Hearts Across Time..

Prologue: "Threads of Destiny"

The sun had long since dipped below the horizon, leaving only the faintest glow to outline the battlefield. Broken bodies lay scattered across the earth, reminders of the day's bloodshed. Amid the silent carnage, the crown prince—Yuvraj Rudra Viraja Prathab Maurya—stood still, his cold eyes sweeping across the aftermath of war. In a world where violence reigned supreme, he had earned his reputation as a ruthless leader, calculating and unyielding.

But today, something gnawed at his mind, a vision that refused to fade—a woman. Not one of delicate manner, hidden behind veils and household duties, but a healer who had rushed into the chaos, defying every convention. She was a mystery to him, a woman who belonged neither in the kitchen nor under the shadow of her father or husband. Her hands, soft and skilled, had brought wounded soldiers back from the edge of death, all while a battle raged around her.

No name, no identity, save for the memory of her face—beautiful, resolute, and entirely out of place.

Devika. That’s what they called her, the healer who appeared and disappeared like a ghost. To the people, she was simply a rare talent, but to him, she was something far more intriguing. Her fearlessness was captivating, her presence unsettling in ways he couldn’t yet comprehend. Where had she come from? How had she dared to stand where even the bravest men hesitated?

He didn’t know that Devika was not of his world, that she had stepped through time itself, falling from a future far beyond his understanding. To her, this land was foreign in every way, an ancient kingdom where the fate of women was sealed before birth. Yet here she was, her medical knowledge unparalleled, drawn into a role that placed her in the crosshairs of destiny itself.

Devika hadn’t meant to stay, hadn’t planned to get involved in the affairs of royalty and war, but fate had other designs. There was something in this place—something in him—that called to her. She was determined to leave a mark, however small, on the lives of the women she met, to plant the seeds of change in a world that had long since buried its hope.

Yet, unknown to her, Yuvraj Rudra—called simply Rudra by those closest to him—was not the kind of man who would let a mystery go unsolved. His interest had been piqued, and the more she stayed in the shadows, the more he sought to uncover her truth. A truth that, for now, she kept hidden.

But one day, they would meet again. And when that time came, the bond they forged would become a force neither could have predicted—a bond that would reshape not only their fates, but the fate of a kingdom teetering on the edge of revolution.

And in that moment, the world as they knew it would begin to change.

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