The Village Girl

Chapter Twenty Six - [Aaryan]

She was frowning, looking down, and after a moment she put her hands over her inflated belly. "And what about me?" She asked. "IF I killed someone for no reason, would you kill me too? Would you not hesitate?"

I hesitated.

To my own discontent, the question took me by surprise.

She looked up at me, looking as if she felt that she had proven a point. "It is not about how you are raised," she said. "Love is innate. I do not think Aarun is a good man but you do this because you have chosen to look down at him and feel like he is not your brother," she said. "I do not know what the history between the two of you is, but you chose this and I cannot live like that."

I opened my mouth to argue but she did not let me.

"And I certainly will not let our children live like that!"

One again, I hesitated, letting out a breath.

"If what you say is true, then you cannot expect me to raise the son we may have to not trust and love his sisters and brothers because he will one day be a King," she said, her voice as sharp as needles. I had never heard her speak like this to anyone, let alone me. "Instead of doing something so foolish, why can't we simply work to raise our children to never even consider corruption or theft or rape or murdrer as even an option to begin with? We can teach them what is right and wrong. We will raise our children to never have a reason or the thought to cut their brothers hand right off of him in front of a crowd!"

Seetha's face was red despite her dark skin. She was struggling to catch her breath, the large belly probably making it harder for her to breathe.

It was clear that she was, inadvertently, insulting my family, my way of life, and maybe everything about the royal family, and it did take much for me to just stay silent and listen. But before I could respond, she continued to speak.

"And Aaryan, if you disagree with me then I love you, but you will have no part in raising this baby... not you and not the family that raised you to feel this way!"

Her words were an ultimatum, clearly, and they angered me. My first thought was how could she say that to me. It was the first thought that always passed through my mind when someone said something to upset me. "This is not the village. You cannot make those kinds of decisions."

"Maybe it should be," Seetha responded angrily. "Maybe that would teach your people how to be a little more like regular, civilized humans–"

"My people?" I asked, finally snapping at this line she was drawing between the two of us.

"Yes! Your people!" She responded. "You all focus on such grand subjects like being King and fighting wars and protecting your name... then you go on to forget something as simple as what it means to have a family! What it means to be a brother, or a mother, or even a father!"

"You have no idea what you are talking about–"

"Don't take me as a fool!" She was crying now, shouting through her tears. "You all think that I know nothing! Just because I come from a village doesn't mean I don't know anything! I know the laws of the gods, my father taught me well and to think otherwise would be an insult to my parents, the people who raised my brother and sisters and I despite all the pain and tears and exhaustion! You don't need to be a king or a queen or a prince or a noble to know how to be a decent human being who can treat the world fairly when the world does not treat you the same way! In fact, I think the rest of us do a much better job at it than you all... I'm starting to understand that you need to have nothing to understand that family is everything!"

As soon as she stopped speaking, she turned to leave, making me grab her arm. In my head, all I could think was that she could not expect to leave after speaking to me like that. She could not claim that I did not know what a family meant... that I was so... inhumane.

I also could not let her expect to leave after claiming that I thought she was such a fool. I didn't. That was the last thing I thought. I thought she was brilliant... I always had.

However, when my hand grabbed her arm, she jerked her arm away so hard that it stunned me. "Do not touch me!"

"Where are you going?"

"To my room–"

"You will stay here!" I growled.

"And if I don't?" She snapped back, walking over to me. She stepped all the way up to me, looking up at me angrily, her face inches away from mine. "Are you going to cut me as well?"

Her words stung in a way that I did not understand, and I tried not to show it, glaring back at her.

When I didn't respond, she let out a breath. "I want... to go... home."

I blinked, and this time when she turned around and stormed out of my room, I didn't stop her.