CHAPTER 12: Raqs-e-Dard:

Tere bina guzara, ae dil hai mushkil
Tu mera khuda, tu hi duaa mein shaamil
Tere bina guzara, ae dil hai mushkil
Mujhe aazmaati hai teri kami
Meri har kami ko hai tu laazmi
Junoon hai mera, bana tu junoon
Zaroori sa hai tu meri zaroori si baat hai

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●

Finally, when I thought that maybe life would be on track, my thoughts were shattered again.

It has happened already once, as I got out of the orphanage, thinking that finally life is going to be better, only to find myself in severe poverty. And now again, I found out yesterday that I am a princess of a large kingdom, and today I am the cursed princess.

Tears stream down my face, but I wipe them off harshly.

Now, only one thing can calm me down. Dancing. That's what I have been doing every time life gets too tough on me: I dance myself to exhaustion.

I put on my earphones and started dancing without even stopping for a single second.

My thoughts continuously kept wandering off to the earlier conversations I had encountered.

I was smiling when I got to know that the kingdom's people love me too much, but then that old man told me I was born on a cursed night.

But is any of that even my fault? It wasn't like someone gave me a choice to be born in the cursed night or the next night. Or the fact that I had a twin brother who died, and how is that supposed to be my fault? It is just how fate plays its games.

And the thing I hate the most is that I can't even remember a single thing.

Today, when I told Aaliya about all this, she did some research and told me that the chemical I was injected with must have started wearing off. Maybe that's the reason I was getting dreams of a man who looks exactly like Kunwar Sa of Udaipur.

Maybe, just maybe, whatever he was saying was true.

I was still dancing for almost the past three hours without even stopping for a second, and my foot was aching like hell. My mind was reeling with an innumerable number of thoughts. All the conversations were replaying in my mind again and again.

My legs were aching as if they were about to come off, but that ache was nothing in comparison to what I am feeling in my heart right now.

The betrayal every time by god, by fate. Every time I think that things are now fine, completely on track, and life is going to be easier for me. Suddenly, a new revelation happens, destroying everything from the past.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

"Dev kya kare, Aaru teen ghante se kamre mai hai," Veer muttered tensely as he was pacing around the room ever since Aaranya had shut the door.

(Dev, what should we do? It's been three hours since Aaru was in the room.)

He was nervously biting his nails, Cold sweat beads glistening on his forehead. As much as anyone could remember, no one has ever seen Veer this nervous.

He was always known as the cold, ruthless king who never gave a damn before brutally punishing someone who crossed his path. But today, the guilt of not being able to protect his sister from all those cruel words, the ache in his chest was a cruel reminder that she must be sad and crying, was eating him up.

"Aaranya baccha door kholo." Lakshay knocked on the door impatiently, shouting Aaranya's name again and again. His heart pounding loudly in his chest, the fear gnawing on him that what if he lost his beloved sister again after ten whole years.

"Open the door, Aaru," Devansh spoke a bit sweetly, hoping to coo his sister to open the door like the every other time he had did before.

"Aaranya, are you awake. Open the door, beta." Aditya abruptly rushed towards the door, knocking on it repeatedly as tears stung in the corner of his eyes. He couldn't even bear the thought of losing his playmate, his crime partner, his sister again after they found her.

They waited a few more minutes trying to call her, shout her name outside the door and knock on the door like there is no tomorrow.

But each time the reply to all this was the same.

Silence!

Complete silence!

Soon, the last string of their patience snapped as the fear of losing someone as precious as their sister overpowered them.

Devansh kicked the door open, and the scene they met with made their heart clench painfully.

Aaranya was dancing without a second of stop, dry tears on her cheeks, which were continuously replaced by fresh tears flowing. She was drenched in sweat, and her hair was completely dishevelled.

They looked at her for a moment, taking in the view in front of them.

Soon, Exhaustion came over after hours of non-stop dancing, and she collapsed.

Before she could hit the ground, Veer rushed and picked her up in his arms.

The dam broke again as she sobbed, burying her head in her brother's chest.

"I am sorry, Bhai sa. I am so sorry. I never----" She murmured in between her sobs, completely breaking down as self-blame took over.

Veer cut her off in mid-sentence, "What are you sorry about, Aaru. It is none of your fault. You need to stop blaming yourself and putting all this nonsense in your cute little head. Okay!" He said softly but firmly to her, gaining her complete attention as she slowly nodded.

"Bhai sa... I can't remember everything completely, but I do remember little remnants. But I am not able to remember everything properly." She said as her sobs slowly subsided, leaving a cute frown behind.

A look of joy and relief washed over all her brothers as they got to know that, slowly but her memory is recovering. "Koi baat nahi baccha Ham yaad dilayenge na aapko sab kuch. Itni tension kyu le rahi hai aap." Devansh said while slowly caressing her head.

(No issues, Kiddo, we will help you remember everything. Why are you taking too much stress?)

She nodded slightly while still in Veer's arms, slowly falling asleep, seeking warmth from her brother's comfortable embrace.

Veer carefully picked her up and placed her gently on the bed, and left the room with the rest of his brothers.

But not before covering her with a duvet and ensuring that she is sleeping comfortably.

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●

Spoilers and updates for this chapter and the next chapter have been uploaded on my Instagram handle 'khushiiwrts'.

THIS CHAPTER IS ALSO UPLOADED ON WATTPAD AND INKITT.