Suddenly, someone struck his upper arm, and his blood splashed on my face, freezing me to death.
A throaty scream escaped from his mouth.
“Please don’t do this for me,” I shivered,“You’re the Prince; you shouldn’t risk your life.”
The mere thought of him losing ground made me feel worse than being burned.
Why is he doing this?
How did he even end up here?
How does he know me?
As he plunged the sword into a tribal’s stomach, my heart raced. Blood was pooling around.
Suddenly, a dozen of them trapped him, pushing him to his knees, piercing his skin from all corners.
No, no, no, no.
“Don’t do this,” I screamed.
Death was better. I couldn’t see anything happening to him.
I immediately got up and ran toward the burning funeral pyre.
But Kunwar-sa grabbed me and pulled me back.
I screamed.“Leave me! I deserve this. Please don’t kill anyone for me. Don’t do this. I deserve it,” I cried out.
The soldiers diverted the killer’s attention, pulling them away from Kunwar-sa.
As he pulled me to his chest, our knees crashed into each other, and when I protested, he landed a sharp slap on my cheek, dousing my rage, yelling furiously.“Stay here.”
I burst into tears.“Please, it’s your wedding in six months; don’t do this for me.”
I could hear swords clashing, and then I noticed an even louder noise as a crowd rushed toward us. Around fifty men circled him, assaulting him from every direction. I looked at my late husband’s father, who gripped my hand and started pulling me away.
“Leave me!” I yelled. His biting hold scraped my wrist as he dragged me through the mud, dirtying my white clothes.
“Kunwar-sa,” I yelped.
He killed people mercilessly, one by one, his clothes stained with his own blood and theirs.
A coppery taste lingered on my tongue, seeing so much bloodshed. He plunged his sword into another person’s stomach and yelled.“Leave her alone, I said.” He rushed toward me and held my hand.
I was being pulled from both sides: the deceased’s father and Kunwar-sa.
“Let go of her hand. She must die with him. Don’t bring the wrath of the gods upon yourself. Leave her,” the father yelled at him; however, Kunwar-sa punched him hard, knocking him to the ground, making him cry out in pain.
Kunwar-sa pulled me closer, his steel-strong arm wrapping around my waist as he moved forward with his sword.“This is wrong. She wants to live; let her live. She wasn’t a burden to him. She is on her own and doesn’t deserve to be killed like that.” He argued, and I cried, burying my face in his chest and collapsing to my knees in despair. He also sank to his knees and tightened his grip around me.
“She is a widow. There’s no life for her; no husband means no support and nothing left. She needs to give up on her life.”
“Yes, she needs to be tied to that pyre. You are sinning,”
"Leave her, or we will kill you. This is our ritual."
"Leave her alone,"
