Avantika And Her Quest

The Royal Festivities

My senses were in overdrive. I heard the harsh metallic clang of blades as they collided, I felt my labored breathing. My feet realigned themselves as my eyes scanned him of any move. His face was painfully blank not giving away anything, his eyes on mine seemed mocking. I saw his right foot dart forward and anticipated his blow to the left. I blocked the move and shoved my sword to his exposed right flank. He blocked my move as well. He resignedly sighed, "can we please stop, Avantika? We can go on like this the entire day."

I looked him in the eye with amusement, "do you accept defeat?"

"Never," he playfully replied, "but you can".

"In your dreams, you moron. I will never give up, besides you will lose anyway,"I replied. His sword glinted in the sun as it released my hair from its tightly bound bun. I gasped and eyed him as my long hair tumbled loose. He laughed loudly at my shock. I retaliated by sending fast quick blows his way but he blocked all of them. I pushed relentlessly, but his moves were quick and hard to predict. I was barely able to defend myself. I became increasingly frustrated and ended up slicing the only cloth covering his upper torso. He looked surprised at my move and both of us watched the cloth fall to the ground with unease. Me, because of shock and him because of the injury to his inflated ego.

Suddenly he looked up at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes that spelled trouble. He advanced his strikes towards me. I blocked each offensive attack to the best of my ability but my hair kept getting in my face and my embarrassment made matters worse. In a rush to defend myself I did not notice his feet. Suddenly he swept my feet from under me and in a blink, his sword was around my neck.

"What do you say now, princess? Accept defeat?" he asked with that annoying smirk on his face.

I allowed myself a second to blink but then I leaned closer, "never to you, Arjun" I whispered in his ear and pointed to the dagger grazing his abdomen. He let me go and we both bowed to each other as was customary.

"So, you are turning 18 today, princess. Are you excited?" Arjun asked as I tried to tie my hair.

"Excited? I am scared. I am wondering how much longer my father can put off my marriage," I admitted.

"But why don't you want to get married? I'm pretty sure all the ladies in your castle would be swooning over your suitors," Arjun questioned.

I sighed, this was a question I had only answered a hundred times and yet each time it succeeded in making me feel like an ungrateful person. "You know why Arjun. I just... can't shake this feeling that..."

"..That you are meant for something greater," Arjun completed my sentence.

I nodded, "I may be a girl but I can make our kingdom as proud as a prince could. I just need a chance. I don't want to be the bait for a political alliance."

"Well, what about Prince Surajmal? He would make a good match don't you think?" Arjun asked in a serious tone with a completely straight face.

Just the prospect of me and that indecisive, stuttering prince had me in fits of laughter. His beady too-big eyes and buck-teeth didn't help. That's how my father found us, laughing so hard that our eyes watered.

"There you are," his loud, familiar voice boomed. "I should have known, every time you visit Avanti, Arjun, she is around you."

"My apologies Uncle Harsha, I assure you this time it took considerable persuasion on my part to convince her to leave the puja," Arjun replied smoothly with a wink.

"None needed, my boy. Just make sure she gets to her friends so they can dress her," my father fondly reassured.

I cringed at the word "friends", they would dress me in the most ridiculous jewelry they could find and put strange powders on my face.

"None of that Avantika," my father gently reprimanded, "I sometimes I feel I have raised you more as a boy," he muttered to himself. I giggled as he walked away shaking his head.

"Ok let's get you to your friends," Arjun drawled drawing out the friends part.

"Please, I'll dress up myself, just don't tell my dad," I pleaded.

"No way, Uncle Harsha will find out anyway and it's not so bad to spend time with some girls," he said.

"Really? That means you will stay with me," I asked impishly. I saw him shiver in horror, "No, they will just fall over me and if their mothers are present my unmarried status may just change," he said.

"So they aren't just some girls?" I questioned.

"Ok, ok, you are right!" he grumpily accepted.

"What was that I didn't hear you," I teased.

"None of that Avantika, I sometimes feel you are a horrible friend," Arjun tried imitating my father, down to the booming voice. The ridiculous impersonation had me in fits of laughter.

"Ok, I'll make you a deal," Arjun started as he wiped the corners of his eyes, " If you go get dressed, I'll find some excuse for us to sneak away during the ceremonies you are not needed for," he bargained.

I thought about it, "Can we go riding in the woods?" I asked with growing excitement. My father never let me go alone and everyone was always busy.

He laughed at my excitement. "Ok we'll go riding," he agreed. We walked together back to the palace and he told me about all the cases regarding sheep he had to deal with. I won the bet about him hearing 20 cases again. I told him all about Prince Surajmal and his clan. I also told him about the poisonous snake that may have caused the Prince to shorten his visit.

As we reached my chambers, I watched him laugh as my friends dragged me away from him, but not before they all gave him coy looks. I couldn't suppress my giggles when the mothers tried to coax him to take a pretty wife to brighten his life. I really did not envy him in that moment. I also did not understand why these girls wanted to marry him. My friends dragged me in and dressed me in a long gold ghagra and put ridiculous amounts of powder on me. They then proceeded to line my eyes with kohl. Finally after tugging my hair and putting heavy jewellery on me, they were satisfied and murmured their approval. I looked into the mirror and I was pleasantly surprised. My jewellery was tasteful and I looked good.

My mother came to fetch me and I was ready. She looked proud and swiped some kohl from her eyes and placed it behind my ear to save from any evil. She hugged me and said, "I am extremely proud of you. You have the strength to stand by your people and take on the responsibilities of a man. Soon the entire kingdom will also see that."

My eyes moistened and I touched her feet in reverence as she blessed me with victory in everything that I did. We walked to the room where the puja was held. The priests chanted mantras and fed the fire of the yagna. I repeated the mantras the priests asked me to and did as they said. Soon, my eyes started drooping and I saw Arjun trying to escape without anyone noticing. I excused myself as I was not needed for this puja and followed Arjun out of the hall. He entered the stables and was saddling his horse. I cleared my throat behind him and he turned around slowly with a guilty look. He started , "I can explain....umm..I was going to come back for you."

"Of course, are you going to saddle my horse too then," I asked. He quickly saddled my horse to and helped me up as my ghagra added more than a person's weight to my body. "Race you to the forest," I yelled and nudged my horse into a gallop.

I laughed as I heard him yell, "you cheater" behind me.

Glossary:

Puja: An act of worship, may involve elaborate rituals

Mantras: prayer hymns

Yagna: A ritual with a specific objective