Prologue
"I know the King will not agree." A female voice be heard from inside a chamber.
"I think he will agree, what do you think sister?' Another voice was heard
"I don't know, I can't understand how can they even think that we will trust them again." A female authorative voice was heard inside the Queen's chamber of Mehramgarh.
The chamber was filled with attendees and in the middle the queens of Mehramgarh was seated indulged in their own talks.
Announcement was heard in the distance of the King entering the chamber.
"Ekaant"
"Privacy" his voice was heard loud and clear, powerful yet calm as he entered.
The attendees left the room and when the room fell in silence the Queen spoke
"Tell us it's not true."
The king sighed deeply and sat in front of the queen and muttered the words with which the chamber got filled in deep silence.
"It is true."
He raked his eyes around his wives and settled them on his head wife, his Supreme Queen and yet again sighed deeply and spoke the words that left everyone in the room shocked "And I agree with them"
"But why my lord? " Maharani questioned in serious voice
"They are our enemy, how can you agree to this marriage?" Third wife said
"Are you really thinking of sending your daughter to your enemy's kingdom? Have you forgotten what they did? They betrayed us." Second wife spoke with tears filling her eyes
"Even if I want to forget, I cannot, after all she was my sister, I know very well what happened with her. " the king voice was filled with pure hatred.
"If you have not forgotten Maharaj then why are you again allowing the daughter of our kingdom, your own daughter to be sacrificed, if someone trusts someone once and regrets it then he does not make the same mistake again." Third wife voiced her thoughts
" Enough is enough, Choti Rani is right, we will not send our daughter into a whirlwind of sorrow." Maharani said in authorative tone
" Isn't she my daughter too, Queen? Do you think I am her enemy?" The King questioned in weak voice
" It is not so Maharaj, but you know well enough that till now Jiji has taken most care of her, If Meera ji was alive today, she would have said the same thing. Please do not misinterpret our words but we did lose one of our daughters because of Kaushalgarh negligence but if something similar happened with our Maithili then we will not be able to handle." Third wife said with tears streaming down her eyes.
"I know the meaning of your words and understand your feelings, but you should also understand that the thing which we were afraid off for years, will not take much time to become present now, external enemies have set up their siege in the direction of our Hind, during this time we Rajputs will have to forget our own disputes." The king spoke in authorative tone stop any further discussion
"And to end your enmity, you will hand over the hand of our princess to the prince of Kaushalgarh kingdom." Maharani spoke these words but this question can be seen in everyone's eyes.
"My Queen, you are only thinking about your daughter but I am the Maharaja of Mehramgarh, I have to think about my subjects as well. These subjects are also our children and I have taken the decision." He spoke with dominance in his tone
"Won't you ask Maithili even once to know what she wants?" Eldest Queen spoke
"I know my daughter, she will not ignore my words but for everyone's peace of mind I will definitely ask her opinion." King words came short but everyone felt the weight in them
The loud sound of the footsteps filled the quiet room when the three Prince and their wives entered the chamber.
"Father, we came to know that Kaushalgarh state has sent a message, is it time for war?" The eldest spoke in his loud and dominating voice.
"Yes son, but neither you nor your brother will fight this war, this story will start with your sister and will end with her." Queen spoke while her hands were trembling and everyone who came stood confused.
The King took the letter from the corner of the room and handed it to the Yuvraj.
He opened the scroll and read aloud.
"Hum jaante hain, yeh patra milne par aapko shanka hui h parantu yeh patra. Yeh patra yudh ke aarambh ke liye nhi balki varsho se chali aarahi humari shatruta ko mitane ke liye h. Aap jaante hi honge ki Hind ke sarhado ke baahar humare shatru bheetar aane ka bahana dhundh rahe h aur agar hum yuhi ek dusre ke virudh rahe toh deri nhi hogi jab bahari shatru bheetar aakar humare praja ka sukh-chain chheen lenge. Aisa na ho isliye hum Kaushalgarh ke maharaj apne Parivaar aur shubhchintako ki sahmati se mitrata ka haath badhana chahate h aur is mitrata ko prem aur vishwas se bharne ke liye hum aapki putri Rajkumari Maithili ka haath apne jeshth putra aur Kaushalgarh ke Yuvraj Omkara Pratap Singh ke liye mangte h. Hume vishwas h ki aap humari baat ko gambheerta se lenge aur iss shatruta ki krwahat ko mitane ke iss prayas mein humara saath denge.
Shubhkamnao ke saath.
King of Kaushalgarh."
"We know, on receiving this letter you have become suspicious but this letter is not for the comfort of war but to wipe out our enemity which is running since years. You must know that our enemies outside the borders of Hind are looking for an excuse to come inside and if we continue to fight against each other like this then it will not be long when the foreign enemies will come inside and take away the happiness and peace of our people. To avoid this from happening I, the Maharaja of Kaushalgarh, with the support of our family and well-wishers, wish to extend the hand of friendship and to fill this friendship with love and trust we ask for the hand of your daughter Rajkumari Maithili for our eldest son and the Crown Prince of Kaushalgarh Omkara Pratap Singh. I am confident that you will take our concerns seriously and support us in our efforts to eliminate the bitterness of this hostility."
With best wishes.
King of Kaushalgarh."
And everything felt silent...
