YEARN

CHAPTER 04

Note: I changed Maitreyi's name to Shakuntala because there were too many similar sounding names starting with M for my liking.

L A S Y A

Lasya knew how court happened. Her father was a part of the royal court after all. She was positive that it happened with everyone present, not in the discreet way that Rudransh was conducting it. He was beckoning every minister into his tent individually to have elaborate conversations with them. Everyone except her father and Shakuntala.

She walked towards the latter, aware that her father wouldn't disclose anything to her. He still saw her as a little kid, not as the married woman that she was now. Upon approaching the Agriculture Minister, she cleared her throat. Shakuntala looked up, placing her clothes down. She glanced around, looking visibly confused. "Your Highness?"

Lasya gave her a small smile. "I haven't really had a proper chance to talk to you, so I wanted to use this opportunity. Is this a good time?"

Both of them knew that she didn't have any way out, seeing as she didn't have any other commitments, but Shakuntala nodded like she had a choice of saying no. "Yes, Your Highness. Anything you need."

She sat down on a carpet and gestured for the minister to do the same. "I hope I'm not crossing my limits by asking this, but why did you choose to stay unmarried? You could have balanced your job and your family. A lot of women do that, don't they?"

Shakuntala chuckled lightly. "I don't mind answering, Your Highness. I've lived for forty-seven years now, and I'll tell you what I've seen in my lifetime. Women don't balance. They can't balance. They have to compromise somewhere. Outsiders might not know, but they always do. They either neglect a little bit of their familial responsibilities and dwell in guilt or they compromise in their work and dwell in guilt. I don't want to feel guilty about anything I do. It's as simple as that."

That made sense. "But staying unmarried is too harsh of a choice, no? What about children? Have you never wanted them?"

"Different women have different priorities. Kids simply aren't mine." she said, a confident smile gracing her face. "Society might not agree, but society is not playing the role of the Agriculture Minister of Vibhava. I am. So, I don't care about what they have to say."

As taken aback as Lasya was by her unwaveringly strong response, she was also immensely proud to see that women like her existed. Women who fought for what they wanted, despite having to go against everything they have ever known. 

"That's incredibly brave of you. I commend you on that."

Shakuntala smiled.

"I can only hope that I learn it too."

The minister shook her head. "That's where you're wrong, Your Highness. Decisiveness is not something you can learn in a day. It's not even something that you can learn in a year. It's something that you understand with time. I didn't start off this way. A lot of experiences shaped my mindset. Your thought process will align in due time as well."

Lasya nodded, absentmindedly picking a neem leaf off of the floor. "What's His Majesty doing? Isn't court supposed to happen right now?"

She shrugged lightly. "It's supposed to be, but His Majesty has different ways of making things work. Things always end up how they're supposed to though. I'm sure this time is no different."

Shakuntala was bound to say that out of loyalty. She genuinely might not have known, but that only raised Lasya's suspicions further. What was Rudransh being so secretive about that his agriculture minister could not know? She didn't know how things worked in the royal family, however, she had always assumed that the Queen was kept in the loop.