When Shubhasini stumbles upon a mysterious amulet, she finds herself transported in a different world, and different period to the Shivasthambh dynasty. As she navigates the unfamiliar customs and traditions of the period, she catches the eye of the...
I was born before my parents could get married. My mother, Queen Bhishakha fell in love with our former Chief Commander Birendra Singha. However, fate was cruel to them. Before they could get married, my father was killed in a battlefield. He was a Warrior. It was last year that an unknown source gave me a piece of information that led to the search. I wasn't sure if the information was true or not but I found out that my father wasn't killed in a battle field.
The wind picked up speed as I stood on the cliff, another nightfall with a notion to look at the source. I stood there, I had a clear vision of where I was headed for the night.
To be honest, all I could see was water stretching for miles in the north and the mountains in the south direction, which was mostly the case, anyway.
I had faced a vast number of dangerous seas, scattered secret islands, and endless lands with a multitude of creatures that didn't mingle with each other, encountered many battles and enlarged our dynasty. Now I was on my path to becoming The King Of Shivasthambha.
I waited until I saw my brother's horse galloping toward me. There was someone with him as he stopped in front.
The woman hid behind him as soon as they climbed down.
"It's all right, you can come out now," Niladhwaj called so softly that I arched my eyebrows. I had never heard him talking to someone so softly.
A slim woman of medium height, with curls, piled wildly on top of her head and a lovely face, though unfortunately marred by a thin scar that ran across her left cheek, stood there hesitantly
I glanced at Niladhwaj, then at the woman. "What is going on?"
"We aren't here for that, brother," Niladhwaj said ignoring the woman's protest.
"Yuvraj," she bowed her head dutifully. "I apologize for the inconvenience of the timing,"
I nodded. "It's okay. If you are valuable enough for my brother, I'm sure I can trust you,"
"My loyalty lies with you and Silabhadra," she said, still bowing low.
"You can raise your head," I told her. Beside her, Niladhwaj was impatient to share his findings.
"Bhai, you need to reach the village until the time comes for you to take the throne," Niladhwaj said.
"What have you found?" I asked. It was more complicated than I thought.
"Baba is taking alliance with Surya Singh. The spy we captured didn't know much, however, his statement matched with the finding I got,"
I nodded.
I wished I could share what I knew about our old man, but I couldn't.
I trusted Niladhwaj, however I cared for my brother more. It would harm my brother the most.
"I'll do such. In the meantime follow the instructions and plans with Amarendra," I told him.
"Are you sure you want to search the past?" Niladhwaj asked. His eyes were intense and I could see he was curious.
"Nila, it is not just a past and certainly not because it's related to my birth father. We are talking about betrayal here," I said.
The plans that were being made had to remain secret, for the safety of many and for the success of our dynasty. If things continued as they were, it would be less than a year before I could conquer Surya Singh's Kingdom and possibly sit on the throne.
"Stay at Narayan garh. I'll maintain the Palace with Acharya ji, during this period, and you will stop by this site tomorrow. Please do this brother, or you could lose your life, you old, stubborn fool," Niladhwaj said with more concern than harshness.
"I'm not that easy to kill, Nila," I chuckled. "I can take care of my life,"
"But we are talking about your place on the throne. My fool of a father is going to try his best for me to sit on it. Even if he loses the whole dynasty in the process," Nila growled. Beside him, the woman shifted uncomfortably.
"Careful," I warned. "Don't act naively. I'll visit you tomorrow,"
Niladhwaj nodded. I eyed the woman again. And finally realized she was wearing similar clothing as our palace dasi (maid).
"Now, are you finally going to introduce us?" I asked.
Niladhwaj rolled his eyes. "This is Anuprava, she is. . . She is important,"
I chuckled. "I can tell, Nila. However, maintain the Raj-rules." I said.
Anuprava looked up at my words about to defend herself, but Niladhwaj stopped her.
"Bhai, I respect our Raj-rules," he said. "I'll never do anything to disrespect our Dynasty,"
"And that includes respecting women," I reminded him. "Do not play with women like they are nothing,"
They both stared at me in shock.
"We are not together," Niladhwaj and Anuprava said in unison.
I laughed at their words.
"We're friends," Anuprava added, though she blushed.
"Huh, right, then Surya Singh is my best friend," I chuckled at their blushed faces and walked away.
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