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Of Knights and Lilies
Of Knights and Lilies
Of Knights and Lilies
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Of Knights and Lilies

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Shruti does not have an active love life. Neither does Abhi.
However, when a daunting episode brings them together, neither can fight against the attraction they feel towards each other. As the romance gradually blossoms, it is all they can do to hold back from the giddily emotional tumult.
Of Knights and Lilies follows the story of Shruti and Abhi, and what happens when they get closer to that magnificent sentiment called ‘love.’ Several questions arise when they are at their closest to it. Will the stars align to allow them that happiness? Or will they throw in a few obstacles? Will Abhi be able to save Shruti again?
Most important of all: Will their love remain unspoken? Will it survive?
LanguageEnglish
PublisherNotion Press
Release dateJan 18, 2016
ISBN9789352066339
Of Knights and Lilies

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    Of Knights and Lilies - Sonali Dabade

    Chapter 1

    It was late in the night, almost 11:30. Most of the shops on M.G. Road were closed; hardly any traffic was seen at this time. Nighttime wanderings for girls on this stretch most likely turned into nightmares, as opposed to the sunny, cheerful atmosphere that dominated the day. There were still times when, as a girl, you could count yourself lucky if you found this road empty at this time, but those were rare, and tonight seemed like one of them. The only sounds that could be heard were those of the occasional car zooming past, driven by youngsters on their way to a party or that of a dog whining in some obscure corner. The dim lights lining the road gave it an eerie look. It was in such a setting that the soft flip-flop of feet sounded and a shadow emerged from the far northern end of the street.

    Shruti was walking home, her head bowed down, the hood of her jacket pulled up over her head and her hands inside her jacket’s pockets. She was fully aware of the notoriety of this place and the probable dangers that awaited her. She could not help the fear that gripped her—a fear that caught her insides, twisted them and chilled her to the bone. She had traversed these roads several times before, and she was afraid to linger. Her mind would conjure up vivid images of things that she did not want to see even in her wildest dreams. So, she always walked home as quickly as she could.

    To divert her mind from what she knew was a terrifying image, Shruti dwelled instead on the day gone by. Her day at college had been pretty much the same. Tia and she had been caught talking in class, and were made to stand out for the remainder of the period. They were also given extra assignments, to be handed in within two days. As always, both of them had made the most of their punishment, giggling away at jokes they knew would put them in serious trouble if overheard. After college, they had, for a moment, decided to seriously start on the assignments. But all they did was procrastinate. Tia’s parents worked late and, as she was the only child, she had the house to herself until her parents came home. Reluctance to start on what they knew had to start ensured that neither got a chance to persuade the other to do so. And the fun continued.

    She thought of Tia—the way they knew each other’s minds like the backs of their hands—and a smile worked its way on to her face. There was no one else in the world who understood her like Tia did, and vice versa. Born on the same day in the same year, they were literally twins who had first met at college. Their friendship had not blossomed immediately, but there was something about each that interested the other. Something that made them think that they would be better off with their presence in each other’s life. They were what people called ‘soul sisters’.

    Mired in these very thoughts, Shruti plodded on, knowing that there was a long way to go. When she reached the end of the street, she took a left turn. She had hoped that the route to her house would be empty and devoid of any incident, but she had made a mistake. A very grave mistake. She flung her head up at the sound of loud footsteps and drunken laughter. She froze on the spot as her worst fears came to life.

    She tried to retreat silently, but she had made enough noise for them to look up and acknowledge her presence. Grinning evilly, they caught up with her even before she could take another step. They were fast even though they were drunk. Shruti realized with a jolt that she was cornered; a heavyset man with an evil grin plastered on his face said, We were about to finish the party. Do you want to join us, sweetie?

    The smell of alcohol and cigarettes hit her and Shruti cringed in disgust and fear. However, she glared at him defiantly. She needed to think of a way to escape. Her mind was desperately trying to find any little path that could present itself. She turned to bolt but was stopped short as another man, tall and gangly, came in front of her and put his hand on her shoulder.

    Hi beautiful, he leered. Shruti shook the hand off in disgust. As she looked around, panic set in as the goons laughed menacingly and advanced on her. She looked from one man to another, trying to gauge the distance between them, as her heart thumped furiously. Her frightened eyes scanned the gap between the men and she tried to pry herself out of the circle. But the men were too fast for her and she was propelled backwards by two sets of rough hands. Her heart stopped beating in that instant, and it was a few seconds before she found her voice.

    Help! she screamed hopelessly.

    Awww, look at the damsel in distress! the first man sneered.

    Shruti’s instincts were telling her to run, but she was so disgusted by the expression on the man’s face that she went against them, balled her right hand into a fist and swung it until a sharp crunch and a loud Oompf! told her that she had found her target. He doubled over, clutching his nose and groaning in pain.

    An arm came around her, pinning her hands to her sides while a gruff voice spoke. Are you okay?

    Yeah, the injured man said finally and looked up; blood trickled down his face. She noticed that his nose had been broken. Through all the fear that was making its home in her chest, a tinge of pride surged up through her and, with that, a sliver of hope and courage. She kicked back as hard as she could and her captor’s grip on her loosened as he grunted in pain. She took the chance and shook off his hands, putting up her bag in front of her as armor. She took one look at her captor and then back at the other three.

    Shruti then realized that she was in very serious trouble. The group closed in on her, cursing her, their fists bunched tightly. She tried to escape, but they were much stronger and faster than her and she backed into the wall, covering her head with her hands.

    Abhishek had met Kinshuk, Nakul and Bipin the day he had joined college. It had taken them just one meeting to find out that they had plenty in common. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months, and their friendship grew in leaps and bounds. Two-and-a-half years later, their friendship was the stuff of college legends.

    That day was routine for the quartet, but it had been special for Abhishek. They had been sent out of class for giggling loudly while Mr. Rao, the lecturer, had been speaking, and they had stood outside.

    That was when he had spotted her. She stood outside her class on the opposite corridor, whispering to her friend. The two of them occasionally burst into giggles. Even from the distance, he could make out the green color of her eyes. A beautiful, pretty green that made him smile at the peace and solitude it instantly ushered in. Her waist-length hair, which bounced gently as she gesticulated and laughed, was a rich black. Her skin looked as smooth as satin and made him want to burn to death anyone who laid a finger on her. He watched, mesmerized, at her smile, at the way her eyes lit up when she talked to her friend, and the way she moved her hair out of the way as she spoke. He was in a world of his own and hardly registered what his best friends were saying.

    Huh? he asked, dazed, as he felt himself rock back and forth. He looked around, and found Bipin shaking his shoulder violently. He had unwittingly leaned forward, head slightly tilted to the side, for a better view of the green-eyed girl.

    What happened to you? Bipin asked, surprised, that Abhishek hadn’t paid heed to even a single word for the past five minutes. And here he was, thinking that he had cracked a wonderful joke.

    Nothing, Abhishek said, smiling to himself, and turned to look at the girl who had caught his attention. Bipin turned to see what had rendered Abhishek speechless and then grinned. He beckoned to Nakul and Kinshuk, who had been quarreling with each other over Bipin’s joke. They fell silent and, eyes twinkling with mischief, moved towards Abhishek.

    Abhi is in looooovvveee! they yelled in unison in Abhishek’s ears. He jumped, startled, and turned to find his best friends grinning devilishly at him.

    It’s nothing like that, Abhishek said, rolling his eyes and trying hard not to blush, hoping that she hadn’t looked at him.

    Oooohh! Abhi is bluuusshhinnngg! they sang.

    Shut up! Abhishek said and smacked them on the head. Thankfully, the bell rang and Mr. Rao emerged from the classroom. At that, the four boys stood straight, hands behind their backs and heads bowed. Rao sighed, shook his head resignedly, and left for his next class. The boys waited till he had turned the corner and then let out a wild whoop of laughter.

    Abhishek turned and looked at the other side of the corridor for another glance before he went back into the class—but she had disappeared. He turned to find the rest watching him intently.

    What? he asked defiantly and walked into the classroom without a second glance at the others. He balled his fists, smiled and sat down. The rest followed him, and sat down quietly, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he would spill the beans. Sure enough, Abhishek spoke a couple of minutes later: She was beautiful.

    Abhishek was about to walk towards his home, just a hundred yards away from M.G. Road, after a lazy evening at Nakul’s place, when he heard the cry of a girl screaming for help. Following the sound of the voice, he skidded to a halt at the entrance to the street and looked around. His blood boiled at the sight that greeted him—three men were advancing in a semi-circle, closing in on someone. One other guy was clutching his nose in pain. He could spot a girl’s slippered feet backing up against the wall behind her. He walked faster, his anger multiplying with each step and was soon behind them; he pulled two of them apart. Blood pounded in his head as he saw the girl pressed against the wall, her hands covering her head, shaking with tension and fear.

    Before the goons had recovered from the shock of someone barging into their midst, he had balled up his fists and punched sideways, knocking the two closest to him to the ground. They were clearly not going to give up without a fight. Abhishek ducked and twisted, parrying the blows directed at him, but he caught one to his head and could feel a bump forming on his temple. He turned and found two of them fall on either side of him, arms flailing and face scrunched in ill-placed concentration. He seized the chance and walked to the man who was trying to get up, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him up. He raised his hand and dealt a blow to the man’s head.

    By then, the first two had regained their composure and advanced upon him, cursing. He pushed at their midriffs with all his might, eyes glinting with fierce satisfaction as they crashed to the ground. The men tried to regain control but kept slipping and falling back to the ground, one of them staggering backwards into a lamppost.

    Thickheads, Abhishek murmured.

    They looked around, dazed, but got up a few minutes later and took off, stumbling and tripping, the bottles of liquor left forgotten on the pavement. Abhishek watched them, his brows furrowed, teeth gritted and fists clenched until they rounded the corner.

    Shameless drunkards, he mumbled furiously and closed his eyes as he fought to control his anger and rubbed his temple with one hand to soothe the throbbing pain. He turned to check on the girl—she had slid down and was cowering on the pavement with her head in her hands. As she composed herself and stood up, the scene from the afternoon flashed through this mind.

    The girl he had seen from across the corridor, the one who had caught his fancy, the one who had occupied his mind since the moment he had laid eyes on her, was standing in front of him. His eyebrows relaxed in wonder and a smile was about to adorn his face, but the anger that had caught hold of him since he had found what was going on intensified and he was about to chase down the thugs. However, common sense prevailed and he knew that he had to stay and help her.

    Shruti was sure this was her end, that these hooligans were going to finish her off—and she waited, hands over her head and heart in her mouth. But they never came. Instead, all she heard were furious whacks and thumps, thwacks and punches, muffled yells of pain, thuds that sounded painful, even if she was glad to hear them, drunken abuses and intermittent metallic clangs. Once the sounds had stopped, she looked up slowly, afraid of what she might see, but the sight that greeted her was of the four of them trying to run away, stumbling in their stupor.

    Just a few feet away from her, stood her savior, his back to her. He swore at them and turned to look at her, worry lining his face. She was shaking badly now, and slid down onto the pavement, her head in her hands. It took her a while to compose herself and stand upright again.

    As she looked up at him this time, she couldn’t help but notice that he was very good looking. He was tall, with messy brown hair and dark brown eyes. Wow, she thought. Just. Wow. She watched him turn angry eyes on the faltering shadows of the goons. She knew he had a better reason not to go after them when he shook his head and turned back towards her. As he turned to look at her, she was dumbstruck.

    I…I… she stuttered.

    Are you okay? he asked, walking over.

    Shruti nodded, not taking her eyes off him. How could someone be so handsome? She felt a huge lump in her throat, and berated herself mentally. She blinked after a minute and shook herself. Stop ogling, she told herself.

    Thank you, she said finally, even though the lump was still lodged firmly in its place. She cleared her throat, but there was no moving it anywhere.

    He smiled and said, You’re welcome. As an afterthought, he added, I’m sure you have a reason to be walking through here at this time.

    His voice was nice, almost musical. She wished that she did not have to go back home, and that she could sit and listen to him speak all night. She sighed and prepared to tell him, in short, her story. The guy had saved her life.

    I was going home from a friend’s place. There is nobody here most times, but I guess today was just not my day, she said, shivering at the thought of what might have happened had he not arrived.

    This is M.G. Road, he said, as though that one sentence conveyed everything there was to it, the slightest hint of an incredulous smile on his attractive face. Try to get somebody to drop you next time, he advised.

    I’ll try to, she said and smiled at him. Thanks a lot once again.

    He smiled back at her and the twinkle in his eyes caught her attention. As bright as the stars in the night sky, they had a sort of a pull over her and she couldn’t avert her gaze.

    I’m Abhishek, by the way, he said, holding out his hand.

    She realized later what a fool she made of herself by staring at him open-mouthed before finally blurting out her name and shaking his hand. Shruti, she said, her voice shaking.

    Shruti withdrew her hand from his grasp and adjusted her bag, conscious of the amused smile playing on his lips. She was contemplating ways to effortlessly tear herself away from him to make her way home when he spoke up.

    So, shall we walk? he asked, gesturing towards the road.

    Yes. I should be go…Wait—we? she said, eyes as round as saucers.

    Yeah, we, he said patiently.

    Shruti stared at him blankly for a second.

    Why? Can’t I be a gentleman and drop you home? he asked, the stars in his eyes coming to life again.

    Shruti turned a light shade of pink and nodded.

    Ha ha! You’re finally blushing! The romantic in Shruti mocked as the cynic within sneered.

    Thank you, Shruti said, inwardly glad and touched by his offer.

    He shook his head. Don’t mention it, he said. Where do you live?

    Sarojini Nagar, she replied.

    That’s almost a 20-minute walk from here. And you intended to walk alone all the way at this time? he asked incredulously.

    I’ve done it before. Didn’t think I would encounter these people today, though, she defended her decision. "If you can call them people," she added, disgust lacing her words.

    Okay, okay, he said, his hands held up in mock surrender. Now, let’s go?

    Yeah, Shruti said, suddenly embarrassed by her outburst when all he was trying to do was help her.

    They walked in silence. He had his hands in his pockets and was staring at his feet as they walked. She smiled to herself as she adjusted the strap of her bag nervously. She had no idea of how she was going to keep up a conversation in such a state.

    So, what do you do? Shruti ventured, looking straight ahead, careful not to make any eye contact.

    Engineer in the making. Third year, he said.

    Oh, me too! Which college?

    At this, Abhishek grinned for a second and said, JNU, and looked sideways at Shruti’s face, trying to gauge her reaction. Sure enough, her mouth formed a small ‘O’ and she looked at him, surprised.

    Hey, I go to JNU, too! she said excitedly.

    Abhishek laughed. Yeah, I know, he chuckled.

    The surprised ‘O’ remained but embarrassment soon took its place. I’m sorry, but I… she started, but Abhishek cut her off.

    Don’t be, he said. Even I saw you at college only recently, if that makes you feel any better. He decided to omit all the details of his ensuing infatuation.

    Okay, Shruti replied.

    You’re in second year, right? he pressed on.

    Shruti was surprised as to how much he actually knew about her. But how had she not noticed him? What with his personality and looks, he must surely be popular in college.

    Yeah, she replied instead. Mechanical Engineering.

    Abhishek nodded, indicating that he knew this tidbit of information, too. I know, he laughed.

    You seem to know a lot about me, Shruti mused.

    Well, it’s not much, actually, Abhishek said, suddenly conscious of how he must look. I’m sorry. You must think I am a stalker, but I really am not, he added.

    Don’t worry about it. You saved my life. I’ll forgive you for everything else, Shruti joked. He laughed. She was flattered that he remembered her from college.

    So, now that you are a senior, ever ragged anyone? he asked.

    Umm, no. It is not my cup of tea, she said, a little uncomfortable at the topic. She had been ragged so much in her first year that she had vowed that she would never, ever make anyone feel weak and helpless—the way her seniors had made her feel.

    Bad memories, he said. It was not a question, just a statement. It was like he could read her mind.

    Endless, she said, smiling grimly and staring into the distance.

    They had turned a corner and Shruti realized with a jerk that they were only a couple of streets away from her home. Twenty minutes with him, and she hadn’t known how time had passed. She wanted to stay longer, walking and talking with him, but didn’t know how. She tried to speak more, but nothing came out, and she knew that she was doomed. And she had no control over that.

    She observed him from the corner of her eye as they walked on the cobbled pavement. He kicked a stray stone carelessly and hummed, having given anxiety a new place in his system. His cheeks were flushed and he was concentrating studiously on the road ahead.

    "Umm, so where

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