The Dark Of The Light ||| (ON HOLD)

Power of Air

Aashika pinched her brother. The five cousins had volunteered to baby sit the little princess, but none of them had noticed when the toddler had crawled out of her quarters. Hide and Seek was not a proper game to be played when it involved a five and half month old baby.

The five children watched in horror as they saw the little princess enthusiastically crawl towards the royal courtroom. They knew they were in serious trouble.

Revathi had two children, the elder one being her son Anakul and the younger one, daughter Aashika. Aashika was the troublemaker and it was Anakul's sole responsibility to bail his sister out if she got caught, creating such trouble. Jaya had two daughter Saujanya and Damayanthi, both were soft spoken and well behaved. The fifth one in their group was Ashwathi . Ashwathi was their step cousin, daughter of Saudamini.

Saudamini was Dharmeshnath's first child and the only child from his first wife Priyanshi who had died during child-birth. Saudamini had never known her biological mother, but she knew that she could not have loved her more than Shakuntala.

Shakuntala had never differentiated between her own children and Saudamini. Saudamini also had two daughters. Chitralekha and Ashwathi.

The elder one always had suitors roaming around her, drawn by her flawless beauty. Chitralekha at seventeen years, was the eldest of the cousins. Ashwathi on the other hand was the bravest of them all and together with Ashika she would drive the maids and their teachers insane with their pranks and mischieves.

However with his calm and sophisticated demeanour coupled with polished behaviour, Anakul was the favourite of both Shakuntala and Vayu. Vayu had already confined to his sister that he desired Anakul to compete for the post of a minister in the Emperor's court when he grew up. Revathi also felt that Anakul would make her proud one day.

The courtroom was in session. The emperor sat in his large Gold throne on an elevated platform at the end of the enormous rectangular courtroom. Prime minister Manyata sat to his left in a slightly lower platform and advisor Shivashakti sat to his right at a similar level as the prime minister.

The rest of the council of ministers, representative of states and lawkeepers sat in two rows facing each other to the right and left of the emperor. Their platforms were also elevated but not to the level of the Prime Minister and the advisor.

The council of ministers and representative of states sat to the left of the emperor and the lawkeepers to the right. The general public sat on galleries behind the seats of the council of ministers and lawkeepers.

The court room had therefore seating arrangements in the form of a large "U". The bottom of the "U" had the Emperor, Prime Minister and Advisor. The right arm of the "U" had the law keepers in their seats and large number of general public in the gallery; the left arm of the "U" comprised of the Council of ministers and the representative of the states and more general public in the gallery. The hollow middle in the "U" was where the submissions and proposals were made by the public.

At the moment a Brahmin, possibly a teacher was making some proposals for educational reforms of the underage population.

The five children peered around the large metal door to the right of the Emperor, which separated the courtroom from the rest of the castle. Only the relatives and friends of the Royal family were allowed to enter through that door, other than the castle guards and royal servants.

Anakul hissed at Aashika, but nevertheless looked at what she was pointing. The children unanimously gasped. The baby was crawling under the chairs of the law keepers towards the main exit of the courtroom, which lead outside the castle.