Beast and his Fair Maiden

The Odd Occurrences

Jwala, don't cry! You have never cried like this till now! She tried to control her tears but it seemed like an impossible task!

He was a beast an uncaring, selfish beast, how dare he?! He had no right to treat her so cruelly, He was the king here?How was she to escape!?

She had left the palace, without thinking much, just this need to run ,run from the horrendous man, who called himself her husband, who had asserted it very well that he did not care for her and had only married her with some twisted revenge plot .But why? was saying truth deserving of punishment?

No one had stopped her, it seems that no one had cared much that the Queen was leaving the palace! and why would they? when the king had made it clear he neither loved nor cared about the Queen

Queen? what a joke! She was an ordinary girl 2 weeks ago, who had dreamt of love and happiness, whose prince charming was on his way for her, haa! What a joke it was now, Instead she was here in the heart of Jwalana, not knowing what to do?She could leave the kingdom, but Agni would not let her go, she knew it on some level it would hurt his ego and he would come after her! She did not want blood bath, because that is what he will do to the kingdom, which will give her escape from this nightmare . She was helpless.

Jwala was still in her thoughts, when she noticed her unfamiliar surroundings.

She had no idea how long she had walked, though she knew she had come to a whole new world, because it was nothing like her small village, the place which she had ventured into was the capital of Jwalana, the city!

The homes here were bigger than the small houses in her village, infact the village head's house was nothing compared to houses here

Jwala was flabbergasted by looking at the sheer beauty of the city

The roofs were all red, the houses had a warm yellow hue to them, the people were hustling in their activities, there were vendors lining the streets. At a corner small children were playing. At another corner a grandma was stitching something

Weren't people of Jwalana supposed to be harassed according to the rumors? Jwala had thought that her village was safe as it was inconsequential in Maharaj's eyes, but the city looked vibrant with life.

Jwala had expected to see public in disarray,men and women in helpless state, houses in horrible conditions as people strived to pay exorbitant amount of taxes to Agni , she had certainly not expected to see such life and vibrancy

"Hey lady! " She heard someone call as she felt a hand on her shoulder

she turned

There was a boy standing there, he looked young, may be 15 or 16 years of age, he had a goofy grin on his young face and twinkle in his eyes

"Do you wanna play? we have cards, we are playing over there, you can earn money ya know " He said in his throaty voice as he pointed near a shack

There people had formed a group ,there were 3 men and a woman, sitting there looking at them, mostly waiting for the boy to return .

Jwala had never seen something like this in her village, she was curious and hungry! But she was also wary afterall this was Agni's city, his capital, did she dare to trust anyone here?

"Common lady it's a simple game of cards, you just have to bet your pretty necklace " he said pointing towards Jwala's neck

Well what had she got to lose? why not have some fun? before Agni came for her, and he definitely would.

Jwala nodded her assent as she followed the boy to the shack

"Hello pretty lady! " she got a chorus of greets and waves, it seemed no one knew who she was, with the welcoming smiles on their faces ,she actually felt happy for the first time since she had met that horribly cruel man! Jwala don't let him spoil your mood!

As they were dealt with the cards, the boy explained her the rules

It was actually a pretty simple game, she had to get rid of all the cards in her hand, the higher the cards she got rid of the better.

As they started playing, however she understood it was not that simple a game!

"Hey you are cheating! " Jwala accused as she understood that the man on her right had cheated instead of three two's he had actually played two ace's and a two! When his cards were checked later.

"That's the game sweetheart, its called bluff! " he said with a wink in her direction

And Jwala lost her necklace, the woman with them laughed

Well she will show them!

"Let's play again !"

"I don't think you are upto it dear! " The woman said, in a kind tone, it was almost patronizing

"You will see" Jwala challenged

"What will you put on stake? " the boy queried

Jwala showed her wrists to them, which had gold bangles

they murmured their approval as they all chipped in their stakes

The cards were dealt again

Well what are the odds? She was dealt with horrible hand!

As the game started, the woman played three kings, the boy followed , it was her turn then , may be she should try that bluff thing

She played all the three ace's as king's

"I want to check! " The man on her right piped up

dammit!

"I am not bluffing! " Jwala turned towards him, and lied with her full conviction

"I. ..I "

Jwala was looking at him in his eyes, suddenly his eyes cleared

"Well she is saying the truth " he conceded and the game progressed

She could feel the woman's eyes on her as they played.

"yes! "This round Jwala won! and she got all her jewelry back and more

"Ahh dammit"

"s**t! "

there were all kinds of curses as the men paid and dispersed, however the woman sitting across Jwala was still grinning at her, as she paid her dues, how odd! That is when she actually noticed the woman she was beautiful, too beautiful, her eyes were silver, and her skin was almost translucent, however she was wearing a brown saree which looked horrendous on her, she would have gone unnoticed, if Jwala was not so good at discovering oddities

"Work on it dear! " she whispered in Jwala's ears as she walked away with a satisfied smile on her face.