It had been couple  of weeks since Manyata had been discharged from the Building of Health. As she stood at one of the castle windows, looking at the vast mountains lying beyond the castle ground, the baby was fast asleep cradled in her arms.

With each day, the baby's striking similarity with Vayu had grown. Her skin was flawless with pink tinges on her cheeks. Her head already had a thick tuft of curls. Her nose was bulbous and she had big brown eyes. A smile was always plastered on her face. However unlike any other infant Manyata had seen, her daughter had immense strength in her arms. She had seen her bend the gold locket the maid was wearing effortlessly.

She knew like herself and her husband, their child would also be gifted.

Manyata hummed the the Song of Life  to her child.

When you come off age,
And have seen fourteen Winters,
Learnt all you could in your
Years in the Premier.
Thy shall have a choice.
To decide thou future.

To be wise as a Brahmin
Or Valiant as Kshatriya
Persevarant as a Sudra
Or Clever as a Vaishya

United they are invincible
The four pillars of balance,
Yet each has a destiny to fulfill
Blessed are each, with gift unique

A strength you shall enhance,
Through the coming three summers
To prepare you to offer
Your service to Ethar.

You shall strive through your life
For the prosperity of Ethar,
Then shall discard this body,
And be born in another,
We all shall live and then perish
To witness it all, alone stands Ethar.

The Brahmins were were the only class endowed with the duty of governing and administration of Ethar. They also were responsible for looking after the general health, welfare and education of the subjects. They also carried out research and experimentation work for inventing, cures of various ailments.

The Kshatriyas were warriors and were endowed with the duty to protect and rescue the subjects from any harm, including natural calamities or a crime committed by humans.

The Vaishyas helped in enhancing the economy by trading and manufacturing goods like garments, jewelleries, weaponary, fuel, essences, spices whereas the Sudras were involved with agriculture, fishing, cleaning and animal rearing.

The Brahmins always wore white clothes often bordered by gold. The rest of the classes did not have any restrictions in their clothings. However the Kshatriyas had an inclination towards black, and Vaishyas loved to include every possible colour in their attire.

All men and women in the administrative center Rajdhani, Kaivalya and Kanaan, wore Dhotis, which were a unstitched rectangular piece of Loincloth draped in the form of a trouser, which were wrapped from the waist to ankles. The women also wore a clothe covering their bust called the "choli" which was tied at the back in a ribbon knot and carried an Angavastram, a long rectangular piece of cloth similar to a stole wrapped around their shoulders and arms. The men also often carried an Angavastram but their torso remained bare. However in the closer regions they had to wear long coats or robes made from the fur of sheeps or leather.

The Emperor was the supreme administrator of Ethar. He looked after the welfare of the people of Ethar on behalf of theSupreme Operator.

An emperor was chosen from amongst the wisest of Brahmins selected by the Supreme Operator.

When Manyata had completed her examination and succeeded to carry on her family tradition of joining the Brahmins and became a Health Preserver.

Even Vayu was a Health Preserver, before the Oracle nominated him to be one of the candidate  in the Emperorial Race.

It was rather fate when they were showered with powers which they had not desired but which was much more than what many would have dreamed of. Vayu had become the Emperor, even before they got married and she was chosen as the Prime Minister by the erstwhile Emperor.

She knew people considered her and her Husband as the epitome of knowledge, wit and intelligence. They were the shrewdest minds in the history of Ethar and she secretly admitted the fact. But living upto their subjects' expectation was not easy. Manyata often wondered how a life without these worries would be.

Their brilliance was what had drawn Vayuvijay and Manyata to each other during their days of training after Premiere. Both initially tried to outshine each other, eventually loosing their hearts.

Manyata knew, Vayu had that one trait which she lacked, that set him apart from everyone else, it was his calm. Vayu seemed to have the solution to every problem that existed. He remained unfazed in all adversities, no matter how grave or serious they were.

Vayu had three sisters, Revathi who was a year elder to Vayu and Jaya who was a year younger to him and Saudamini who was his step-sister and the eldest of them all. All of them were Brahmins themselves, but Jaya's husband was a Vaishya. Both Revathi and Jaya were educators but that didnot hinder them from giving equal attention to their children's upbringing.

Manyata admired them, for breaking the stereostype of taking retirement after child-birth, like her mother and mother-in-law had done.

"I will do EVERYTHING for your well being," she whispered to the child in her arms "but I shall also continue to discharge my duties as the Prime Minister." She promised herself. The child as if in acknowledgement chirped again with laughter and clapped her small hands.

"Will I be intruding into the conversation of the mother and daughter?" Came a woman's voice.

She turned around to see her parents. Her father Shivashakti was a man in his early fifties, once a minister, now the Royal advisor to the Emperor and her mother Shantipriya in her late forties was a researcher once. The couple smiled at their daughter, who held their granddaughter.

For Shantipriya her daughter was her world. Since her husband had to travel around Ethar, she had Manyata as the only companion. They had become each other's bestfriend, sharing with each other their sorrows and secrets.

Shivashakti was the minister of Commerce then, and had to travel from one state to another to see that fair and proper trade practices were being followed. Just before Vayuvijay became the emperor Shivashakti had been promoted to the post of Advisor to the Emperor.

It was not unknown to Shantipriya that Vayu hardly adhered to the advises of his father in law. Shantipriya knew that Shiva strongly disagreed with Vayu's emotional and compassion driven enactments and law formulation.

Shiva was a practical man who felt that emotion should be kept aside when ruling Ethar. Shanti however felt quite the opposite. According to her, if the emperor was not emotionally connected to his subjects and empathised with their pain, he will never be able to rule them and ensure their welfare. She respected the young emperor and just like her daughter, knew that he was meant for great achievements.

"Mother, I had been awaiting your arrival for so long," Manyata exclaimed as she approached her parents.

"She looks just like you did when you were her age!" Shanti declared "I think though, she has her father's nose and eyes."

"Not to mention a bush on the head," said Shiva.

"Father..." Manyata mock warned her father.

Shiva chuckled at her daughter's warning. He looked at his granddaughter and extended his arm to his daughter to take the little baby in his arm. Shanti was surprised at this gesture, since she knew well that her husband did not like children. But again this was not any child this was his own granddaughter.

Shiva took the baby in his arm and rocked her lightly. She giggled and extended her small arms.

"I would not do that if I were you father." Manyata advised him as she saw him bending his head towards the baby. She was right. The baby had grabbed her father's cheek and immediately he groaned.

"I told you!" said Manyata as she took the baby back from her father, who started rubbing his cheek, once his hands were free.

"She surely is strong." commented Shiva.

"She did the same to Vayu when he first saw her."

"Have you thought of a name yet?" asked Shanti.

"Well we have few in our mind." Manyata informed.

It was a tradition that when the child turned six months old the naming ceremony shall take place whereby the baby shall be named. The name of the child was selected from a glass jar containing chits were family and friends of the parents, along with the parents would anonymously write their choice of name and the high priest would chose a chit without looking at its contents. The name on that chit would be the name of the child.

"You know this child is special," asked Shiva "don't you?"

"Ofcourse I know, my baby is special," Manyata replied lovingly cuddling her daughter.

"Obviously, Mani," Shiva continued, "I know every mother feels her child is special. But that's not what I meant." Shiva sighed as he noticed the look on her daughter's face. She was unaware of the prophecy.

"She is special. She has much more power than any human will ever possess. She will..." His was stopped midsentence as he saw his wife and daughter bursting out with laughter.

"Oh good heavens, father, did she squeeze your cheek too hard." His daughter said as she was now shaking with uncontrollable laughter, "let me see if she managed to give you a bruise."

"Well we have someone to keep you in check." Shanti guffawed.

He stared at the two women. The little baby had also joined in their laughter which made Shiva smile as well. The information can wait, he told himself.