9

"What do you mean? I am no secret.

Everybody knows about me." Viaan was

indignant because whatever he heard

her say was out of bounds. He was the

quiet prince who liked to keep himself

out of everything. Everyone knew that.

He was quite different when his father

was alive. He was energetic and his

silly antics made everyone laugh. But

after he lost his father, Viaan became

reserved and liked to spend time alone.

His mother frequently engaged him in

conversations but Viaan chose books

over people. He only talked with his

family when they dined together. He

absolutely loved his nieces and nephew.

He read them stories and played with

them. He loved them. He had no time

to think about magic or any thing else.

But now, hearing her say those words

made his chest hurt. He wondered

that if he spent those evenings with

his mother, she would have told him

more about her magic. And his brother

would tell him something more about

his power. He thought that his brother

was kidding when he told him. But

after Viaan had witnessed everything

in Adhira, he believed it was real and

that his brother really had magic, a very

rare and powerful magic. He was close

to Vivaan so he couldn't believe their

relationship now. It was worse than

he imagined. He adored his brother

and his brother hated him. "I think you

should sleep. And he has to rest too."

Nairiti told him. She was right. Vidyut

was back from a long journey and he

had to report to Adhyay in the morning.

He didn't want his friend to be bleary

eyed. Viaan nodded and left her room

with Vidyut. "You know, I'm always here.

You can talk to me no matter how much

sleep I get. It will be like our own party.

Okay?" Viaan felt something bursting

out of his heart. It was gratitude. He

finally found an awesome friend. He

wasn't the lonely person he was before.

Now he had people he could rely on.

"I will. You should sleep. I'll wake you

up later." Viaan woke up earlier than

he intended. Despite sleeping for less

than three hours, he was refreshed. It

could be because he would go searching

for answers of the questions he asked

himself. He knew he was missing some

big piece of information and that it was

the only thing that mattered. He was

waiting near Adhyay's office. People

knew he was lurking there but no one

paid him any attention. Adhyay got

there when the clock struck eight. He

saw Viaan and gestured him to follow

inside. Once he was seated, Adhyay

opened the window to the side and

light flooded in. The scenery outside

looked beautiful. Viaan could spend

the whole day gazing outside. But he

wasn't there for that reason. Adhyay sat

on his chair behind the desk leisurely

and looked at Viaan. He was waiting for

him to start talking. "I want to go back

to Mihira." Adhyay wasn't surprised. He

knew someday the prince would want

to return. But he did not foresee the day

coming so fast. He saw no problem with

the decision but he was skeptical. Viaan

had no good training to protect himself.

He was smart enough but sometimes

being smart wouldn't be enough. "I ask

you to stay three weeks here. Then you

can return to your kingdom. You have

to learn fighting here with your magic

and also with sword. I know you can

fight, but you have to be exceptional

in this. That's why I need three weeks.

What do you say?" Viaan was about to

answer no but he was interrupted by the

knock. He was hally to see it was Nairiti

who was closely followed by Vidyut.

"Report?" Adhyay asked Vidyut. Viaan

was surprised that he wasn't asked to

leave but then he realised the news

wouldn't be good. He braced himself.

"There was a chatter that major changes

were happening in the palace." He

looked at Viaan and continued, "King

Vivaan was very secretive and couldn't

get more from the people but I noticed

that he disappeared somewhere and no

one knew where." Viaan suspected as

much. He knew Vivaan had changed.

But he couldn't know the extent till he

was face to face with his brother. And

that moment couldn't come soon. "And

no one saw the queen after her death,

only a handful people did. I find that

suspicious." Viaan did too. But he had no

firsthand information and he had to rely

on what Vidyut had found. He wanted to

go back very much then. Sadly Adhyay

saw that too. "You are leaving only after

three weeks, not now." Nairiti perked up

at that. She looked at both of them before

asking Viaan, "You want to leave?" Viaan

nodded at her. "Then you must train

faster. You will not be a prince there

and certainly not safe. You would have

to save yourself. And you can't go there

as you. You will die. You have to think

that before you make a decision." Viaan

knew they wouldn't let him leave like

that and they also had a point. He was

not a fool. So he agreed. The next two

weeks were hard on him. He practised

with very much determination and his

magic practice was getting nowhere.

Nairiti was sure that he would fight well

in a real fight because of adrenaline.

And Viaan thought it was a lie. He knew

he couldn't depend on his magic so

he focused all his energy on physical

training. He was skillful in sword

fighting and he could pick locks. He

needed less training in that. He was

known to snuck away in library because

of his skill. He also learned some basics

of how spies operated. He was going to

be one. He needed every new skill he

could learn. And then the day came. He

stood before the mirror examing himself.

Nairiti was right about his appearance.

He needed to look less like a prince. His

hair was long because he had missed

his hair styling appointments for three

months consecutively. He was happy

he was that lazy. He had used the Kari

plant to make his hair reddish. He knew

if he didn't look clean, no one would

mistake him for a prince. He wore a long

reddish brown cloak and a hat on his

go back and clear his name. Before the

morning light could illuminate, Viaan set

off with his companions to his homeland.

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