The Village Girl

Chapter Five - [Seetha]

Maadu, my completely brown cow, was getting restless. Usually when she was restless, I would take her on a walk to the river to stretch. The walks were slow and relaxing because she was a good cow, and I never had anything to worry about when I walked her. She would follow the path, take a drink and then return home with me without a fuss.

Today however, had proven to be a challenge.

Not because of Maadu, of course, but because of someone else who was waiting at the river.

Kairav stood at the river, shirtless and washing himself up with some other young men. I was going to turn around but Maadu mooed loudly, making all the men turn to face me. So I sighed, gave her a smack with the back of my hand, and lead her down to the river.

Kairav walked over to me, shoulders back and chest out.

He was a handsome man, but not the kind of handsome that I liked. He had short black hair, dark eyes and a very strong figure. He often boasted about his muscles and good looks, and for some reason, that made him even less attractive. It didn't help that he often oiled his body after bathing in an attempt to make him appear more attractive.

I was quite certain that he wasn't actually interested in me. The only reason he tried so hard was because he was a mother's boy. He always listened to his mother, who was good friends with my mother and thought me to be as silent and submissive as my sisters.

I couldn't stand his mother either.

The thought of her as my mother-in-law made me shudder.

"My mother told me you said no again," he said when he approached me.

"That, I did," I said, smiling at him with tightly closed lips as Maadu got down onto her belly and enjoyed to cool air near the river. I held back a sigh, it looked like she wanted to be here for a while.

"You do realize that there is a lineup of women who want me to marry me."

"Then maybe one of those women are better for you, Kairav."

He hesitated. "I'd prefer a woman who is playing hard to get-"

"I'm not playing hard to getv," I said. "I am simply not interested."

"That's impossible."

I sighed, trying to think of a way to get out of this. "Kairav, there is another man," I said.

His eyes widened. "What?"

I nodded. "He gave me this, actually," I said, shaking my hand and revealing the bangle.

He scoffed. He opened his mouth to say something else but stopped himself. Then I noticed he was looking past me. "Well, I'll see you at my wedding to Bairavi then."

I hesitated, watching him walk off. Well... that was easy. Then, after shaking my head, I turned around, only to gasp at the presence of a tall man behind me.

I looked up, holding my breath.

It was Aaryan. He was wearing fresh, clean silks and had his sword on him again. Like before, he smelled of flowers and looked clean and handsome, making my heart stop for just a moment.

"Using my advances to your benefit," he said, "I don't know how I feel about that."

My cheeks were ablaze. "I... um..."

He smirked. "And is this what you do when you are not telling stories?" he continued. "Come to the river and watch men bathe?"

"No!" I said, my voice going up many pitches. "No, of course not... my cow needed to walk."

"You walk your cow?" He asked as he looked down at Maadu. "That sounds like an excuse to me."

If it were possible for a human to suddenly set on fire, then I would have set on fire right at that moment. "What are you doing here?" I attempted to counter rather stupidly. "Here to watch men bathe?" I couldn't even begin to believe how tongue tied I got with him.

His smirk grew in size. "No," he said. "I was riding by and saw you down here."

I looked up the hill and saw a beautiful brown horse, patiently waiting for his master to return. I let out a breath and looked back at him. "This is Maadu." I pointed at my cow, giving up on saving myself from any teasing.

He looked at my cow before kneeling down next to it and patting her head, right between her horns. She mooed before lifting herself up. "A good cow she is," he said, getting up with her. "Now take her home and meet me back here."

"What?" I asked, surprised.

"Hurry up," he said.

I hesitated, before nodding.

After returning my cow home, I rushed back to the river, lifting my skirt up with my hands as I ran. I jumped over rocks and twigs that covered the ground since I was not wearing any sandals. I did not want to hurt myself. Maadu had gotten a little feisty on the way back, making the trip a few moments longer, which was why I was running.

I even wondered if Aaryan had left since I was taking so long.

However, when I got there, I saw that he hadn't left. He was leaning against a tree, looking out at the river as his horse nibbled on some grass. "I am here!" I said as I ran towards him.

He turned to look at me. "You took long."

When I reached him, I put a hand on the tree and tried to catch my breath. "I'm sorry," I said. "Maadu–"

"Excuses," he said, walking over to his horse.

I watched him, pouting.

He grabbed his horse by the reigns and and walked him closer to me. "Come," he said, holding his hand out.

My eyes widened. "On the horse?"

"Yes," he waved his hand, gesturing met to come.

"I can't!" I said, in disbelief. "Look at what I'm wearing!" I pointed at my tattered and torn sari, using that as an excuse to avoid riding a horse. The thought frightened me.

"It's fine," he said, and before I could protest any further, he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up with ease, sitting me sideways on the top of his horse. A panic filled me as I tried to balance myself, nearly falling backwards, but before I could, he had gotten onto the horse behind me, both his arms around me as he grabbed the reigns.

I held my breath, looking straight ahead, cheeks burning at the feeling of his body right next to mine.

If anyone were to see...

Without another word, the horse jumped forward.

I couldn't even shout, that was how terrified I was, and in the panic I grabbed onto him, holding him tightly so I wouldn't fall.

"You have never been on a horse?" He asked me over the loud gallops of the horse.

"No!" I shouted, though there was no need for me to shout.

He let out a deep chuckle, and it was only then that I realized how close I was to him. But to be honest, I was too scared to really care. So I closed my eyes as the world flashed by, waiting to arrive at wherever he was taking me. And it was when the horse finally slowed down that I opened my eyes.

We had stopped in some forest. There were trees everywhere and sound of chirping birds filled my ears. "Here we are," he said.

As soon as he said it, I let myself slide off the horse. I landed on my feet but lost control of them long enough to fall down onto the grass.

Aaryan chuckled as he elegantly jumped off the horse. He wrapped one of his hands around my arm and lifted me up. "Was it really that horrible?" He asked. "You tell stories of horseback riding warriors yet you cannot ride one yourself?"

I frowned, but tried to recollect myself, dusting myself down and taking a deep, steadying breath. "I tell stories of warriors who can fly, but I do not know how to fly."

That made him smile.

He put a hand on my back right then, guiding me somewhere. After some walking, I was feeling much better. However, when we arrived at the place he was taking me, I became dizzy once again as I held my breath in shock.

He had brought me to a tiny lake, darkened by the thick trees around it, but beautiful nonetheless. The lake was shallow and isolated, lit up with the small amount of sun rays that passed through the thick trees. However, what caught my eye was the small waterfall, which made the simple lake look a thousand times more beautiful. The water tumbled down from the top of the short cliff, hitting rocks and splashing in all sorts of directions before landing in the lake below, providing a soothing bath for the ducks that played in the water.

"I have passed this spot dozens of times during my travels," he said to me. "But never have I appreciated it until you mentioned a place similar to this in one of your stories."

I looked at him.

"Have you been here before?"

I shook my head. "Never."

"Then how did you create a place so similar?" He began to walk towards the lake, leaving me behind.

"In my dreams..." I said with a small laugh.

He turned to face me. He dropped his sword on the ground and then lifted his tunic over his head. After tossing it aside, he raised his arms. He was... unbelievably handsome. "And have any of your suitors brought your dreams to life?"

I started to laugh. "I don't have any suitors," I said, walking towards him. "But no... they have not."

He smiled, and when I reached him, he took a step forward, put his fingers under my chin and lifted my head up to look at him. "No suitors?" He asked. "Am I not one of those?"

My cheeks burned, but I frowned. "For someone who is supposed to be a warrior, you have a lot of time on your hands."

His smile grew a little playful, and he suddenly turned around and jumped into the water.

I squealed as water splashed all over me, running back a few steps at the same time.

When he resurfaced "You are quite right," he said, using his hand to push the hair out of his face. "I do not have much time, so instead of wasting it, how about you enjoy this short trip before I have to take you home again?"

I scoffed but then swallowed back my fear, realizing my heart was racing in excitement. I don't think I've ever been this excited to be somewhere with a certain someone before, and I needed to convince myself to just let things go and enjoy it.

So I took a deep breath and smiled at him before removing my plain orange sari completely. I dropped it to the floor, hugging myself as I was left with only my underskirt and my short sleeved blouse, my entire midriff revealed.

He watched me, treading in the water and so I closed my eyes and ran, pouncing into the lake and splashing him in the process.

When I swam to the surface, I heard him laughing.

I laughed too, splashing him once more. My heart was fluttering and my eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment before I began swimming closer to him. "Why are you so interested in me?" I asked when I reached him.

His gaze did not falter. "That mind of yours has managed to make my stone hard heart beat again," he said, his voice soft. "And I do not want to risk losing a chance to have a woman like you in my life."

"That means nothing," I responded. "You are being irrational. You know nothing about me."

"Am I?" He asked. "You don't feel it too?"

I bit my lip, but gasped softly when I felt his hand on my waist. He pulled me forward, just until I felt the sand beneath the lake touch my toes. He stood, though both of our midriffs were still underwater and my braid had come mostly undone, the wet hair now sticking to my body.

We were closer to the small waterfall now, and I could feel the cold droplets splashing against my skin, and the gentle current trying to push me towards him.

"You are right, Seetha," he said. "I know nothing about you. But I have never wanted to know someone the way I want to know you."

I took a deep breath. It was not a steady one.

I didn't realize I was staring at his bare chest until he put his fingers under my chin again and lifted my face up. "What are you thinking?" He asked.

I was surprised by the question. "I want to know you too," I said. "But..." I tried to think of an excuse, but then I wondered why I was trying to think of an excuse. My sister-in-law's words then flashed through my mind.

How I would just know.

How could I just know when I didn't even know what love was?

And even if I did just know... how could I know that that was what I knew?

I closed my eyes tightly. I was confusing myself.

Maybe all I had to do was try to keep it simple.

This man was practically a stranger to me.

Yet here I was, half naked in front of him and in a lake from my dreams, which he had found and brought me to. If this was one of my stories... how would the girl have felt about the boy?

She would have been in love with him.

And for him to make such an effort... he would have been in love with her.

"Alright," I said, looking at his dark eyes.

"Alright?"

What if I had finally found him? The man I was meant to be with. What if Aaryan was man of my dreams, the hero in all my stories. And even if he was not... was he really that bad?

"You gave me thirty days to accept you... I have accepted you in three," his eyes widened just a little and a smile grew on his face. "But," I continued. "The stakes have changed. For the rest of the month, however, you will have the chance to prove to me that you are not worth my time."

He let out a soft laugh. "What if I do not want to?"

"You most likely won't do it on purpose," I said.

He laughed again before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around me. His embrace was warm and strong and though I was initially worried about his touch, I was almost instantly put at ease.

My heart was beating so hard that I could hear the thumping in my ears and feel it in my cheeks. I wrapped my arms around him as well, pressing my cheek against his bare chest, breathing in the nice scent of his skin.

I had never hugged a man like this before in my life.

And it was wondrous.

It felt like we fit perfectly together... like our bodies were made for eachother.

I could also say, with confidence, that I wouldn't have minded staying like that for the rest of my life.