Chapter 13: chapter 13

S A N M A Y I The royal hunt was the sort of event that had become nothing more than a spectacle—an affair of pomp, grandeur, and far too much ritual. The nobles adorned in their finest, the trumpets sounding in the distance, the long line of hounds eagerly straining against their leashes. It was supposed to be a day of leisure, a grand affair meant to display Amaravati's might, but to me, it felt like little more than another gilded cage.I had been silent for the better part of the morning, the faintest glimmer of a plan forming in my mind. As the hunt began, I allowed myself to be swept along with the group, but my eyes were ever watchful, my mind calculating the route, the terrain, and the opportunity. My heart raced with the possibility of escape. The dense forest surrounding us, thick with underbrush and ancient trees, would be my cover. The guards surrounding us were too busy with their chatter to notice the glimmer of opportunity that was unfolding in front of me.I could sense the eyes of Ranajay upon me, as ever. He was too close, his shadow always lingering at my side. It wasn’t so much his presence that irked me, but the way his gaze seemed to weigh me down, always scrutinizing, always calculating. I had grown used to his proximity, to the tension that hummed between us, but today, it would be different. Today, I would be free—whether he liked it or not.I feigned a stumble, a misstep in the thick brush, and allowed myself to fall slightly behind the group. My heart pounded in my chest as I gathered my strength, fighting the instinct to look back. This was no longer a moment of defiance. It was survival.The thick canopy of trees quickly swallowed me whole as I darted into the underbrush, my body moving with a grace born of desperation. Behind me, I could hear the faint shouts of the guards and the barking of the hounds, but I knew they would be slow to react. They were too far behind to catch me in the tangled forest.For a few fleeting moments, I felt a sense of freedom, of release from the weight that had been crushing me since my capture. I ran faster, the wind whipping against my face, the branches brushing against my skin. But that sense of freedom was short-lived.The sound of footsteps, heavy and sure, reached my ears, and I cursed under my breath. Of course, it had to be him.Ranajay. He always seemed to be just a step behind.I knew he would come after me. He was not the sort to simply let a prisoner flee, especially one who had humiliated him so many times with her defiance. And yet, as I sprinted through the trees, I could feel his presence drawing closer—his breath, steady and controlled, echoing through the underbrush.“Sanmayi!” His voice broke through the forest like a blade, sharp and commanding. “You cannot escape!”I did not answer. Instead, I pushed harder, my legs burning as I drove them through the dirt, my eyes focused on the small clearing ahead. If I could just reach it, I would have a moment’s respite, a chance to plan my next move.But the ground was uneven, and my foot caught on a root hidden beneath the fallen leaves. I stumbled, barely catching myself before I hit the ground, but the brief loss of balance was enough. In that moment, I heard him—the snap of a twig, the rustle of leaves—and then he was there, his hand reaching out and catching my arm, spinning me around with a force I hadn’t anticipated.“You think you can outrun me?” Ranajay’s voice was low, dangerous. “You’re not going anywhere.”His grip on my arm tightened, and for a moment, all I could do was stare into his eyes—eyes that burned with a mix of anger and something else I couldn’t place.For a heartbeat, neither of us moved. The forest around us seemed to hold its breath, the air thick with tension. My pulse raced, both from the exertion of the chase and from the proximity of the man who had haunted my every thought since our first encounter.“I’m not your prisoner anymore,” I spat, my words cutting through the tension. “I won’t be held captive in this cage of your making. You can’t keep me.”His grip remained unyielding. “You’re wrong,” he said, his voice softening slightly, but only enough for me to catch the change. “You’re mine. Whether you like it or not.”The audacity of his words, the sheer certainty in his tone, ignited something in me—fury, disgust, and a wild, reckless need to be free. My body, driven by the will to escape, surged forward. I threw my elbow back, striking him in the ribs with the force of all my pent-up rage. He staggered back slightly, his hold loosening just enough for me to twist away from him.But he was faster than I had anticipated. His hand shot out, grabbing my wrist once more, pulling me close. His breath was hot against my ear as he whispered, “You can run, but you will never outrun me, Sanmayi.”I struggled in his grip, my heart pounding, my thoughts clouded by the need to break free. “I’ll die before I let you control me again.”He didn’t respond to my words at first. Instead, he simply held me there, neither pulling me toward him nor letting go. It was a strange moment of stasis, a pause between the violence of our chase and the raw emotions that simmered between us. I could feel the heat of his body, his chest rising and falling with every breath, and the unmistakable tension that had only grown since our first encounter.“You think I enjoy this?” Ranajay’s voice was quieter now, laced with something I couldn’t quite name. “You think I want to be the one who holds you here, who controls you?”I glared at him, my face inches from his. “I think you enjoy having power over me,” I said, my words sharp. “I think you enjoy seeing me struggle.”He inhaled sharply, as if I had struck him in some unseen place. His eyes softened, just the slightest bit, but it was enough to make me falter.“There’s more to it than that,” he said, his voice low and weary, as though the weight of the hunt was wearing him down. “I never wanted to take you like this. But you—” He faltered, his grip loosening slightly. “You make it impossible to let you go.”The words were spoken almost against his will, and they hung in the air between us like a dangerous thing. The fierce, defiant woman before him, and the prince who had never been allowed the space to break from his duty. We were caught in a web of our own making, neither of us willing to surrender, yet both so irrevocably tied together.I pulled away from him, my chest heaving with the effort. “I will never be yours,” I said, my voice trembling with the weight of my defiance.He said nothing. Instead, he watched me for a long moment, the silent understanding passing between us—a shared recognition of the inevitable, the pull of fate that bound us together in ways neither of us could control.For a long time, neither of us moved. Then, finally, he spoke, his voice low and resigned.“Then run,” he said softly, almost as though it were an order. “But know this: I will always follow.”And with that, the chase was not over, but neither of us would speak of it again. We stood, staring at one another across the distance we had created, and the world held its breath, as if waiting for the next move in a game that neither of us could escape.