6 Gurukula Days:Part Two

The wind blew Shaurya's silky hair across his face as he stood frozen in front of the girl in black. The girl finally removes her shawl from her mouth and reveals her face. Shaurya stares at her with sheer wonder. She was beautiful but also simple with tiny freckles here and there. She was of a wheatish complexion that seemed to glow and had a sharp eye. She walked away in silence towards the sword arena. Shaurya had to interrupt,"Interesting sword technique . I wonder where you learnt that". The female turned fourty five regress and gave him a sharp side glance,"I'm Gowri and these sword techniques are not for pampered royal familes". With that she made a sharp turn and sprinted towars the sword arena. Shaurya had never felt so attracted to a female for her talent alone,in fact he was not attracted to any female. At one point Chandruhasa and the other boys started calling him a Rock hill that moved. Shaurya was determined to have atleast one fight with this female. He wanted to test her skills. Meanwhile Chandruhasa and the other boys came running towards Shaurya. They picked him up in the air. Ran towards the Gurukula lake and dunked him hard into it. The group of boys roared,"Shaurya talked to a female without stuttering! Hooray ! Celebrations are on tonight!". A wet and dazed Shaurya laid on the pool and closed his eyes thinking of the girl in black. Chandruhasa whispered," We dunked him too hard you guys!!". That afternoon during lunchtime certain rules were established . Firstly Boys serve food for girls and when they were done girls would serve the boys. Everyone was seated in rows on the floor ,each with a banana leaf in front of them. Shaurya was serving barfi. Finally he reached Gowri in the row. He paused," Hope you relish the food because I'm going to take you down this evening". Gowri smirked,"Taking down a feeble boy like you! Please give me a challenge!". Shaurya's excitement grew . He left a few extra barfis(sweet) on her leaf much to the next girl's dismay. Meanwhile Chandruhasa was serving piping hot sambhar (gravy)and he reached Chaya. An excited Chandruhasa poured his love through sambhar on Chaya's leaf. The interesting part was she did not seem to mind. She winked at Chandruhasa,"Meet me by the lake after dinner". Chandruhasa turned bright red as he moved to the next leaf. That evening Shaurya came all excited only to find no Gowri in the arena. He felt a tap on the shoulder ,he turned slowly to see a maiden dressed in beautiful  blue silk skirt ,blouse and a golden shawl. She wore flower garlands and antique jewellery. It was truly a breathtaking sight. Shaurya found it difficult to breathe with her rose and jasmine scent wafting around. Gowri smirked,"Did not expect this did you?". Shaurya was too dazed to talk," I ..I...why?". Gowri smiled and leaned in ," Still don't remember me you rock mountain?". It finally hit Shaurya, this was the same Gowri whom he knew from when he was 2 years old. They used to play together until one day . They were 5 years old ,it was a beautiful sunset in the royal garden. A tinier Shaurya was staring at the sunset,when someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned to find a tiny Gowri dressed in red royal bridal clothes, blushing deep red and stammering,"I'm leaving for my house today. I'm going to mark you as mine till I return, and return to make you mine forever. With that Gowri kissed him on the cheek and ran away to the carriage waiting to take her home. As she ran she threw a small glance towards Shaurya. Shaurya had that moment etched in his memory deeply. Even though he was a child he felt unspeakable emotions. He remembered every detail about her : she smelled like roses and jasmine, and most importantly she was his first and only love. This was the reason for Shaurya's ignorance towards all other beautiful girls who tried to pursue him. Another reason why Shaurya loves tending to the roses and jasmines in the royal garden.Everyone thought that it was mildly odd for a beast in swordfight to smell roses and jasmines for hours together in the garden. From that moment onwards only one thing could distract Shaurya from his practice,the sound of carriage. He used to peak each time a carriage arrived to check for Gowri. Back from his world of nostalgia, Sharya was alerted by a sword at his neck. Meanwhile, that night by the lake a silent Chandruhasa tiptoed towards Chaya. Chaya smiled," Get ready to fight , because beauty comes with rough patches". With that Chaya drew her sword out. Chandruhasa knew her well ,he did the same. The two began to clash their swords vigorously while flirting simultaneously. Chandruhasa blushed ," I'm going to swoop you down like a vulture my lady!". Meanwhile Shaurya was stammering,"G.. Gowri ! I never thought I would meet you again, especially here". Gowri smirked,"Is it because I'm female! All you princes hate females and just pretend to be supportive!". Shaurya tried to explain himself," That's not what I meant. I thought you might have training in your own kingdom!". Gowri's face heated up in anger,"Are you telling me that my Kingdom doesn't have the resource to train me??!!".Shaurya stood frozen not knowing how to explain himself. He had loved Gowri ,but he was not exactly the most expressive man. Gowri left her for her cottage swearing to not engage in any fun activity with Shaurya. Shaurya felt saddened, it was the first time he was going to spend time with his love after years and it was a misunderstanding. But as Gowri walked towards her cottage , a shadow kept following her swiftly. Shaurya sensed the black presence knowing perfectly whom it belonged to. Shaurya drew his sword and ran towards Gowri....