Dhruva Nakshathra - The Game of Alliance ✔

FIFTY-SIX

Mahina, Durja

"Don't you have other matters to attend?" Nakshathra had asked him when he followed her on her first day of the fast to pluck a thousand flowers.

"Nothing important this early in the morning and it won't kill me to accompany you. It's your first day fasting for a ritual that never exists, anyway," he said with a shrug.

Dhruva's Yujyagana had done some information check and found out there were no such fasting observed by any bride of the kings or the princes in the past. They then figure out; the queen and the ladies had purposely come up with it. A few Yujyagana had gone a little further to gather information from the lady's court through the maidens.

It seemed the Pradhan Mantri had wanted Dhruva to marry his daughter while the Maha Mantri's wife had wished for her granddaughter to take the title of the crown princess, Yuvarani. Troubled with Dhruva's choice of bride, they teamed up with the queen to make Nakshathra's stay a little less easy. The maidens had also whispered cautionaries to the guards to keep vigilant while guarding Nakshathra, afraid for more serious scheming.

"Your Highness, we can go to the king. He will overrule the need to observe such long term fast and rituals," Sudarshan said, the others nodded in agreement.

"That's fine. It's not too hard, half day fasting is actually good for your body. So, let's give the ladies a little moment of victory," she said as they walked to the temple.

"But you are also restricted to go out of the palace. You were supposed meet the people with Yuvaraja," Dandapani added.

Dhruva turned to her with the same thought. "Yes, I'll speak to the king. You don't need to do any of this," Dhruva emphasized on his disagreement on the fast.

"That's alright, Dhruva. I'll speak to them, the ladies. No loyalty to the country and its people can be shown by being locked in the palace, right? I'll add some sense into their heads."

And just as she said, Nakshathra now stood before a set of aged ladies glaring at her after three days of observing the fast faithfully. "Well, now that I have explained. Perhaps you should not take too much to the heart if I skip a rule of this no-name custom since there isn't a history for it even."

"That's nonsense!" Sembaruthi retorted, throwing the pillow she had on her lap to the ground. "Who said this ritual has no history?"

"You may adhere to everything an elder tells you but I," she point her index finger to herself, "do my research, Devi. There is no such thing as sixty days fasting. Neither in Durja nor in the vast Lambodara. There was no history recorded of any bride observing it too. But, to respect your wish to see me fulfil this made-up tradition, I'll do it. All of it." Nakshathra glanced at the queen who wore a small smile. "Except for the part to keep myself within the palace compound. I have duties to fulfil alongside my husband as well."

"You are an outsider, you should follow some rules, Yuvarani." Madhurika's voice rang a little louder than she should. She quickly retreated with a small curtsy, aware of her crossing lines in front of the queen.

"I agree to disagree, Devi Madhurika. I am an outsider, yes and so I don't follow rules. I break them. As Rajakumari Nakshathra, I have a long running history of doing so. If you are so interested in this fasting, feel free to join." Nakshathra grinned and left a dumbfound group of ladies behind.

As she stepped out of Suryakanti Sabha, the queen's palace, Nakshathra recollected the look Kumudhavalli had on her face. Unlike the rest of the ladies, Kumudhavalli remained calm even as she spoke the truth about the fake ritual. It made her wonder if she had defied or eventually fell into an invisible trap Alli had laid for her.