Some journeys take us far from home,

some adventures leads us to our destiny

Aradhya was really happy as she finally got to ride a camel as Sumer with few other royal servants took her to visit tourist spots in Jaisalmer. She was wearing black jeans, a round neck sleeveless floral blouse, hat and her glares.

She got to visit Jaisalmer fort, Gadisar Lake, Salim Singh ki Haweli and War Museum and she was really tired and she even got to ride a camel, it was a fun experience. They were coming back home and she was babbling non-stop while Sumer was smiling highly amused by her talks, sometimes teasing her, sometimes explaining something to her. Her awe watching the golden seas was highly amusing in his eyes. According to him this new rajkumari was highly intriguing.

He stopped the jeep near a small shop, to go buy special lassi for them. Aru was sitting on the Jeep looking around them, the whole are surrounded by sand dunes glinting under the sunlight seemed so surreal to her.

She was enjoying all this when she saw something that troubled her, not able to watch it silently. She stormed towards that direction and demanded in a loud voice " Ruk Jaiye (stop it)"

The men destroying the beautifully painted earthen pots and beautifully created and decorated toys from clay stopped and stared at her highly annoyed, one man told her gruffly "kya chahiye"

But she totally ignored them and helped the silently weeping elderly woman up "aap theek hai, kakisa ( are you okay, aunite)" She asked her concerned,the women only nodded looking at her astonished by her care

"ab aap bataiye aap yeh sb kyu tabah kr rhe the ( now you tell me, why were you guys destroying all this)" Her tone firm  and demanding clearly stating she was the one in control here

"chori na pr humare mamle mein, mehman h, mehman ki tarah rh ( don't come between us girl, you're a guest here stay like a guest)" The man said warning her watching her dress he knew she wasn't a local

"Meine puccha aap yeh kyu kr rhe h ( I asked why are you doing this)??" Aru demanded again firmly watching the men before her, the men finding her demand amusing a small, powerless girl like her trying to threaten powerful men was really amusing to them but they thought to entertain her nonetheless

"This women dared to ask money from us" the man said as if it explained everything

"And why did she asked money from you" Aru questioned him back with raised brows

"because we took this pots" The man replied shrugging casually

"she had every right of demanding payment for her hard work, you all will pay her for the pots you bought and the things you destroyed" Aru told them sternly

"No one ask money from Thakur Sahab's men and that's her punishment for asking money from us" the man told her arrogantly

"Why is your Thakur Sahab so poor that he can't pay  and secondly this isn't your Raja sahab's territory" Aru replied scornfully, disliking their Thakur sahab instantly what kind of men took good for free from poor people and call himself  a King

The men were instantly agitated hearing the disrespect in the girl's voice for their king while the crowd gathered around them were whispering among themselves fearing for the wrath the young girl will face for disrespecting and challenging the Thakur's men.

"E chori (girl)" The man yelled threateningly to be cut out by a deep icy voice

"kya ho rha h yaha (What's happening here)" the voice demanded and all the men surrounding them bowed instantly watching the dashing man standing behind them even the weeping women bowed down terrified while Aru looked at the new man without any curtsy

"hukum sa, ye chori faltu ka tamasha kr rhi h ( lord, this girl is creating a scene without reason)" the man said immediately throwing Aru under the bus

" hum Koi tamasha nhi kr rhi, humari mumma ne kaha h ki glt hote huye dekhna bhi gunah h aur hum humare samne kbhi kuch glt nhi hone dengi ( I'm not creating any scene here, my mom had told me that silently watching something wrong is also a sin. And I won't allow any wrong to take place in front of me)" The young girl standing in front of him spoke regally her eyes spitting fire and determination

"Aur kya galat ho rha h yaha ( and what wrong is happening here)" The man questioned her somberly

"firstly they took two earthen pots from her and the denied paying her, when she demanded the payment of her hard work, they said they are some Thakur Sahab's men, what if they are Thakur sahab's men means they don't have to pay for the things they took and then they started destroying her hard work, when she still demanded money. She had every right to demand money for her work." the girl spoke firmly standing up for the wronged and the man in front of her was really impressed by her this trait when her own people didn't stood up for this people in fear this foreign girl decided to help her

"Ram Singh" the man called for his most loyal man

"ji hukum" the man said obediently

"compensate this women for her loss, I'm really sorry for their behavior" the man said to the elderly women who frantically shook her head in negative while his men glared at the girl still standing in front of the women

"Teach this men a lesson on their responsibility which comes with their power, they can't exploit the poor people under their king's name not here. I'll complain against them and their so called king" the girl spoke again still angry by the occurrence of this event, the people around her were really afraid for this young girl, the police won't help and this men won't let her go

"You are really fierce or stupid, threatening this people on their land" the man warned her thinking about her well being

"my lands, this is my as much as this is any of their" the girl challenged him not backing away

while the people who came with Aru were searching for her  not getting where she disappeared suddenly. Watching the crowd gathered their, an intrigued servant went to check what was happening and found their beloved princess surrounded by the Thakur and his men.

"Rajkumari sa" she called out afraid if anything happened to the princess both Ananya baisa and thakur sa will bury them alive, drawing out all the people's attention as she reached Aradhya in hasty steps shielding her from the Thakur's view and confusing the villagers

"Thakur sa" the servant girl greeted Thakur Prithvi Chauhan standing in front of her coldly who nodded in return confused by the turn of events

"Padma, aap inhe janti h hum nana sa se inki complain krenge (Padma, you know this people I'll complain about them to Grandpa)" Aru spoke still angry she didn't like how this people look down on her and she was more than ready to go and complain to her doting grandparents

"ji, aapne toh hume dara diya tha agar aapko kuch hojata Ananya baisa toh humari jaan hi le leti ( yes, you scared us Princess if something happened to you Ananya mam would have killed us)" the servant girl spoke checking her for any injuries while the people around them all pale, even Prithvi Thakur's men the girl in front of them was no ordinary girl or tourist. She was the daughter of Ananya baisa, granddaughter of Surya Singh the Thakur of Bandini, this village. He was a law into himself in this village and no one ever dared to go against him. Everyone now looked at Aradhya afraid even Thakur Prithvi's men, no one could save them from Thakur Surya's wraith not even their hukumsa.

"Mom wouldn't do that" Aradhya spoke in her sweet tone making the servant smile instantly as she turned back to the elderly women " Kaki sa, aap chinta mt krna hum ma sa se baat krenge aapke sath essa fir kbhi ni hoga ( Auntie, don't worry I'll make sure this never happens) she told the elderly lady

"shukriya rajkumari sa (thank you princess)" The women said gratefully looking at the girl in front of her

"No need for thank you Auntie, I'll make sure this never happens again here" the girl said smiling softly at her then spotting her Sumer bhaisa she beckoned him and pointed to the still intact toys and smiled sweetly, shaking his head at her antics Sumer brought all the toys from the lady.

Who firstly denied taking the money from her but Aru insisted saying " she deserved that" smiling at the lady, she left from their her head held high as she glared at the Thakur's men but smiled appreciatively at Prithvi, not knowing who he really was.

And left from their with her people.

"Ram Singh, make sure she have an unforgettable stay here" Prithvi said looking at her fleeting form.

to be continued.............