{A/N: Hey guys, sorry to interrupt the flow. As you've come so far in the journey, I would like to know your thoughts about the plot. Is my writing style tolerable? I hope I am not using too many phrases and elongating the things unnecessarily. Whenever I tell a story, my main focus remains on the plot. Not the romance, not the action. Simply facts. Trying to make sense of unfolding events. I hate when things progress without reason. I can't show Yagya falling in love with Gauri instantly. That would be daft. True love stories are slow burn and depthless.

Also, if you find this work inspiring, kindly share it with your friends. It would mean the world to me. Otherwise, Nakshatra would end up in a corner of lost good works.

Thanks.}

A reliable Ambika nodded at every instruction given by Vasundhara. All the preparations concerning the Queen Mother's departure were made and a Range Rover was standing in front of Chitrakoot Palace. A woeful Gauri watched the event transpiring from the sidelines. A permanent frown was settled between her brows. Her mind far away, wondering why life has tossed a giant tsunami of bad luck in her direction. Her husband was absent, not bothering to bid his mother goodbye or show support in grave times like this. He should've been here, making sure her journey goes smooth.

Even the paralyzed old King was here, staring at his wife unblinking from the wheelchair. His head tilted to the side as he listened to whatever she said.

Her chain of thoughts broke when she saw Vasundhara turning in her direction. Gauri immediately straightened from her lost stupor and tried to smile but it came out as a grimace. Understanding her turmoil, the sweet mother-in-law caressed her cheek.

"I will be back before you know. Try to stay out of any trouble and be careful. Ambika will look after you and don't go out alone." Gauri nodded before bending low to touch Vasundhara's feet. "May God bless you."

"Don't worry, mother. I will take care of my father-in-law until your return. Stay assured." Vasundhara smiled and pivoted towards the Range Rover. A guard walks ahead to open the door for her highness, but before she could've settled, Vasundhara suddenly turned and scanned the area. The eyes of a mother looking for her son.

"He must be busy." She mumbled under her breath and climbed inside the car before treacherous tears could break the façade. Was it too much to see her off?

"Let's go."

The woman beckons the driver who instantly steps on the accelerator and drove away.

Gauri rubs her eyes to wipe the accumulating moisture and watches the car disappearing behind the boundary of the fort. As her mother-in-law left, the evening sun dipped behind high mountains in the west.

"We must now retire, young madam. His highness needs his rest and the King has ordered to not venture outside after sunset." Ambika spoke softly and Gauri nodded. Holding the wheelchair from behind, she takes her father-in-law inside but not before catching a lone figure brooding on the terrace of the Palace, clearly staring at them. Her heartbeat rose and she tightens her hold around the wheelchair. It was the King. Lowering her eyes, Gauri immediately hurries inside the Palace and wheels Raghuveer towards his room where two male servants were already waiting to help the ill King.

They lifted him gently from the chair and laid him on the bed swiftly. Gauri pulls the sheet over him and turns on the bedside lamp.

"Who is staying with him tonight?"

She asked and one of them volunteered. Nodding in satisfaction Gauri took one last look at her father-in-law and turned to leave after instructing them to not hesitate about waking her in case of emergency.

Changing into a nightgown, she slides under the mattress and looks at the night sky from an open window. Oppose to other days, the weather was pleasant. A thousand stars twinkled brightly and no moon rode the horizon. It was peaceful.

"It burns,

my heart when they smile,

my body when they celebrate,

my soul when they shirk the past.

But I can't forget,

the moments, the days, the years,

the loneliness, the pain.

It all comes at once,

the truth, the agony,

the betrayal, the lies.

They hurt me,

his erroneous promises, his words,

his renunciation, his exquisite poetries,

his captivating eyes.

Where they heckled me,

he left like a monk at midnight,

unsoiled and divine.

I was the one who sinned,

transited boundaries broke shackles,

flouted rules and fell,

hard in love.

He was the knight in shining armor

harboring acrimony and retribution.

His eyes so deep, I fell in their spell.

Now the world has forgotten my story,

buried it, and moved on.

But I didn't.

I'm still here where I was yesterday.

A dagger plunged into my heart,

bleeding eyes, and quivering lips.

Fighting for my right,

and uncovering the story they left behind.

It wouldn't be easy this time.

I didn't forget.

I wouldn't let them forget.

I will remind them of it

Every night."

A melancholy rang in the forbidden realm over the hushed chants of black magic. Where everyone slept, a soul wept in a dark corner, trying to feel what they felt years ago, only they couldn't anymore because everything was buried. And the deeply rooted stigma on the thin thread of life and death didn't let them move on. The realm was frustrating, and so were the mortals polluting it with their greed and desires.

Like the one sitting before the fire, holding a bowl filled with lamb blood and intonating the verses which were proclaimed heretical and swarthy a century ago. These chants have caused a lot of mayhem in the past, demolished towns, and gulped lives like a black hole. They have disrupted the rules of nature and challenged the power of the almighty. They weren't sung in the honor of dead or alive, but to invite chaos.

The woman dressed in a dark, full-sleeved silk gown, lifts a rabbit bone and stirs the blood in chalice with it, her body moving back and forth in the rhythm of an illicit song. The fire in front of her turned ablaze and bright.

"Yes, Yes, YES. I have a soul, untouched and young, who lays in a fort full of mysteries and dirt. An exchange worth breaking the rules. A young maiden, beautiful and pure. Take her, feast on her, corrupt her, as you wish. In return, I seek power to reverse what's done. My hunger for revenge is getting worse. I am out to destroy a kingdom down to dust. I seek your help and have a sacrifice ready on the altar. First, take her and help me achieve what I want the most- a crown in lifeblood."

The pact was finalized by slitting an open palm and offering blood to the fire, whose mouth opened hungrily to taste the mortal ties. The woman smiled wickedly as she slowly unbuttons her gown and let it fall down her shoulders, her fragile body coming into view. The shadow of a man stepped out from the fire and his long crimson tongue licked her chest, right where her heart pumped. She moaned with glossy eyes as the shadow slowly climbed in her ancient ossein.

A peal of evil laughter rang in the middle of the night.

Gauri opened her eyes feeling cold and restless.

It was still dark outside. Turning towards the bedside she noted the time on the digital alarm clock. 12:55. She has only slept for three hours. Scanning the room, she figured out the reason for the sudden drop in temperature. The window was left open and her covers were lying on the floor. In place of going back to sleep after covering herself properly, she leaves her bed and slowly walks towards the door, with no mind to wear slippers and a robe.

Barefoot, she crossed the empty and silent hallways of Chitrakoot Palace and moves on the stone-cold pavement outside. When the iron gates of palace came into view, she opened them and traveled on a muddy path leading to a cave. The small den-like structure was surrounded by fog and burned grass, with bats flying over it in a circle. The chill grip her bones and breathed down her spine.

Emotionlessly, she entered the cave. Her icy feet crush reptile bones and rat excreta. The walls of the cave were moist and flooded with algae. The air inside was humid and carried a stench of rotten meat or probably a dead animal. Unfazed by the scenario, the young maiden walked deep into a long tunnel inside the cave and found herself at the dead end, in an oval-shaped room brightened by four fire torches hanging from the walls. Her eyes aimed at a humongous golden bowl in the middle of a sorcery pattern, made using ash.

She sat in front of the golden bowl in Indian style and held its sharp edges with both hands. A beat of silence passed before her gut twisted and she started retching blood in the empty vessel. Her body fought against the gags and she felt an invisible hand holding the back of her neck firmly over the bowl. Her chest and stomach throbbed as she constantly vomited crimson, blinded by tears. The once empty bowl now started to fill.

The cry of a woman was heard in a distance and wails of a newborn followed behind.

From her blurred and peripheral vision, she saw two giant feet approaching in her direction. And suddenly the spell broke. The ugly feet had long nails and left red footprints in their wake. She started to struggle, confused and scared. The pressure at the back of her neck increased and the retching didn't cease. Her heart throbbed painfully. Her eyes widen in horror.

What was happening?

The consciousness finally struck her dazed senses.

"OH GOD"

She screamed at the top of her lungs and felt a stinging pain on her left cheek.

"Damn you, wake up."

The roar of her husband rang in her ears. The screams blaring from her raw throat ceased and closed eyes, opened fully. Her legs gave away and the hold on her shoulders tightened. She was pulled into his chest as he examined her face worriedly.

"What are you doing here?"

He questioned and looked around. Lost and sleepy, Gauri followed his gaze and found herself standing in front of the locked Chandra Mahal. A string of guards and servants were surrounding them. When he didn't get any answer, Yagya lifted her in his arms and took long strides towards the Rajwada Palace. The baffled and shocked crowd parted and made a way for the Master.

"Get back to your duties, everyone." Ambika's furious voice rang from behind, making the mass evaporate.

Gauri was shivering badly. Her teeth were chattering and lips quivering. In the monsoon, she felt winds of the great Himalayas piercing her skin. Her limbs feel lifeless and numb and her belly cramped and ached. When she felt warmth in her nether region, her senses awakened. Her menses has come before time.

"Wait for a second, please."

She said hoarsely as Yagya enters the Rajwada Palace and climbs the stairs in hurry.

"I feel sick." She whispered and felt his body shake. His hold on her tightened, causing her to wince. She was sure something sharp has pierced her flesh.

"I know." His animal like guttural pitch shocked her. This is when she noticed how fast his breathing was. He was not wearing a shirt and his naked torso was on full display. His burning flesh was covered in sweat. He smelled of earth and a water body. His trousers were hanging low on his hips indecently as if he has worn them in haste.

Kicking the door open to his private chambers, he settles her on the bed and kneels in front of her. Clenching his jaw, he examined the sole of her foot and released a curse. A sharp pebble was stuck in her heel and a thorn was deeply embedded in her thumb.

"How didn't you feel it and bawling already?" she cried when he rubbed the mud from her wounds. Her nails have turned blue.

"Are you cold?" he asked next as he pulled a blanket on her shoulders. He was moving too fast for a normal human around the room and this made her dizzy.

"I... I am on..."

Gauri mumbled feeling the walls closing on her and he stopped. His nostrils flared as he sniffed her wrist and slowly raised to dip his nose in the crook of her neck. The coldness pinching her skin lightens its assault when her cheeks heated. He cleared his throat awkwardly and stands up when a troubled Ambika enters his chambers, unannounced.

"Your highness, I've called the doctor. She will be here soon. Do you need any help? My Princess, let me help you clean up." The old woman then tried to fill the gap between them, and Yagya blocked her way. A surprised Ambika dares to look up and quickly bows her head.

"Uh... She... needs help. Bring her some..."

"I need a pad soon or I will bleed all over these sheets."

Gauri's quickly cuts Yagya and her small voice supplied from behind. An ugly scowl marred Ambika's face.

"My princess, you must not speak like that. It is outrageous. We mustn't address our monthly cycle in front of men!"

The handmaiden was left scandalized and embarrassed. The topic of menstruation is still frowned upon in modern era when discussed openly.

"Uh... sorry." A tired Gauri apologized and tried to curl into a ball. Shame engulfed her figure.

"Shut up! Go get her the pads." Yagya grumbled at the audacity of the old woman for trying to order around an already hurt girl. Ambika almost jumped out of her skin and rushed to do so.

"Do you want to use the bathroom?" The husband finally asks his wife and she squirmed before nodding her head, praying at the same time for the ground to open and swallow her whole. Sighing heavily, he lifts her and takes her to the bathroom, and leaves after settling her in the bathtub.