Chapter 1 - Mother (1)

A girl—seemingly of age 13 or 14—walked towards the river with hesitation, with a baby covered in red cloth. The tears were threatening to come out of the eyes of the girl anytime. For a second, she couldn't help but just look at the radiant face of the sleeping baby.

The old woman—most likely a maid—came near her and caressed her head. She said something and brought attention to the box in her other hand. 

The girl simply nodded and said nothing. She put the baby in the box with great care and took the box in her hand. The box was commodious and smooth. It was made of wicker works spread over with soft sheets and furnished with a soft pillow. Its surface was laid over with wax and it was encased in a rich cover.

She took her hands off the box and let it flow in the river. She took a deep breath and looked at the Sun. She did the only thing she could do, closed her hands and pray.

…

The river kept on flowing and the baby in there started crying. 

The box went along with the flow and crossed many rivers.

The river was now not as fast anymore. But the baby did not stop crying.

Suddenly, there came a couple. The woman noticed the crying voice of a baby coming out of the box and pointed out to the man standing beside him.

The man immediately jumped into the river and brought that box to his wife.

They opened the box and looked at each other.

They took the child with golden armour out of the box and discussed among themselves. 

The man nodded to his wife and said-

"We'll call him |<@₹(\)@."< p>

******

[MC's pov]

I woke up with a tear in my eye. Nothing unusual. This has been happening for a while. Whenever I see this weird dream of the child being abandoned by his mother, I feel sad.

Also, what was that name at the end?

"Ah, Vasu, you woke up?"

While I was lost in my thoughts, my mother had come up.

My name is Vasusena, but she just calls me Vasu.

I coughed to clear up my throat and replied, "Yes, mother."

My eyes went towards her bloated stomach. It seems that I will have a new sibling any time soon.

Father should also be coming to the village soon. But even if he doesn't come here, it's fine. He is mostly not present at home for the most part anyway.

There was a strange look in the eyes of my mother. I realised that it was the tear in my eye.

In a hurry, I wiped away the tear, but that made it stand out even more.

"Were you crying? Was it 'that' dream again?" Mother's concerned voice fell into my ear.

"Ah! This?" I said in a 'nonchalant' manner, not wanting to give her anything to worry about in this condition, "It's nothing. It was just that there was something in my eye when I woke up."

Not convinced, she asked further, "Are yo-"

"It's okay. Don't worry. It's no big deal," Not giving her a chance to let this conversation go further, I said, "You should be taking care of your health right now."

"Also, why hasn't father come home yet? He said that he would be here sooner," I complained as if I was 'disappointed' with my father.

Of course, I knew why he might have been late. My mother had told me countless times.

"He is the Charioteer of Lord Bhishma. There might have been somewhere that Lord Bhishma wants to go. So it might take a while before he comes back." And here I heard it one more time.

Lord Bhishma is the protector of the Kuru Kingdom. He is the strongest warrior in the world right now. So it was an honour for father to be his charioteer.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, I know." I waved my hand.

She chuckled and said, "Go, get ready. You should keep a habit of getting ready before Sunrise."

"Yes~," I said and ran in the northwest. 

The river Champa starts from the southwest part of the City and flows northward—with a slight inclination for the east—for the most part. But then it takes a sudden turn and goes eastwards and merges with the Ganga river on the northern boundary of the city. 

The northwest side—where the river takes a turn—is used by mainly women and children to bath. Men prefer to bathe in the northern part.

After a while, I slowed down and started slowly walking and went toward a particular tree. 

I broke a twig from the Babool tree and started chewing on it. It keeps the teeth clean and makes them strong. 

Of course, I could use the twig from Neem Tree. Buut… It's so far away compared to the Babool tree. And the Babool tree is also in the way. 

It is definitely not because the Neem tree's twigs taste really bitter. Yeah, that's definitely not the real reason.

"Radheya, come here."

I looked in the direction where the voice was coming from and saw grandma Shanti was calling me.

Keeping the twig in my head, I went towards her.

It is difficult to avoid her. 

"Did you just wake up, Radheya?" She asked.

Everyone except my parents calls me Radheya. [A/N: Radheya means "Son of Radha"]

Usually, people are referred with their father's name. One would expect that they will call me Adhirathi, based on my father's name Adhiratha.

But since I live with my mother only, they call me Radheya.

I like this fact.

Recently, my attachment for this name has increased. Mother is going to give birth to another brother, so I won't be the only Radheya. 

I don't know how to feel about that. My mother won't be my mother alone.

But I will also have a little brother to take care of.

Keeping my thoughts aside, I answered, "Yeah, I just woke up, grandma."

Although grandma is our neighbour, she treats everyone as if they are their own kids and grandkids.

"Sigh… You are a boy. You should wake up sooner. You should be the first one to wake up. Also, start doing some exercise. Your father is the charioteer of Lord Bhishma. One day, you will also have to go on the battlefield as a charioteer. You should not be lazy and…." She kept on scolding.

Well, I don't know how to feel about her treating everyone as her own kids and grandkids. 

One would expect that she is kind to everyone. But here, she is strict with everyone and rebukes them without missing any opportunities.

Furthermore, she always has a lot to say.

".. And you should also store some Neem leaves in the house if you haven't already. It might rain today, and all the leaves might get wet. You should do some of the work so that your mother can rest. Also, your-"

"I will go and do it immediately," I said and ran away, not giving her a chance to say anything more.

Her instruction may never end if you just stand there.

"But you have a Neem tree in your backyard. Why are you running in that direction???" I could hear grandma yelling at me. "*Sigh* This generation~. So much energy. Can't even stand for a while." She shook her head and looked around—most likely searching for another target to talk to.

…

Dap… dap… dap… plop!

'That baby was kind of similar to me.'

'It also had a golden armour, but it looked very thick and had lots of design on it.'

'Could that baby be someone related to me?'

Dap… dap… dap… dap… plop!

"Hey, Radheya, what are you doing?"

Vrushali was standing beside me and I hadn't noticed her till she spoke.

She was the same age as me, yet her head reach only up to my shoulders.

I shouldn't compare height with anyone, since no one is as tall as me around my age.

"Hm! I was just skipping the stones," I said as I put one stone in my right hand from a tiny collection of them in my left hand.

"I can obviously see that. I'm asking why are you here alone. Why are you not playing with brother and other boys," She explained her intrigue. 

I threw the stone,

Dap… dap… dap…

"Ah- That. Well, they are no fun to play. I just find them annoying. And-" 

Plop!

"Wait! What are you doing here?" I asked back, not wanting to talk about that topic more.

"AH! I totally forgot!" Vrushali exclaimed she facepalmed, "Grandma told me to find you and ask if you picked some Neem leaves."

"Oh, that?"

Damn, I forgot.

"She said that you must have forgotten about it and muttered something about the new generation."

I threw the 2-3 stones in my left hand on the ground.

I replied, "Well, I was about to do it soon."

She said as she looked above at the sky filled with dark clouds, "You should hurry. It looks like it may rain soon."

"Alright," I said and started walking towards the house.

"Also-"

I looked back.

"Hm?"

"Umm… what was it? I had something to say. But I can't remember." the topic had slipped her mind.

"Well, if you forgot, it was nothing important, to begin with." I shrugged.

"Hmm... You are right. It was probably nothing important." She murmured, with a finger on her chin.