A beautiful laughter echoed in his ears, and Kabir narrowed his eyes, looking around."Did you hear that?" He asked his best friend, Yashvir, the crown Prince of Kalang."Hear what?" Yashvir asked, frowning."I think I heard a girl laughing," Kabir replied, trying to listen closely."It's probably your destiny laughing at you," Yashvir smirked. "You're the son of the King's most trusted soldier, and here you are, stuck with me as a hunting buddy.""Tch," Kabir rolled his eyes. "I'm here by choice. And secondly, I really heard someone laughing.""A girl?" Yashvir raised an eyebrow. "Out here in the forest, at this time of the day? You're going mad.""No, I'm not," Kabir waved him off. He heard a faint scream, and now he stood up, his hand on his sword. "There is definitely some girl around here. I think she's in trouble.""Yeah, but we're not in father's territory right now, so it isn't someone from your Kingdom. You don't have any obli

"What do you mean you don't want the crown anymore?!" Maharani (Queen) Hansa Bai's voice echoed in the room."I said what I said," Yashvir shrugged, as maids massaged his body with different oils. He was lying shirtless on his stomach on a charpoy (a bedstead of woven webbing stretched on a wooden frame on four legs), his forearms supporting his head like a pillow. Yashvir did not even bother to open his eyes and look up at his mother, too relaxed and lost in Ahankara's thoughts.The beautiful Princess of Adibar."Leave us," the Queen ordered the women, and they instantly stood up, bowed their heads in respect and exited the room.Yashvir sighed, now opening his eyes."I am asking you something, Yashvir. What nonsense did you just utter, and that too in front of all those servants? How dare you?" Hansa Bai scolded.Yashvir clenched his jaw, now standing up from the charpoy, and stood before his mother."I will not take the crown until you ge

"You look beautiful, Rajkumari," Neharika complimented, while helping Ahankara wear her last bangle."I don't want to," Ahankara sighed. "I had to dress up-""Because your brother will scold you if you don't. I know. You've repeated that sentence a hundred times already," Neharika finished for her, and Ahankara sighed again."What if-" Ahankara began, but she was once again interrupted, this time by a knock on her door. "Who is it?" She rolled her eyes, standing up from her chair."Rajkumari Ahankara? It's Meena," the person replied. Ahankara took a deep breath to calm her nerves, before gesturing at Neharika to let her in."Khamma Ghanni Rajkumari," Meena greeted as soon as she entered the room, a huge smile on her face."Ghanni Khamma. What is it?" Ahankara questioned."You look stunning, Rajkumari Ahankara! This royal blue lehenga looks so beautiful on you!" She beamed at her."Thank you, Meena," Ahankara offered her a small smile.

"We will leave your Palace tomorrow morning. After that you have three days to decide, whether you want us to become relatives, or enemies," Yashvir declared."You can't do that, Yuvraj!" Karan Singh replied, almost shaking with rage. Meanwhile Yashvir looked awfully calm."Says who?" Yashvir smirked. "I am the crown Prince of Kalang. I can go to war with any Kingdom I want, for whatsoever reason. No other Kingdom will dare to stand against us.""What... What will you achieve by this?" Karan Singh frowned, sighing in defeat as he looked at him in question.Yashvir smiled, and his eyes softened."Ahankara."- - - -"Rajkumari?" Someone knocked on the door multiple times, sounding extremely agitated."Come in," Ahankara frowned, exchanging a bewildered look with Neharika.Meena entered the room and closed th

Ahankara quickly ran to her room, and closed the door behind herself, also proceeding to lock it. She took deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves, as her heart hammered away in her chest. She realized she was shivering, and she held her shawl closer to herself as she was feeling something completely foreign.Never before had any man came that close to her, or talked to her that way. And the worst part was, she did not even feel utterly disgusted by it. She sighed, still catching her breath, and made her way to the large mirror in her room, throwing her shawl aside. Ahankara stared at herself, as his words echoed in her mind."How can the Moon be in the sky, when it is standing right in front of me?"Heat crept up her cheeks, before she scowled at herself.How dare he say that to her? As if it was the most normal thing to say to a Princess? Had he been taught no morals, no etiquettes?