Sarapriya ( Part 4 )

As soon as she heard the news, she rode to the Crystal Arrow Palace which Cactus had been using as his private headquarters for a while now. She convened with his staff and waited for the report from Captain Shaura of Garaj clan. But she later regretted it. Had she been in the palace, she could've stopped her father from traumatising her little brother in his most fragile state. But she truly didn't expect it. The moment she heard big brother died, she didn't even have time to grieve. With what felt like a giant pike lodged in her heart, she raced over to the Crystal Arrow Palace in order the consolidate Little Cactus's forces. The second queen wouldn't need a moment a grieve in order to solidify support for Prince Hayagriva, her son. So she couldn't afford to either. But as it turned out, she still didn't make the right decision. By allowing Cactus to be the one to break the news to father-Indra, she hurt him irrevocably. He turned into a baby who would cry the moment she stopped hugging him. She couldn't imagine such a fragile child ruling a kingdom like this. Perhaps Hara was right and she had always been maternal towards Cactus. She couldn't just bear to leave him.

"Sara, my words are not up to argument," the prince of the other kingdom said in an unquestionable tone. "Rtadhara promised you to me and I won't allow myself to suffer a loss."

When Sarapriya looked up at him in panic, she saw a cunning look come over the gentle looking prince. She had personally never seen that look on him. It turned his fine lines and handsome features turn a bit evil and sinister. Until his eyes narrowed meanly, she never knew he had such long and dark eyelashes, until his lips thinned into a sneer, she never knew they had such a rich red color, almost as if he had just feasted on blood.

"Besides, I think having the new monarch of Rtadhara owe me a huge debt would be quite enjoyable…" he said in a sinister tone.

"You…!" the first princess turned speechless in anger, pointing her long and dainty finger at him.

"Me what? Ha ha ha ha!" the prince laughed and hugged his beloved. He was proud of himself for shaking her out of her misery, even if anger was not the best replacement as an emotion. "My Devi, Hara will wait for you till the end of time. Don't you worry. Everything will be alright…"

The first princess couldn't help but shed tears of relief, but for some reason, she felt a foreboding feeling in her gut…As though she made a deal with the devil. For some reason, the Yuvaraja's extremely attractive, but evil and sinister face he showed earlier became stuck in the deepest recesses of her heart.

It had been ten days since then. Twenty days since Vajradandaka came back. Twenty-two since Vajradhaara died. Seven days since their father roused himself from his foggy mind and dealt with all the foreign assailants with his own sword! Two days since the news was announced to the world. There were still six days to the funeral, but Vajradhaara's remains were yet to be brought back. In such a huge kingdom, for a whole fifteen to twenty days, there had been no one that could find the corpse of the ruler to be…Everything and everybody was in disarray. As the information had been kept suppressed, only informal search teams and volunteers took up the job. Only the little prince's people knew where the eldest prince fell, but the little prince as well as his people had been tightly shielded by the Eight Devis. None of them could be easily accessed.

At this time, two people carrying a lumpy package appeared near the woods of the Crystal Arrow Palace. One was tall, one was short. One was silent and motionless, other was jumpy and restless. One wore a long seamless gown of the finest silk, other wore coarse clothes in the style of the southerners despite being from the North.

Sarapriya, who was walking in the palace grounds, spotted these two from a distance away and vigilantly took a step back. Normally, she wouldn't have. But in her hands was her little brother who she brought out for fresh air. He was lying motionlessly on her shoulder seemingly with no awareness of what is happening around him. Though his external injuries were a lot better now, the child had lost a lot of weight. He was all skin and bones, carrying him was like carrying a feather. But the more worrisome part was that he was highly unresponsive, had to be force fed every time and would refuse medications violently. The four sisters didn't know what to do with him. Even Varuna gave up her private tantrum to come and coax him, but he was just as unresponsive to her as to others. If an assassin were to attack him in this situation, he wouldn't even dodge.

"Where did these people come from?" Sarapriya asked the guard, who then rushed over to Captain Shaura who was bringing them. He returned quickly with a jog and handed over a round metal object to her. It was made fully of gold, inscribed with a thunderbolt and the royal insignia of the Adityas.

"I see…so it's the mysterious foreigners Cactus met in the forest…" the princess nodded and motioned Shaura with her eyes to take the guests to the longue.

But then a mysterious thing occurred. The shapeless lump on her shoulder suddenly moved. Wriggling out, as though embarrassed, it slid to the ground and hid behind the first princess. Sarapriya was stupefied. Shaura halted in his tracks as well, unable to stop his face from showing excitement. He had been blaming himself for that day when he couldn't interrupt the Indra from cursing the prince so horrifyingly. Holding a small child in his hands, but unable to even cover his ears, it was the pinnacle of helplessness. Ever since, the vibrant little prince who stayed sharp and decisive even in the face of extreme danger turned into a complete mess. Shaura didn't even know how to communicate with him. The state of his body instead of improving under the care of royal physicians grew progressively worse. Even to this day, he spent more than eighteen hours a day in an unconscious state. In twenty days, this was literally the first time Shaura has seen the little prince make a conscious gesture that proved he still registered outside events.

"Little Cactus, do you want to meet those people?" the first princess asked testingly, hope burning her doe shaped eyes. At this time, she didn't care that they were strangers and foreigners. She didn't care they wore weird clothes or had mysterious temperaments, if they could bring Little Cactus back, that's all she cared about.

The bony white palms clutching her waist contracted in panic. A small emaciated head popped out from behind her and swiftly went back into hiding. It almost made Sarapriya laugh. Cactus never acted so obviously childlike because he didn't have any friends of his age. But Sara couldn't be frivolous at this time to show her amusement as she could already feel her little brother exerting himself. It was hard for him stand on two feet.

When she glanced at him when he popped his head out, she could see his gaze burning. The other boy who looked at Cactus had the same gaze as well, his face containing myriad expressions. In his young face, she saw rage, fury, worry and joy of reunion. But Cactus clearly didn't feel comfortable meeting those people now.

"Cactus, you know…" Sarapriya chose her words carefully, "If you eat your food well and take your medicines peacefully without pulling open your injuries, you could get up and going in three days…In two days, you can gain enough energy to meet these people! Isn't it true they are your friends…?"

The little hands were shivering, clutching Sarapriya's waist belt in a deathly grip. They suddenly became still though, showing doubt.

Sarapriya smiled, smoothing her fingers over his palms, placating him. She bit her lower lip in thoughtful amusement looking at the wild boy in the woods. "It's true Little Cactus. Look at that boy. He's so competitive. You surely don't want him to see you so weak…"

The little prince's hands sweated at that, giving away his feelings though he spoke not a word.

"I know. That boy must've admired you even when he met you in distress while in wilderness. He must've come here to see you when you were in your natural environment! Expecting all kinds of glory…Surely, we don't want to disappoint him…"

A tiny sound like an mosquito's hum came from behind. "Hmm."

Unable to contain her joy, the princess smiled widely. A 'hmm' might sound like nothing, but it was still the first lucid communication she heard from her brother in many days. Her dazzling smile confused the visitors though. Looking at their expressions, she controlled herself and nodded nobly. She gestured to Shaura again to ask him to go on.

"Good boy. Sister will make you all better. Climb on," she said, bending her knees. Like a rubber tube that finished pumping water, Vajra fell limply on her back, instantly losing consciousness.