Ace of Hearts

8 - Aftermath Of The Alliance

Rasika tapped the closed door of the guest chambers once more trying to coax her princess. The footmen and the soldiers guarding the chambers cast her pitiful looks having witnessed her incessant efforts since the last four days to bring the princess out of her chambers.

"Rajkumari!" pleaded Rasika "Please open the door. The royal family of Hastinapur is awaiting your presence. It is not good to keep them waiting. Especially if they are your hosts"

"No worries. The queen of Malva will do whatever it is on my behalf. She seems to be doing a lot of things on my behalf lately." came the snarky remark.

"But Rajkumari that is how things work here." Rasika tried to explain.

"Nonsense! Don't think me to be a fool Rasika. Kingdoms host Swayamvars where the girl chooses her groom. The groom is not forced on her." the princess' voice dropped an octave at the end.

Rasika's heart broke listening to the hopelessness in her friend's voice. However, she could not fathom how someone would not like to be married to the prince of Hastinapur. She could not come up with a valid reason not to.  She sighed deciding to involve the only person who has a shot at convincing the princess.

"Don't you dare go to Kaivalya." Tusharika barked an order from the other side of the door.

Rasika froze in her tracks, her back facing the chamber door. The intuitive princess knew her too well. She titled her head towards the door and uttered a genuine apology.

"Forgive me princess but you leave me no choice."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Duryodhan!!????" screamed Avishi causing Hansa to startle and drop the plate of food in her hand.

"I'm sorry" she mumbled an apology to the dumbfounded little girl.

Turning to Purnima, Avishi lowered her voice and continued, "What do you mean Duryodhan? How can that happen? No."

Purnima stared at Avishi as if the latter had gone mad. They had been travelling for about a week and stopped near a town to collect some groceries and essentials. Purnima ventured into the town's market to buy some flour and ended up catching some gossip.  Excited, she rushed back to the camp to share the news. The reaction of Avishi, was however the exact opposite of what she expected.

"Why are you so upset? Girls like us never have a chance with princes like him." she said suspecting Avishi to be crushing on the eldest son of Gandhari.

"Ew. Please. I have standards." Avishi scrunched her nose.

"Silly girl! What's not to like in him? He is handsome, a valiant warrior, a brilliant mace wielder trained by Shriman Balram himself, very rich and a prospective heir to the throne of Hastinapur. What more do you need? I say the princess of Malva is very lucky to get such an alliance. Malva is after all a very small kingdom compared to Hastinapur."

"But he is Duryodhan! He is vile, cruel and disrespects women." complained Avishi

"It's Rajkumar Duryodhan and mind your tongue. Low lives like us cannot talk about princes. What nonsense are you sprouting? He is very respectful and above all a prince. As such, he shall be treated with utmost respect." reprimanded Ila who heard Avishi when passing by.

"I'm sorry mata Ila." muttered Avishi wincing.

She waited till Ila left to resume voicing her thoughts. Purnima looked at Avishi skeptically wondering what the strange girl must have known or seen to speak in such a manner about the prince.