The Village Girl

Chapter Sixteen - [Aaryan]

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Seetha had told me about the little mishap with the blood a few days earlier, and though I was happy Aayu was there to help her, I could see the pressure rising on Seetha.

No one knew she had bled. No one but Aayu, Suhanya and myself. And her maids, but her maids seemed to be loyal to her so I was not concerned. Nevertheless, she seemed to feel as if the whole world was watching her. She seemed to think that everyone knew.

I suppose everyone would begin to find out eventually, but I kept telling her it did not matter.

We had time.

She refused to sleep with me while she bled– and I simply mean she refused to share a bed with me. Instead, she retreated back into her own room for the days after that, but I felt as if this had more to do with her unnecessary guilt than with anything else.

Of course, my own work could not be put on hold to deal with Seetha. So I kept busy. We had a number of new recruits after the wedding who needed to be trained and monitored. My father believed that seeing a village girl become a princess cause a lot of the peasant men to become a little more... patriotic, hence we had many new recruits under my lead.

I was suddenly the warrior prince who saw past riches and status, and these men would gladly fight for a prince like me.

Though the thought was nice, I also think it had to do with the fact that people were beginning to realize that you did not need to have riches to get far in life, and there were a lot of young men who were aiming high and were hoping for fame and prosperity through the military.

Whatever the case, if these men were here because of the respect they had for either myself or my wife, then I would certainly value their presence and I was certainly grateful.... But that did not mean I was going to go easy on them.

So my days felt busier and longer and it was after one of these long days, as I rode Bhumi back towards the palace, that I was greeted by a guard riding towards me on his horse. "My Prince," he said before bowing low, still on the horse.

"What can I do for you?"

He turned his horse, now riding by my side.

"The queen has requested your presence in the council room," he said. "I believe it is a family meeting of sorts."

"Wonderful," I frowned, "has my wife been informed?"

He hesitated. "The Princess was not asked to join, Prince Aaryaraavanan."

"Why ever not?"

"I am uncertain, but the Queen only asked for you."

I let out an annoyed huff. "Right. Thank you."

The guard bowed before falling back, joining the four other guards who always followed me around.

When I returned, I went straight to the council room. When I arrived, I realized it was not at all a family meeting. There were quite a few nobles there, as well as my family. "What's going on?" I asked, joining my father at the large table he sat at. Many of the nobles and generals were sitting around it, including Aaru. My mother stood behind him, along with Aayu, Anbu and Akshay.