The hot mid morning sun came beating down upon the small party of villagers, royalty and soldiers travelling towards the rich capital city of the land, Kampilya. The travel group would have been larger and perhaps merrier had the grievous calamity not descended on them the night before snatching away the vibrant energy of the youth, the maternal smiles of the women now widowed with their long hairs hanging down loose, the last hope and support of the elderly.
The crown prince of Panchal too rode with an air of grave solemnity only to be pleasantly distracted now and then by the wavy haired fair girl walking slowly next to his trotting horse. She had a comforting arm placed around her friend's shoulders who had been orphaned some hours back, but her eyes were unfaltering and steady.
He had had her cleverly brought next to him without making it apparent and now despite the heavy oddities weighing him down, he derived a strange serenity from the quick, discreet glances he stole at her.
"Ragni, you can send word to your parents to take you home once we reach the capital" Dhristyadyumna spoke quietly.
She only nodded.
"Your friend will be given a job in the palace," he continued, hoping she would look up at him fully, "so will everyone whose sources of livelihood and sustenance have been snatched away from them..."
"That's a fair point" she muttered giving a faint tilt of her head.
"How is your homeland like?" He asked curiously.
"Where I lived was nothing spectacular" came the reply "Just a rural setting with a brook enough to sustain our crops."
Dhristydyumna cast her another quick glance, her complexion did not seem tanned from agricultural work under the sun and the Yavanas were not famed with a repute of a peaceful pastoral life.
"Women of Yavanas are also known to be engaged in agricultural labour..." He began carefully maneuvering the topic without being too direct.
"Esteemed Yuvraj of Panchal" Ragni began quietly looking down, rather conspicuously attempting to curtain her face by her long wavy locks, "My family wa- has been engaged in trade of horses and related riding gears."
"I see" Dhristyadyumna nodded, not knowing any other way to react, mentally wishing he had heeded to his father's advice and worked more on his social skills, "That explains why you have a fair complexion, without a trace of harsh tanning and your hands have not calluses marked by la—"
Dhriatyadyumna bit his tongue, cursing himself about the blunt and highly inappropriate manner of him pouring out his innermost thoughts. As a royal, he was considerably good at pretence and carefully digressing from uncomfortable topics or ignoring what he did not want to answer, and this unexpected blurting out shocked him.
"I- um...I" He muttered fumbling for a good explanation, "Don't take it in any other way...I was..."
A low chuckle sounded from the graceful young girl in white walking beside his horse followed by the bouncing back of her smooth, long brown hair, shining in the sun, before the pair of the rare turquoise eyes bathe in jollity looked up at him, the pink lips stretched in a playful smile.
"I see it is the habit of royalty to observe and infer of whoever they meet even if it is a simple village girl" Ragni said trying to keep on a straight somber face.
"Every citizen is important to the monarch, Ragni" Dhristyadyum replied in a stately manner, "Everyone is important to the King."
He deliberately kept himself from adding that she was a foreigner and a guest not exactly a citizen, hoping for her to retort by that and continue to conversation. But, she did not, choosing instead to move away from his stallion, closer to her friend, while the crown prince hid his disappointment under an expressionless mask of self absorption.
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Panchal Naresh(Kind of Panchal) Drupad paced his chamber. He had been eagerly awaiting his son's return, but now he was anxious and angry. Angry at the irresponsibility of his son, and anxious for his wellbeing having been notified of the toxic smoke attack.
He sighed.
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Hello everyone
I deserve every angry comment regarding the length of time I took to update.
With this chapter we proceed further towards Panchal and also get some glimpses of the few first interactions of our prince and Ragni.
What do you think of her? What do you think will happen next? What did you like best from he chapter?
Do drop by your votes and comments generously:):):) ❤❤
And most importantly a special and heartfelt thank you to _justloveharry_33 for making the beautiful cover❤❤❤❤
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The Other Fire-Born
Historical FictionDhristyadyumna is silent but has much he can speak of, he is a great warrior but his heart harbours warmth,but most people around him chose to look at his aggressive masculinity instead, he is not noticed much but he is not unnoticeable- until som...
