The princess of Aurealia is ready to sacrifice anything for her kingdom and her people. With peasants revolting and her kingdom in the brink of civil war, Ayra decides she must marry a peasant to save her people from killing one another. When she se...
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The first thing I did the next morning was ask Mithilli where her suitor's house was located in our small village. I went to his house by foot to talk to him in private.
His hut was larger than my family's hut. His sister was outside, hanging clothes on a rung for it to dry in the sun. "Hello," I say quietly, afraid that I will startle her. Her doe-like eyes turn around to meet mine. Once she acknowledges my presence, she gasps, and immediately lets go of the clothes in her hands and runs into the hut, her long skirt bunched up into her hands. I wait there for a moment, waiting for either her brother or father to come through the doors.
Her brother steps over the threshold, ducking his head in the process. "I want to talk to you," I say to him once he greets me. "In private," I add, when his sister comes out of the hut to stand behind him.
When we walk to a nearby banyan tree in his backyard, he stops and stares at me expectantly. I clear my throat. "My sister is ruined because of your rejection."
"Is that what this is about?" He asks me. When I say nothing except glare, he nods in understanding. "I have a younger sister. How do you expect me to marry when I have the responsibility of marrying off my sister?"
"Then you shouldn't have agreed to come Mithilli or asked for her hand."
"It doesn't matter. She's a beautiful woman and any man would be willing to marry her, despite my rejection," he says, trying to sound convincing. He knew he was lying through his teeth.
"You don't believe that," I grunt out. "No respectable man will marry a woman who has been rejected by another man. They will think you rejected her because something is wrong with her, or question her virtue. If it ever comes to that, you will have to fear for your life," I growl threateningly.
"Look, I did nothing wrong. My parents forced me to come see her, and I didn't want to marry until I married off my sister. There is no reason for you to be talking to me this way."
"Well my sister's life is practically ruined. You have to marry her."
"I cannot. Not until my sister is married. She is my responsibility."
"But you like Mithilli?" I ask.
He thinks for a moment, and looks at his feet. "I cannot answer that."
"You didn't say no." If his sister was his only concern, then I could make an offer to match her with one of my friends, I realized. "If your sister is the issue here, then I could ask one of my friends to come to ask for her hand." Madhava was also looking for a bride to look after his ill mother (and himself) as he did not have siblings to do it for him. I know Madhava will take care of his bride well.
