I figured that things would not be the same once my parents found out about Aaryan... but it still came as a shock to me. Even a month later, no one, except my father, had come to completely accept that he was the Prince, and to be honest, even I didn't know what that meant.

They knew I wasn't lying... but maybe they hadn't accepted it yet.

My father had ordered that we do not talk about it outside of the family. It would bring too much attention, something my father did not want. He said he only wanted to have to deal with it when it was completely necessary... which probably meant whenever the marriage was to happen.

Aaryan came by whenever he could... but it seemed that he was busy, with new recruits, he said. Whenever he did come by, though, my mother would prepare the closest thing to a feast that my peasant family could come up with.

Aaryan had told me alone that he really enjoyed the food, and he was being honest when he said it was better than what some of the palace cooks make. When I passed this on to my mother, she was, of course, thrilled.

Outside of my personal life, our usual calm village was bustling with more activity than usual. There were many new faces, all men, and though this was unusual, they didn't seem to be causing any trouble.

Our village never feared much, mostly because the Western Fort was only moments away from us. Though, the new faces did spark curiosity among us.

When I met with Aaryan one evening by the river, my slow, extremely large Maadu with us, I decided to ask him about it.

"Have you noticed the new faces in the village?" I asked as I crouched down next to Maadu, who was taking sips of water from the river. I stroked her belly, feeling a little bit of excitement at the thought of a new little baby cow. She hadn't been eating much recently, so I was happy to see that she was drinking the river water.

Aaryan was watching Maadu too, his arms crossed. "Yes, I have."

When I looked at him, I saw that his face showed no hint of concern. If he was concerned, he hid it well. "Is it anything we should be worried about."

"No," Aaryan said. "We've increases the presence of warriors in the village as well. Some of the faces you've been seeing are my men."

"Really?"

He nodded. "If anything were to happen, we'd be ready."

Maadu lifted her head, showing me she was done, so I stood up. "Alright," I said. "I don't want my Maadu to be in any sort of stress."

He let out a short laugh. "You have nothing to worry about."

I smiled, beginning to guide Maadu back towards our home.

Aaryan rubbed the back of my cow. "She looks ready to explode."

"Any day now, my brother said." I was extremely worried because my brother Shiyam and father and mother were not here. Those three, along with Mayu, had left to visit Mayu's family... so I was pretty much alone with my other brothers.

Shiyam and my father knew the most about cows. I had hoped they would be here when Maadu gave birth.

They would know what to do.

But here I was alone. She was showing all the signs of being ready to give birth. Not eating, spending most of her time alone, even being extremely fidgety.

Sure I was excited to see the baby... but I was also extremely nervous.

When we arrived home, however, right before Aaryan said his goodbyes, Maadu began to get fidgety again. She pulled away from me, the rope I had tied around her coming loose as she started to run off.

"Maadu!" I called.

Aaryan quickly grabbed her by the horn, causing her to rear back.

"No!" I nearly shouted, quickly. "You'll hurt her!"

He let go immediately, surprised that I was raising my voice.

Maadu ran off towards the barn, letting herself in. I lifted the skirt of my sari and ran after her. When I got there, I saw her looking uncomfortable as she sat herself down.

Then she got back up, strutted around and sat back down.

She did this a couple times as Aaryan and I watched in confusion.

Finally, I gasped. "Look!"

I could see it.

I could see the baby.

"She's giving birth!" When I looked at Aaryan, I saw the shock on his face. His eyes were wide and his lips slightly parted.

I was certain that he had never seen anything like this before.

Maadu then got down, sitting as the baby began to make its way out.

I was getting frantic, running around, grabbing water and beginning to warm it up with a fire. And when I returned to the barn, Aaryan was still standing there, shocked. "Do we do anything?"

I shook my head. "Not now," I said. "My brother said to leave her be until the baby's bottom is out."

And so we watched.

We stared in amazement as my Maadu brought a new life into this world. I could see that it was a dark brown little baby. I couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy but I watched in wonder.

"I can't believe this..." Aaryan said, his voice soft.

I chuckled. When I looked at him, I couldn't tell if he was amazed or disgusted.

But nonetheless, he looked shocked.

Soon, the bottom of the baby slipped out."Come now!" I said, "give me a hand!"

He looked at me.

"The baby will be too heavy for me to hold!"

He hesitated. "You want me to..."

I rushed over to Maadu, holding her face in my hands, "good girl!"

"What do you want me to do?" Aaryan asked in disbelief.

"Pull the rest of the baby out!" I said, walking around Maadu and sitting on the floor next to the baby. I touched the face of the baby. It's eyes were closed and the hay and dirt on the floor covered it's face. "it's legs are still in her!" I began to wipe its face clean with my fingers, pushing the dirt and hay away from its nostrils.

"But-"

"Aaryan!"

He took a breath, looking up as if praying to god, before coming over to us. He sat on the floor cross legged, grabbed the baby and pulled.

"Slowly!"

He listened, pulling the little calf out completely from Maadu. The head of the baby now rested on his knee, fluids and a little bit of blood covering his trousers.

I cleaned the baby's wet face as Maadu jumped up. She turned around, almost immediately beginning to lick her baby.

She kept licking it, over and over again as worry filled me. It wasn't moving.

Aaryan began stroking the little calf. "What's wrong with it?" He asked.

"I don't know," I said in a worried whisper. Panic filled me... I didn't know what to do.

I tried not to worry, seeing as Maadu wasn't worried... but it didn't help. "Is it okay?" I asked, though I knew Aaryan knew as little as I did... if not less.

"I-" Aaryan cut himself off when the calf suddenly lifted its head up.

I gasped in excitement and a smile grew on Aaryan face.

I started to laugh as the calf shook its head vigorously and Maadu began licking its face.

Even Aaryan laughed. "It's a boy, Seetha, what will you name him?"

"Erumai," I said, quickly, and Aaryan burst out laughing. Despite all that was going on, I noticed that he had a lovely laugh.

Erumai.

It meant bull in our language.

Maadu meant cow.

Erumai meant bull.

"You are truly a genius, Seetha."

---

My brother had advised me to leave Maadu alone with the baby for a day for her to feed it and for them to bond. So once I felt Maadu and the baby were okay, I left with Aaryan to clean ourselves up.

We walked over to the river and sat down, washing our hands and then our clothes.

The moon was bright in the sky now, filling the lands with a soft white, calming glow. Most of the villagers would have been asleep now, and I could hear only the sounds of the night animals and the flowing of the river.

Normally, I would be frightened to be walk around this late in the night... it was dangerous and dark. But being her Aaryan calmed me down.

I was extremely calm.

Calm and happy.

"I cannot believe I held a newborn baby cow in my hands," he said, breaking the initial silence.

I chuckled. "Neither can I... we did something for the first time together."

He smiled, and kept his eyes on me.

"What?" I asked.

He shrugged. "You yelled at me many times tonight."

I laughed.

"I've never been yelled at by a woman."

"Get used to it," I said, trying to remove a small blood stain from my sari. "That's not going to change if we get married."

"If?" he asked, surprised. "It's not an 'if,' Seetha."

I chuckled at the confidence in his voice but looked at him with a smile. "How can you be so sure?"

"I've decided on it," he said, firmly. "It's just a matter of 'when' now."

My heart skipped a beat and I watched him in silence for a moment. Before I could think of what to say, however, I noticed a tiny spot of blood near his shoulder. I soaked the end of my sari in water and began to rub that spor for him. "You're never going to be able to wear this ever again," I said.

When he didn't respond, I looked up at him.

He was looking at me with a small, kind smile.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" I asked, getting up. I sensed something strange... something that made me feel embarrassed.

He let out a soft laugh, getting up as well. "I am not allowed to look at you?"

"Not if you're going to make  me feel all embarrassed," I said as I began to make my way back in the direction of my home. It was starting to get chilly, which was how I knew for sure I shouldn't be out anymore. "You should head back. It's getting late."

I wasn't surprised when I felt him grab me by my wrist. "My intention is not to embarrass you," he said. There was a hint of amusement in his voice. When he pulled me into his arms, I didn't feel embarrassed anymore. I just felt warm. His body was as warm as daytime, and his arms seemed to protect me from the cool air.

I hugged him back. It was late... the middle of the night. Maybe no one would be around. But despite this, I still sighed. "People might see."

"So what?" He asked. "You are to be my wife."

I looked up at him. "My father said-"

"Your father said not to let anyone know I am the prince... not to keep our love a secret."

"Other people might know you're the prince," I said. "Just like my father did."

"Well..." he started, "that's unfortunate."

The look on his face made me chuckle.

"Because I can't hold myself back from doing this much long," he started. Before I could ask him what he was talking about, he pressed his lips against mine.

I was shocked at first, but I realized quickly that it was mind that was in shock. My body, however, reacted completely differently as my heart raced.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back, hugging him tightly. And though my mind tried to remind me of my father's words, it was soon clouded by the loud thumping of my heart and the scent of his clean skin.

His kiss was soft, and the hairs on his face tickled me gently. And though he talked big, it seemed as if he really did care about what I thought... as if he were waiting for me to pull away because I thought this was going too far.

But I didn't.

It was still so hard for me to accept that everything would work out and he would become my husband, though I wanted that more now than ever. If anyone were to see and, god forbid, my relationship with Aaryan didn't work out, then my honor would be destroyed. No man would ever marry a girl who had already kissed another man.

It was foolish, in my opinion. I see men getting away with that all the time. No one cared what they did with women. No one spoke rumors about the men. It was always the women.

Nonetheless, I found that I couldn't care less about that right now.

Right now I wanted him. And maybe I would want him forever.

His body felt so much stronger and larger against my thinner and more fragile frame, but that only made me want to hug him tighter. It felt almost as if we fit perfectly into each other's arms. I had never kissed another man before, of course... yet somehow, with him, I knew what to do, and it felt absolutely amazing.

Maybe that was how love worked. You just know.

"Just a little longer," he said softly after he pulled his lips from mine.

"For what?" I asked. Though I knew what he meant, I wanted him to say it.

"For you to truly be mine," he took my hand in his and knotted his fingers in mine. "You will be my Princess... admired by everyone."

"I don't want to be a princess," I said, my face still close to his, "and I don't want to be admired by everyone."

"Then what do you want," he asked, kindly. "I'll give you anything, Seetha."

I smiled at him, before getting on my toes and kissing him once more. When I pulled away, I looked at him, my cheeks warm. "I just want to be happy," I whispered. "With you."