अन्तः अस्ति प्रारंभः।
The end is the beginning.
A caterpillar dies, to birth a butterfly. Water evaporates to rain down. Dead carcasses fill the stomachs of vultures.Life gives way to death and death to life. In a vicious circle of different karmas...
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Mihira stared at the Ram Sita idols in the centre of the ceremony hall. Ancient and powerful. She wondered if they felt for each other something the moment they were born on this Earth.
There's something poetic about it, surely. Coming into the world, knowing that one will be loved beyond reason. Breathing and knowing that one is loved as easily as they live.
It would have made their separation worse, she thought. Two halves of one another, finally together, finally a whole, only to get separated after a handful of years. For duty.
She stood at an unassuming side, near enough to run to protect the Crown Prince, if needed, and near to the second exit enough that she'd be able to easily slip out if she needed to. She hoped she wouldn't, but fate hasn't always been her friend.
Eklavya was busy rechecking the security of the hall and the corridor, and Hiranyaksh was talking with the Crown Prince.
Anxiety fluttered in Mihira's chest. She did not want to see the crown prince dead, not really. Despite whatever rumours had prevailed in Kaliyug, Mihira has seen the way the man behaved and loved his family. He was likeable and humorous. He did not deserve a coward's death.
Rukmanetra, however snobby, did not deserve to have his brother taken from him, not when he was a younger brother desperately trying to protect the elder. Rukmini Didi never deserved to feel the pain of death around her.
Known footsteps hid in the chaos of the hall as they neared her but Mihira had always been more aware of her surroundings than others in Dwapar— they've never known the word of eat or be eaten, literally.
"Devi Mihira," Rukmanetra asked, more composed and nervous than she had ever seen him,"How goes the spying?"
The unexpected quip made her snort. "It goes well, my Prince, thank you. How goes the stressing?"
"Extremely well, actually," he said dryly. He cast a glance around the room and turned back to her, serious now. "Please make sure that Abhayam and Dishti are nowhere near my brother, Devi Mihira. The guards are posted but you and I recognise them by looks alone. Assist me, please."
Mihira nodded, stamping out her urge to be a brat. "I assure you, your excellency, the crown prince will have a happy birth anniversary and he will live to see another."
"Thank you, Devi."
Mihira bowed her head slightly,"It is my duty, my Prince."
If not to save Rukmini didi from the sheer stress alone, Mihira acting as a saviour to the crown prince would surely gain her a lot of favour. She had long term plans for Vidharbh, and Mihira absolutely could not risk being some plebeian working for the Crown when she could have the favour of the crown. And that wasn't to count the personal debt that the second prince and the crown prince would feel towards her.
And, of course, saving the life of the crown prince himself was a great deed in and of itself.
A server appeared at Rukmanetra's side, her head bowed slightly in his deference. "The King calls for you, your highness."
