Devburman had no idea where Poonam lived. He just hoped she was safe. The burnt embers of the once beautiful city filled him with dread.

He divided his soldiers into 2 groups. One to kill the invader others would rescue and help the injured.

Now he had to find Poonam.

Shivaditya had probably never killed so many men at one go the way he was doing now.

There were slain bodies of attackers everywhere around him.

"Your highness we have captured their leader."

Jayaraj informed him.

"Did you find Chitra?" Shiv asked.

"No, your highness we have managed to find his majesty. He is gravely injured but..."

"But?"

"We couldn't find any women in the palace. Not even bodies." Jayaraj said cautiously.

Shiv's eyes blazed with anger.

"Search the entire palace. Where are the Navsarika generals? Ask them."

"Maybe they were sent off to some safe place before the attack," Shiv said as if consoling himself.

Though he feared the worst!

Navsarika was officially under Chalukya control now. They were flushing out the leftover invaders.

Devburman crossed through the scene of carnage. Women were crying over loved ones, injured men crying in pain.

He guessed he was in the court quarters which had relatively less damage than the city.

He saw a familiar figure hunched over someone.

"Poonam!" He kicked his horse to reach her quickly.

She didn't bother to look up at him. Her clothes were in tatters. Soot and grime-covered her lovely face.

He kneeled next to her and gently placed his hand on her shoulders.

"Poonam."

She slowly turned her face towards him. Her eyes brimming with tears.

"They killed my parents" she whispers.

He looked at the dead bodies lying near her. Her father's head in her lap.

"Poonam I am sorry, I was too late, " he said softly.

She broke down sobbing. He watched her helplessly unsure what to do.

"They tried to ruin me. No one has ever touched me like that before. My father died protecting me." She cried.

Dev's face hardened in anger. He hugged her tightly.

"I am here Poonam. I will fix everything."

She continued sobbing in his arms.

Shivaditaya had turned the entire palace upside down. Trying to search for Chitra.

"Your Highness we found the queen along with other women." One of his guards announced.

"Where?"

"Near the forest's edge, they are being brought here."

Shivaditya sighed with relief. Chitra was safe.

Devburman arrived soon after with Poonam. She was wrapped in his cloak and looked traumatized.

"Get the healer," Shiv commanded to one of the guards.

"The city is destroyed Shiv. It will take months to rehabilitate it." Devburman said.

Shiv nodded grimly. The ladies had arrived and Shiv immediately sprinted towards them. He bowed to the Queen.

"Greetings your majesty."

"Thank God your arrived! Thank you for saving us." Kalavati said. Her eyes filled with tears of gratitude.

"It was my duty mother. Where is Chitra?"

"She is not here?" Kalavati asked with a worried expression.

"What do you mean?"

"She stayed back to look for her father, she forced us to go through the secret path and stayed back. I tried to persuade her but you know how headstrong she is. You didn't find her?" Kalavati had fear in her eyes.

"We found Maharaj but I didn't find Chitra," Shiv replied.

His face tensed. An understanding passed between Kalavati and him.

"Where is that bastard? I will interrogate him myself." He commanded Jayaraj.

*******

Chitrangada woke slowly, moaning contently as her body sunk even deeper into the soft bed. She stretched - or at least that was what she tried to do before she realized that she could barely move her arms or her legs.

Her eyes snapped open. The ornately carved ceiling above her was unfamiliar. She raised her head off the pillow. Her head swam when she tried to sit up.

She was still dressed in that blood-spattered lehenga-saari. Though someone had taken off all her jewellery.

She looked around but saw no one, Chitra was further confused that the room itself didn't seem familiar.

She managed to sit up and called out tentatively

"Hello?", her voice hoarser than usual.

She cleared her throat and called out again. "Is anyone here? Hello?" her voice returning to its normal pitch, even though it was slightly high from anxiety.

The stone walls were decorated with paintings depicting furious battles or important-looking men, sitting in military splendour.

She was probably in some fort though she had never seen it before. She heard footsteps.

"Good morning Princess" Vikram arrived looking happy.

She eyed him suspiciously.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well it's my home," He replied.

She looked around at the unfamiliar place.

"This is not Patan."

"Of course not. I don't own just one castle. I have many. I don't have time to take you to Patan anyways."

He continued to pull a chair and sprawled on it.

Chitra rubbed her head trying to recall how she ended up here. The last thing she remembered was being grabbed by his general.

Her eyes flashed in anger.

"It was your men! They kidnapped me."

"Glad you figured that out. I don't have the patience to explain.

"What do you want Vikram?" She said annoyed.

"You !... I have always wanted you. Why did you ditch me Chitra? Didnt I love you enough? Do you know how much you have hurt me...you think Shivaditya is better than me?"

Chitra looked at him in disgust.

"Is that why you were ready to punish me on our wedding day? That was your love? I was ready to marry you. I was ready to sacrifice my love. Wasn't it you and your family who humiliated me and rejected me ?"

"Shut up! You cheated me. You spent days with Shiv, alone."

"I was abducted! I didn't go anywhere willingly. Yes, I fell in love with Shiv. So what? I was still ready to marry you. I had accepted my fate. It was your family who broke the wedding Vikram. You didn't even trust me. Shiv accepted me and made me his wife while you ran away like a coward!"

Vikram was now blazing with anger. He stood up from his seat and walked up to her, grabbing her arm forcing her to stand up.

"Don't touch me Vikram." She screamed.

"I will do more than just touching Chitra. You will be mine now." He said menacingly.

"How can you think of such a preposterous thing. I am Shivaditya's wife. I can't marry another." She said angrily squirming to get out of his grip.

He smirked.

"Who said anything about marriage? You will just be my mistress. No, you don't deserve to be a mistress, you will be my slave. I will do everything that I had always wanted to do. Perhaps more." He had an evil glint in his eyes.

Tears sprang in her eyes not because of fear but due to her disappointment.

She stopped struggling against him.

"You were not like this Vikram. You were very pure and good. Why did you change?"

She could see some trace of emotion in his eyes. To her surprise, he left her arm.

"You were my most prized possession Chitra, but I lost you to my enemy. Now you are my enemy's woman. I have to do this for my pride. "

"What did you just call me? Enemy's woman?"

Something snapped inside her.

SLAP!

The sound of her slapping him resonated in the room. Vikram held his palm on his cheek too stunned to react.

"Dont you dare call me that! I am sick of it. I am not anyone's woman. I am Chitranagada crown princess of Navsarika and Badami. I am not an object which anyone can just grab."

She jerked her arm away from his grip.

"Get out Vikram. I don't want to see your face."

Vikram was dumbstruck for a moment. She was fiery but he never imagined she would still keep her spunk even in such a dire situation.

"How dare you disrespect me!"

There was a crack and she felt her cheeks burning. He had slapped her.

No one had ever slapped her before.

Tears stung her eyes. she could feel blood at the corners of her lips.

"Why don't you just kill me Vikram."

"I don't need to, your Shiv will do that himself after I am done with you." He laughed.

She knew what he meant and it filled her with dread.

To be continued...