अन्तः अस्ति प्रारंभः।
The end is the beginning.
A caterpillar dies, to birth a butterfly. Water evaporates to rain down. Dead carcasses fill the stomachs of vultures.Life gives way to death and death to life. In a vicious circle of different karmas...
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A fortnight after the alliance between Hastinapur and Vidharbh had been established, the family of Vidharbh and Mihira were on the road, en route to Dwarka for the wedding of Rukmini Krishna.
Mihira couldn't help but tighten her hands on her horse reins every few minutes, to ground herself and pull herself to the present lest she start dreaming of the future.
The wedding of Rukmini Krishna.
It was truly beyond her wildest dreams to have ever been invited. When the invitations had come for the family, it was clear that those were meant in kindness but also in formality. The Queen and King had not been consulted to decided the marriage date between Rukmini and Krishna— a blatant statement that said that they were welcome to join but not to interfere.
The invitation and the Hastinapur alliance were an olive branch only and only because Rukmini loved them and Krishna was benevolent towards those his wife favoured. In the eyes of the Dwarkan people, the royal family of Vidharbh was still somewhat on the fence for being a slight hindrance in the beginning.
Mihira was more tired and drained these days. She had had her periods while on the travel and it had left her wanting to kill someone or herself just to release some pent up energy. Only after her periods had she been somewhat better company to be around but thankfully, she did not have to be around too much company.
The whole of the royal family always had their meals together and more often than not, Rukmanetra and Rukmi had their heads together, planning the rotations of the guards and Rukmabahu was often with the pigeons and eagles, exchanging messages with the Prime Minister of Vidharbh almost daily to make sure the state was flourishing. The younger two— Rukmaketu and Rukmarath often spent time fussing about the gifts and the animals, ordering about taste testers and such.
In all, Mihira spent much of her time quietly and alone— trying to process the fact that she was journeying to Dwarka and also worrying about her gifts not being enough— barring some ten minutes everyday wherein Rukmanetra would ask her about her comfort and sometimes, one of the other brothers would stop by, discussing with her about her life and some stories.
Rukmarath loved listening to her talk about her garden. It turned out that the man was absolutely in love with botanical science and he had many tips to give on the growth of plants. Rukmaketu loved tending to her borrowed horse, Gagan, and often listened to her talk about Virat, telling her that the dog would grow still. Virat would probably grow until he was the height of a baby horse, according to the prince. It was slightly concerning but Mihira loved the idea of Virat coming to his name, the dog had been left with Eklavya and Hiranyaksh for the time being and she was concerned that the man would end up spoiling her boy.
Rukmabahu was perhaps closest to Rukmanetra in personality skills. The man was quiet and restrained, he quietly talked to her about Rukmini and how he had selected some of the gifts and wished to get her opinion on them as a woman in Rukmini's age group. Rukmi did not make time to specifically seek her out, but whenever they bumped into each other, he asked after her comfort.
