The palace glowed with a thousand golden lamps, anticipation filling every corner. The coronation drew closer with each sunrise, and with it, a sense of pride and restlessness rippled through the Rathore household.
For Aayat, however, the days before the coronation were not about the grandeur or the ceremonies. They were about something far more personal, something she had decided for herself — she would confess her love to Anirudh Singh Rathore.
Not just with words, but with a gift that would speak louder than her trembling lips ever could.
---
It was a quiet afternoon in the palace gardens. Aayat sat under the shade of a neem tree, her hands folded in her lap. The cool breeze played with the strands of her dupatta, but her mind was far from calm.
"I've fallen for him. For his care, for his patience… for the way his eyes soften when they land on me. He may call it obsession, but I've seen his restraint, his protection. Tonight, or on coronation night, I will tell him… I must."
But another thought weighed heavily on her: "How? How do I tell him in a way he will never forget?"
Her brows knitted in frustration.
---
Veer Appears
"Why does it look like you're plotting to overthrow kingdoms, WOULD BE QUEEN?"
Aayat flinched and looked up. Veer stood there, smirking, mischief sparkling in his eyes.
"I'm not plotting anything," she said quickly.
"Hmm…" Veer sat beside her, folding his arms. "If you weren't, you wouldn't be sitting here with that stormy face. Tell me, what's on your mind?"
"It's nothing," Aayat insisted, avoiding his gaze.
Veer leaned closer. "Come on, you can trust me. Is it about Anirudh?"
Her cheeks warmed instantly. She tried to deny it, but the way Veer raised his eyebrows and chuckled made her sigh in defeat.
"Fine. I… I want to give him something. Something priceless, something that will tell him what words cannot."
Veer's grin widened. "Ah! So finally, our queen admits she's in love."
Aayat's heart raced. "I didn't say—"
"You don't need to," he cut in, laughing softly. "Your eyes say everything. Alright then, let's get to work. I'll help you find the perfect gift for him."
Days passed , there mission gift was still on going , god knows what aayat was looking what , every gift suggested by veer was rejected after they were not be able to qualify aayat's imagination of a perfect gift for proposal.
until one day
" I found it , it finally found " aayat came running towards veer
'finally , i can rest now " veer shattered a tear of happiness.
---
The Banquet Night
The post-coronation banquet dazzled with music, laughter, and glittering jewels. Nobles and royals from distant lands crowded the halls, their admiration fixed on Anirudh Singh Rathore — regal in his sherwani, his aura commanding silence without effort.
Aayat's heart swelled as she watched him. Tonight, she thought, she would finally let her heart speak.
But fate twisted the thread differently.
Amidst the celebration, Veer approached her hurriedly.
"Aayat ," he whispered, urgency in his tone. "There's a problem."
Aayat's stomach knotted. "What happened?"
"The vehicle carrying the gift… punctured tire, stranded halfway on the forest road. They say it may not reach tonight."
Her face fell. "No… it has to be tonight. I wanted him to have it after coronation, Veer. I can't wait."
"Bhabhi, it's risky to—"
"Please," she pressed. "Take me there. We'll bring it ourselves and come back before anyone notices."
Veer hesitated, then finally nodded. "Alright. But we have to be quick."
The two slipped out of the palace quietly.
though before leaving the palace aayat asked a servent to give the handwritten note by her to anirudh ; otherwise he might come searching for her, and the surprised will be ruin.
"where are you going ?" rajmata asked the servant ," you know there are lots of guest to be attended and you are simply wandering around "
"no , rajmata i was just" i
"I don't want any explanation , go to the hall and serve the guest right now"
being scared of her he immediately left , and served guest completly forgetting about the note.
The night air was cool as their carriage stopped near the stranded vehicle. Aayat hurried forward, But the uneven ground betrayed her step — she stumbled.
Veer caught her instantly, steadying her by the arms. Their faces came close, their silhouettes framed by lantern light.
And in that fragile moment, a camera clicked from the shadows.
A photograph was taken — a lie frozen in time.
Crash!
A porcelain vase shattered against the wall, its pieces scattering like broken promises across the marble. The curtains had been torn down, the mirror cracked into a thousand distorted reflections of his own madness.
Anirudh stood in the center, his chest heaving like a beast barely caged. Blood streaked his knuckles, dripping down to the floor, painting crimson trails over white marble.
"How dare you…" His voice was jagged, ragged. He grabbed a chair and flung it into the wardrobe. Wood splintered, glass fractured, and he screamed—deep, guttural, inhuman.
"How dare you do this to me, Aayat!"
His movements knocked something loose from his pocket. The envelope slipped out, gliding silently across the chaos until it rested near the broken shards of glass.
His gaze dropped. His hand, shaking, picked it up.
He knew what was inside.
And still, he unfolded it.
The photograph stared back at him.
Veer's arm around her.
Aayat's body leaning against him.
Their faces close—too close.
The paper bent under the violent force of his grip. His blood smeared across their frozen images, staining them, binding them in crimson.
Anirudh sank slowly into the chair, his eyes fixed on her image. His lips trembled, his voice broke—not with rage at first, but with something dangerously close to pleading.
"Aayat… why?" His breath hitched, jagged. "I gave you patience. I gave you restraint. Do you have any idea what that cost me?"
He traced her face in the photo, his bloody thumb smudging her smile.
"I caged the fire in my veins. Every night, I held back… waiting for the day you'd look at me with love instead of fear. I thought—no, I believed—that someday, you'd see me, only me. And yet here you are…" His voice cracked, breaking into a hollow laugh. "Here you are, in his arms."
His head tilted, madness flickering in his eyes.
"Tell me, was it comfort you found there? Safety? Did he make you laugh the way you never allow yourself to laugh with me?"
Anirudh's gaze shifted to Veer's frozen figure in the photo. The tenderness in his tone vanished, replaced by venom, his voice dropping into a growl.
"And you, Veer." He spat the name like poison. "My cousin. My brother. My blood. You dare?"
He jabbed his bloodied finger against Veer's face.
"I fed you, sheltered you, trusted you. And this is how you repay me? By wrapping your arms around what is mine?" His voice rose, fierce and thunderous. "Do you mistake my patience for weakness? Do you mistake my silence for consent?!"
His chest heaved, his jaw clenched until his teeth threatened to break.
"No," he hissed, almost snarling. "You can steal kingdoms from me, Veer. You can steal land, power, crowns. But you will never, never, take her."
He rose, pacing like a caged predator, the photograph trembling in his bloody grasp.
"Aayat is mine," he whispered, staring down at the photo as if it were her very face. "Not because she chose me, but because fate carved her into my soul. Mine to shield. Mine to chain. Mine to worship. Mine to destroy, if she dares betray me."
His laughter came suddenly, jagged, like glass scraping against stone.
"They think they fooled me. That one photograph would blind me to the truth. No. No, I see it clearer than ever now. She belongs to me. And I…" he pressed the photo to his chest, his blood seeping into the paper, "I will make sure the whole world knows it. Even she will forget how to breathe without me."
He paused, his gaze narrowing, his voice dropping to a whisper colder than death itself.
"And Veer…" he leaned closer to the image, lips curling into a chilling smile. "I'll show you what becomes of those who touch what is mine."
---
His laughter subsided into silence, broken only by his heavy breathing. He slid the photograph back into the envelope, the blood staining its edges, as though sealing his wrath inside it