"Obey your teachers, study hard, and be a good girl there, my dear Siddhi," Malini patted her daughter's cheek lovingly. Siddhi sat inside a carriage, holding her belongings. Malini had given her a small bundle of food, consisting of her favorite sweets and savory items, to snack on during the journey.

Dressed in a light blue saree, Siddhi munched on a laddoo and kissed her mother's cheek. "Do not worry, mother. I will be a very good girl there. You will never receive any complaints."

The queen of Avanti, Maharani Lakshita, appeared at the large exit gate with another maid who held a copper plate for the aarti, to wish all the children good luck and a safe journey ahead. Lakshita herself put a small dot on Siddhi's forehead and whispered something in her ear, causing the little girl to nod and giggle. Moving towards her eldest son, she blessed him, saying, "May this journey make you a more learned man."

Ekaksh folded his hands and bowed to her. After receiving her blessings, he swiftly climbed onto his horse and waved at all the citizens assembled near the palace gates to bid them goodbye. The queen then blessed Rathish, saying, "Accompany your brother like Lakshmana and be the strongest. May your journey and this new experience bring you more wisdom and understanding."

Rathish nodded and touched his mother's feet in reverence. He sat beside Siddhi in the carriage in case she would start crying later from being separated from her mother. Atop Rathish's horse sat a soldier who took his place near Ekaksh's horse.

Surrounding the city gates were the citizens of Avanti who had assembled themselves to bid farewell to the princes. Ekaksh, being the oldest, bowed down to the crowd and waved his hand at them. The children and teens waved back at him and moved out of the way to allow the small troop of soldiers and the princes to finally start their journey.

Maharani Lakshita stood at the gates as long as her eyes could see her sons on the road until they were out of sight. Sighing to herself, she entered the palace to resume the daily court, conducting political meetings and handling minor cases regarding public disputes. Malini too wiped a small tear away from her eyes and began walking to the palace to resume her work. On the way to the servant's quarters, her eyes landed on the small Ganesha temple. Quickly muttering a prayer for her daughter's well-being, she touched the idol in hopes of a beautiful start to her darling's life.

Nighttime soon crept in, and for little Siddhi, the forest no longer looked beautiful and full of cute deer and squirrels, but rather a dark, mysterious area filled with crooked trees and dark shadows lurking behind bushes. Clutching Rathish's sleeve, she murmured, "Dada, I am scared. What if a ghost snatches me away with him? Maa told me about a scary, ugly ghost who takes away children if they don't sleep."

Smiling at her innocence, Rathish lovingly ruffled Siddhi's hair and said, "Siddhi is a very brave girl, isn't she? If a ghost comes and tries to take you away, you and I will beat him up badly. Okay?" Siddhi blinked her eyes at him and slowly nodded her head in understanding. Nuzzling her cheek against his arm, she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, muttering, "Good night, mother. I love you..."

Rathish's heart softened for the small child. He gently patted her head until she had fallen into a deep sleep. Parting the curtains, he asked a soldier beside the carriage, "Should we camp somewhere now? Everybody, especially all of you, needs rest."

"Kumar Ekaksh has already planned for it. We are heading towards a nearby riverside where we can pitch the tents, my prince."

"Okay, then," Rathish smiled warmly at the soldier. He leaned his head against the carriage wall and closed his eyes for a brief moment. The sweet fragrance of the wildflowers and the warm scent of moist earth swarmed his senses. The slow sounds of the horse hooves had almost lulled him to sleep when suddenly he felt the carriage abruptly stop.

Siddhi stirred in her sleep, and Rathish immediately caressed her head. "Shh... Go to sleep." Humming in her sleep, she turned her face towards the other side and fell asleep. Quietly moving outside the carriage, Rathish saw that the soldiers and Ekaksh had halted in the middle of the forest road. Tapping the soldier right beside him, he asked, "What happened? Why did we stop suddenly?"

"I don't know the reason yet, Kumar. Kumar Ekaksh quickly sent a hand sign to stop. Shall I go and ask the prince?" asked the soldier.

Craning his neck, he saw his brother move his head to the side and then back to the front of the path. He quickly walked towards Ekaksh's horse and asked him, "What happened? Is there something obstructing our path?"

Ekaksh turned towards Rathish, a finger on his lips, and his eyes motioning towards the dimly lit forest path thanks to the fire torches. "Look there or just listen carefully."

Rathish had been beside Siddhi inside the carriage the entire day, so his eyes could not adjust themselves instantly to the dark forest. Squinting at the empty forest path, his eyes could only make out a large shadow approaching towards them. He was about to mention the large looming shadow coming towards them to Ekaksh when he heard a sharp sound of an elephant's trumpet nearby.

"Quickly, go back to Siddhi now. Direct the guards behind your carriage to stand at the side as quietly as they can. I will direct the guards on this side. Go," Ekaksh instructed Rathish, who with a quick nod, went back towards the carriage.

A large herd of elephants entered from both sides of the forest. Ekaksh and his troop stood silently in their positions. Rathish, meanwhile, moved his gaze between Siddhi and the elephants. He observed a baby elephant swinging his trunk uncontrollably, which made him chuckle a little. The adorable sight was short-lived because the baby elephant began trotting towards the carriage where Siddhi slept, immediately alarming Rathish.

Siddhi's eyes flew open at the wrong time. The baby elephant was poking his trunk on the carriage, and her sleepy eyes made the elephant turn into a scary ghost from her dreams. A shriek was about to escape from her lips when Rathish swooped in and clamped Siddhi's mouth shut.

"Shh.... don't scream. It's only a baby elephant, a little child just like you," Rathish said, cradling Siddhi's head in his hands.

Wide-eyed, Siddhi stared at the baby elephant who looked at her with his beaded eyes until a large shadow fell over them. Rathish held the little girl in his arms and gently made her lay beside him, away from the adult elephant that took the baby elephant back to the herd. Releasing a deep breath, he peered down at the sleeping figure of Siddhi and moved out of the carriage to go to Ekaksh.

"Siddhi wasn't awake, right?" Ekaksh asked in a concerned tone.

"She slept like a baby."

"Oh, she is a baby still." Ekaksh turned his head towards the carriage. "There's a riverside spot nearby. Once we reach there, all of us can finally take a night's rest."

The troop began its journey once again. Rathish chose to ride his horse for a while after ensuring that Siddhi slept well and was safe inside the carriage. He observed his brother who rode his horse with elegance in the dead of the night. Ekaksh's face only bore some sweat, and his eyes looked slightly weary, but not once did he sit in a loose posture on his horse.

"So... Excited to meet Smriti?" Rathish asked in a hushed whisper, not failing to notice the sudden bright gleam in his brother's eyes.

"Shut up and keep your eyes on the road."

***

Mohini groaned and scribbled roughly on her parchment in annoyance. "I hate grammar! Sometimes I end up stuttering through these lines, and they expect me to write a paragraph about it."

Natesh crouched down and peered over Mohini's grammar textbook and her assignment. Smiling, he touched her cheek and said, "Why worry when Natesh is here? Let me teach you a trick so you won't be confused about the rules anymore." Smriti and Ved exchanged smiles as they looked at the lovebirds and quickly shifted their attention back to their work.

Smriti had been reading about the usage of meters in poetry for a while until she decided to doodle in the corner of her pages. While busy drawing a stick figure, she heard Medha's annoyed sigh at her loose strand of hair hovering around her eyes. Her eyes flicked to Ved, who had long abandoned his book and was staring at the tired, messy appearance of Medha.

They had assembled to study in the open near the fountain beside the large Saraswati moorti. Every day, a cool breeze blew through the campus in the evening, and somehow, Medha's always neat hair bun had turned very loose and breezy. Medha's fingers were ink-stained, and she had gotten some ink stains on her cream-colored skirt. Her thick, curved eyebrows drew together in concentration as her eyeballs scanned the pages of her book and the rough calculations she did on paper.

Ved loved seeing Medha's focused gaze on her books. She was passionate about studying and possessed a mind hungry for knowledge, especially in the sciences. Being the highly studious girl, she rarely had time to come to class with a proper pleated pallu. Sometimes it would loosely dangle down below her shoulder, which she would hastily pick up and tie around her waist-a sight that would instantly make Ved dream of her. There would be crinkles on the lower side of the cloth, and every day one could easily find ink drops on her clothes.

Smriti cleared her throat, bringing Ved's attention back to his book. Resisting a sly jibe at Ved, she moved her head away from the book and saw Suraini and Chitra walking together from the school building. Chitra could barely walk while Suraini just kept flexing her legs after taking a few steps.

Suraini, the green-eyed beauty, was native to Gandhara. She was the youngest daughter of a merchant who married a beautiful dancer from Yavanadesh, whose family had migrated to Gandhara. Her eyes were the most highlighted feature thanks to her mother's roots in the wonderful land of the Yavanas. True to her mother's dancing family, Suraini too possessed a strong inclination towards the performing arts, literature, and poetry.

A sweaty Chitra stopped near the group of friends and said, "Smriti and Natesh, you all better be ready for sore legs when you start dance class this year. God, we have never had such an intense session before." Suraini wiped her forehead and commented, "Yes, and I can easily bet that Chitra will get a fever tomorrow just from this heavy exertion."

Natesh looked up from Mohini's textbook and asked, "What dances did she make you all perform?"

"Better to ask what dances she didn't ask us to perform?" Chitra said, her voice containing a slight mocking tone.

Suraini sat down on the ground, pressing her thighs while fanning herself with her pallu. "We literally did five long dance items, and all of them were pure nritta pieces. I don't know if I can walk tomorrow."

"No new items?" Smriti asked, abandoning her rough doodles on paper.

"No new items because she said it was necessary to revise the nritta pieces once again due to our very extensive training this year," Suraini answered, taking a drink from the nearby pitcher.

Sprinkling some water droplets on her face from the fountain, Suraini's eyes glanced at Mohini's paper when she suddenly got up, saying, "Oh my, I had totally forgotten that this is due tomorrow. Let me quickly freshen up and bring my books here." Saying so, she ran off to the Samsthiti building towards her room.

Stretching her arms, Chitra handed her hand out to Mohini, for the former had left her books with Mohini beforehand. "Here you go," said Mohini, giving Chitra's books to her, who quickly turned over the pages of the assigned work.

The group continued studying until dinnertime was announced during the second hour of the Pradosha prahar. Mohini, Suraini, and Chitra, with their belongings, headed towards the all-girls mess for food, while Medha, Ved, Smriti, and Natesh decided to go to the co-ed mess to chat some more over dinner.

After a light but delicious dinner, the boys went back to their dormitory, with Ved smuggling some extra sweets from the kitchen to satisfy his nightly cravings for food. Medha and Smriti decided to take a walk nearby before calling it a night.

Medha gazed at the Saraswati moorti, which was glowing under the soft moonlight and the warm colors of the fire torches. The idol of the goddess always provided her serenity amidst the daily hustle of rigorous academic activities. Sometimes she used to sit near the goddess before exams to calm herself down, and sometimes she thought she was hallucinating, but there were times when she saw the goddess's lips curl into a small smile at her, as if assuring her that success would be hers.

Smriti, meanwhile, looked at the faraway mountains surrounding the school that were shrouded in darkness. For her, those hills made her feel one with nature, and in troubled times or times of doubt, she turned toward those large majestic creations of nature for guidance. Perhaps it was her own belief that nature too conformed to Smriti's emotions, but she could never explain the amount of clarity she got about her own thoughts after gazing at the mountains for a while.

"I hope you reveal my future path soon," she spoke to the mountains in her head while nodding at Medha's words.

"Shut up, I need sleep. We can meet the gods tomorrow, too."

"The temple is twenty steps away. Let's take blessings from Shiv-Shakti and then go to Bodhi."

"You go alone then! Did I stop you? Not at all. Don't force me."

"You know I hate going alone."

"That's as you said, mere twenty steps. Will a monster gobble you? Besides, you are to be crowned next."

"Stop blurting! Go to your room. Bye."

Both the girls heard two annoyed male voices near the administration building of the school. Looking at each other, they walked further to see which two boys had gotten into an argument.

Two boys, alike in height, around eighteen years of age stood in front, arguing with each other, their backs facing the girls. Smriti could make out the side profile of the dusky boy from a distance while the other boy just stood stiff with arms folded across his chest.

"Umm... is everything okay between you all?" asked Smriti, cautiously making the dusky boy turn sharply at her when his annoyed expression morphed into shock and surprise.

"Oh my, you are Smriti, right?" asked the boy who was none other than Kumar Rathish, who immediately placed his hand over the other boy, none other than his brother, Ekaksh, who somehow grew even more stiff and refused to turn his head.

A confused Medha looked between Smriti and the new boy, wondering how he knew her name. Smriti, though confused, nodded her head and looked at both the brothers. "Yes, I am Smriti. You are?"

"Ravishtha, and this boy," he turned his brother a little too harshly in excitement, "is your dear Ekaksh."

Medha had never heard Smriti gasp so loudly. Smriti ran to Ekaksh and looked at him from top to bottom, saying, "Oh my God, yes! But how come are you here?"

Ekaksh, who had grown stiff, gulped and blinked his eyes at Smriti, trying to muster the courage to face the girl for whom he came. "Oh, about that? I wanted to keep it as a surprise. I had applied to Gyanpith for Year Twelve to experience the environment of school for a year after years of studying at home. And then when I got to know about you studying there, it overjoyed me to know that a friend would be there too."

"It's really, really wonderful to see you here. I never thought I would ever see you again. This is so crazy, I believe." Smriti moved a step back. "Probably our fates are aligned," she added with a bright smile.

Ravishtha, on the other hand, walked over to Medha, who just stood there looking at the mini reunion. "And what's your name, pretty lady?" he asked, throwing in a charming smile.

Medha amusedly answered, "Medha. Nice to meet you. I am Smriti's best friend."

Ravishtha brushed his fingers through his hair and asked, "So did your friend ever mention my friend, Ekaksh, while talking? They both seem to have a good history, don't they?"

Chuckling, she answered, "Oh yes, I have heard about him a lot. Did your friend ever mention my friend's name at all to you?"

"Plenty."

"That's good then. Did you both arrive here today?"

Nodding, Rathish glanced at Ekaksh and Smriti for a moment, and answered, "Yes, in the evening. The procedure was a bit tedious, but we also got a hearty meal in dinner, so I guess that made up for all the tiring journey and admission process."

Ekaksh and Smriti decided to walk over to Rathish and Medha after chatting for a while about the latest happenings in their lives. "So which dormitory building have they allotted to you?" Smriti asked.

"Bodhi," stated Ekaksh, causing an excited Medha to clap her hands.

"You both got Bodhi too? That's nice. There are two boys who are our friends too who have got their rooms in Bodhi. They live on the second floor."

"I see... We got our room on the third floor," Rathish said.

Soon the bell rang with a loud chime, signaling for all the students to get back to their dormitories. Smriti glanced at Ekaksh and said, "Let's meet in Rasayana then tomorrow."

"You are there too?" asked Rathish in a happy voice.

"You too? That's amazing!" exclaimed Smriti. "Then let's meet at the co-ed mess during lunch tomorrow. That way, I can introduce you to the rest of my friends too."

"Okay then. Goodnight to both of you," Ekaksh wished as the two girls smiled and walked back to their building.

"I think let's bow to the gods in gratitude for meeting two pretty girls today," Rathish said, smiling at his brother.

Swatting Rathish's arm, he replied, "Sometimes I wonder how on earth are you my twin."

***

SO we are done with ten chapters for this book! A tiny milestone but it is still a huge thing for me considering how inconsistent i was before. I am glad i was able to write all this way through and readers, this is where now everything starts.

Also i would love to here your views and comments. I have been very inactive on wattpad for a long time thanks to entrance exams so i will appreciate some of your comments over this story. I don't have too many readers now to get feedback or to even interact much but to the small amount of people who have given this book a chance, i am really really really thankful for your support. Thank you so much!