1 The first encounter

"On the costs of the Greater India flourished the Kingdom of Kushmanda, ruled by a generous king Kushala. The Kingdom flourished like none other Kingdoms in the world. It had riches, heavy harvests, good trades, and the help and friendship of many other Kingdoms. The Legacy of the king and his people was told around the world. Who was humbled and worshipped Lord Eeshwara and Goddess Parvathi or Shakthi and Lord Varun Deva, the God of the ocean. There were no boundaries to the happiness that prevailed in this kingdom until the citizens or the subjects witnessed the death of Queen Sukunthi, the only wife and the empress of the Kingdom. She passed away giving birth to their 7th child, Samudhra who was believed to be born with an essence of Godess Parvathi and blessing of Varun Dev. The name was given by the oldest soothsayer of the kingdom. "She will bring glory and prosperity to this land and others by traveling via Samudhra(Sea). She has come as a blessing to this kingdom," she said applying the chandr Tilak(moon-shaped tilak) on your forehead. That's it. Now it's your time to sleep. Let me tuck you in" said Tathi. "But I am not sleepy. Tell me more. Was Mathu(mother) pretty? You never tell me about her" I asked. "She was the prettiest. Just like you." she touched my nose. "But Baba told me that I look prettier", "Samudhra, It's your time to sleep," she said tucking me in and laid down beside me.

The next morning, I woke up to Samrudh Bhaiyya(elder brother) waking me up, "Samu, Wake up. A strange boat had crashed near the shore. Samu. Don't you want to see who it is? Areeee Samu" he yelled. He pulled me off the bed, and we ran to the shorelines. I hadn't washed my face or taken a bath yet. We ran until we were out of breath. We stood far away from the shores, the guard told us that the king wasn't allowing any subjects or other royals to go down to the shores. I could see people being lifted and taken one by one. Amidst them, my attention was caught by a little boy, who had been wounded badly. The whole article of clothing soaked in saltwater and blood. I ran to the boy as he was bought away from the shore. "Raja Kumari, we have to take him right away. He is bleeding and we do not know how to help him. If we have to save his life, we have to take him to the doctor soon. Please allow us." I looked at him blankly, "Take him to the doctor!" my father commanded. They rushed him to the doctor, on their way to the palace, where they would get treated by a couple of royal doctors. "Samudhra, go inside my child," said Baba. "Who are they, Baba?" I asked. "Well, we don't know. Once they are cured by the doctors, we'll get to know," he said taking me in his arms. "But Baba, that little boy, he has come to see me again," I said looking towards the direction they had taken him. "What do you mean?" he asked. Everyone were surprised. They didn't know what I was trying to tell nor did I. Tathi, took me back to my chamber, helped me freshen up, and then escorted me to a room. As we entered, Baba was sitting on a chair, while the boy was sleeping on the bed with thin net curtain hanging around. I went up to him, I looked at him thoroughly, he seemed familiar but different. He looked way different than all of us. He had very fair skin, thin eyes, and long hair, which was the only thing similar to us. Nor did he wear any ornaments like us. I touched his palm which rested aside. "He is fine. He is faking it" I said. "Samudhra, come here" said Baba. "Never do that Samudhra. He is wounded, he needs rest..", "But Baba he's fine. He's awake. He is faking it." I interrupted. He looked at me. "Wait let me prove it," I said and snatched his dagger and rushed towards him and went ahead to stab him, He grabbed my hand and stopped just before it pierced through his chest. Everyone in the room was astonished and the guards pulled out their swords. He spoke gibberish. "I am not understanding anything," said Ramchandra Ji. He was one of my father's ministers. Everyone looked at each other. "He is speaking some other language, My majesty. He might have come from the east, I have been there a few times for studying and teaching medicine", said the doctor.

We had to wait until one of his people woke up. All of them were injured very badly. After three days of medication and caring, four of the eighteen people woke up. One of them seemed to understand what we said but couldn't talk back. This was later taken to the court, Baba didn't let any of us in apart from a few of his ministers and Kundh Bhaiyya. Kundh Bhaiyya was the eldest of us 7. He was 21 years old yet to get married. Next was Shreshtha Jiji(elder sister) 19 years old who was married off to Ananthkumar, the heir of the Kumar tire, Aishwarya Jiji; 16 years old was also married to Srichandra, son of the finance minister of our kingdom, Devangadh Bhaiyya, and Devanghini Jiji: 15 years, Samrudh bhaiyya; 14 years, and there I was, Samudhra; 10 years old. Kundh Bhaiyya always stayed with Baba when it was about dealing with external affairs. Kundh Bhaiyya was adored by a lot of ladies Especially Tathi's daughter, Sumana Jiji. She liked Kundh Bhaiyya a lot but he didn't feel the same for her. And maybe that is why Tathi took care of me. She would use me as a way to impress Khundh bhaiyya and marry her daughter to him. Sumana Jiji wasn't a nice person. Her feet never touched the ground as she flaunted that her mother worked for the royals and lied about Kundh Bhaiyya liking her back.

I haunted nearby the frames of the courtroom. There were lots of voices discussing and giving suggestions until one voice silenced the whole court. "I will try my best, your majesty," said one voice, and a lot of question and answer echoed until "What are you doing here?" asked someone. I turned around, it was Kundh Bhaiyya. "I...I...just", "Do you want to see what is happening inside?" he asked. I nodded. "Are you curious about the new boy?" he asked, "Yes Bhaiyaa" I said. "Somebody is interested in someone," he said smiling at me. He took me in his arms and walked into the court. The guard announced his presence in the court and I felt shy. This was my first time witnessing a court session. The boy looked at me as Kundh Bhaiyya carried me along. we kept looking at each other. "Greeting your majesty, I the first prince of Kushmanda and the last princess of Kushmanda would like to present our company to you," he said. "You may sit down," Baba said, "Where do you want to sit?" Bhaiyya asked. "I'll sit with you. Baba doesn't pay attention to me." he laughed at my answer.

The court session went for a long time and soon I was asleep. Suddenly when I heard the sound of two swords clashing. I opened my eyes in terror to see one of the ministers hover near us and then within seconds Kundh Bhaiyyas Sword slashed his throat. The blood-spattered on my face and on Bhaiyya too. This scene traumatized me and I screamed seeing the blood that fell on us. I could hear Bhaiyya call my name, but I couldn't react. The scene had terrorized me and shook me to the core. After some time I completely lost my consciousness and woke up to everyone in my room. Devanghad Bhaiyya sat next to me, he was learning medicine and he personally was trying to treat me. "Samudhra, how are you feeling?" he asked. "I am fine," I said, I sat on the bed. "She got scared and surprised. That's it. And Kundh Bhaiyya please take care and be careful. She's a child, she's the future of this kingdom just like us.", "I will. Thank you Devanghad. I am sorry Baba. I should have been more careful." Kundh Bhaiyya said and sat on the corner of my bed. "Samu, I am sorry," he said. "Bhaiyya, I am fine. Nothing is wrong with me." I said and sat down on his lap. "Were you scared?" I asked. "Uh hun", "Never be scared. Pray to god and don't worry, I am everybody's favorite." I leaned on him. "I should Learn how to be brave just like you Samu. Now, you better get some sleep. Rest well and later in the evening we'll go to see the horses", "Oh NO! I want to speak to the new boy.", "But we don't know his language Samu. Once we find a way to communicate with him, you can speak to him as long as you want. Now, I have to go and take care of other affairs. Can I leave, Princess?" he asked. "Yes, you may," I said and he hugged me and left.

I couldn't take my mind off the young boy. I felt like I knew him for years. I was restless and to distract myself, I went out to the garden inside the palace to play on a swing by the mango tree. Shreshta Jiji had told me that Mathu used to play by the swing along with my siblings. But I never got the chance to see her. Yeah, I have seen her portraits hung in the hallways. She was the prettiest. Baba says she was more pretty in real life.

I played all by myself and something caught my attention. The boy from before was walking in the garden with a guard. Eventually, he looked back and he stopped the moment he looked at me. He walked to me and knelt down. Childishly I placed my hand on his head and said "God bless you". He looked up to me and smiled. "Raja kumari(Princess/Raja=king or royal, Kumari= Unmarried girl), That is a way of showing respect to a person in higher authority in their culture." said the guard. "How do you know?" I demanded. "Machua(fisherman) Kishan Ji, he who has travelled way beyond the line of the sea, is aware of their language. He has been travelling across the world, He says that they are from the East. The are way different than us.", "Where is Machua Kishan Ji?", "He is in the court room with his majesty, Raja Kumari." he said. "Can you tell him to meet me after the court room session?", "As you say, Raja Kumari." he bowed. I smiled at him and left.

Little did I know that evening would bring way too many things my way.