When I reached my mother's room, I sighed before entering, knowing very well that our conversation was going to end off in a fight.

My mother had thoroughly avoided meeting Seetha's family to the point that it had become disrespectful, and though Seetha herself had not brought it up, I knew it bothered her.

I knew I would have to bring this up with my mother, and that would surely lead to a fight.

When I walked in, however, I was survived by the presence of an unfamiliar woman who was my mother. Actually, I would not even call her a woman. Though she was remarkably beautiful, wearing a rich, deep red sari and an extreme amount of jewelry, she looked young... maybe sixteen? Seventeen at most.

I nodded my head at the fair skin, round eyed girl. I saw her blush before looking away.

"Mother," I said, looking at her. "You wanted to see me?"

"You are late," she said, walking over to me and pushing her long braid over her shoulder.

I bent down and touched her feet in respect, though I was a little annoyed. "I was preoccupied."

"With something that is more important than your mother?" She asked as I rose to face her.

"With something important," I simply responded.

She frowned, but then I let out a breath. "I have something extremely important to discuss with you."

I walked over to the small settee she had in her room and sat down. "Well?" I pushed, putting a leg over another.

It seemed that every move of mine was frustrating to my mother. So she frowned, before clasping her hands together. "I'm beginning to understand now that you are adamant about marrying the village girl–"

"Her name is Seetha."

"So I have a compromise," she continued, ignoring me.

I raised a brow. "A compromise?" I had to admit, I was surprised that she would even consider such a thing.

"It is the best offer I have for you, so it would be wise to accept it."

"Well, tell me what this offer this."

She stayed silent and stared at me for a moment. It wasn't exactly a hesitation. It was a planned pause, possibly an attempt to make me nervous.

I waited.

When she was ready to speak she smiled. She held her hand out, gesturing the younger girl to come to her, which she did. "It's understandable that you don't remember this young lady... I think she was only three years old when she last came to the palace," she put a hand on the back of the girl. "This is Janani, the daughter of Lord Mayuran, an extremely wealthy noble from the Northern Province and a good friend of the family."

I blinked, leaning my elbow against the armrest and stroking my beard with my hand. Though I did not remember this girl at all, I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

"This is my compromise," my mother started. "Marry Janani, and keep the village girl as a concubine."

My eyes moved towards the girl, who was blushing. She seemed to have already known about what my mother was planning. "Leave," I said to her.

She looked a little surprised, as if she had expected me to be accepting of this 'compromise.'

"You do not need to leave," my mother said to her. "He–"

"Leave," I repeated. "Now."

The girl was at least smart, she chose to listen to me. She bowed before leaving my mother's room and as soon as she left, my mother looked at me with anger and disapproval. "Do you realize–"

"This has to be a joke," I said, standing up. "You cannot be serious."

"Why does this seem so unreasonable?" She asked. "You are trying to marry a poor girl!"

I was fuming, though I tried to control it. "Even if I was okay with something as ridiculous as this, men of the Rudraraja Clan have not had multiple wives in over a century. How unstable would that make me look? All for what? For your desire to bring more wealth and riches into this palace? Besides, do you know how disgusting that would make Seetha look and how much more difficult her life would become? She is not a whore, mother. I plan to make her my wife. My only wife."

"Aaryara–"

"I've had enough of this," I said. "I will not discuss this matter further."

"I refuse to accept her!" I mother shouted.

"Then don't," I said, heading for the door. "I'm tired of this and it needs to stop, and if that means that you stay out of this then that will have to do."

"Your father will hear of this," she said, sounding rather petty.

"Good," I said. "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear my response." And as I left, I was sure to slam the door behind me.

---

The rest of the evening was absolutely horrible. It was hard for me to focus on my duties when my mother's incessant attempts to ruin my life were constantly in the back of my mind. My day was busy, and it was only when I woke up the next morning that I remembered I had a 'day off' and I was to spend it with Seetha.

It wasn't actually a 'day off.' Lakshmanan and Saumiya had returned along with Lakshmanan's family and I was to meet them at Lakshmanan's estate to discuss military matters as he was the Chief of the Chandraba Army. Of course, as Lakshmanan was my best friend, our meetings never truly felt like work.

And for that reason, I thought it would be the perfect chance to introduce Seetha to them. We were only a couple days away from the wedding and I wanted them to get to know her before the whole nation did.

After getting ready, I opened my door and began walking towards Seetha's room. Of course, I was unsurprised when I saw that she was already ready and nearing my room, a couple of her maids with her.

Seetha smiled at me, doing a twirl as she walked to show off the sari I got for her as I approached her.

I smiled as her maids began to giggle. "You look beautiful," I said, when I reached her, I touched the smooth fabric before looking at the hijra. Seetha did not like it when I called her the 'hijra,' because, as Seetha said, 'she had a name.' Maha, I think it was. "You have a knack for draping sari's," I said, examining the smooth creases and how neatly it was done.

Maha bowed. "Thank you, my Prince. I've had plenty of practice, and it also helps that Seetha is extremely patient."

She called her by her name, it made me flinch but I assumed Seetha wanted it that way. "Well done," I said. "I will have you be the one who helps her get dressed for the wedding."

The hijra's eyes widened. "Oh, it would be an honor, my Prince."

Seetha was grinning.

After thanking the ladies, I took Seetha's arm and led her to the carriage. Though normally I would have simply gone on horseback, but I figured it would be easier for Seetha, since sitting on a horse in such an elegant sari would be difficult.

As we rode towards Lakshman's home, Seetha seemed very excited. She had heard about my friends many times and this would be the first time she was meeting them, so she couldn't wait. She mentioned that meeting them made her feel like she was finally getting to know me even better. I was happy that she was excited, which was why I thought it was somewhat humorous that she suddenly became shy when we arrived.

Lakshmanan was waiting at the gates for us, his beautifully fattened up wife, pregnant with their first child, grinning by his side. When we got out of the carriage, Saumiya let out an audible gasp. But Lakshmanan and Saumiya ignored me entirely, eyes on Seetha.

Saumiya rushed over as fast as she could and pulled the suddenly shy Seetha into a tight hug, though her belly kept her from being able to hug her tightly. "Oh my goodness!" Saumiya gasped. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you!"

Seetha was almost speechless.

I don't know what she expected, but I assumed she did not expect such a warm welcome. I couldn't blame her though, her introduction to my family was much more... quiet.

Saumiya pulled away and kissed both of Seetha's cheeks before Lakshmanan smiled at her. "So this is the girl who stole my friend's heart?"

I rolled my eyes. "Seetha, meet Saumiya, she is a very close friend of the family and a soon-to-be mother. And this is Lakshmanan, or Lakshman, the Chief of the Aathikaran army and my best friend."

Seetha bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you two."

Saumiya kept grinning. "Come in, come in," Saumiya said. "Let the boys do their boy things while I show you around our home!"

I found myself letting out a relieved breath. Saumiya was completely being her usual self, which meant that she genuinely liked Seetha, even though she knew nothing of her. I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything less from her, but with everything that had been going on with my mother, I couldn't blame myself for being worried.

And before I could say anything else, Saumiya rushed off with Seetha, without even really saying hello to me.

While Seetha was getting a tour of Lakshmanan's estate, I was sitting in his office, leaning back against the chair on the opposite side of his desk. "What happened to the other girl?"

"I don't know," I said, rubbing my eyes with my hand. I had just told him about all of my mother's foolishness and I was happy to see that he too was shocked. "I didn't see her."

"What was her name?"

"I don't remember," I said.

"Did you tell Seetha?"

"Of course not," I said. "She's already disappointed that my mother hasn't met her family. The last thing I want her to think is that there's a bigger issue."

Lakshmanan was shaking his leg, his elbows on the desk and his lips pressed against his knotted fingers. "I don't think it's wise to keep it from her."

I looked at him.

"She'll find out. Women always do."

I sighed, leaning forward.

"And you know your mother better than I do. It's not going to end here," he said. "I'm sorry to be so harsh, but your mother is ruthless."

I wasn't insulted because he was right. "I can't imagine what she's going to do next," I said. "I'm going to marry Seetha. There's only a few days left and the preparations are already nearly complete." That wasn't wrong. The traffic into Aathikara had skyrocketed. Hundreds and hundreds of people were arriving in the Capital because the Crown Prince was getting married. Everyone was talking about this. Everyone knew. "What could she possibly do?"

Lakshman shrugged. "She may not be able to stop the wedding, but she's going to try to make your life miserable. Seetha's life, more specifically, since you love her, if her life is miserable, then your life will be miserable as well."

"No," I said, getting a little angry. "I won't let that happen." I suddenly remembered the priest from what felt like forever ago. He told me that I couldn't keep her happy.

That was not true.

"Hey," he held his hands up. "I'm not saying you'll let it happen. I'm just saying that your mother is going to try."

"So what do you suggest?" I asked. I asked him with a sincere hope that he would give me some good advice. He was not an advisor but he was undeniably a loving friend.

Lakshmanan crossed his arms. He thought for a moment. "Maybe you should consider keeping your mother away?"

"Should I send her back to the North?" I asked with a smirk. Of course it was a joke. I wouldn't do that, not to my own mother, even if she was frustrating me.

Lakshman chuckled. "No, that would never work. I mean, have you considered moving out of the palace?"

My brows rose. "Leave the palace?"

"Not far," he said. "Maybe build yourself an estate. There's some land near here... or even north of the palace. It'd be a short horse ride away so you can go into the palace every day... but the distance would help."

I considered that. "I suppose that isn't a bad idea," I said. "Though it's unheard of for the future king to live outside the palace."

"Just an option," Lakshman said.

"I'll keep it in mind," I said. "I suppose we should talk about the warriors now."

Lakshmanan laughed.