◌ 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐘𝐀𝐓𝐈 | ᴠᴏʏᴀɢᴇ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛɪᴍᴇ | ⁽ᵁᴺᴰᴱᴿ ᴱᴰᴵᵀᴵᴺᴳ⁾

06.| ᴀ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ ᴇxᴘᴇᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏʀ...?

"We're lost." Shriya concluded as she moved her gaze all around the forest Saudamini had led them to. Anandi shrugged tossing an apple at her which Shriya caught before it could fall down.

"No, we aren't." Anandi replied nonchalantly nuzzling her face in Kanthaka's mane, trusting her horse to follow Saudamini's.

"Yes, we are."

"No, we aren't."

"Fine then Miss Navigator, where are we?" Shriya raised an eyebrow looking at her sister who suddenly straightened up and smiled sheepishly.

"Errr,......we, we are......right here." Anandi blinked innocently as Shriya threw her hands up in the air giving up and following her fate. Her intuition told her that something was to happen today. She had tried explaining to Anandi but the latter shrugged it off thinking it was Shriya's rule-abiding nature.

"We're here guys!" The sisters heard Saudamini calling out for them. They pulled the reins of the horse, stopping their movements, and jumped down in unison. Shriya took out the bag of food from the chest attached to Tara's side.

"Sauda, where are we?" Anandi queried as she gazed mesmerized at the beauty of the forest. Saudamini chuckled as she walked over to Anandi and looked in the direction she had been looking at.

"We are at the Northern borders of Kaumaarivan and that area where you are looking at is off limits." Anandi smiled sheepishly as she understood that the statement was directed at her.

"Wait, isn't that the area where the tribes live?" Shriya questioned while looking in the direction where Anandi had been gazing at. Saudamini nodded at her causing Shriya to sigh and look down at the grassy land.

"What tribes?" Anandi asked confused. Saudamini's face turned serious as she placed her hand on Anandi's shoulder. "That part of the forest you see is the abode of the tribes of the Northern part of Rajgadh. They like to remain aloof from the usual societal norms of the Aryas and are devotees of Lakshmi-Narayana. Rajgadh has a pact with this tribe to not meddle with each other's territories."

Anandi's lips formed an 'O' shape as she nodded in understanding. She then nudged Shriya who looked at her with raised eyebrows. Anandi's hands slumped down as she pushed her weight on Shriya causing the latter to momentarily lose her balance but soon she balanced herself and held Anandi so that she won't fall.

Anandi sluggishly hugged her sister erupting chuckles from the other two maidens. Saudamini motioned Shriya to settle down on the ground causing the latter to nod in response as she tugged Anandi with herself, settling both of them down together. Anandi continued her monkey like behaviour as the other two chatted freely about all different matters from politics to after-marriage life.

Anandi who had almost fallen asleep jolted into an attentive stance as she heard Saudamini mention something that caught her interest.

"You know Shriya-Anandi, when I visited these forests to collect some herbs I found a strange plant in the eastern area. It had these weird spikes all over it and had a weird yellowish glow. It looked so attractive but I have known better than to just fondle an attractive looking plant. For all that I could know that it could be a deadly being." Saudamini shuddered as she found herself losing her in some memory. Shriya snickered in a very unlady-like manner earning a gasp from her dramatic sister.

"My god woman you are about to get married tomorrow and here you are behaving like a deranged lady. You better poise up or I shall be personally ushering Govind out of Rajgadh." Anandi dramatically stated as she tugged at Shriya's uttariya and loosely placed it over her head. Shriya squinted her eyes at her playfully before launching herself on her and started tickling her.