Chapter 1: chapter 1

The silence before the storm was a lie, a momentary illusion crafted by fate to soften the blow of what was to come. I stood atop the high terrace of my father’s palace, my hands gripping the stone balustrade, my breath caught in my throat. Beyond the gates of Kosala, the horizon burned, orange and red like the flames of a wrathful god. Smoke coiled into the sky, thick and ominous, as though it sought to choke the heavens themselves.“Your Highness,” my nursemaid Vasudha’s voice broke the silence. She approached from behind, her gait unsteady. “You must come away. The king has given orders to secure you.”“I will not cower in the shadows like some frightened child,” I replied, not turning to face her. My voice, though even, trembled with the weight of my defiance. “If this is my last night in Kosala, I would see it whole. Let me at least bid farewell to the land I love.”“The king will be displeased,” Vasudha muttered, wringing her hands. “He commands us for your safety, Princess Sanmayi. The Amaravati forces—they are relentless. Their prince is unlike any we have faced.”At the mention of him, a chill crept up my spine. Ranajay. The name carried a sinister edge, whispered in the corridors of my palace like the warning of an incoming storm. They said he was cruel, a man of no mercy, but even so, I refused to believe one man alone could bring an empire to its knees. No, this was not the doing of just Ranajay; this was betrayal, treachery festering in our midst.“And what would my father have me do?” I asked, at last turning to face her. “Hide in some dark chamber and wait for my fate to find me? Will the shadows keep the Amaravati blades from my neck?”“Do not speak so, my princess,” Vasudha pleaded, her voice trembling as tears welled in her eyes. “Your life is too precious. You are the jewel of Kosala. If you fall, who will stand for us?”I looked at her, this woman who had raised me from my cradle, and felt the first sting of despair creep into my heart. Was this what it meant to be royalty? To stand helpless as the world I knew crumbled around me? The answer came not from Vasudha’s lips but from the distant roar of Amaravati’s army at our gates.The sound of hurried footsteps interrupted my thoughts. My elder brother, Prince Varunesh, strode into the terrace, his armor gleaming despite the soot-stained air. His expression was grim, his jaw tight as he glanced at me.“You should not be here,” he said sharply. “The enemy is nearly upon us.”“And where would you have me be, brother?” I countered, my voice sharper than intended. “Locked away like a bird in a cage, waiting for the cat to pounce?”Varunesh’s eyes softened for a fleeting moment before hardening again. “I would have you safe, Sanmayi. That is all that matters now. You must go—there is a secret passage beneath the temple. Father has arranged for your escape.”“Escape to where?” I asked, my heart pounding. “There is no kingdom left to flee to, no sanctuary untouched by Amaravati’s reach.”“Escape now, question later,” he snapped, the desperation in his voice betraying the iron façade he wore. “Kosala is lost, but you are not. If you live, there is hope.”I hesitated, my mind warring between pride and reason. “And what of you? What of Father?”“We will do our duty,” he said quietly, his gaze fixed on the burning horizon. “We will hold the line for as long as we can. But Sanmayi, you must promise me—swear it upon Mother’s memory—that you will not let yourself be taken.”His words struck me like a blade, the weight of their meaning sinking in. The stories of what happened to royal women captured in war were too horrific to recount, too vile to bear. I swallowed hard, nodding. “I swear it.”Before I could say more, a deafening boom shook the palace, and I felt the stone beneath my feet tremble. The gates had fallen. Vasudha screamed, clutching my arm as if her frail grasp could shield me from the chaos that surged forward.“Go!” Varunesh shouted, drawing his sword. “Run, Sanmayi! Now!”I turned and fled, my feet carrying me down the winding staircases and through the echoing corridors of the palace. The air was thick with smoke and fear, the cries of the wounded mingling with the clashing of steel. My heart thundered in my chest as Vasudha tugged me along, leading me toward the temple.“Keep moving, child,” she urged, her voice shaking. “Do not look back.”But I did. Just once.I turned as we reached the temple doors and saw Varunesh standing in the courtyard, his sword raised high as Amaravati soldiers poured in. He was a lone figure against the tide, a lion in the face of death. And in that moment, I knew I would never see him again.We descended into the dark passage beneath the temple, the air damp and suffocating. Vasudha’s grip on my arm was firm, but my mind was elsewhere—on the faces I had left behind, on the family I had lost, on the kingdom that now burned above us.When we emerged into the forest beyond the palace walls, the night was eerily silent. I looked back at the distant glow of flames that consumed Kosala and felt a sob rise in my throat.“What now, Vasudha?” I whispered, my voice breaking.“Now, we survive,” she said, her voice heavy with sorrow. “For your family. For Kosala.”And so, I turned my back on the only home I had ever known, stepping into the shadows of the forest with nothing but the clothes on my back and the oath I had sworn to my brother.Kosala was lost, but I was not.Not yet.---