Up For The Test (Aru Shah AU)

Chapter 9

Third Person

"Hello, darling," he smiled. It wasn't warm and welcoming as Aru had remembered. "I hear you are a princess now. It must hurt knowing that you don't have royalty in your bloodline."

"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, backing away from him.

"Answer me this one question. Does it hurt when the others tease you?" he asked.

"How do you know that they teased? And stop answering my question with a question!"

"I know a lot of things, Arundhati. I know Fischer and you are awfully close. Aiden Acharya is your enemy, along with Rudra. I know that Rudy and Aiden always used the fact that you don't have royalty in your blood against you in an argument."

Aru stared at her dad in disbelief. "Have you been spying on me?"

"No, no, no, no, of course not. I would get near that horrendous thing that you call a palace. I have someone else do my dirty work for me." His gaze shifted to Sebastian secretively.

"Who-how-what?" she stumbled.

"I think we should get going," Fischer said, realizing Aru was weirded out.

"Why? The fun has only begun," Suyodhana smiled. "I believe you are Prince Fischer. That is if I'm not mistaken."

"That's me. How do you know so much about us, yet we know nothing about you?" he asked.

"Let me formally introduce myself. I'm King Suyodhana, not saying of what country because that is a secret for now. Everyone calls me The Sleeper, though. Oh, and how could I forget? I am also the father of Arundhati Shah."

"You abandoned me so you can go run a country?!" Aru yelled. "You left me to pick up my mess of a mother because you were too selfish to stay and help!"

"Oh, come on. I did this for the greater good!"

"For who? You?!"

Suyodhana took a deep breath. "Will you come back home with me, Aru? We can talk this over, and you can be the princess of the nation! It'll be just like those books I used to read to you when you were a baby."

"Those books were about evil dictators," Aru said, confused.

"Exactly. Don't you want to be like dear old dad?"

"Not really, no. I don't want to leave the people who need me the most."

"You could be the ruler of a dark kingdom, Aru."

"Do you not get the meaning of the word no?" she asked.

"Fine. But you will join me, and that day will come sooner than you think."

"The only way you will ever get me to go with you is if you kidnap me."

"Then that's the path I will have to take," he murmured under his breath. "Goodbye, Fischer and whoever you are," he said, looking at Sebastian.

Sebastian nodded his head slightly and smiled. "Pleasure to meet you."

Suyodhana shook his hand and brought his mouth to Sebastian's ear. "Write me on any updates."

"Will do," he whispered back.

Suyodhana took one last look at his daughter. "See you again soon, Arundhati."

"In your dreams," she spat. "I used to miss you, but to see what you've become astonishes me, and not in a good way."

"When you see what's coming, you'll come fleeing back to dear old dad, and my arms will be wide open. I'll notify my countries residents about your soon arrival."