Eighteen years ago, 13th July, Udaipur, Agni Mahal, 10.45 p.m.

" She looks like me!" A soft male voice murmured and the the older boy shook his head.

" No Arnav! She looks like me!"

" No Advay Bhai! Like me!"

" What's going on here ?" A tall figure towered over them and the two boys instantly turned recognising the voice, the older one was more careful, having his baby-sister in his arms.

" Papa!" The five-year-old Arnav tugged at his father's t-shirt.

" Doesn't Shivi look like me?"

" She looks like me more Papa!" A seven-year-old Advay insisted.

Shiv sighed as his sons argued over who their sister looked more like.

" Shivi looks a little like Advay, and a little like Arnav too." He softly declared.

" Who does she look like more Papa?"

" Like your Ma!"

The boys' gaze flickered towards their mother's sleeping silhoutte on the bed for a while, and it fleeted back to their sister and they nodded.

Their sister did resemble their mother.

" I wish she was born a boy. Then she'd resemble me more!" Arnav sighed and Advay snorted, shaking his head.

" Alright, that's enough of wishing okay? If you keep arguing, it'd wake your Ma up. Hand Shivanya to me. Go and sleep too. It's way past your bedtime."

" But but....but we want to spend more time with Shivanya!"

" Go boys. Please." Shiv urged softly and they sighed, and two nods followed.

As Arnav leaned in to plant a peck on Shivanya's cheek, Advay pulled away with a glare.

" She's asleep, you'll wake her up!"

" No I won't! You're just overly possessive and envious!"

" I'm not!" Advay retorted.

" Boys." Shiv's voice was soft but firm.

Advay sighed and let Arnav peck their sister, doing the same, he carefully put her back next to their mother, planted a peck on his mother's cheek as well, hugged his father good-night, and left the room.

Shiv let out a serene sigh and lay down next to his wife and daughter.

♤♧♤

Contrast to the calm, quiet, peaceful and joyful atmosphere in Agni Mahal, celebrating the birth of their first daughter and Princess, the situation was chaotic and violent in Ran Mahal,

" A daughter ?" Priyamvadha Singh Rajawat spat, her cold eyes casting over the scattered roses that lay on the coffee table in her bedroom.

" Yes Your Highness. They say, she's as delicate and beautiful as a rose."

" Ah. A rose." Priyamvadha's lips curved in a cruel smile and she stepped forward and elegantly picked a rose with her slender fingers.

She gazed at it for long and her maid's brows knitted in confusion as fear grappled her.

Did the former Queen have another cruel plan up her sleeve again?

And did it include the newborn Princess Shivanya?

" A rose." She murmured again, amusement pouring down her words, yet, her face suggested otherwise.

The maid's breath hitched, waiting for her next move and let out an inaudible gasp as Priyamvadha crushed it mercilessly, letting the thorns prick her and draw her blood.

" Your Highness! You're bleeding!"

" If a few drops of blood is what it will take me to cast away unwanted things, so be it." She declared, her words leaving behind an unsaid meaning and the maid's orbs widened in horror.

The King and Queen needed to know what the old hag was upto.

♤♧♤

" Shiv! Shiv! Where is Shivanya ?" Shiv Pratap Rajawat's eyes flew open as his wife shook him.

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up with a frown as he looked around.

" She was right here........." he trailed off, his gaze unsettled.

" She isn't anymore! Where is our Shivi ?" Sheer panic had taken over the usually calm Anika as she demanded to know.

" Calm down love, she must be here somewhere. Probably the boys took her along ?"

" No, no." She shook her head vigorously. " They don't wake up till ten on weekends! They're probably asleep! No! Where is our daughter Shiv ?" Tears spilled down her pale face.

Shiv's heart shattered and he shook his head, cupping her face in his hands.

" She must be fine. Please calm down my love."

" WHERE IS SHE ?"

As Aparna, Shiv's brother, Bhairav's wife walked in to take a look at her niece, the state of the room left her stumped.

" What happened ?" She asked as she saw a disheveled Anika unconscious in Shiv's arms.

" Shivi's missing." His declaration made her eyes widen in horror and her heart sank, a known fear grappling her as tears began flowing down her cheeks.

" No. no no no no no! Not this again! Bhairav! Bhairav!" She rushed out of the room to get her husband.

Minutes later when Bhairav stood in his brother's room, he gazed towards the cradle that had been newly brought for the newborn Shivanya, and a realisation began dawning him slowly.

He recalled all of Aparna's miscarriages when the gender was revealed a girl.

He recalled all their losses.

He recalled how each time his mother never bothered about his wife's miscarriages.

" It was Ma." Bhairav muttered, his fists and jaw clenching, his face and voice conveying nothing but fury as it consumed every inch of his body.

" What ?"

" DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME BHAI ? IT WAS MA!"

Shiv stumbled back in disbelief.

Cries from the past haunted him from deep inside.

He was horrified.

Hadn't his mother learnt from her mistakes yet?

Grabbing his phone, he dialled his secretary.

" There's something you need to do. Now."

His secretary who was soundly sleeping when he had been called, was now wide-awake hearing his Boss's solemn tone and sat up straight.

As he heard out the recent happenings, his heart dropped to his feet in shock.

Barely able to speak, he croaked out and sank to the ground,

How could he ever find the lost princess?

And that too, when someone so powerful from her own family had outcasted her?

All Raman could do for now, was pray and hope the Princess stays safe wherever she is.

And he kept in mind, that he had to find the baby no matter what.

What he didn't know was, it wouldn't take him a few months but eighteen whole years, and the one who finds her, would be a rival instead.