Weeks of nothing but bliss had passed. There was never a time in my life that I was happier and every day I prayed to the gods that I could give Seetha the same kind of happiness that she seemed to be giving me.

I had written a letter to my father, reminding him of my decision to marry Seetha and confirming that that had not changed. I also informed him that once the situation in the West had settled, I would return home only to prepare for the official engagement. I had made up my mind. This was the woman I was going to marry and my nothing would change that.

My father's response was prompt.

Though he reminded me to focus on the mission at hand, he gave me his blessings and informed me he would begin the preparations as soon as the West calmed.

"Your confidence in your love for this young woman brings me a sense of satisfaction," my father wrote. "However, upon your return I ask that you bring a copy of her birth chart. If her family does not have one, bring as much information about her birth as possible. It would bring me great peace to know for certain that the gods favor this marriage as much as you do."

Birth charts. A simple document based in the stars which was recorded right at birth.

I frowned when I read it.

It was custom to compare charts before marriage. Marriages often only went through if the charts were compatible. The alignment of the stars during my birth must match with the alignment of her stars during her birth.

Of course, I did not doubt the gods at all... however my father's words did worry me. I could argue with my father for as long as I wanted about my decisions... but I could not argue with the charts. If the charts said no... it was a no.

I tried to shake the thought.

How could I fall so madly in love with a woman who was not meant to be mine? It would be a foolish trick played by the gods, and I knew my gods did not play tricks. I had faith. I trusted them.

And so I responded to my father, accepting his request and thanking him for accepting mine.

And I also accepted his request for me to focus more intently on my job. I did not want to take my father's trust and acceptance to granted.

Unfortunately this meant I would be seeing less of Seetha. The men of the fort needed to be train and I did not trust others in doing a good job in that more than I trusted myself.

It was after the sixth day of not seeing her that a warrior rushed over to me as I wiped my sweating face with a towel. We had just finished training and training on the sixth day of the week was always intensive.

"My Prince," the young warrior bowed low. "There is a girl here to see you. We denied her request however she demanded it," he hesitated. "She claimed that you would not be pleased if you found out we turned her away."

My eyebrow rose.

"Do you want us to send her off?"

"No," I found myself smiling. "I'll go to her."

When I reached the entrance of the fort, I saw Seetha standing there alone, a large basket in her arms.

The moment she saw me, I saw her smile grow a thousand times in size.

"That is her," the warrior said.

"I know," I left the warriors side and walked to her. "What are you doing here?" I asked, ignoring the curious gazes of the men around us.

"Food!"

We returned to my bedroom together and the first thing she did was gape in awe. "If your room here is this big, how big is your room back at home?"

"Five times the size," I said, honestly.

She looked at me. "Why do you need so much room?"

"I ask myself that all the time," I responded. "It makes everything feel so much more lonely."

She chuckled at that. "I can only imagine," she said. "Sometimes I feel lonely in my tiny little home."

I smiled at her and watched as she set the small basket on my desk. "Please let your mother know not to waste her time. We are served decent food here, Seetha," I said as I sat down on my bed.

"You think I didn't try?" She asked, pulling out a rather large portion of food that was wrapped nicely in a banana leaf. "I told her that you are being fed and she said that the food you are given here is 'nothing like a meal made with a mother's love.'"

Seetha said it so simply, but I was rather touched by that.

She was right.

In my entire life my mother has not set foot in a kitchen. She has never once prepared a meal for myself or my brothers. Not even anything small. My siblings and I were never breastfed by our mother either. Most royals never were.

And it was not until that moment that I really thought about that fact.

I had never had a meal made with my real mother's love.

Seetha, noticing my silence, looked over at me. "She's being silly, of course-"

"No," I said. "She isn't. She will be my mother soon and I appreciate her care."

Seetha's cheeks warmed as she walked over to me with the meal. I crossed my legs on the bed and Seetha placed it in front of me before opening it up, revealing a delicious looking serving of rice and curries. It was not a lot, much less than I am used to eating, but it looked delicious nonetheless.

"You have to eat it now, while it is still warm."

"I cannot," I said. "I have not washed my hands."

When she looked at me and saw my smile she rolled her eyes.

"You can feed it to me," I pushed.

"The Warrior Prince of Chandraba is asking me to feed him?"

"Your lover is asking you to feed him."

She blushed.

"But really, look at my hands," I showed her my hands. "They are filthy. I just came out of training and one of my men was injured. That's his dried blood on my hands."

She grimaced.

"You would allow me to eat your mother's delicious cooking with blood on my hands."

"My hands are not clean either."

"They are cleaner than mine."

She rolled her eyes once more, "fine."

And so she fed me, as I had asked. As I ate, she talked. She updated me on what had gone on in her life over the last week, from the fact that her little nephew had fallen down and lost a tooth, to Erumai beginning to show more of his personality.

When I had finished eating, I showed her my washroom so she could wash her hands, where I could have washed my hands to begin with as well. She looked both embarrassed and annoyed that I had tricked her.

After that, we returned to my bed where we sat and she continued to talk. She told me her best friend had sent her a letter. She mentioned that her friend didn't know how to read or write so someone else must have written it for her, but it was to inform her the she had had another baby.

When she told me that her friend, who lived quite the distance away, wanted her to come over to see the baby, I was not too pleased by that. The roads were dangerous these days, it would not be safe for her to go anywhere right now. When I voiced my opinion she seemed to disregard it. She claimed that she had travelled to see her friend on her own many times before. Now would be no different.

I was going to disagree with her, and maybe even suggest that I take her, but before I could, the drapes that covered the entrance of my room opened and my brother walked in.
"Broth-" he cut himself off when he saw Seetha, who had shot up off the bed and lowered into a deep bow. "Oh, I did not know you had a guest." He gave me a mischievous smile which I did not return.

"Is there something you need?" I asked.

"I am taking some of the new men to the brothel down in Duram. Commander Veerastan demanded I ask for your permission first."

My eyebrows narrowed. "You and these men have nothing better to do?"

"They had a long day, brother," Aarun grinned foolishly. "You overwork them, let them relax a little."

"The men need to rest, not fool around with whores."

"Oh come now, brother. You are quite the hypocrite," when he gestured at Seetha I let out a breath of frustration.

Seetha, realizing what he meant, straightened herself up. "I-'

"She is not a whore, you fool," I said, standing up. "She is your future sister-in-law, and I trust you will treat her with respect."

My brother's eyes widened as I put my hand on Seetha's back and guided her out of the room. "What?"

"Do as you please, Aarun," I said to him. "But if any of those men do not perform well in training tomorrow they will be severely punished."

My brother watched us leave, shock on his face. I then noticed him look down at her feet and realization hit him, hearing the sweet sound of little bells. He was there when I picked up the anklets, afterall.

"You told him!"

"Are you unhappy?" I asked are as we made our way to the gates of the fort. One of the men at the gate looked in my direction and when I nodded my head at him he raised his hand and gestured at another man, who rushed off to retrieve Bhumi.

"No," She said. "But what if he tells people?"

"It doesn't matter," I said. "People here are already asking questions, so let them wonder."

That made her chuckly. "You are quite harsh with him," she added.

"I need to be," I said. "The fool is a law unto himself. Acts more like a dog in heat than a noble prince. If he's not training then he is either eating, drinking or fucking."

My language startled her, but she nodded.

The rumors about my brother were vast. And mostly true. It was a matter of fact that this young prince must have had at least a dozen bastard children around this kingdom and the thought of that made me sick. He however, could not care less.

When the stableman rushed over to me with Bhumi, I took him by the reigns and gave him a pat.

"You don't need to take me home," she said.

"I do," I responded as I lifted her up onto my horse. "It is dark out, and dangerous."

As soon as I got on, Bhumi reared back just a little before galloping forward. I could feel the eyes of all the men at the fort and I could already hear the rumours beginning.

It did not matter though. I couldn't care less for rumours.

When we arrived back to her village, I helped her off Bhumi close to her home before saying my goodbyes. "Will you come to see me tomorrow?" She asked.

Her words made my heart beat a little faster. The way she asked the question made me happy. "Unfortunately not tomorrow," I said. "I have prayers to attend to all through the day and then training in the afternoon. But the day after that for sure."

"Okay," she said. "That's fine."

I smiled at her, before kissing her lips.

Though she usually protested when we were out in the open, she didn't today. She kissed me back, again and again. When I finally pulled away, reluctantly of course, she gave me a silly smile before rushing off down the hill to her home.

I had to wake up extremely early the next day as we needed to ride out to the North of Nandioor. There was a large temple there where the ceremony would take place and my father had promised that I would make an appearance there to please the lords of that large city.

The ride was long, but the ceremony was lovely. I always enjoyed religious events. Despite the loud beating of drums and just the massive amount of noise in general, they were calming.

Once the ceremony was over and the prayers complete, we returned to the fort quickly.

I was tired, but had no time for rest. I went straight on to training.

As expected, the warriors who went off with my brother did not perform well. They seemed like they were still drunk and more exhausted than I was. And as promised, they were rewarded with the punishment of beatings. It was harsh, yes, but I had to prove a point. We were a warrior nation, built on the sweat and blood of our warrior ancestors. And it was the sweat and blood of these warriors that would build our future, we could not have any weak links.

By the time training was over, it had gotten quite late. I wondered if I could go see Seetha, but I figured she may have been getting ready to sleep. So instead, I too prepared to sleep. After taking a warm bath and conducting the prayers, I returned to my chambers and fell fast asleep.

The next morning went by as usual. Prayers, meals, training, meals and then meetings with the higher ups. It seems that we had received news of the sighting of rebels nearby. The lords seemed to believe that they made their move to come closer to the village once I left... not realizing that I returned the very same day. "We will send out more men tomorrow to patrol," Commander Veerastan said.

"Should we not send them out today?" I asked,

"It's not necessary, my Prince" he said. "They are not yet in the village."

"We do not know that," I responded.

"With all due respect, my Prince," he started, smiling. "I have been here at the Western Fort for a large part of my life. It is not easy for people to enter the area unnoticed by our men."

I nodded. "Alright," I said, though I was not convinced.

After the short meeting, I left the fort to see Seetha. I did not have much time to see her today, as I planned on returning to the fort and beginning to prepare our men to leave, despite what Lord Veerastan said. Though I trusted his opinion, I trusted mine more. Besides, it was better to be safe than sorry.

I also wondered if my extra cautiousness had to do with Seetha being in that very village we needed to protect.

Probably.

When I arrived at the village, I jumped off of Bhumi and walked the rest of the way, holding him by the reins. I realized as I approached the river that I had just missed Seetha's story. I figured at that moment that I could just ask her to tell me later, but I was still disappointed. There was something different about seeing her speak in front of a crowd.

However, my relatively carefree mood changed completely when I reached the hill that lead down to Seetha's home.

Close to the bottom stood Seetha and with her were two men. One man was holding her basket that she used to collect the small treats from the villagers, and at first a tinge of jealousy filled me. But when I saw Seetha swing her hand and slap one of the men across his face, I felt a shock, and then was filled with anger.

I started walking towards them, glaring and leaving Bhumi behind. He knew to stay still and silent.

"You've got a good swing for a woman," the man she slapped said as he grabbed her arm.

Seetha saw me approaching. She looked like she was going to say something but when I put my finger over my lip, she looked back at the man. "Let me go, you pig."

The men laughed.

"This is going to be the biggest mistake you've ever made in your life," she threatened.

"Why?" the man holding her basket asked. "Why should we be afraid of you?"

"A little girl like you should not be wandering around on your own like this," the other said. "Didn't your father raise you better?"

I had reached them at this point and was standing right behind them. I noticed that they had weapons on them, but were not any of my men.

"Well?" The man holding her asked as he tugged on her arm.

I pulled my sword out of its scabbard and the high pitch sound it made as it slid out made the two men freeze in place. The tip of my sword touched his back of the man who had his hand on my future wife. "Who..." he started.

The other man turned around quickly, but froze in his spot. The sight of me seemed to put fear in his eyes.

"Move along," I said. "My blade is freshly sharpened so a slight jerk could push it straight through your heart." I wanted to kill him. To feel my blade pierce so easily through his skin. But I didn't. I did not want to do that in front of Seetha.

The other man dropped the basket and rushed off, motioning his friend to follow him. And he did, turning to glance at me before he too showed fear in his eyes.

"Thank you, Aaryan," Seetha said. I felt her warm hand on my arm but I pulled away.

"I must leave, Seetha," I said. "I'm sorry."

She hesitated, looking worried.

"Go home, stay inside, do you understand?"

She thought for a moment, but nodded.

With that, I returned my sword to its scabbard and rushed to my horse, signalling him into a gallop, feeling Seetha's worried eyes on me. Though all that filled my thoughts was the fact that I should have killed those two. I should have killed those men, not for frightening Seetha, but for being here to begin with.

When I reached the camp, I went straight to Lord Veerastan's room. The chubby man was in bed already, but I woke him up by pulling his covers off of him. "I was right, you were wrong," I said. "There are already rebels in the village."

The commander sat up in shock.

"They have seen me and ran off. We both know that they are going to report this to their superior. And we both know that the rebels will not simply run away."

The commander seemed flustered and it seemed like he had taken a couple drinks. Nonetheless, he let out a breath. "They are going to attack."