The clouds hid the moon as the thundering flash of lightning indicated a heavy downpour soon. The striking force of lightning caused Bara to hug the horse from around its neck fully sticking to the brown creature who was running fast towards their destination which still seemed far away. They hadn't even entered the town yet.

"Allah ta'ala please abhi barish mat bhejiye ga. Allah please." Bara kept praying under her breath, her head hung low as she could feel a stinging pain in her stomach as the horse's saddle was poking her there due to her weird position of hugging it. Her eyes were closed wanting to reach the destination quickly and hug the life out of Wafaa and to slap her for leaving

her behind like this.

The horse suddenly halted following his owner's action of pulling on his reins. She heard him jump down as she slowly opened her eyes confused.

"Arrey, tum zinda ho? Mujhy laga phir sy behosh ho gai." He joked again while walking the horse nearer to the dark and creepy place he stopped by. Bara ignored his words as the surrounding creeped her out, her eyes darting in every direction to get a hint of where they were because this was not even near to the town or palace for sure. Why did he bring her here? Did she just get kidnapped? Ugly thoughts filled up her mind causing her to panic.

"It looks like there's going to be a bad storm. It isn't safe to ride ahead in such a weather, especially when there's a bheegi billi with me. Rest here until it's gone." He explained looking around at the large wooden place they stood by, knowing of her thoughts very well through her face.

Bara was still reluctant, she can't trust him easily. He might've planned to kill her or something? First he took Wafaa away and now her? What if he lied that he was from the palace?

"Now you can't even jump off?" He stood with his hands on his sides, staring up at her. "Come on, move your leg to this side and jump." She didn't budge having a stare contest with him sitting on top of the horse while he stood patiently.

"Okay fine! Keep sitting here and have a comfortable time with Kumu." He caressed the back of his horse, indicating his name then walked inside the large wooden place. Bara couldn't see any sign of human existence or any house around, this seemed like the only shed area in solace.

The lightning struck again as the horse neighed at the noise and moved causing Bara to scream loudly almost losing her balance. "I wanna get down. Please." She cried out calling for him. "I'm scared. I can't jump off myself." She whined again waiting for him to come out.

After a few moments which felt like ages to Bara, he stepped out while stretching his arms. "I heard someone calling for my help. I'm not sure if I heard right though?" He placed his arm on the wooden door as Bara felt too embarrassed to say something. He wasn't budging and Bara could feel her leg muscles sore from sitting on the horse for so long.

"I want to get down. Please." She gave in and spoke in her low soft voice. He fixed his cloak tightly walking ahead staring at her puppy face, she looked like she was ready to cry any moment.

"Kumu must be hungry and tired. Carrying you on his back must be hard. I'm helping you down for his sake." He gently patted his horse again as Bara almost rolled her eyes. Khud ka size dekha hai? Aur khud uss bechary ko bhagata tou aisy hai jesy peechy billiyan lagi hui hein!

"Tum mujhy dil mein galiyan dy rahi ho na?" He squinted his eyes giving her a suspicious glare.

"N-nai tou.." She shook her head, her eyes growing wide. He let out a sarcastic chuckle, bending his arms upwards to tap his shoulders. "Come on." Bara gulped slowly moving her leg to the other side but she almost lost balance slipping which caused her to pull the leg back in the same position.

"Be fast or I'll leave again at the count of 3." He was always an impatient guy but this girl had been testing his patience ever since he met her. "But I-"

"1"

Bara quickly straightened herself up to remain balanced as she brought her leg upwards again, but this time the horse turned his head around which made his back bent towards the other side. She shut her eyes screaming when her arm was grabbed and she was pulled like a feather safely onto the ground, into someone's embrace from the top, the wooden scent filling her up again, her forehead hitting something soft, feeling the fabric of his cloak which loosened.

Before she could open her eyes, she was pushed to the other side while he walked away holding his horse as if nothing happened and she did not just end up dying falling down his Kumu! Where did she land on though? She placed her fingers on her forehead area, flustered.

Wet droplets fell down on her face and hands as she ran inside the opened door into the shed. It was filled with the dry vegetation, stacks of straw and layers of other plants used to make huts. It looked like some sort of storage place.

The panic returned as she realized he was going to be here too. She bit on her nails as per her habit, her panicked eyes falling on something as she froze.

He, Qasymbek Saleh Ubey, on the other hand, fed his horse some fruits from the basement of the storage house and made him stand under the outer open shed. His thoughts fully distracted as his hand touched his lips from above the veil he wore. "What am I even thinking?" He waved his hand away, licking his lips underneath. "It was an accident. My cloak saved me!" Nodding and talking to Kumu who was busy eating, he felt his own stomach grumble. Grabbing an apple, he was about to take a bite but paused."She must be hungry too." He slapped the back of his head as soon as the words left his mouth. "Why would I care if she's hungry or whatever." Clearing his throat he convinced himself otherwise. "Everyone deserves to eat food. Even prisoners are given food. I should provide her with this necessity." He decided to go inside and hand some apples to her.

Reluctant, he knocked first and waited before he stepped inside since he knew it might make her feel uncomfortable. Getting no response, and finding no sound coming from the inside made him impatient. Did she run away? Nope, she isn't that brave. He counterattacked the thought himself when, unnoticeably, something hit him hard in his sensitive spot behind the head. The hit was sudden which caused him to loose his balance, the apples scattering around from the bucket in his hand as he fell on his knees holding the back of his head. He felt his head spin, everything around going blurry as a figure approached him but he couldn't make out who it was.

"Ya Allah, I did it! I really did it! I-I really...." Bara covered her mouth, jumping in excitement. "I hit him! I fought for myself! Wafaa would be so proud of me." She kept jumping in excitement, stepping on the wooden log she had used to hit his head and losing her own balance. She landed on the ground, one of her hands on an apple. Holding it in confusion, she stared at it and then at his figure.

Noticing more apples spread around, she gasped loudly. "Did he bring these for me? And I just...." Gawking at his unmoving figure, she gasped again. "Ya Allah, is he......dead?"

"Qussay, where is Qasymbek?" The king asked the figure who had been silent uptil now but had stepped forward moving Wafaa behind, while she tried chewing on the sour plum to empty her full mouth, since throwing it out now wasn't an option.

"He'll be back soon, your highness." Was his short reply in his deep voice as Wafaa almost choked on her plum. She suddenly realized, putting the puzzle pieces together. The white paper they were looking at when they arrived. The portrait of Bara! Their conversation and the guy left right then while he guided her inside the castle. The black wolf left to get Bara! This guy, he knew all along while standing here!

"You, look at me! Wh-" She called him from behind but was cut off as the cabinet started throwing comments about her punishment again.

"Your highness, she should be jailed and given a proper lesson so she learns some manners on how to talk to the king." One of them suggested and she knew what the lesson meant in the palace. A good beating.

"She should have her tongue cut off for lying so openly to your majesty."

She chuckled lightly. Mama, you were wrong. No kingdom is different. They're all cruel. She thought with a shake of head as the figure standing infront of her was once again forced to look at her in shock upon hearing her light chuckle. How could she laugh in such a serious situation which was risking her life's decision?

"I will take the decision later. We shall wait for Qasymbek to return and explain the situation. Keep this lady in the lock up till then, Qussay." The king's order made everyone quiet as some still whispered to each other, not satisfied.

Qussay respectfully nodded his head, and turned around towards her without a word. He walked ahead as if knowing she'd follow his lead herself, and she did follow behind, silently.

As soon as they were out of the gates, she took the lead and stood right infront of him, facing him with opened arms to stop him. When he stared at her with the same bored expression, she finally spit the plum's seed onto the ground. "Tumhy sharam nai ati?" She questioned, her hands on her waist now.

"You knew all along when taking me inside the castle, didn't you? You just stood there silently enjoying the show? Was it fun watching someone else suffer? You could've stopped me outside when you saw the portrait. Yes, I know I lied, but I had my reasons, instead of guiding me in you could've questioned me. You don't even talk, answer me now! It might not be a big deal for you, but someone's life-" She was cut off as he took a huge step entering her personal space, and inserting another big plum inside her mouth. Her hands fell on her sides and she took a step back, surprised, her face fluffed up again. Taking a step closer again, he finally opened his mouth.

"Firstly, I hate liars." He said in the same low voice, short sentence. Wafaa took a step back, her green eyes not leaving his brown ones. He filled in the gap again. "Secondly, don't talk to me."

With that, he stepped back, the distance back between them. She couldn't even gulp or breathe properly because of the huge plum stuffed inside her mouth. He started walking ahead again, and she followed behind like a robot, biting on the plum, this time it turned out to be sweet. Unlike him.

A/n: Yeah she killed him, dont worry y'all! Girl's all good and safe :) Do i need to say anything for the other couple ?! Do i ? ����

Hope you're enjoyinggg their cute story progressing by skipping and hopping and cartwheeling, in every possible way i mean ! ��

𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚊𝚊𝚊𝚊𝚊..!𝙰𝚂𝚂𝙰𝙻𝙰𝙼𝚄𝙰𝙻𝙰𝙸𝙺𝚄𝙼 𝙱𝙴𝙷𝙽𝙾 𝙰𝚄𝚁 𝚄𝙽𝙺𝙴 𝙱𝙷𝙰𝙸𝚈𝙾....;)

𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚂𝙴 𝙰𝚄𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚁𝚂 𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙱𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙹𝙾𝚈 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚃𝙰𝙸𝙽𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙶𝚄𝚈𝚂.
𝚂𝙾 𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝚂𝚄𝚁𝙴 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝚂𝙿𝙰𝙼 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙸𝙵𝙸𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝚅𝙾𝚃𝙴𝚂 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂. ~𝙽𝚄𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚃