Indian Queen Of Roman Crown (completed)

Chapter 33

               Ritha asked for King Atticus's   permission to take a tour around which he happily acknowledged. Alongwith Aquila, he  ordered few of his royal soldiers to follow her. Royal carriages were allotted to help Rithambara in her journey. Ritha didn't want to create such a hype about her small tour but she couldn't contradict the king's order and on second note, it was her first time wandering out in the city so she thought that it was a much better option.

        The special fatherly affection and concern which King Atticus was showing to Rithambara, didn't sit well with many royal members especially with Ritha's sister-in-laws. The way she insulted all three of them was a fresh wound on their skin and today's fatherly affection of king Atticus sprinkled salt on it. They wanted venegnance soon or else the day was not far enough when they will be treated as maid.
 
             After seeking the permission, Ritha came out of king Atticus's room
and in order to initiate a conversation with Aquila, she asked her, " These three have such a great friendship that they are always together. I wonder what's the issue with me? "

          Aquila snickered in response listening and answered, "they are not best friends ,your highness. They secretly hate each other and are thirsty for power."

  A gloomy look appeared on Aquila's face when she spoke further, "they never treated our princess Valentina rightly and made her life a living hell in this palace. Unlike you, she couldn't take a stand for herself and suffered depression in this palace."
   
     Rithambara was dumbfounded at this new piece of information. How few people could be viscious to this extent. They reached till carriage where few royal soldiers were waiting. After giving a respectable bow to Ritha, one of the soldiers helped her in sitting.

              Finally, their journey started. Ritha inhaled in a large amount of fresh air which rejuveniled her body. She could feel happiness surging through her veins after breathing in an open environment after so long. Felicity was quite visible on her face.
She was drinking in the beauty and it instantly reminded her of the first day in Florence.

           Slowly and gradually they came in more busy place most probably market. Lots of hustle and bustle which was going around suddenly ceased when Ritha descended down from the carriage. Whispers were floating in the air about her. She was like a mysterious lady for common people because of her clothes and looks but one kind smile from Ritha sorted it and they returned it with their polite smile. They knew that she was Prince Augustus's wife because of the news.

           Her ornaments, clothes and hair style was a centre of attraction among women. They were curiously comparing their clothes with that of her. From head to toe, she was adorned with jewels which was not a dressing sense they were taught while her jet black hair was of waist length which added in her charms and made her look more enticing.

          For Rithambara also, everything was foreign in comparison to her homeland but one thing which was common was the hard working people. Though they looked at her with curiosity but they reciprocated her kind smile. She went around the market to have a better understanding of the culture. Guards and Aquila were constantly explaining her everything in detail and made sure that she was comfortable. It was a very productive day for her and she enjoyed interacting with common people.

   Finally, when the bronze metallic colour adorned the sky, she decided to return back to the palace. When they came to a little aloof area where civilisation was less and big farms were present, Ritha heard agonizing screams. At first, she thought she was just being paranoid but the intensity of the voice increased every time.

      She ordered the guards to stop the carriage. She hurriedly came down and paid more heed to the screams in order to fathom it's direction. Soon, she started running in one of the farmland and all the guards and Aquila followed her. Everyone was bedazzled at her behaviour but nobody dared to question her.

    When she finally reached the place, scene infront of her made her blood boiled...