CHAPTER: 26
Once upon a time, there lived a princess, her beauty was ethereal and her intelligence and interest in battlefield planning were known among the scholars and even the kingdoms from far away were aware of it. As her coming of age was nearing, news about it spread everywhere, and princes and kings from everywhere came to ask for her hand in marriage and set up the alliance between the two kingdoms.
One day a King came from the Great Dynasty of Raya to ask the princess to be the wife of his first son - the crown prince and held a special request for her to visit their castle and stay there for both of them to get to know each other and for her to get familiar with the rules and administration of the dynasty.
Everything was going well, the princess's father agreed to it, and the princess had no objection to her father's request. It was decided that she will stay in the Raya Dynasty as the guest of the King and special care would be taken of her lodging and interest.
The expedition was set up, and the princess's father took care of everything her daughter might need, during her stay there, and on her journey.
Soon they set off, they went through the forests, crossed bridges, and passed through the territories day and night while they stopped on their way and took shelter to rest every once in a while, everything went peaceful until they reached Vaisallies Dynasty, the last one till they reached the Raya Dynasty as the river flowing amidst the forest separated the two.
Monsoon was in its prime, with storms, hail, and relentless downpours, the river became impossible to cross, and it was decided they will wait some hours till the river water had settled down.
Some hours turned into a day and the King of Vaisallis got to know about the situation, he visited the princess and her staffers himself to pay them his consolation for their trouble.
It was love at first sight, but an impossible one for she was the wife-to-be of the crown prince of the rivaling kingdom and her father had already said his word for her marriage, she could never go against him.
The love they had had to end, for it had no future and soon the river water had settled down and it was stable enough to cross it without any inconveniences.
The princess left without saying anything as she was wise enough to not give the King any false hope but the King had different plans, all he waited for was the right time.
The princess got married and continued her duties as the Queen when the former King died from old age and her husband became the King. The King of Vaisallis got married to a daughter from a royal family, fit for his kingdom but his heart remained with the former woman he fell in love with.
The thing with love is, it's of different kinds, some lived for love, while some killed for it.
He attacked the Raya Dynasty when it was in turmoil due to the political conflicts between the royal families of the Raya and the former thought it was the right time.
Blood was shed, people got killed, and the masses were in a plight, and in this chaos and chorus of death, the Queen died.
The Kings of both dynasties were filled with rage and Drishyam Raya attacked back with his desire for revenge and after many months of battles, the King of Vaisallies was able to send the troops of Raya back but death caught him for he couldn't come in terms with the fact he was the cause of his lover's death.
He got bedridden for some weeks, but there were no signs of illness on his body. He died in his sleep on a winter morning, rumor had been there that he had a peaceful smile on his face as if he embraced death like a lost lover, leaving his wife and daughter behind.
Conflicts arose in the Kingdom and Vaisallis' brothers and cousins fought for the throne and in this fight of power, the Queen decided to leave silently after watching enough of it but she got caught too and died an unexpected death.
The younger brothers of the King were afraid, that the former Queen might try to assert her power and try to take the throne.
The daughter, the rightful heir of the Vaisalli Kingdom, Varsha Vaisalli was able to get away. Her mother had hid and sent her away before the merciless storm took her in. The princess was disguised and sent in the hands of a kind minister and a loyal friend of the late King, he took her under his shelter.
In the dead of the night, when cold December air had put a cover of hazy mist and the northern winds were in play, he crossed boundaries with the young princess in his arms and entered the Raya Kingdom.
With this, began the story of Vidhyut and Varsha unbeknownst that fate had conspired something similar to their parents.
Varsha's foster father was able to disguise both of them well for he didn't tell her about her identity and he never intended to, until the day unknown.
Days passed by when on a fateful afternoon Varsha crossed paths with Vidhyut, in the forest. The prince of the Raya had sneaked out of the restraints of royal duties to run into the woods when he lost his way and found her.
Then one unexpected meeting became a planned occurrence from weekly to daily, and they didn't realize when they fell in love.
Maybe it was when Vidhyut told her what mischief he did that day and enraged the King, for the latter was never a father when Vidhyut needed him, maybe it was when Varsha used to hold his hand and tried to make him understand that not all fathers were the same and tell him her day's events that how his father taught her to cook an omelet and saved her from cutting herself while polishing her silver dagger.
But gray clouds were on the horizon, they slowly took over the sky and obstructed every ray of sun that could kiss the earth, darkness surrounded them as the King sent to know what his son did in the woods which kept the latter busy till the sunset.
When Varsha's father got to know the King had sent the word to the Kingdom, he decided to suffer the King's wrath and request to keep the prince away if it only meant her daughter's safety but luck wasn't on his side.
The King's royal informers knew Varsha's father and the knowledge of who Varsha could possibly be weren't much of a worry. The former sent her soldiers to get her without the prince's knowledge but Varsha's father got to them before the King's troops and tried to help them escape but to no avail, the attempt was futile.
and as we know some live for love, while some kill for it
The King's troops found them indeed and dragged them to the royal court but we all know how it had turned out, the former couldn't separate the two.
demise over separation
So they did, as the fathers of their children could do nothing but watch it all unfold, however not all fathers are the same, while one watched his child hold hands with death in sorrow, the other had nothing but indifference brushed on his unblemished skin.
Soon the eyes filled with worry changed to wrath and Varsha's father decided to accomplish his daughter's final wish to burn the kingdom in ashes.
He was successful to do so and left the Raya Mahal burning to its core as he held his unalive daughter in his arms to take her where she really belonged, to her birthplace, and where it all started.
the story didn't start with them, but they are the ones who shall complete it
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*mysterious by music* quite a filler chapter if you ask me and ooof it took so much to write, I hope I wrote it to your understanding, feel free to point out the mistakes and if there is some editing needed.