Chapter 24: Chapter 24

KIARA’S POV

“Kiara, are you alright?” Adrian asked, as he sat beside me on a boulder.

Keeping my gaze fixated on the blue water of the lake, I grunted in response. I didn’t really feel like talking to anyone.

“There is still time you know… the unification ceremony will be held after the moon rises… Kevin asked me to give you this letter…” He said, thrusting a letter in my hand.

My lips pursed into a thin line as I crumpled the paper and threw it into the lake. I just didn’t have the courage to have my heart broken again … I had accepted that Kevin and I were not meant to be together…

Adrian exhaled deeply and said, “I don’t know why you decided let Kevin marry someone else but I do know how much it hurts to stay away from the one you love… if you love Kevin you should accept his proposal and crash the ceremony!”

Damn! It was already difficult to sit here idly when I knew my mate was about to marry someone. It didn’t help that Adrain kept trying to convince me. In order to distract him, I changed the subject, “Why can you understand how much it hurts to stay away from someone you love? Did someone reject you too?”

He rubbed his hand and said in a choked voice, “Yup and that too in the first meeting… what hurts me the most that she didn’t even give our relationship a chance…”

I squeezed his hand and whispered, “I am so sorry… I really don’t know what to say…”

He licked his dry lips and continued, “I often try to imagine how it would be if I could sit here with Cami and watch the full moon rise amidst the star studded sky…”

My heart skipped a beat when I heard the name Cami. My eyebrows furrowed as I asked, “What is her full name?”

“Cami Lockhart, why?”

I felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me. Hadn’t Cami said that her mate rejected her because she was ugly?

“Are you sure she was the one rejected you?” I asked, waving my hands.

He snorted and said, “Are you trying to rub that in? Yes, my mate rejected me the first time we met without any explanation… happy…”

Bloody Hell! This changed everything. Cami wasn’t as sweet and simple as she seemed after all. I had been hesitating all this while because I didn’t want to hurt her.

I jumped to my feet and ran to the camp as fast as my legs would carry me.

“Nivaan! Nivaan ! Where are you?” I called out as I moved through the camp looking for him.

Within a few minutes he came running and said in a worried voice, “Take a breather, Kiara. What is wrong?”

I chewed my lower lips and said with a wide smile, “Get dressed quickly. I am going to crash a ceremony and you are helping.”

Without waiting for his reply, I ran to my tent. I had to be well dressed. I had to look better than Cami at all costs.

KEVIN’S POV

I paced up and down wearing the fluffy, red carpet of my bedroom. Kiara made me promise that I would be true to her words and marry Cami.

She was worried that Cami would do something stupid if she was rejected for a second time. She was right to be worried about Cami but what about me… did my feelings not matter  to her at all.

My eyes kept darting to the door every now and then. I was trying to hold on to the tiniest shred of hope that maybe just maybe Kiara will change her mind and agree to come back.

“Bro…,” A slight shudder coursed through me as I heard Risha’s voice. Even after her six months her voice was always laced with fear. We had kind of drifted apart over the months. I couldn’t bring myself to look Risha in her eyes after what happened. I had failed terribly as her brother.

“Do you really want to do this brother? You realize that this is permanent right… there is no going back…”

“There is no going back Rishu… I have given my word…If Kiara was here she would have agreed that I am doing the right thing…” I muttered staring at the ground.

Risha grasped my hand and forced me to turn around. Her eyes turned bloodhot. “You don’t know that… you never gave her a chance to explain herself… you know what you deserve this…,” She spat and stormed out of the room.

My hands balled into tight fists as a long, painful sigh escaped my mouth. Maybe Rishu was right. I didn’t trust my mate when she needed me. Now, I was doomed to spend an eternity without her…

The lingering hope in my heart started fading as the moon rose in the sky bathing everything in a soft glow.

Gazing at the full moon nestled among the clouds, I muttered, “Kiara thinks that we are not destined to be together… if that was the case why did you choose her to be my mate… why not pair me up with Cami… does your blessing have no meaning at all…

You made Kiara my mate now it is your duty to bring us back together… you have no right to punish me with an eternity of suffering…”

“Oh my God! Look at you… You look so dashing in this sherwani.” Mom’s voice sounded as she entered the room. Drawing in a deep breath I turned to face her with a smile.

“How can I not look good in it? It was selected by my lovely mother,” I said pulling her into a tight hug. This gave me time to compose my feelings.

She adjusted the golden broach I had pinned and said, “Today you will be bound to Cami in an unbreakable bond . It is your duty to honor her, care for her, love her. I know it will be difficult but I want to you to be sincere in your efforts…”

I cocooned her hand in mine and said in a firm voice, “I will honor, love and protect my Luna, mom. I promise…”

“Very well then, let us go… every one is waiting…” Mom said, adjusting my scarf one last time.

A strange ache developed in my heart as I trudged through the heavily carpeted corridors. My legs became heavy and I didn’t have the slightest inclination to walk into my funeral.

If it wasn’t for my mother holding my hands, I would have slumped to the ground and sat there like a rock. She led me to the lawn which was heavily decorated with streamers, flowers, lights and balloons. It was teeming with guests, almost as if the entire Auroville had turned up for the ceremony.

Everything that happened afterwards was like a blur. The noisy chatter of the crowds faded into the background. Even the words that were being spoken to me barely registered in my brain. It was as if my body was present there but my soul had left my body.

“Kevin… Kevin…,” Sandy said shaking me up. Then he thrust a ring into my hand. It was the same one with five petalled lily and a ruby in between. I couldn’t restrain the tear that dripped onto the ring.

F***! NO! This was really happening and there was nothing I could do about it. I had promised Kiara that I would marry Cami and I had to honor the word I gave to my mate.

I kept my head lowered. I couldn’t bear to see my life shatter into a million pieces. My hands trembled and the ring fell to the floor with a clink.

I was about to bend over to pick up the ring when a force tugged at me and I was forced to to turn the other way. My jaws hung open when I saw Kiara standing in front of me.

‘’How dare you marry someone else when your mate is still alive!” She shouted and slapped me.

My head started spinning and my ears started ringing. Caressing my cheeks, I looked at her with a bewildered expression. I was so dumbfounded that I could barely speak a single word.