C7 Bad News

•THE BHAGYA PALACE•

THE atmosphere at the moment was so tensed that fateful evening as everyone stood with their hands behind them and heads bowed, looking tenterhooked.

It was the royal guards and driver, they were about four of them.

They had been the ones who had driven and escorted the princess on her way from her aunt's house before she was abducted.

They had actually all been on guard as usual, but the way it happened now was something they couldn't explain.

They all believed they must have been drugged or something, or black magic being used on them, because they all couldn't give an account of what happened.

They all stood in the garden behind the palace where they've been asked to wait, awaiting trial from the King.

Soon the entourage began filing into the garden. Two guards walked at the front, behind them was the King, and three guards also walked along behind the King as well.

They got to the four men and the two guards at the front parted and the king walked out.

He was looking exquisite and authority filled with the large royal robes he was wearing.

From his left hand, glittered the various royal signet and rings. On his neck hung a pure gold necklace with it's ends shaped in a lion.

On his head glittered the golden royal crown, designed with diamonds and pearls, and from his right hand, the golden royal staff stood.

"May you live long Maharajah", they bowed greeting.

"Keep your greetings to yourselves you stinking idiots. What do I hear? That my daughter, the princess was abducted?", he roared with the ferocity of the lion he was.

"And you fellas", he pointed at them with his staff, "were asked to keep watch over her, and in your very before she was abducted", his fingers vibrated.

The guards shook, one was even spotted urinating on his trousers.

"You were all hypnotized, so you said to us, and you want us to believe that bitch story?".

They couldn't even apologize, nah, you dare not speak when the king is talking, so at this time, they better kept their apologies to themselves.

"I'm not gonna relieve you of your duties, not yet, but just know you're all fired when the rescue team sent comes back without my daughter. Idiots", he blurted and as stealthily as they came, they left.

The four guards looked at themselves and heaved a sigh of relief, then sat down on the carpet grass, one at a time.

*

*

*

The gigantic gates of the hospital opened and the royal convoy drove in.

The lights from the headlamps of each car shone so bright lighting up the place. It was already dark, and late in the evening.

The cars were all Toyota Glanzas, but of different colours, four in number.

They all drove towards the parking lot and screeched to a halt.

The front door to the second car opened and a guard came out, then opened the door to the backseat.

The king and his queen alighted, the queen looking all worried and shaken.

Then the back door to the first car, the car in the lead opened and three palace maids stepped out, then walked towards the second car.

The doors to the other cars had already opened, all the guards had ran out and taken their positions around the hospital.

Six guards stayed behind outside the hospital, together with the drivers of each car.

Three guards and the maids went with the king and his queen into the hospital ward.

A nurse met them at the entrance and directed them to the VIP ward, where their daughter was kept.

They had taken the private lobby and so hadn't seen any patients around.

VIP room number 04 was hers, the door to the room opened as soon as the king and his entourage got there, the doctor and two nurses came out.

They gasped on seeing the visitors, the nurses especially were visibly shaken, the doctor too, but as a man he was, he controlled himself.

"Long live Maharajah, long live Rani", the doctor bowed.

"Long live Maharajah", the nurses greeted behind in unison, slightly genuflecting.

King Neel nodded.

"So how's my daughter? Any serious problem? Any injuries on her body, internal or external?", he reeled out questions.

"Anything wrong with my daughter?", the queen for the first time since their journey to the hospital, spoke.

She was visibly restless.

The doctor bit his tongue as he was about answering.

"There's actually nothing serious your grace, nothing serious. She's fine, nothing at all. She...she only passed out as a result of shock and fatigue, she'll be fine", he tried comporting himself.

King Neel nodded again, looking towards the door to the room.

"Any drugs administered?".

"Yes your grace, just pain relieving drugs and shock absorbers".

"Can we go in and see her?", he asked.

The doctor instantly felt ebullient, the king was actually asking for his permission.

"Sure your grace...sure", he replied even before he could stop himself.

One of the guards quickly went forward and opened the door, and they all filed in.

Queen Arya was the first to get to the bed as she raced towards it.

"Prisha", she called as she took hold of her right hand, her left hand was on drip, her eyes closed.

King Neel got to the bed with the others and looked his daughter over, then began checking out her body, not to confirm what the doctor has said, but to satisfy his curiosity.

He needed to be sure his daughter really wasn't injured.

He sighed and looked around, one of the guards quickly got the plastic seat by the other end of the room and kept it for him to sit.

Queen Arya then sat beside her on the bed, holding her hand and looking into her face, silently whimpering.

She better be sleeping, not de....

She shook her head, she never want to think about that.

The family had been there like that for like forty minutes, when Arya felt her squeeze in her hand.

She flinched, looked into her eyes and saw it trying to flicker open.

"She's awake", she shouted and everyone became alert, the maids had already begun dozing off, they woke.

"Honey, you're awake", Prisha could hear her mom speak, and she forced her eyes opened.

The first thing she saw was the tears on her mother's face, it forced hers rushing down her face as well.

Both mother and daughter was now crying, the room was tensed. Arya adjusted a bit and held Prisha in a hug.

"You awake daughter?", Neel said.

Prisha turned to him.

"Yes dad", she cried the more.

"Don't worry princess, you'll be fine, the doctor has said so", Arya said.

Neel looked at her.

"Care to relate with us? Or you want to delay a little?", he asked.

She nodded.

"Ask the guards and maids to leave us", she said.

They didn't even wait for any sign from either the king or queen, they began filing out the door without ado, only one remained by the door.

Prisha cleaned her eyes with her free hand and turned to her parents.

"He was masked so I hadn't seen his face", she said.

Masked? Who was it?

"How he managed to get me away from the guards was something I just can't comprehend".

Neel was taken aback.

"Does that mean the guards were truthful?".

"Yes father they are", Prisha said, "if they told you they were hypnotized somehow, believe it".

Neel nodded.

"So where were you taken to? And how did you manage to escape?".

Prisha sighed.

"I was actually blindfolded, so I couldn't see anything. It was only when a lady helped me...".

"A lady?", Neel asked again.

"Yes dad. She loosened me up and that was when I saw that the masked man had taken me to the woods".

Arya flinched on the bed.

"The woods?", her eyes widened in shock.

"Yes mom", she nodded. "But thanks to that brave lady, she had taken me to the car the man had used, drove me here and then vanished, I couldn't see her again", her voice shook.

"Hmmmm", Neel mouthed, "We need to find her, don't we?".

"Yes my Lord, we need to find her, and maybe reward her as well, that was so brave, that was actually your guardian angel", she touched her cheeks.

Prisha shook her head, "no mom, leave that to me, don't find her".

Neel and Arya glanced at each other.

"But why honey?", Arya asked.

She sighed.

"Right now that lady is tagged wanted by whoever abducted me, his probably waiting for a royal announcement of my saviour, so he can attack her".

They nodded, seeing sense in what she said.

"You're right Prisha", Neel concurred.

"My head aches", she said and Arya raised her hand to her head to feel her temperature.

"You'll be fine baby", she said.

Neel glanced at his wristwatch, it was eleven minutes past nine pm, he needed to go home, he was already getting weak.

He turned to the guard standing by the door.

"Let them in", he commanded.

The guard bowed and proceeded to carry out the king's order.

"Will you be coming home with me, or you gonna stay here?", Neel asked his wife.

She turned to Prisha.

"I'm spending the night here with the maids", she said.

"Alright", he stood up and turned to the guards and maids already in the room.

"You guys are gonna spend the night here with her grace and my princess, while I go back to the palace with the others, you", he pointed to the maids, "go get the items from the car booths".

They bowed and left instantly.

Queen Arya got up and hugged her husband, he pecked her.

"Good night my queen", he said.

"Sleep tight my Lord", she replied.

Neel then bent and gave Prisha a peck on the forehead.

"Sleep well and see you tomorrow princess".

"Good night dad", she managed a reply.

Then he turned and walked out the room, followed by a guard.