Cittaja || Indian Historical Romance

69.

Shakra rolled his eyes. Of course, it was useless to try and argue with the man infamous for his tongue.

"I'm still working towards it. I caught hold of my lust long ago. I caught control of my rage. I caught control of my greed. I control my jealousy. I caught control of attachments. Surely, my control over pride is slightly shaky, but it is there. I'm yet to capture control of grudges." Amartya confessed his own shortcomings and sighed.

"Well, I've heard that Anvesha Amma is talking about yours and Saahiti's possible marriage."

Amartya sighed at that. "She tried to talk to me about it, but I dodged it. Karma had already informed me about it."

"Saahiti is a sweet girl," Shakra teased.

"Saahiti is in love with Abhijit, and Abhijit loves her."

"Amma was telling me how she thought that you and Saahiti seemed similar to each other. Both of you are Vedantins and have a similar appreciation for intelligence. You're practically someone who will only stand in the company of a woman who can think at least as fast as you. It sounds right. Amma went to an astrologer and confirmed that both your horoscopes match perfectly. The astrologer says that all 36 qualities between you two match."

"I know you're trying to play around." Amartya chuckled, thinking about the horoscope. "Two people can match 36 qualities, but one quality stands out above them all. That is called love. If the graha nakshatras don't match, you can perform japa to make up for it. If ganas, vashyas, and varnas don't match, mutual cooperation will correct it. But if love isn't there, no amount of these matchings will work out. Ravana's horoscope matched perfectly with Mandodari's. Yet, it was nothing short of a tragic and horrific marriage."

"Do you think Amma will concede Abhi?"

"I don't know, but I feel like your father will find a way to make her accept. He's always been the kind to give his children what they love. He's always been great at finding ways to get people to do what he wants them to do."

Just as Amartya spoke about Shatrujit, the room's door opened, and the Emperor entered. Both of them stood up in respect for him.

"Sit. Sit..." Shatrujit signaled as he walked towards his chair, rubbing his temples.

"Did you all have a little too much of a drink?"

"Too much!!!" Shatrujit groaned. "Remind me not to let Ameyajit convince me to stay back for long. Anvesha is going to have a field day."

Amartya chuckled. "I hear that all of you men barely escaped a murder attempt."

"Murder attempt?" The two looked at Amartya.

"Did no one tell you yet?"

"Everyone is still asleep in the fort, Amartya. You're the only one who religiously wakes up before Brahma Muhurta. Everyone else wakes up past Brahma Muhurta." Shakra exclaimed.

"Both the daughters-in-law of the Kalika Empire and Saahiti, along with Kamal, managed to get you all to survive the night. A small part of the invaders' remaining army disguised themselves as soldiers from Deogarh and infiltrated here in Sri Kota. Rajkumari Veer seems to have noticed the dead bodies in the caravan where some soldiers from Deogarh were staying. She wanted to inform someone, but most of the fort seemed to be lost in drinking and partying. So, she found Mayurakshi. Both of them met with Saahiti. Three of them came up with a plan. Kamal, the only sober one among you all, had helped them. So, Kamal took the Emperor to Maharani Anvesha and Abhinav to Rajkumari Aparajita. Shakra was taken back to safety in Rang Bhavan by his wife. Obviously, Saahiti and Rajkumari Veer handled Abhi and Ameya. I don't know how drunk the whole place was that they couldn't sense the difference between a man and women dressed up as men. Three women seemed to fool the whole party into thinking they were the princes. It's still not clear how it wasn't obvious. But they got the invaders caught. Women from the invaders' side also seem to be involved. Though they caught some of them, a few of them are still out." Ameya explained.