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"What happened?" My father asked. "Your Majesty, Prince Tanvik is here along with the king and queen of Gandhara." The servant replies trembling a bit. My father looked quite surprised.
"Prepare a banquet to welcome them. " Father says as he gets down of his throne to personally welcome them. We all follow him outside the throne room . There stood Prince Tanvik wearing green Dhoti and a blue angavastram across his shoulder , wrapped around his wrist . A band made of gold and inlaid with emerald sat across his forehead and a sword sat hanging on his waist. Behind him were his parents , king and queen of Ghandhara.
"Your Majesty" Prince Tanvik bows slightly. " Hahaha, Well this is a pleasant surprise." My father laughs. " We apologize for the sudden arrival but it seemed that the weather might deteriorate for the next two days or so, therefore we started early." King of Gandhara apologizes humbly. I look up to the sky , well no wonder all the birds and animals seemed restless.
" No problem, please come." my father welcomes them. They all come in and I see the prince and sister Aanya share smiles. Together we all go to the dining hall directly and sat down in our respective places. Somehow Sister Aanya and tanvik ended up together with me beside sister Aanya.
Maids entered the room placing extravagant breakfast on our table. Koftas, Aloo curry, spinach curry, dal,Parathas of all sorts and fruit juices were lined up on the table making my mouth water.
My brother who sat on the other side of me leaned in and whispered "Don't drool." I blushed with shame not because I was actually drooling but because it was so obvious .
Maids presented us with bowls of water to wash our hands. Soon we were eating peacefully, with small talks here and there. I see from the corner of my eye Prince Tanvik trying to hold my sisters hand as she tries to avoid it. After failed attempt he whispers something to her making her blush. I suppress a laugh but Prince Tanvik and sister Aanya notice it ,they blush. I suppress a small smile and avoid their eyes which brought my brothers attention towards us.
"What's the matter?" He asks us. "Nothing ." I replied ,seeing sister Anaya's pleading eyes. I knew what she was pleading for, if my brother knew he would tell to sister Aanya's brother and her mother will know eventually. Aanya's mother is a strict protocol follower. After that the lovebirds behaved themselves, thank god.
After our breakfast, my father and king of Gandhara went to study room to discuss politics while our four mothers and queen of Gandhara went to the gardens to talk. Us youngsters went to rose garden (gulaab baadee) to play and chat a bit. The rose garden was a very beautiful place, there were roses climbing all over the walls and there were rows and rows of different colours of roses. We all went to the gazebo at the center of the garden and sat down to chat. My brothers were teasing prince tanvik with sister Aanya making them both blush tomato red. My brothers and prince Tanvik were friends in Gurkul along with my 2nd sister's husband. Although princess were not allowed to attend Gurkul, we had a upadhayi who taught us everything.
We were all enjoying ourselves, most of us were at least. My fifth sister couldn't help herself from giving snarky comments. First and second sister were having a casual polite talk. While my fourth sister and sister Aanya were talking about some poems they read about with me giving my opinions in between when asked but all I wanted to do was curl up in my room with a book in my hand, exploring the wondrous tales of valour and magic through the pages of the book. I was very close to sister Aanya. My second, fourth sister and me were pretty close but not as close as sister Aanya while I barely talked to my first and fifth sister.
Soon it was afternoon and we all left for lunch which was another amazing feast. Later after lunch we all parted ways. I went to my bedroom where Oorvasi was embroidering on a blouse. Oorvasi had a knack for embroidery, she made such vivid designs that it left people staring at them. As I enter she put the blouse aside and stood up and came towards me helping me remove some of the heavier jewellery. Soon I was lounging on the sofa in the balcony with a book in my hand while Oorvasi was inside working on the blouse.
I was rereading the Mahabharata, which I prefer more that Ramayan but Ramayan will always be my favourite. Mahabharata soothes the complex mind while Ramayan soothes the yearning soul. Mahabharata is something people can relate as all the characters in Mahabharata are in shades of grey I want to be like Arjuna and Karna. I usually practiced my archery during morning along with sister Aanya and fourth sister who practiced silambam. I love the feel of bow in my hands, the rush when I release an arrow from the bow. My hands were itching to hold a bow as I was reading Ved Vyas describe incredible skills of Arjun. As I didn't practice this morning my yearning was even more.
After an hour or two there was knock on my quarters and Oorvasi answered it. She came to the balcony after five minutes , a guard was sent to inform us that fourth sister's fiance, first sister's husband were coming in four days.
At the mention of fourth sisters fiance it reminded me of my marriage which was being discussed along with my fifth sister's. My father was planning to marry us both at the same time. I heard mother say that my marriage may be fixed to a leader of a small provincial state. My fifth sister's marriage mostly might be fixed to the trade ministers son. But I figured I might as well worry about it later since there were two more years for my engagement.
After my dinner I sat in my study room in my quarters. I had a book about the kingdom laws and I was trying to memorize the 'Trade and regulation laws'. The oil lamps casted a golden glow to the book. Although I wanted to slack in my studies but I knew not all had the privilege to study due to their circumstances so I tried to make the best of the privilege I had been offered. I continued to study into early night.
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Hi celestial readers,
Please vote and comment.
What do you guys think about Arasi ??
Gurkul: a place where children of kings and ministers studied by spending years away from their family in the Gurkul.
Upadhayi: Female teacher, who were well versed in vedhas , upanishads, language, music and arts (some in martial arts).
The rules respective to timeline may not be accurate, since its fictional.(I adopted the concept that women in india were allowed education in the vedic period and that women in ancient india were allowed to learn martial arts )
FUN FACT: In the age of Mauryas, Chandragupta Maurya kept female bodyguards who knew art of warfare. They were known as 'virangana' or 'brave women'.
~Manvi
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Enchanted
Historical FictionArasi: Queen Princess Arasi was the daughter of king Siddha along with her five older sisters and three older brothers. As the youngest she was always loved and pampered by her father and mother. Though a princess she is despised by her people for...
