YEARN

CHAPTER 02

L A S Y A

Vibhava was a prosperous kingdom, but it wasn't always that way. There was a time when people suffered severely during famines and other natural disasters, owing to the poor planning and running of the kingdom. Those were dark times, times when people thought Vibhava was done for. They believed that there would be no redemption, seeing as the neighbouring kings were keen on conquering.

Unexpectedly, the tides turned when the ruler died and his son, Shantanu Agnivanshi, ascended to the throne. Threat loomed on the horizon and the kingdom was at its weakest. The poor were dying of starvation while the noblemen snuck out through the dense forests in the west. It was horrible, but that was what King Shantanu's gambler of a father had reduced Vibhava to.

The twenty-four-year-old ruler established hard and fast rules. He distributed the food preserved for the royal family to the poor, ordered soldiers to work in the fields to help the farmers and strengthened the treasury and army by getting loans from the princes of the South, having been smart enough to forge trustworthy friendships with them.

He built the kingdom back up from the ashes, keeping only the most knowledgeable and loyal noblemen in his court. Lasya could proudly tell that her father was one of them.

As she looked up at the portrait of King Shantanu, she was in awe. He was one of the greatest rulers that Vibhava had ever seen and he looked just like Rudransh. Well, an older version of him, but he seemed just as powerful. Lasya couldn't understand how a man as noble as him could have a son with no conscience like Rudransh. All he cared about was expanding the kingdom, nothing more.

She looked up at the arm that he had wrapped around his wife, Satyavati. The Queen Mother. They looked very happy, but everyone knew that their happiness was short-lived. King Shantanu brought prosperity back to Vibhava but at the cost of his own life.

He had succumbed to an incurable illness when he was merely forty-five, leaving the wife that he loved behind to transform into a burdened widow. The Queen Mother refused to let her husband's hard work go down the drain, ruling in his stead until Rudransh came of age.

She raised every one of her children to be responsible, intelligent and strong. Lasya could only hope that her oldest son had a soul deep within the hardened exterior that he wore like armour.

"Your Highness, it's time for breakfast to be served."

She snapped out of her reverie upon hearing Maithili's voice. She had woken up early and had begun exploring the castle, but she hadn't anticipated getting submerged in it until the entire palace was up and functioning. "It's time for breakfast already?"

"Yes." Maithili said, struggling to not address her with her title. Lasya had ordered her not to because she was tired of hearing 'Your Highness' after every sentence that was said to her. "The royal family eats their breakfast early on the days when His Majesty holds court."

"Court?" she asked, confused. It had been a week already?

The handmaiden smiled, unaware of her situation. "Yes, it has been four days since you got married."

Only four? Lasya hoped her frustration didn't show on her face. It felt like an eternity already. Being married to Rudransh Agnivanshi was not easy. Staying angry at him, however, was.

In fact, it was the easiest thing that she had ever had to do because he gave her a new reason every day. On the first day, it started with him not making any effort to talk to her. On the second, he didn't even acknowledge her presence when he walked past. On the third, he had gotten unnecessarily angry when he had found her in the weaponry and on the fourth, well, they had argued over everything that had happened until then. So, all in all, it had been an eventful week.