7 Isll kill you (1/2)
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.