The Fire In Her Eyes

I

Mohana(m oh - h uh - n aa) stood in the shadows obscured by the majestic banyan tree that gave her the appropriate cover from her prey. Her eyes were trained on the bird perched on the colossal tree about fifty meters away from her. Her right hand slowly reached out for an arrow from the quiver on her back. She soundlessly pulled out an arrow and fixed it in her bow. With her torso and bow shoulder straight, she held her head up and pulled the arrow back, parallel to her collar bone. Her shoulder muscles tensed as she drew the arrow back and released it. The arrow perfectly hit its mark and the bird let out a loud screech as it fell to the ground with a loud thud.

She had done this thousands of times before. Archery was something she was exceptionally good at, having practiced it over the years, it was the only form of warfare she could actually master imperfectly. It was the only sport she could enjoy by herself. Her father, who also happened to be the maharaja(King) of the small kingdom of Kranthi, had forbidden her from sparring and wrestling mainly because he did not wish to humiliate himself by allowing his daughter to spar with men. Naturally there was not a single female warrior in their kingdom, all due to the society's rules restricting women from entering politics and warfare. Sword fighting was out of question because the swords made in the kingdom were made for men twice her size; too heavy and long to wield, she had almost broken a wrist trying to lift one. Upon having asked her father for a custom sword, he had ruthlessly shunned her, shaming her for her requests.

Despite her father's wishes, Acharya (a highly learned person with a title affixed to the names of learned subject They were like teachers) Chetan(chay - rhymes with bay tun - rhymes with bun), had taught her archery, self defense, and the use of a dagger and knife. He had taught her about wars and war strategies. He had taught her basically everything she knew from Vedic literature and mathematics to biology. He taught her how to mend her wounds while parallelly teaching her how to inflict them. He was one of the few gems of society, one of the men in the kingdom who treated her as an equal to his other male students. He was a man with simple thoughts and considered both the genders equal and although he was strict, he always had a soft spot for Mohana. She liked him for he paid attention to her more than her own parents, he valued her, listened to her opinions.

Mohana walked out from the shadows towards the fallen birds to retrieve her arrow which was stuck in the bird when she heard the sound of hoofs and the neighing of horses. She quickly stepped back into the darkness and crouched down, taking the cover of dense bushes. She looked up at the sky and cursed. The sun was almost overhead which meant it was noon. The prince and his men were to reach the kingdom around noon. Her father would spare her no mercy were he to found out that she was in the woods today despite his strict warnings.

He had ordered her training to be halted for the next month as the prince from Avela was arriving, in search of a bride. According to him, he did not wish to be insulted in front of the royalty for his rebellious, stupid daughter and that angered her to no bounds. 

Mohana rested her back against the tree and the tree shielded her figure from the approaching horses and their riders. Why did they not keep to the main roads? She held in her breath as she finally heard the horses stop in the clearing, a few feet away from her hiding spot.

"Are you sure you heard something, brother?", She heard one of the men ask.

"You need to learn to be more vigilant. Someone is hunting around here ", Another man answered the previous question in a voice that was rich and powerful, each word rolling out with a masculine authority. His deep, gravelly voice had a rugged edge that commanded attention. It wasn't just his voice that captured her attention but rather the fact that he knew someone was definitely hunting. It sent shivers down her spine almost as if he could feel her presence near him.