Rakshatra

One week passed away quickly and now everyone is getting ready for the journey towards Hridaypura which will take eight hours to reach. Parth came to help Abhyuday get ready as everyone is already ready and waiting for Yuvraj. When Parth reached Yuvraj's chamber, Abhyuday was already ready and was about to put his crown symbolising the next heir. Abhyuday looked at his friend through the mirror while correcting the position of his crown.

Parth looked at him and said, "Shall we go Yuvraj? Everyone is waiting". To which Abhyuday replied nonchalantly, "Do I look like I care?" Parth sighed and closed his eyes to relax himself and when he opened his eyes after a moment, Abhyuday was not present there. Parth panicked and turned around to go out to follow his friend who is already walking through the corridor. They both arrived at the waiting hall where all the Royal family members are waiting except Kaushal.

The King looked at his son happily as he is going to step into a new phase of his life. King Virendra remembered the young Abhyuday who would come running to him, complaining about his mother. While the King was getting overwhelmed by the good memories of the past, Abhyuday didn't react a bit or even looked at his father for more than a few seconds. Nitara, the only princess of Rakshatra and stepsister of Abhyuday who is only 14 years old, is just happy to enjoy a marriage celebration, visiting new place and welcome a new member in their Royal family who could accompany her in times of her boredom.

On the other hand, Oormila is not much happy about this marriage arrangement as the neighbouring Kingdom is one of the independent kingdoms in Bharat and also quite powerful in their own way, although not as strong as Rakshatra. And such a kingdom is going to back up Abhyuday now which is another obstacle if they failed to kill Abhyuday. And her own son has been engaged to the Princess one of the subordinate provinces of Rakshatra, without any real independent power of her own.

Oormila didn't have much time to think more about this matter as everyone went towards the entrance, to start their journey. When they reached the entrance, Kaushal was already there looking at the Royal elephant which is meant for the crown Prince. Abhyuday came and stood beside him and said, "Mehadooth doesn't like someone staring at him for a long time". Kaushal came out of his thoughts and looked at his brother and owner of the Royal elephant, Yuvraj Abhyuday. He cleared his throat and said, "Bro...I mean Yuvraj, I was just admiring the beauty and magnificence of this elephant ". He lied smoothly to cover up how he imagined himself to ride the elephant. And his description of the Royal elephant is not false.

Usually there will be two Royal Elephants, one for the King and one for the Crown Prince(Yuvraj). The elephants of the King and Yuvraj, will be adorned with golden and silver caparisons respectively, covering their entire forehead. Then there will be a driver who takes care of the elephant all the time, sitting on it's neck. While the back of the elephant will have a small throne with an umbrella attached to it, so that the person who rides on it will be protected from heat. These arrangements are done because when the King or Yuvraj goes for a ride around the Kingdom for any purpose, the common people could identify them.

Everyone settled on their vehicles, the women entered a single carriage pulled by a horse and Kaushal as well as Parth took up their horses.The Procession towards the Kingdom of Hridaypura started and the common people praised the King all the way. And some of them blessed Yuvraj for a peaceful and harmonious life ahead. Although it was rare for the people to see the Royals except on occasions, they knew very well about the ruthlessness of their Yuvraj when he is assigned some cases to handle or when he punishes some culprits. Moreover, it is not everyday that the Royal elephants are used by the King and Yuvraj. So the sight of the magnanimous elephants carrying their mighty owners was no less than a 'Once in a lifetime' moment for the people.

The procession reached the river which divides Hridaypura from Rakshatra and decided to halt for lunch. After lunch they resumed the journey with the horses and carriages, along with the crowd of servants carrying gifts to be presented to the bride, taking the wooden bridge to cross the river and the Elephants walking through the river itself since the depth is not much for the elephants. Finally the groom's side from Rakshatra reached Hridaypura.

Hridaypura

The Royal procession of Rakshatra was passing through the villages and streets of Hridaypura, all the while making the people of the place freeze in amazement at the grandeur of the procession. Some of the older people present in the crowd were discussing among themselves, when one of them said, "Look at the luck of the illegitimate daughter of the King. Getting married into such a prestigious Kingdom and family, that too as the future Queen. God has blessed her in abundance for sure".

Another one agreed with the statement and continued, "Else what. Being brought up under the care of the Queen and protected by the King and Yuvraj Pratham. Her life is no less than a mythical fantasy story". The procession passed through the crowd. On the way many girls eagerly looked at the groom and were blushing after getting a glimpse of him. After passing through the streets, the royal procession finally reached the palace of Hridaypura. The Royal family of Hridaypura excluding Kalindi, were already waiting for them near the palace entrance.

Yuvraj Abhyuday and King Virendra climbed down their elephants and joined the others. Queen Mathura, Kalindi's mother, welcomed the groom by taking aarthi and putting a tilak on his forehead. Then everyone went inside while chatting with eachother. Kalindi's stepsister Uttara was dumbfounded after looking at Abhyuday as she didn't expect him to be this handsome. On the other hand, Abhyuday had only a formal conversation with Pratham, like a discussion between two Crown Princes.

By the time they reached the palace it was already evening so everyone went to their allocated chambers to take some rest before dinner. Oormila had a conversation with King Virendra and said, "Raja ji(My King), while we were on the way to the palace, my servants heard some discussions among the locals, about the bride being illegitimate daughter of the King. Would it not spoil our reputation among other Dynasties?". To which Virendra replied, "Oormila, Do you think I haven't considered about these things?".

Oormila immediately denied and apologized for her mistake of questioning his decisions. Virendra nodded at her and said, "As long as the bride is given the Queen's name as her mother, we don't have to worry about anything ". Oormila agreed with him and didn't argue further. Anyways she just want to analyse her new daughter-in-law and keep the obstacles away from the path of her son.

Virendra remembered about his past when his first wife chandria was alive and how enthusiastically she wrote the letter to officially seal the engagement between the five year old Kalindi and eight year old Abhyuday. How happy she would have been today if she were here. He sighed at the memories but suddenly felt Oormila hugging him from the side. He smiled at her and reassured her that he is fine, while thinking that she is worried about him. But Oormila just didn't want him to get lost in her dead rival's thoughts.

Now it's already time for dinner, everyone assembled in the dining hall and sat on the floor with a small wooden stool infront of them. Servants came and placed plates in that wooden stool and one by one all dishes were brought by the servants. Then Kalindi's father, King Udayan exclaimed, "There comes the bride and the one who cooked for all of us today".

Everyone turned to see her, including Abhyuday. Kalindi entered the dining hall wearing a saree with perfect pleats pinned on her shoulder. Her long hair was braided and gold jewellery adorned her entire braid. Her head was also decorated with golden ornaments and then earrings, neckpieces and so on. King Virendra smiled at her and welcomed her with warm words. Oormila and others also smiled at her while the groom didn't say anything or expressed anything. Even Parth couldn't figure out what he thinks about the marriage arrangement but one thing he can be sure is that Abhyuday would never disregard his mother's words.

When Kalindi was about to serve her father, the only one whom she used to serve food usually, her mother Mathura said, "Kalindi, Today you don't need to serve your Father. You serve the food to Yuvraj Abhyuday". Abhyuday looked at Queen Mathura and then at Kalindi who simply nodded her head agreeing to her mother. Then she came near him and bend down and served him the various varieties of the food. All the while he didn't react for anything while many pairs of eyes are on them, some with tease and fun, some with happiness and mirth and some with jealous and anger.

Once she has served him, she waited by his side so as to serve him anything else if he needs. It was the practice which all the three princesses of Hridaypura had been taught and followed till now. They have to serve their food to their father, whenever their turn to cook, and wait on him till he finishes his meal. Now, Kalindi was waiting behind Abhyuday and he turned slightly to look at her sideways once and then continued his food. The people of Rakshatra were not surprised much as these are some of the practices present in the entire Bharat Varsha but it's just not practiced by most of the royal families nowadays as the princesses don't even know where the kitchen lies.

King Virendra praised her cooking skills and tasty food. Following which Oormila also praised her cooking when suddenly Kalindi's stepmother said, "Princess Kalindi, I think you could have added more masala to this dish". Hearing this Parth looked at that older woman accusingly, with his mouth full of the said dish as the food was more delicious than the Royal chef of Rakshatra could ever cook. He internally sighed at the similarity between the groom and the bride, in having evil stepmother. He came out of his mental comparison between the two stepmothers when his future bhabhi (sister-in-law) Kalindi replied to her stepmother with the same composed look on her face, "I will surely correct it next time, Choti Ma (refers to stepmother)".

Abhyuday stopped eating for a moment and glanced at her sideways and then resumed eating. Suddenly King Virendra coughed slightly and the nearby servant served him water. But soon the coughing got intense and he started breathing heavily. This caught everyone's attention and soon all came near him to check upon him or help him with whatever they could. Kalindi also came near the King and asked everyone not to crowd around him so that he could get some air. Then slowly he took long breaths and then gradually returned to normalcy.

Even Oormila was worried because the King's death could make her invisible on the earth, as Abhyuday would ascend the throne. Everyone sighed in relief especially the royals of Hridaypura as the marriage will be at stake along with the cordial relationship of the two Kingdoms.

Then Kalindi turned towards Abhyuday who had not moved an inch from his place, even after his own father was facing a near death experience. And on top of that he is still eating his food without a care in the world. She came near him and stood behind him as he is still eating, she has to be there to serve him. Except King Virendra who went back to his chamber to rest, everyone else gradually resumed their meals and didn't notice about Abhyuday's behaviour. Parth already knows about the degraded relationship of the father and son, so he didn't think of Abhyuday's behaviour as something new. Later Abhyuday finished his meal and went away. Following which Kalindi retired to her room and ordered for the meals to be given there.

First meet has happened and First impressions are made. Her first impression on him being 'a submissive and weak woman'. His first impression on her being 'a heartless man'. Let's see if this is the true character of these two people.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Hi guys,

Stay tuned for the next update.

Do vote and comment if you like the chapter.

Thanks,
SM.