Cittaja || Indian Historical Romance

45.

"Please bring the bride. " The pandit told them. They placed a large white curtain in between. Shakra was sitting on one side of it and the other side was for the bride.

Almost every single one in the altar hall from the Kalika Empire's side had pulled out their swords, forcing Krishneri's allies to sit down and keep quiet. Gokula stood up in shock when the doors opened and Madhav Rao was carrying Mayurakshi in a basket.

"What is this-" Gokula tried to almost shout. Shatrujit looked at him.

"Shhshh... Maharaj, why are you exhilarating yourself? Everything that is happening is what I want." Amritakumari knew it. Shatrujit silently going through the rituals was unusual.

"Maharaj..." Amritakumari tried to tell him, but Shatrujit smiled at her. Gokula saw all his allies surrounded by the Kalika Empire's people. They couldn't even move a single toe. Shatrujit forced Raashi to contain herself with her son being held by a knife.

"This wasn't the plan." Gokula complained. Shatrujit handed him the little piece of parchment. It had the muhurta written by Guru Vishwanath. Guru Vishwanath had given the muhurta according to Mayurakshi's birth chart along with Shakra's birth chart. They mentioned it in the birthdate and the name.

"Y...you came here to get M...Mayura married?" Gokula received a shock. Shatrujit looked at Shakra silently, going through the directions of the pandit, even while his face showed displeasure and pain.

"Please sit..." He offered Gokula a seat next to him. He pointed Shakra to Gokula. "Do you know why I have not lost a single battle? Because I have sons who will go through what I tell them to. Whether or not they like it. That boy is my heir. My prized possession. There are many things on which we completely disagree, but he still does what I tell him to do. My son is usually a huge dramatist. He throws the greatest tantrums when he doesn't receive what he wants, but the moment it came to following my command to sit on the altar, he did."

Gokula saw such pride and love for his son in his eyes.

"My son hasn't asked me many things. Instead, his usual reaction is always standing and listening to what I am telling him to do. The first time he came to me directly and asked for something, it was for your youngest daughter, Mayurakshi. I don't know what Shakra loves in her, but if he knows so surely that he wants to marry Mayurakshi, then I cannot ruin him. I thought it was a childhood crush, but if he can come and say it before everyone in my court, he knows what he feels for sure. I will give my son what he wants. If his wish is to have Mayurakshi as his wife, let it be."

"You promised Mayurakshi, didn't you?" Anvesha asked.

"I did. I will go through with her wishes. In the next three weeks, Guru Vishwanath has seen a muhurta for Shakra's wedding with Yuvika. It isn't unusual for someone to have more than one wife, is it? Mahadevi Amritakumari can pass her crown to Yuvika. That is what Yuvika wants. Let Yuvika have the crown, but my son wants Mayurakshi as his wife, then he can have Mayurakshi as his wife."

"You suddenly decided because you believe in love?" Amritakumari questioned it. Shatrujit chuckled at the accusation.

"Whether or not I have loved someone doesn't matter. Shakra is in love with her. I don't want to take that away from him. Shakra has asked nothing from me. I want him to have whatever he wishes for. My boy is precious to me. He is my child. If I cannot give him what he wants, what kind of father am I? He didn't ask for anything unethical. He just wanted to marry the woman he loves."

"My daughter doesn't love him. She deserves a better life than a jail, Maharaj." Gokula complained.

"Maharaj Gokula, you never really sat down to ask what your daughter wants. She loves Shakra too, but just doesn't know how to say it."

"She would have told someone if she was in love with him. No one said anything."

"How come she trusts Shakra more than anyone? How come she told none of you about almost being assassinated? If your daughter knew Shakra's love for her, then why did she not cut him off? Instead, she was always around him."

Shatrujit looked at Gokula. "I want you to understand, Maharaj Gokula. Shakra loves your daughter Mayurakshi deeply. I know that although this seems to be preposterous to you, Guru Vishwanath wouldn't have agreed to this if it did not convince him Shakra would care for her well. "

"Her Guru decided this?"

"I went to him with the letter she wrote to me. He instantly deduced that she wrote it in a fit of rage. He was the one who insisted that I marry Shakra to Mayurakshi and then if Yuvika still wished to marry Shakra, go through the second one for other's wishes. He was more sure than anyone that this decision would be the wisest one."

Gokula didn't know what to say anymore. All the sub-continent knew Guru Vishwanath well. One of the greatest teachers of his times, he knew Mayurakshi extremely well. Gokula saw the way Shakra behaved when Mayura forced him to marry Yuvika. Even in such a rage, Shakra didn't hurt her, which was unlike his reputation as a violent and aggressive man. Mayurakshi herself never felt scared to face him.

Having no other option, Gokula performed Kanyadaan to Shakra. The white curtain between the bride and groom kept the secret of the bride being changed from Shakra. He was still assuming that the bride was Yuvika.

Shakra believed he was daydreaming about Mayurakshi's hand over his own. With panigrahana done, they gave Shakra and Mayurakshi a paste of cumin seeds with jaggery put on a leaf.

"This jellakara-bellam is a symbol of the spicy-sweet moments in married life. You both promise each other with such a life while always keeping each other company." The pandit told them.

As the musical instruments blared, extending a hand from beneath the white curtain, the two put the leaf over each other's head. The curtain still separated them.

"As the muhurta is coming to the right point, we will remove this white curtain. The bride and groom will see each other. Don't look at anything else or anyone else. The bride should only see the groom and the groom should only see the bride. Clear?"

The two nodded. The cloth fell from between them.

Shakra's eyes met with Mayurakshi's beautiful brown eyes. A mixed feeling simmering within them. He couldn't blink. She was so beautiful. Her eyes focused on him. Every time she looks right into his eyes, it takes his breath away. Her attention was solely on him. It was his favorite feeling. The world ceased to exist around him. He could only see the woman whom he loved so dearly sitting before him.

Mayurakshi had always been beautiful, but as a bride, she was even more beautiful. The tilak on her forehead was like a diya and fire lit on it. The right side had a nose stud while the center and left side of the nose had nose rings. Rubies, emeralds, and diamonds studded in them. Jewelry hid her hairline on her forehead. A bright black thin line of kohl surrounded the edges of her peacock-like eyes.

Her neck was covered with diamond jewelry. A white saree with gold border was wrapper around her. 

If the Goddess Vishnujita had appeared before Vishnu in such a form, Shakrajit knew why he fell in love with her so deeply that he agreed to stay with her in Ambikapuram with her. 

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Next Update on January 12th and 13th.