Cittaja || Indian Historical Romance

57.

"How is the Kalika Empire?" Gurudev asked Mayurakshi.

"I didn't expect a lot from the time I was married. Maharaj is extremely nice to me." Mayurakshi explained.

"You honestly brought that upon yourself, Mayurakshi."

"No. I didn't. You did. You gave Maharaj the thought to change the bride in the end. I never planned to marry him."

Gurudev sighed. "Then what was your plan? Spend your whole life alone and filled with regret. I told your mother ages ago that it wasn't a smart decision on her part to give in to Gokula's silliness. She didn't listen to me, and I've seen her suffer along the way. I've warned Ruchika that marrying Gokula was her mistake. She ended up being murdered. I told you that your plan ahead would put you in danger long ago when you returned to Gurukul to finish your training. I saw you going down the same path as your mother and Ruchika."

"I wouldn't regret my choice to stay with Nanna, hoping that some day he will accept me."

"As long as Raashi lives, Gokula will never give you what you desire, Mayura. You have to come to terms with that truth. Yuvika would have been married and gone forward with her life. Raashi would still be in Krishneri. Do you think it would be better if you lived there? Especially when she realizes that the reason why Yuvika would have managed to marry Shakra was you. What were you planning for? Living your whole life tortured by her? And then murder some fine day when she is tired of torturing you?"

"I was already on my way to dealing with all those."

"Even if I thought you were smart enough to deal with Raashi, would you have been able to live happily knowing that your sister was married to a man who has always been in love with you? Do you think it was morally right to push Yuvika into a marriage that was a living hell for her? I try to tell her that her choice to desire marrying Shakra is a foolish one, but she refuses to listen. Shakra isn't the sweet prince he acts like in your presence. He might be a loving man before you, but there is a part of him that is cruel. Push him enough, and you'll see it rear the ugly head out. Yuvika would be at the brunt of it. Shakra would have surely made her life a living hell. You will never know the expanse of cruelty until he breaks apart and shows it to you. He is a great prince to his people, but he is a living nightmare to anyone who dares to cross him. Understand that, Mayurakshi. Shakra would still be yearning for you while married to your sister. What part of your brain thought of that as moral?"

"He wasn't my priority, Gurudev."

"How far are you planning to lie? Please let me know. I will then pretend until then that you have never loved him."

"I don't love him."

"Oh. So, Mayurakshi is lying to herself. Good. Such a brilliance of ignorance. For eight years, your poisoned dagger stuck next to you while you were around him. Yet, although you should know how many times he has been in your presence unguarded, your blade never knew Shakrajit." She looked at him. She should have known that he would have guessed her plans. If there was a man who could read her like a book, it was the man who had made her into the woman she is. She was an open book to Guru Vishwanath, regardless of how many masks she wore. "17 men. That is how many men have died from your dagger. 8 of them are Gokula's enemies. six of them being traitors to Krishneri. three of them being assassins that came for you. Now, tell me, Mayurakshi, how did the blade that managed to kill 17 men who were three times as strong as you fail against Shakrajit?"

"Yuvraj hadn't been as easy as them all."

"They were harder to capture than it would have been to capture Shakrajit for you. You only needed to send a letter asking him to come somewhere alone with you. A man who is completely within the grasp of his desire isn't that difficult to capture. Are you so naive that you thought it wasn't possible? Or did you purposely blind yourself to that aspect?"