Page 90 of Sumanika

His gaze softened for a moment, and he muttered.

"Only on one condition,"

I sucked on my lips.

"What condition?"

I managed to ask.

"Come to my bedroom, have dinner and spend the night with me,"

He finished in a slow voice, and I lowered my gaze, feeling timid with the mention of 'spending the night with him'.

"A night?"

My voice fumbled a little. I was not ready for it, not yet, at least.

And, he took a slight pause.

"Not just the night but a life,"

A smile appeared on my face all of a sudden, and I looked at him, looking back at me with the fake innocence dripping off his face.

"Please,"

He muttered with a puppy face, and I nodded, melting with his slow request.

He smiled a little and helped me stand up. I looked at him, collecting the broken pieces of my bangles, and suddenly, he lifted me in his arms.

My eyes widened with shock.

"Kunwarsa,"

He smiled a little and muttered, taking me inside the bedroom.

"ji, Sumanika ji, kya hukum hai aapka?""Ji, Sumanika Ji, what is your order?" He asked slowly, and I felt my cheeks blushing harder.

"I cannot order you," I tried to say, and he brought my face closer and rubbed his nose against mine.

"You know if you are married to a Prince, you are not less than a Princess, and I should make you feel like one," His words made me smile timidly, and he dropped to my feet slowly after entering the room.

I looked at him, drawing his bedroom curtains to announce privacy. The attendees would not walk inside after seeing the drawn curtains, even if anything would happen to the world outside.

I stayed silent and watched him walking towards the couch, asking me. "Come here, Sumanika Ji,"

I bit on my lips and strolled after him towards the couch, trying to hide my smile. He signalled me to sit with him, and I gave in without a war.

He had won. Already. Way before I could know.

As I sat down, he shifted closer and looked at me.

"Was that man good?" He asked in a slow voice, and I gulped silently, not knowing what to answer. And I shook my head slowly.

"The only man I have ever known is Kunwar Agastya Dev Singh. No man would ever be good as much as he is good to me. So, he was not," I could not stop myself from saying it. His lips spread into a slight smile.

And it was the truth that no one could change for me. There were hundreds of men as I lay on the pyre, waiting to be burned alive, but he was the only man, the true man, present there.

"You know, you do not have to say that. That was what was needed at that moment," He stated, pulling the plate.

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