Episode 5 — Ironridge and Idiots

The next morning Aadhira walked out of the palace like she owned the road itself.

Which, technically, she did.

The carriage rolled through the village paths and stopped in front of a solid stone structure surrounded by wide open ground. Not quite a palace. Not quite a fort. Somewhere in between, practical and heavy, with the British regiment flag hanging at the entrance like it had always belonged there.

Ironridge Base.

Soldiers were everywhere.

Some running drills in neat lines, boots hitting the ground in rhythm. Some sparring with swords on the eastern side. Some firing guns at targets in the distance, the shots cracking through the warm morning air one after another.

Aadhira stepped out of the carriage and walked forward without slowing down even slightly.

She stopped the nearest soldier. "Where is your commander?"

The soldier blinked at her. "The commander is not... I mean he is..." He looked confused about what he was supposed to say.

"Your Highness!"

Another soldier came rushing from the direction of the main entrance, eyes wide, already bowing before he fully stopped moving.

"We did not know you would be visiting today. My apologies." He straightened quickly. "The commander is inside. I will take you to him."

She nodded once. "Lead the way."

As they walked through the base the whispers started up immediately behind her like a small fire catching.

"Is that the princess again?"

"She came yesterday too."

"I heard she likes the general." Someone smirked. "And he rejected her."

"He could have become a king if he just said yes."

"Not him." A flat voice. "He is pure ice. Girls from back home sent him love letters every month and he returned every single one."

"Poor princess."

"Poor general, more like. She looks like she is going to walk through a wall to get to him."

Quiet laughter.

On the other side of the base a soldier who had been watching everything from the beginning turned away slowly.

(She is a princess. What is a princess doing coming here twice now.)

suspicious

(I should report this to the senior officers.)

Edmund's office was at the back of the main building. Small, organized, papers stacked in straight lines on the desk. He sat with his head down, writing something with complete focus, the scratch of the pen the only sound in the room.

The door opened.

He did not look up. "What is it."

A hand reached over and took his pen directly out of his fingers.

He looked up.

Aadhira stood on the other side of his desk, his pen in her hand, smiling like she had not just walked into a military base uninvited for the second time in two days.

"Hello, Mr. Commander."

Edmund stared at her.

(How..!)

genuinely baffled

"Your Highness." His voice came out flat. "Why are you here again."

She leaned slightly over the desk, completely unbothered by his expression. "I came to ask you out."

Pause.

"Will you go out with me this time?" Her voice went soft and a little teasing. "Please do not reject me again."

Edmund closed his eyes.

Took a long slow breath.

Released it.

Put one hand over his face briefly.

Then stood up.

(Sigh)

"Princess." His voice was low and even. "I am nothing but a soldier. A common one at that."

"You are royalty." He looked at her directly. "You should not be involving yourself with someone like me. It is not appropriate."

She pouted slightly. Just slightly. "Do not be ridiculous."

(Cute)

"Even if you were a commoner I would still have proposed to you. Because I like you. That does not change based on rank."

"You do not love me," he said immediately.

(Cold)

"It is a crush. A temporary feeling. And I have no intention of marrying into royalty."

Her expression went softer but her voice turned steady and serious. "Then tell me what I should do. What do I have to do for you to believe me?"

Quiet determination.

He looked at her for a moment.

(Want me? A princess like you saying that?)

flat disbelief

(People do not love. They attach themselves to things. To faces. To the idea of a person. What she feels is attraction and nothing more. It will pass. They always pass.)

His gaze went a little harder.

"Guards."

"Escort the princess out.! "

Aadhira's eyes went wide for exactly one second.

(Annoyed)

"Excuse me!. Who exactly are you ordering right now."

Edmund bowed his head slightly, controlled and precise. "My apologies, Your Highness. I am in the middle of work and I would prefer not to be disturbed. I hope you can understand."

She clicked her tongue.

Tsk.

Turned away.

Then glanced back over her shoulder at the door.

"Fine."

"But the next time I come here." Her voice was light but her eyes were completely serious. "You are going out with me. No excuses accepted."

A pause.

"Fine," Edmund said shortly. "Next time."

She walked out.

The carriage started moving.

Aadhira sat back with her arms loosely crossed.

(This man is genuinely unbelievable.)

huffing internally

(Fine. Next time then.)

She was staring out the window at nothing in particular when something caught her eye.

Two figures. Standing at the tree line a little way off the road. Holding something up to their faces.

Shiny. Cylindrical.

She squinted.

(Are those. Telescopes.)

"Stop the carriage."

The carriage stopped.

Immediately the two figures ducked sideways behind the nearest trees. Fast. Panicked. Completely obvious.

Aadhira stepped down from the carriage slowly.

She walked toward the trees at a perfectly calm and unhurried pace.

Stopped right in front of them.

"Found you."

She grabbed both of them by the back of their collars at the same time and pulled.

Her brother and Kiran stumbled out from behind the trees looking exactly like two people who had absolutely no plan for what happened after getting caught.

They were both smiling.

Very unconvincingly.

"Hehehe😅."

Aadhira looked at them.

She was smiling too.

But her eyes were saying something completely different from her mouth.

(Dark)

"What," she said in the sweetest possible tone, "are you two idiots doing here."

"My dear sister!" Rayan grabbed her hand immediately with the energy of a man trying to outrun consequences. "I was simply concerned for your safety! That is all! Nothing else!"

"Yes!" Kiran nodded with great seriousness. "Same here, my lady ( she looks cute when she get's angry). Purely safety related. Very important."

Aadhira looked at her brother.

Then at Kiran.

Then back at her brother.

She smiled wider.

"Ah," she said pleasantly. "So you were concerned."

"Yes," Rayan said quickly. "Exactly."

"How sweet of you." She tilted her head. "Then I am sure sister in law would be very touched to hear how lovingly her husband spent his morning spying on his own sister with a telescope."

The color left Rayan's face completely.

"Wait." He stepped forward. "Wait wait wait. No."

He grabbed both her hands with the full energy of a man who had made a terrible mistake and knew it.

"Aren't you my sweet little sister?" His voice cracked dramatically. "My favorite sister in this entire kingdom? Please. I am begging you. Do not do this to your innocent brother."

Fake crying.

Extremely fake.

Kiran turned away and looked very hard at a tree.

His shoulders were shaking.

"Innocent," Aadhira repeated.

She looked at her brother's completely unconvincing tragic expression and the smile on her face became something that was trying very hard not to become a laugh.

"You are both completely unbelievable," she said.

Sigh.

She turned and walked back toward her carriage.

Neither of them said anything.

Then Rayan called after her, "So you will not tell her?"

Aadhira got into the carriage without answering.

The door closed.

Rayan and Kiran looked at each other.

"She will tell her😏," Kiran said quietly.

"She will absolutely tell her," Rayan agreed😢.

.

.

End of Episode 5

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