hours ago . I did it again I couldn't protect her . " Facing the window of his room Zen speaks to Neil clenching his fists tightly . He was irritated . There was guilt in his eyes .

"It's not your fault Sir besides her wounds are not fatal but it brought a terrible fever . She is taking medicine and resting right now . The perpetrator escaped. We believe one if the enemy factions to be behind it , but we have no proof . "

"I will not forgive them . Take all the men necessary and investigate the matter Neil . I had forgotten my world is nothing like hers . Winning is everything . That's the only way to make people subservient . Let your guard down and this is what happens . Find the culprit as soon as possible . Thanks to this I remebered for the first time in a while, this is how the world should be right ? " He gritted his teeth as flames of hatred burned in his heart . Neil squinched his eyes and looked down . When he saw him with Alisha he was satisfied . He knew that Zen has found someone to fill the void in his heart someone he would love but looking at the person before him just made all his assumptions false . The look on his face was back to the one he wore everytime . It was not what he wanted . He inclined himself a little and walked out to commence the King's order. The next day Alisha wakes up and peered through her eyes .

"Ah ! My head feels so heavy ...what on earth happen to me ? Oh yes .. The shot. .." She tries gets up from her bed but the next second falls on the floor. The maids come rushing to her help .

"My lady you shouldn't be moving yet ... "

"I'm fine ..its just ..."

"No way the court physician has strictly advised for you to take rest . " Reesha says crossing her hands .

" yeah yeah i hear you ...By the way where is he ? I took a shot for him you know and he won't even come to see me " The three of them look each others faces .

"Wait .... did something happen ?"

"Yes. Due to the assassination attempt , marital law was declared in the capital . His Majesty seems to think he can use this to crush the last traces of rebellion . His Majesty himself ran the interrogations. A number of retainers have already been punished . Many have been even stripped of rank , land and driven into exile !"

"What ? ... no he can't do this . I need to tell him to stop . This is only sow more resent. ...." She stops feeling difficulty to talk.

"Highness ! "

"I.... can't let him do it . I'll ask him to stop !"

"You will not , Highness " Neil steps in opening the door .

"Neil ...."

"I'm to return you to the land of lauderdale right away on his Majesty's order . " Alisha couldn't believe what he said . She froze as her limbs began to tremble .

****

****

The general slams the table gritting his teeth surrounded by the other military men who were ripped off their ranks .

"Me. Exiled from the country ? ! That brat ... he is mocking me ....."

"Please calm down General ! "

"But ..."

"We all feel the same way as you do . We have already made the preparations. It's only a matter of time before he falls from his throne ." One of them says with a devious smirk on his face .

*****

*****

Alisha packs her stuff and leaves the palace . Neil accompanies her as they both sit in the carriage.

"You seem rather ticked off ."

"Ofcourse I am Neil . He basically just divorced me !"

"But you didn't want to be here in the first place , did you ? Also there wasn't any wedding that took place either "

"Look. I'm just mad how emotionless he is . After all that he just drives me out without even looking me in the eye ! . If I had known people were trying to kill him , I could have helped you know !"

"Allow me to apologise in my Lord's stead ." He bows in front of her .

"No... where did that come from ?"

"He does not know how to seek help from others . In addition you must understand . Sending you home is his way of showing consideration for you . His Majesty wished to protect you . "

"Huh.." Her eyes widen . She realised what he was saying was the truth indeed. She looks down thinking about him . The carriage suddenly stops amd as they both get down to look what happened the horse rider exclaims in panic looking at the huge smoke coming in the direction of the palace .

"What is that ?" Alisha was shocked . She runs towards the palace as Neil follows her . They reach the palace to find the third floor of the building in a complete inferno . The people were scared and it was chaotic. No one were there to calm them amd everyone were worried .

"His Majesty ! Is he safe ?" Neil asks one of the soldiers.

"We don't know Sir . It's very difficult for us to get inside ." Neil runs towards the building . Zen manages to escape from his room through an emergency exit leasing to the rooftop .

"Man ..They really have done this time . Setting the palace on fire how immature !" Zen says standing on the roof .The advisors and others get worried . If the neighbouring countries come to know of the fire they'll attack the land making use of the situation. Something had to be done quickly . Then a voice hits their ears a melodious voice ... A voice filled with love ... care and emotions .

"Come clouds ...come .

Hear me today as I stand below you ... come rain come ...

Drops fall down ...

Let me feel you ... let me show him that the world is still beautiful!

Let me fill the void in his heart with happiness .

Spread joy with your droplets

Quench my thirst of your appreciation . Hear me today !

Fall on this land today !" Alisha commands raising her hands towards the sky as she casts the spell and sings her song . The rain begins to fall on the dry land as Zen watches her in astonishment .

Everyone are surprised and filled with awe . No one knew that someone would be capable of doing such a thing . The rain extinguishes the fire and ceases when she stops her singing . A rainbow appears on the blue sky . Tears fall down from Zen's eyes as he remembers something from his past . The sun shines bright and dominates the clouds . Alisha looks at him standing on the other side of the building . She herself couldn't believe what she did . The servants begin to clean the damaged place . Everyone calm down . Zen comes down looking at the damaged side of the building.

"Jeez. They really made a show of it . "

"Your Majesty ! I brought her " Neil walks with Alisha .

"You drive me out and then bring me back what do you think you are doing ? "

"Why didn't you just go then ?"

"There are still a lot of things I haven't seen here . Anyways how was it ? Did you like the rain ?"

"It wasn't pleasant at all . Drops of water from the sky . My clothing and skin were soaked . It tasted funny and at the end of the day water is just water ! You are happy aren't you ? Did you want to show me what you were capable of so badly ?"

"What ? What's that supposed to mean ? This was the first time I did it . I never knew I could actually do it ... just thought to give a try . Anyways I'm done playing along . Bye " She turns back to move but he holds her .

"The more you act like that ... the more you make me difficult to let you go ! You are going to make my life more amusing ... I'm actually curious what else you can do . " He says looking into her eyes with a mischievous smirk on his face as he touches a strand of her hair .

"What ?! Damn you ..."

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