I will stay with you...

"Vidala?" Mallika raised her brows in surprise. Her arms immediately tensed. "Lord Arjun....he went to 'settle business' with King Vidala of Vaimadri?"

Out of all the faces round the fire, hers seemed the only one shocked. The Janas sat leisurely, not in the least bit alarmed.

"He...will he be fine? It's not safe for him in the palace."

"See for yourself," Pramath smiled. Hardly had those words left his lips when a horse trotted out of the forest and up the Rocky outcrop. In the darkness, it seemed like a phantom, storming at a destructive speed. Mallika had already known how wildly this horse could run, and who it's master was. So she only gasped when with a mighty gallop, it rode right upto the gathering.

The Janas stood up immediately, and Mallika followed. "My Lord!" They greeted unanimously.

Lord Arjun jumped down from the horse, stroking it gently. His eyes landed on her for a while, before he turned to the men.

"Have you delivered the medicine to Shankhet?" he asked, his voice still the same deep one.

"Yes, my Lord!" Pramath replied.

"Good. Sit down, all of you." He motioned for them to sit, and himself took seat on a large rock.

There was a brief pause, before Arjun turned to Mallika, who was standing quietly all this while. "Why don't you sit?"

"What happened earlier today?" Mallika asked.

"Earlier today? You flew into a rage during the ambush and killed Durg."

Mallika felt her breath grow hasty. "Why was it General Durg? Why do the people of Vaimadri want me dead? You said you will tell me later. You must tell me now!"

Arjun scratched his head, "When did I make such a promise?"

Mallika strode right upto him, "Lord Arjun! This is too much! I already have a lot to ask you about yourself, yet I am holding back. At least tell me the things that are related to me?!"

Arjun smiled, looking up at her. "Seems like you really have a lot to ask. In that case, lets leave these guys to themselves and speak somewhere else. You don't mind, do you?"

Mallika frowned. What was there to mind? She wasn't some weakling. If he dared to behave badly with her, she would punch his eye black.

Arjun chuckled, watching her face intently. She was like a piece of glass to him, so easy to read through! "Don't worry, I won't let you have a cause to blacken my eye!" A few giggles went up from the Janas.

But Mallika jumped back in shock. This man....

"What? Don't tell me you were planning to do just that!"

"If course not!" She turned away in embarrassment, her cheeks flushing red.

Arjun only chuckled lightly as he stood up and strolled away, leaving the Janas gaping after him. Mallika followed suite. They walked back in the path she had just taken a while ago.

"You are going back to the cave?" she asked as he led her back to where she had been a little time ago.

"Yeah," he replied casually. "Before you ask me something, I want you to answer me, princess."

In the darkness, Mallika hadn't noticed that he had stopped walking and turned around to face her. So she walked right into him, bumping into his chest.

"Ouchh!" She staggered back, holding her nose.

"Hey!" Arjun seemed to laugh, rubbing his chest where her head had hit. "Are you night blind? Eat more fruits, okay?"

Mallika humphed, glaring at him. "I am not night blind! You are the one who is hard like a stone wall! Oh, my poor nose!"

"Let me see," Arjun walked up, gently urging her to remove the hand covering her nose. "Hmm...it looks so red. You are not going to get a nose bleed, right?"

Mallika drew away from him. "Of course not! I am a warrior, okay? I cannot be affected by such little things."

"I see," Arjun nodded, looking a little worried. "Okay, it's cold here, lets go in."

He led Mallika into the cave, this time choosing to walk behind her.

"What is this place, Lord Arjun?" Mallika asked, as she flopped down again on the stone slab.

"The Poorvis," Arjun replied. "It's the border of Sailam."

"Oh right! I met you here for the first time. But why were you veiled then?"

Arjun shook his head. "If you want to know all these, you have a choice to make, an important one."

Mallika grew attentive at the sudden change of his tone.

"Mallika, you know you are not Bajrabaahu and Svetmala's daughter, right?"

Mallika's face hardened, but she nodded quietly.

"Your biological father was a priest, one of the best of his time. His name was Subhanu. Your mother was his wife, Devi Kuntala. They were members of the main family that serves in the Shiva Temple on the Vindhyas. Mallika, you don't belong to Sailam. You belong to the Vindhyas."

There was a long pause. "How did my parents die?" Mallika asked, her voice heavy.

"They were killed by Bajrabaahu." Arjun replied.

"Then why did he adopt me?" Mallika suddenly stood up, looking aggrieved. "If he hated my parents so much that he killed them, why didn't he kill me as well?!"

"I can tell you that," Arjun gazed at her angry eyes. "But you need to tell me what you want to do now. You can choose to go back to the palace, or you can choose to be by my side. If you go back, your reputation will remain unblotted. You can continue as a princess, live in the luxuries of the palace, with your mother, brother, uncle and friends. But you will have to face many more schemes and plots and devices that will threaten your life.

Again, you can choose to stay with me. I assure you I will respect you. But your reputation in the world's eyes will be done for. You will have to live a hard life, travelling from place to place, with uncertain food resources and shelter. But I will help you realise everything that you need to. You will know all that you should. All your worries will be dealt with.

Now, it's upto you to decide. No matter what you say, I will respect your decision."

Mallika fell quiet. She...what did she want? The only family she had know till that day was left behind in the palace. They were not her blood, but did that matter? They had loved her and taken care of her all these days. Her mother, her uncle, Ashwin... all of them were left behind in that place.

But can a person ever live without a proper identity? She wanted to know who she was, what her relation with King Bajrabaahu really was?! Why did King Vidala want her dead? She hated to be ignorant of things. And when it was perhaps the biggest question of her life, how could she be indifferent?!

Her eyes flickered as she looked up at the man in front her, patiently waiting for her to consider and decide. But was he only waiting? There was something else in those deep eyes of his. A question? No, he probably had all answers to his questions. What was it then? Doubt? Or apprehension? Or was it... expectation?

For some unknown reason, she suddenly felt she wanted to be with him-- wanted to know this man, wanted to make a new friend-- one who would always be there for her. No matter how dark it is or how harsh the clime, she wanted a friend who could stick with her through thick and thin, guide her through high and low, and stand by her side no matter what came their way.

She looked at him, and her heart felt it could burst any moment. Maybe what she saw in his eyes was neither doubt nor apprehension not expectation. It was resolution-- a promise to stand by her side always. His words rang in her ears...

'No matter what you say, I will respect your decision.'

At that moment, Mallika made up her mind.

"Lord Arjun, I will stay with you."