Her Past : Chapter 2

"Lavanya, where have you been?" The male voice thundered, making Lavanya flinch.

"Father, why aren't you sleeping yet?" Lavanya said casually as she removed the hem of the turban covering her face and the turban from her head, letting her long braided hair fall below her waist level.

"How can I sleep peacefully when you roam around as Sanvika Devi at this time?" Lavanya's father lit some diyas (oil lamp) enlightening the entire room. His shadow cast on the wall, showing how strong and well built his figure was. His thick, black hair was hanging a little above his shoulders while his well-shaped mustache showed his glory as General of Maheswari.

"Father, why are you worrying about me? Lavanya is your sweet little daughter while Sanvika Devi is the savior of the poor." Lavanya said casually while she folded the turban well before putting it in its place.

"But both of them are you and I am worried about you Lavanya." Lavanya's father, Bhargav's voice quivered as he knew how stubborn his daughter was. No matter how hard had he tried but without her wish, she won't change herself.

"Father, don't worry about me. I am your daughter, General of Army of Maheswari's daughter." Lavanya smiled in an assuring manner. "Father, you taught me about all techniques used in wars and various types of rare fighting skills. Moreover, I do have the body strength of a male. Then why are you worrying about me? No matter what, your daughter was, is, and always will be the winner." Lavanya said with a determined voice that formed a faint smile on Bhargav's face.

"You will never grow up." Bhargav smiled. "Your mother will be so happy to see you like this. You are a girl but your entire behavior and courage are like a boy." His hand rose and gently caressed Lavanya's head. "It's already 9 pm. I think you should have dinner and take a rest. Tomorrow you have to go to offer prayers at the temple." His every word was full of affection and fatherly love.

"I know father," Lavanya replied as if she wasn't interested in going to the temple. "You should sleep now. I can take care of myself."

"But..."

"No more buts. Now go and sleep." Lavanya said like a whiny kid and took her father to his respective room. Bhargav looked at her daughter before retiring to his bed. "Good night father." She smiled and left the room.

She went to her room and changed her clothes from the men's dhoti and shirt to a simple, light-colored lehenga-vaani. Adjusting her dupatta, she went to her mirror and took a small bindi kept on her table to put it in the space between her eyes-brows so that she would look like a decent girl.

That's it. This is how Lavanya looks like. She smiled as she checked herself in the mirror and went to the kitchen to have her food. She took a bronze plate and served pulihora, stir-fried vegetables, and some mango pickle. A smile formed on her lips as the delicious aroma of pulihora reached her nose. Taking the plate of food in her hands, she went to her room so that she could enjoy her dinner in the calm, soothing moonlight.

She sat beside the huge window, allowing the moonlight to touch her face softly while the gentle breeze gazed across her face, causing a few of her locks to blow freely. She raised her head so that she could see the beautiful full moon shining gently.

"Mother, I miss you so much." Lavanya's voice trembled while a glassy layer of tears covered her eyes. She felt a lump forming at her throat upon reminiscing her sweet moments spend with her mother.

Lavanya lost her mother at the age of 6 years while protecting her from dacoits when they were returning from their grandmother's house. Since then she decided to grow up like a man so that no problem could stop her which could stop a girl. She learned war techniques as well as various types of fighting skills. But all these were kept as a secret from the entire world.

Bhargav used to think that growing up like man would make the existence of his daughter in trouble and no man would marry her. Because during that time in a male dominant society, who would want their wives to become more powerful than them? So he decided to train her secretly as a warrior. When she grew up, she decided to protect the poor and at the age of 17 years, she became Sanvika Devi to protect the poor by robbing the shrewd who gained money by torturing the poor people.

Since her entire aim and focus was on learning fighting skills and war techniques, she couldn't learn literature, music, or any other skills which generally a girl would love to learn. But she was an expert in cooking and doing house chores, since, after the death of her mother, she used to look after her family.  She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't realize a person sitting on the frame of the window next to hers.

"I miss you too Lavanya." The cheerful male voice suddenly shook Lavanya and brought her out of her thoughts.

She quickly put her food on the table before walking to the person who dared to intrude into her room without her permission. He was wearing a plain dark green cotton kurta with dark green dhoti while he was sitting on the window leisurely with his body resting against the window frame. One of his hands was resting on his knee while the other one was under his head.

"Surya, will you stop flirting with me and use these skills with other girls?" Lavanya walked towards him. "Come inside now. I don't want you to die and cause a mess here."

The young man named Surya with a handsome face like Lord Krishna flashed a bright smile at her before jumping into the room. His hooded eyes looked at her while his thick straight eyes brows as straight as sword arched a little at her words.

"This is how you talk to your best friend, hm?" Surya tilted his head, showing his clean sharp jawline while letting his shoulder-length hair fall more on his shoulder.

"Did you get the whereabouts of the dacoits?" Lavanya asked, ignoring his tease.

"Yes." He replied in a serious tone as he understood that Lavanya was trying to have a serious talk with him. "If you order me then I can kill him."

"No need," Lavanya said in a cold voice. "You did a great job in using arrows when I was fighting with the leader of the dacoits. Just give him a warning not to mess with people of Maheswari. It will be enough."

"As you wish, Your Highness." Surya bowed to her dramatically.

"Sister, did the dacoits hurt you?" A female voice echoed in the room and both Lavanya and Surya turned their heads in the direction to see a young girl of around 18 years, wearing simple lehenga-vaani walked in. Her waist-length long hair was tied into a long braid while her doe shaped eyes looked curiously at her seniors.

"Akshara, why aren't you sleeping yet?" Lavanya asked with a voice full of concern.

"You know that she cannot sleep without you," Surya replied and shook his head.

"Don't divert my attention. Did the dacoit hurt you, sister?" Akshara looked into her sister's eyes, seeking for an answer.

"No, I am fine." Lavanya smiled. "But Surya collected good information about them."

"Why don't you ever allow me to accompany you?" Akshara whined, holding her sister's hand. An adorable pout formed on her lips, trying to convince her seniors.

"Because you still need to grow up little one." Surya chuckled witnessing Akshara's cute tricks to make them melt. "Moreover, you weren't needed today. We had an easy job."

"Akshara, you need to practice archery more. Even though you are good at it, but I want you to become the best." Lavanya let out a deep breath. "Moreover, how can you forget that sometimes you also accompany me? Everything is fine for now." She sat on her chair while messaging her temples.

"Nothing is fine. You haven't even had your dinner." Akshara walked to the table and picked up the plate containing the food.

"I too didn't have my dinner since I accompanied your sister." Surya sat beside Lavanya like an obedient kid. "I too want to eat Lavanya's food." He looked at Lavanya as he knew that she won't say no to him even though she kept a cold, long face.

"Okay fine." Lavanya let out a deep breath. "Akshara, there is still some food for Surya. Can you bring it for him?"

Akshara chuckled as she knew that her sister would keep some food for her best friend. She nodded and brought a plate for Surya. Three of them shared the food together. After having dinner, Surya climbed down from the window and went to his house while Lavanya and Akshara slept together in Lavanya's room.

Lavanya, Akshara, and Surya were childhood best friends. Surya was the son of one of the ministers of the Maheswari kingdom while Akshara was her neighbor who lost her parents at a young age. Since then Akshara used to stay with Lavanya while the latter took care of her like her own sister. Three of them were warriors while Lavanya was the leader and Surya and Akshara were her right and left hand respectively.

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"Father, I too want to accompany you for the tour around our kingdom." Princess Saanvi whined, sitting beside her father.

"I am going to disguise as a commoner, Saanvi." King Surendra Dev said calmly while reading some documents.

"I too wanna learn the tricks on how to disguise perfectly as commoners." Saanvi stood up and walked to and fro, causing the sound of her heavy golden anklets to echo in the room. "I too want to learn how to rule like a big brother." She smiled while looking at her father.

"I know Saanvi." The king let out a deep breath and looked at her. "Are you sure you want to come with me?" He asked for confirmation.

"Yes." She replied with confidence as she was determined to have a look around her kingdom.

"Alright." King Surendra Dev smiled. "Tomorrow we are going to the temple. I want to see if everything is going well."

"I will accompany my father since brother Karthik isn't here and brother Virendra will leave for Avantipuram tomorrow morning." Saanvi smiled but there was obvious determination in her voice.

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Diya:

Pulihora:

Lehenga Vaani: