Chereads / Land where the stars reign / Chapter 6 - The dual act

Chapter 6 - The dual act

"King! Oh king!Show some mercy...."
"Who is this, shouting so loudly in the streets. Go check"ordered Abhimanyu, as he heard noise from outside.Not long after soldiers summoned a young lady in rags fighting with someone, maybe her husband, and repetitively cursing him.(Not to tell, they are Sitaara and Nishit in disguise).

"What's your problem, young lady!What are you guys fighting about" king enquired as he saw them still arguing.
"What should I do,king? I am totally ruined after marrying this bastard" she wailed while throwing few punches at Nishit.
Nishit whined because of pain and shot a quick glare at Sitaara but he had to bear it for the sake of the act.
"Can you explain it in detail? Only then we will be able to find a way to solve it" king asked.
"Actually sir, I married this person last year. My parents were not ready for the marriage so I fled with him. Now I can't bear to live with him anymore. The way he eats, drinks sleeps..... everything is annoying.We have just agreed to separate"Sitaara hastily explained.
"Ah! It's sad. But it's a good thing you both have realised that you are incompatible. Although you look great together..." king didn't complete his sentence.
Sitaara turned towards Nishit after hearing the last sentence only to find his face flushed red. She winked at him and continued with her play.

"Yeah! We look great together. That's why I married him but now I have realised that we just can't be together. Besides I have found a guy who likes me and I am planning to get settled with him this month" she explained.
"Oh!" Abhimanyu exclaimed in amazement.They both looked like they have already resolved everything between them then why they are here, he thought. "So is there anything I could help with..?" he calmly asked.
"So as we have decided to separate,I was packing my things today and found a magnificent ring in my room's corner today. It was kept in an ordinary box. I was about to throw the box away when I caught a sight of it. When I showed him the ring, he told me that it's his family's ancestral ring which is passed to successive daughter in law. Thus I claimed the ring from him. But he snatched it from me saying that he would give it to his future wife. Now king only you can tell him that he's wrong in this. After all I am the one who found the ring and it doesn't matters who is the real owner. This ring was on my corner of the room, so it should be passed away to me"Sitaara spoke everything in a breath.
Now the king turned towards Nishit and asked"What do you have to say in this matter?"
"Do I really have to say anything. The whole situation is clear. As the ring belongs to my family it is likely to pass to the successors only. And now that she has broken all ties with me, she no longer had any right in the family's valuables. We have already agreed on the amount I will pay her to settle her new life but she has no right to claim any of the family's treasures" he smirkingly replied.
The king thought for a moment. While the lady is already paid with all the compensation of marriage and a good amount of money to strat her new life, it's not justified for her to claim for the ring.
"Let's find a way between. How about I will give you lots of precious jewels and rings as a congratulatory gift for your marriage. This way you will have rubies with you and this young man can keep his family's consignment" king calmly suggested.
"Do you take me for a swindler! It's just that I have that eye for that ring and now it doesn't matter how many rings you place in front of me, I wouldn't deviate from my sentence" Sitaara proudly replied.
"Do you think you can take everything that you have eye for" Nishit continued with his play.
"If you doubt, try me" flirted Sitaara and then again flew a punch in his back "You really don't have any conscience. Can't you just give me that ring. You can take jewels equivalent to that ring's price from the king".
"That ring is precious for me because of the emotions it had with me. My mom has received it from my grandmother with the promise to surpass it to her daughter in law. No other ruby or diamond can match the value of sentiments I have for this possession. I can part with anything but this ring. Rest is in your hands,lord!" sorrowfully Nishit described his part of story.
"From what I see, this young lad is absolutely correct. Being a human being, I too know how valuable a thing is when it's presented from a dear one.Thus lady, I think it will be wise to let him have the ring and you can have some rings and jewels according to your match" king solemnly tried to resolve the dispute.
"What makes you think that emotional attachment is important. Aren't evidents legally more prime than sentiments. Besides it was found at my corner of the room, shouldn't it belong to me"Sitaara asked.
"Yes they are. But we need to consider other things too. Since this ring is his ancestral property it's his right to have it regardless of the position it was found in. Law exists to support and protect people not to snatch their rights. Irrespective of the place that ring was found in, what matters is who is the real owner" king explained.
A wide smile spread over Sitaara's face as these words dropped out of king's mouth.
"If this is how wise you are...then what are your thoughts about Kalyanki village. You claim that village just because it falls in your border ignoring the fact that it is ancestral land of Shaurya garh" she quickly responded.
An absolute silence blanketed the hall.
"Who are you..?"Abhimanyu could only utter these words.
"I am Sitaara, daughter of Satyagarh's king Surya pratap. And this is..." she punched Nishit to signal him to speak.
"I am Nishit from Vijay garh. Well now that you have displayed your wisdom stating how human's emotions should also be considered while taking decision, so you'll no longer claim your geographical evident and relatively take back your statement of taking over Kalyanki village.The people living in that village have always resided there, so they will suffer deeply if they would have to leave their homeland. So I hope you'll make a wise judgement."

King quietly looked at both of their faces for few seconds. He can see a sparkle of justice in their eyes. Yes this is how youth should be, he thought. Their parents might be proud of them...!
"Ok! Now what can I say before you both. You have brought me to a loss of words.Kindly forgive me for my mistake. I wanted that land to be in our area because of its good shipping port. I will indeed take my claim back and resolve the dispute but it would be kind if Aarik would let me do my business there. It would be good for village's popularity and my trading employment too.You can tell him about your success in making me realize my fault. Since now you are here stay till dinner" he kindly invited.
"This time we're busy so we'll like to take a leave. But don't worry we'll visit again" she kindly replied.
"As you wish! But make sure next time you both have to visit here with your family"king laughed.
With kind greetings they took a leave.

"Oh!Look there" Sitaara exclaimed as soon as they arrived the garden passage of the kingdom. Nishit immediately turned his head only to hear Sitaara chuckling in his ear."There's nothing there, you idiot!" she ran after saying this.

This girl! Nishit smiled as he followed her.