The Arrival

When they arrived in Eastern Valley, the emperor welcomed them with an open heart. People were whispering.

"Were the rumours true?" Said an old lady.

"Did they kill ghost general?" A man asked surprisingly.

"She is so brave." People praised.

"How can a girl kill the demon?" They were confused.

Emperor himself welcomed them.

"I'm proud of you. You guys are now our family. You will be allocated another cottage." The emperor said to Thyme and Risha.

They greeted the emperor with reverence.

"We are honoured." Both of them said.

"There will be a party in the evening at Emperor Hall. We are celebrating our victory, everyone is invited" Aaqa announced.

Thyme and Risha looked surprised and were still processing what was happening. Moohbhan asked Thyme about his stay but he was clueless, thus, Moohbhan invited him to his cottage.

When Risha saw her mother and Birha, she hugged them quickly and they cried their heart out. After all these welcomes, they were ready to go home.

"We are thankful to you for bringing our daughter back." Misha Bai said to Thyme.

"My Lady, I'm also honoured to take part in the killing of that demon alongside her." Thyme smiled.

Because of the trek, all three were tired. They took a bath, wore some warm clothes and had dinner. Misha Bai did not know about Thyme, but Moohbhan had his concerns. He took Thyme to his house because he wanted to keep an eye on him. Thyme didn't seem like a bad person, but he was from Arz's army. Moohbhan knew sooner or later, Arz's army will find Thyme and everyone was aware of the consequences.

"You will sleep with me," Moohbhan said to Thyme.

"Errrr...." Thyme was confused.

Risha smiled at them and went to sleep in her room.

Soon they were in Moohbhan's room. Thyme had his bed on the floor and Moohbhan was lying on the bed. Thyme was not ready for the questions. He knew Moohbhan had many things to ask but he was just not ready.

"Why the hell did Risha tell him about us?" Thyme thought.

"Tell me everything in detail. Start with Where did you meet?" Moohbhan's voice sounded more like an order.

"Um... Um..." Thyme thought for a while and then told him everything. It was no use to tell lies anymore.

"What about Arz's army? Does any of your friends or family know about Risha?" Moohbhan was worried.

"No Sire, I haven't even met them yet, so they don't know."

"Keep this a secret. If they know about it, they will tear my family apart." Moohbhan's voice became heavy.

Thyme stood up and sat down on the left side of the floor near the bed. "Sire, I truly admire your daughter. I will protect her at any cost. Even if it takes my life." Thyme said respectfully.

"I know. The reason I brought you here is that the Aaqa of Eastern Valley also seems suspicious. I want you to find a good place for our stay. I'm not much familiar with this region, so I can give that task to you."

"Sire, I'm a traveller and I have a good know-how of places nearby. Soon, I'll find one." Thyme said.

"Okay, now you may sleep," Moohbhan said and changed his posture.

Thyme went back to his mattress on the floor and lay down. He kept on thinking, about what Moobhan meant by suspicious Aaqa. After a while, he was in deep sleep.

Being a father, Moohbhan had many concerns. He was worried that his daughter would be in danger and she was just a teenager. "How can I allow her to do such a thing? When everything is so messy and we are uncertain about the future." He thought. After a while, his eyes were heavy due to sleep. He knew that its better to keep his family safe with the help of a man. He was aware of the danger and Zebar's revenge.

_______

"Di, wake up. It's almost noon." Birha tried to wake Risha up.

"Ahh huh," Risha said in a sleepy voice.

After some time, Risha woke up. Briha was waiting for this moment.

"What did you tell Baba about Thyme?" Risha looked at her and gave a small smirk.

"So you were waiting for me to wake up to find answers?"

"Umm. Yes." Birha smiled mischievously.

"I told him the truth." Said Thyme in a loud voice. Risha was calm.

"Huh?" Birha's mouth and eyes were wide open. Risha looked at her and smiled.

_______

"So you want that girl?" Raja asked Zebar.

They were both sitting in the Raja's Hall. Zebar had come to negotiate the deal with Raja.

"As soon as you give me that girl, Awaish will be yours," Zebar said.

"I didn't know that Zebar would fall for some random girl and even trade his city for her," Raja said sarcastically.

"She is not a random girl." Zebar's eyes got red and he said in an angry voice.

Raja: "I can't guarantee you that I'll find her. What are the other options?"

Zebar: "There are no other options."

Raja: "Is that so? It means you are ready for fighting."

Zebar: "What is the use of wasting resources in wars? Wouldn't it be better to use these same resources to get me that girl?"

Raja (smiling): "I didn't think that you were smart."

Zebar smiled and bade goodbye.

On his way to Awiash, he met his loyal servant. "Sire, the ghost general was killed. Risha killed him."

"What"? Zebar was astonished.

________

Suddenly there was a knocking on the door. When Moohbhan opened the door, he saw a servant from the Emperor's place had come. It was evening and the party was about to begin.

"Sire, Aaqa has invited all your family personally."

"Um, we will be there after a while," Moohbhan said.

The other members of the family looked at him curiously.

"Baba, I don't wanna go. I'm tired." Risha said.

"We can't leave you alone." Misha Bai said.

"Be ready, we all have to go. Thyme, you too." Moohbhan said.

Thyme had no choice and soon they all were ready to go. When they arrived at the party, it was in the middle. The girls were dancing, and the tribe leaders and Aaqa were drinking wine.

"Oh, so you came." Aaqa greeted Moohbhan's family.

"Please take a seat." a servant said to them.

They sat down and wine and peanuts were served to them. The girls and Misha Bai had peanuts while Thyme and Moohbhan took the wine glasses in their hands.

"Young Man, can you please tell us what happened in the forest jungle?" Aaqa asked Thyme.

Thyme looked at Risha and told him about how they killed him.

"But there were rumours that only a couple can kill him." A tribe leader said.

"So are you guys a couple?" another tribe leader poked his nose in their business. Moohbhan, his family and Risha coughed at this question and looked at each other awkwardly.

Aaqa controlled the situation, "Of course, these are rumours. Now when the ghost general is dead. It doesn't matter." Aaqa said.

Thyme and Moobhan were confused. Why would the emperor of Eastern Valley play such a dirty game? After one hour, Moohbhan stood up and asked for leave.

"It is too early. Where are you going?" Aaqa asked.

"Aaqa, my children and I are very tired due to this long trek." He knelt.

"Oh" Aaqa permitted them and they went back to their cottage.

"That was so weird," Birha said on her way home.

When they reached home, Moobhan looked and Thyme and said, "You'll sleep with me tonight."

________

When they came to Eastern Valley, Thyme and Risha couldn't meet privately. At home, there was always Misha Bai and Risha now seldom went outside. Moohbhan had strictly advised both his daughters to stay at home. Although the couple had no private moments, mind communication made their life easy. So, Risha was aware of everything. She knew her father wanted to move out but like everyone else, she was also confused about Emperor's moves. It had been a week and tonight they were having the dinner at same table.

"I'm confused, why Emperor is so kind to us?" Risha asked.

"Have you found any place?" Moohbhan asked Thyme, ignoring Risha's question.

"Sir, if we go further on the Eastern Side, there is a place called Vabe. It is located on the seaside. Its population is mainly fishermen. They welcome guests and they are friendly. Their tribe leader is also kind and gentleman. It would take two days to reach there." Thyme told him.

"But, why are we moving out?" Misha and Birha asked.

"Aaqa is too kind to us." Misha further said.

"Misha, they did not even allow outsiders and now they are giving us houses. Isn't it strange? There is something fishy. We should quickly move out from here. It will not be easier to escape from here. Tonight, we will make the plan. And tomorrow, there will be action." Moohbhan commanded.

The plan was set out. They were ready to escape tomorrow.

When they were going to sleep, Risha looked at Thyme and asked, "Are you okay?"

"With you, always," Thyme said with a smile.

------------------