"This is my palace. Nothing can happen to me here. And don't you have work?"
"Yes, I do have work. But it's not more important than you."
Viraaj clicked his tongue in annoyance. Agastya is indeed treating him like a kid. He don't want Agastya to stand there and watch him all the time and he have work too so he should go to his work.
"You should go and do your work. If you are so worried about my safety in my own house, send someone else to stay with me. Well, send Ankush. He will accompany me."
Agastya thought for a while and then agreed to leave and send Ankush. After a while, Ankush came running towards Viraaj with wide smile and asked.
"You called me your majesty?"
Viraaj smiled to see Ankush's excitement and patted on the couch beside him. "Yes, come sit."
The smile of Ankush's face slowly dropped and he looked around in hesitation "But....your majesty....I shouldn't sit with you. Anyone might see me sitting with you and I will be in trouble-"
"No one will say anything. Come and sit." Viraaj held Ankush's hand and pulled him to sit.
Ankush quickly moved a little away from Viraaj and sat straight, still looking around in fear.
"Don't be afraid. No one will say anything to you. I have already told Daksha to warn everyone to not bully you." Viraaj assured.
Ankush smiled softly and hesitantly "Thank you, your majesty. You are very kind."
After some time Dhishva and Veer entered in the hall and saw Viraaj and Ankush sitting on the couch. Veer's eyes widened to see Ankush sitting on the couch and staining it with his dirty clothes. Dhishva was shocked to see Viraaj in hall. What is he doing here?
"How dare you sit next to grandfather?!" Veer yelled at Ankush and he quickly stood up in fear.
For a second, Ankush forgot that he is a spy, not a actual servant and stronger than Veer.
Veer took a step forward towards Ankush while gritting his teeths in anger and said "You are just a lowly servant! How dare you sit beside a king?!"
"Stop it Veer!" Viraaj said "I am the one who told him to sit with me."
Veer looked at Viraaj in confusion as well as disbelief. Viraaj is again scolding him for someone else and that too a lowly servant.
"What? Why? He is a servant. If you allow him to sit on our furniture today, he will start thinking this palace as his own house. He is just a servant and we should discipline him." Veer exclaimed.
"Veer is right father. You shouldn't allow any servant to sit with you. They will get spoiled day by day." Dhishva said, backing his son.
Viraaj sighed harshly and said "He will not. He is a hardworking boy. You don't have to worry about him getting spoiled just by sitting with me on the same couch."
"But grandfather, you shouldn't get too close with these servants, they are dirty, unhygienic. You are already sick. What if-"
"Really?" Viraaj asked, taunting Veer "These dirty, unhygienic servant have taken care of me when you were busy roaming outside with your friends. These are the one who are taking care of my food, medicines and rest all the time. They are standing outside my chamber all the time to take care of me and rushed in my chamber whenever I needed them. I am a king but I never said such things to my servant then who are you to do that?"
Ankush clenched his fist, suppressing his anger. An useless prince is calling him dirty and unhygienic, it's too disrespectful for him.
Veer fell silent and glanced at Ankush in anger and then at his father, as if telling him that this is how Viraaj have treated him since childhood. Always taking other's side and ignoring his care.
Dhishva took a deep breath, not knowing what to say. He closed his eyes for a moment and then shook his head, thinking he will deal with this matter later and it's not too big. After Viraaj's death, he will teach this servant a good lesson.
"Just leave it. Father, what are you doing here? You should be in your chamber. Why are you here? You should rest in your chamber." Dhishva said.
Viraaj sighed and tried to calm down. "I wanted to have dinner with everyone, may I?" He asked, taunting Dhishva in anger.
"Of course you can. You don't have to ask me or anyone." Dhishva said.
Viraaj tried to stand up and Ankush helped him "As I am not feeling well, so I thought I have to start asking for your permission because I don't have any strength left."
Dhishva looked away, feeling annoyed by his father's taunt but replied calmly because he have to bear it for a short time. "That's not true. You are my father and the man of the house. The majesty of kingdom. You don't need anyone's permission to do anything."
He approached Viraaj and held his arm. "Let's go have dinner."
Viraaj didn't protested and let Dhishva hold his arm. He then turned to Ankush and smiled at him. "You should go and have your dinner too. See you later."
Ankush smiled weakly and left from there quietly.
"Let's start the dinner. Father is also eating with us, so it feels good today." Dhishva said and everyone started eating dinner. Although Dhishva and Veer were feeling disappointed that they can't poison him today, they kept a sweet smile on their faces.
In Jwalana.
Ira was trying to think of a way to talk to her husband about Ahil and Anaya.
"He won't be angry, will he?" She asked to herself.
The sound of someone walking towards their chamber made Ira stand up and run towards the mirror and grab a brush. She started combing her hair and pretended as if she didn't know he is coming.
He entered in the chamber and closed the door. He looked at her and smiled. She smiled in return and asked.
"How was your day?"
He took off his robe and replied with a sigh "Good." He was tensed about the proposal and war.
She put the hairbrush down and walked towards him. She sat down on the bed beside him and leaned closer, resting her head on his chest. He hugged her and closed his eyes, trying to relax.
"Is something bothering you?" She asked and looked at his face.
He breathed deeply and looked at her. He nod and replied "I didn't know that being a king is so tough. The responsibility of entire Kingdom and upon that I have to make sure that my personal matters will not affect my kingdom. It's too hard."
"What happened?" She asked and rubbed his cheek gently.
He shook his head "No need to know. It's professional. I don't want you to get affected by it. Let's just talk about us."
She nod and didn't asked much about it if he don't want to talk. She hugged him and took a deep breath, preparing herself to start the topic.
"Well, Raksheet, I wanted to ask you something."
"What?"
She looked at him and asked "Do you hate Bayar?"