Ajeenkya

The castle came to life as the day of the naming ceremony approached. The vast monumental six storied structure had been decorated with garlands of marigold. Golden, violet and pink drapes hung from every balcony, window and door in a semicircular design. The castle had a huge garden in its anterior side, where all the trees had been decorated with strings of small lanterns.

The pathway that lead from the exterior fort wall to the entrance door of the castle was lined with pin and yellow rose bushes and each had strings of light entwined. The ceremony was to be held in a hall right above the court room.

Shakuntala had warned all her grandchildren to behave themselves and look after the guests. They had escaped punishment for their mistake, as Vayu had understood that they had acted to save the princess.  Shakuntala had herself taken it upon herself to babysit her granddaughter. Revathi was looking after the preparations of the feast, and had already snapped at the head-cook quite a few times for making minute mistakes.

Chitralekha, was leading her five cousins, to welcome the guests who were climbing up the first flight of marble stairs to reach the courtroom floor. She handed them each a small bag which contained grains, that were to be showered upon the baby for her well-being when the ceremony was to take place, and guided them to take the open marble staircase which rose from the two sides of the marble landing in front of the courtroom door, leading the next floor. Aashika stared at the stair, if it hadn't been for her Uncle, the princess would not have made it to this day. She promised herself, come what may, she would always protect her little cousin. Anakul could feel the tension and placed a hand on his sister's face. He knew they all blamed themselves for that fateful day, but it was a thing of the past. His uncle had made sure that none of them were punished, which made them feel even more guilty. Aashika looked up at her brother, who smiled at her. She pushed the thought away and gave him a broad grin, and joined the rest of her cousin in welcoming the guests.

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As Manyata walked into the ceremony hall Vayuvijay who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, could not take his eyes off her . His wife looked beautiful. She was wearing  the usual white dhoti, with red choli, and golden angavastram, the fabric of her clothes were made of pure satin. She wore a small triangle crown on her head and her hair was made into a puff. Her eyes were highlighted with kohl. She blushed when she saw her husband staring so ardently at her. Vayuvijay had forgotten that he was in the ceremony hall amongst so many people, who hadn't failed to notice him, ogling at his beautiful wife. He heard a wolf-whistle and blushed, droping his gaze. Manyata walked upto her husband and sat cross-legged on the small carpet placed upon a wooden plank on the floor. The ceremonial fire was burning infront of them as the high priest started to chant verses. She felt her husband stealthily grab her hand which was place on the floor, her blush deepened as she pulled her hand away.

"Oh my godness." She heard her husband exclaim. She looked at him and found him gazing at the door she had entered through just few moments back, following his gaze she soon realized what had made him make that remark.

Her little princess was perched in her mother-in-laws arms. She was dressed in a red flowing gown and her head was covered in a red veil which fell to her back. It was a traditional for a woman to wear red on her naming and wedding ceremony. It stung Manyata, when she thought that one day, she would get married and go away. She felt a knot in her throat, put pushed the thought back. She looked at her husband, who was not able to do as good as her, and his eyes were threatening to overflow. Manyata elbowed at her overemotional husband. They were not the only ones who were awed by the little one. She looked like an angel. Her curly hair curtaining her face and her bright brown eyes staring directly at her parents. She did not have chubby cheeks like the other children, but she had a charm, which hypnotized anyone who interacted with her. The baby was sucking her left thumb. Manyata made a mental note to stop her from doing that.

Shakuntala handed her granddaughter over to her daughter in law and took the seat next to her husband.

The high priest along with the other priests and priestesses continued their chants. The fire infront of them was making the child irritated, and she tried to communicate it to her parents. Manyata tried to pacify her. Shivashakti and Dharmesh both sat down in their golden thrones behind Vayu and Manyata with their wives on their sides. Nobody had noticed it except for them and the high priest, that the smoke from the fire was moving towards the opposite direction from the baby. Shivashakti sighed angrily, knowing it was his son in law. He turned to find Dharmesh looking at his son with a perplexed look. He took another look at his daughter and son in law. He grasped the handles of the chair in shock. It looked like Vayuvijay was also trying to figure out how the smoke was being controlled.

The high priest got up and walked upto the large glass vessel which was kept at the back of the room, containing the chits of paper with suggested names for the baby. He put his hand inside the vessel and brought out a random chit of paper which was folded in four halves. Without opening it he walked up to his place near the ceremonial fire. The hall turned quite.

"The name of the daughter of Emperor VayuVijay and Empress Manyata, of the reigning princess of Ethar, will be," he paused as he opened the chit, read the name and looked at the two grandfathers "AJEENKYA."

The room erupted with applause but blood drained from the face of Shivashakti and Dharmeshnath. They nodded at the high priest.

The high priest held up his hand to calm them as he understood the time has come to convey the prophecy. The guests seemed confused at this gesture, which was dampening their merriment. He motioned Manyata to hand Ajeenka over to him.

"Ajeenkya means, undefeatable, victorious. The oracle had made prophecy that the daughter of Vayuvijay, was the key to defeating the Eaval which has found its vessel on Ethar." His words were followed by worried murmuring from the guests. "However she would be the reason that Ethar will see days which shall be devoid of any pain, sorrow, and suffering. She would protect Ethar from every dark force of Ethar. She would be the most powerful human being to have walked this Ethar, but " the high priest Sattvik stopped as he saw Veer-bhadra shaking his head, he trailed his eyes to Vishwamitra who was sitting next to Veer-Bhadra. He knew he  cannot reveal the truth " she will have to accompany the emperor for his voyage around the world."