CHAPTER ONE

　　STAR CHOOSING CEREMONY

1

　　Jarha, India

　　He is Aadi, the second son of the late Raja of Jarha, he is tall, a bit too tall for his age, he is twenty one and at twenty one, he is the Raja of Jarha, a quaint little kingdom in the western coasts of India.

　　His hair is long, long enough that it reached his shoulders, his eyes are the rarest shade of blue, blue like the purest of diamonds and it's color changes at the slightest change in his mood.

　　His eyes are turquoise blue as he watches the ceremony with an impassive smile, today, Abhi, his personal guard is getting married, Abhi is more of a brother to him, he is a fair young man of nineteen and today he has decided that he is man enough to get married and Aadi decided to grace the occasion with his presence.

　　The tradition of Jarha is that once a young man decides to marry, the priests would throw up a kite, this kite is in the shape of a star, the kite would be enchanted with the spirit of the gods and any lady that the star falls in her hands will be the wife of the young man.

　　Abhi is filled with trepidation, he does not know who his star would choose, the only thing he knows is that his star is the Polaris star but he does not know who the star is, he is dressed in the customary red robes that are used for weddings in Jarha, he looks at the priests as they invoke his name in the kite.

　　" this kite is for Abhi, son of Shiva, one of the knights in the Raja's Army, may the gods let his star choose him a good maiden that would be his bride "

　　The priests, all four of them chant this prayer, thier bodies are half bare and the upper part of their bodies are painted red, after the chant, they raise the kite up in the air and it begins to soar high in the air.

　　The young and beautiful maidens of Jarha are all outside thier houses, word has gone round the following day that Abhi would choose bride today and all of these fair maidens knows that it is an honor to be the bride of one of the Raja's knights

　　The kite seems to have a destination as it flies past the villages in Chaddha, Revi and Paltik until it gets to a little village called Jaram, the kite begins to sail downwards, the maidens in this village are excited when they see that the kite sailing downwards, they raise their hands in an outstretched manner, they do not jostle or push each other, they know it is fruitless to do so and the kite would only choose anyone it wants to.

　　Suddenly the kite falls, it falls in the hands of a maiden named Lakshmi, Lakshmi is the only daughter of a poor farmer, her mother had died right after she was born and Lakshmi had been the one taking care of her father, she is a beautiful maiden with black chestnut hair and oval face, she has just turned seventeen a month ago. Her face breaks into a smile as the kite falls in her hands, the stars have chosen her and she is going to be Abhi's bride.

　　" Lakshmi! You're so lucky!! The stars have chosen you!!! "

　　" Lakshmi! the gods have favored you!!"

　　Anika and Geeta gushes excitedly, Anika is a fair maiden of fifteen, she is extremely skilled in beautifying the young maidens, drawing beautiful 'henna' on their arms and legs while Geeta is a teacher, she is very good in communicating with sign language and she teaches the dumb children in the village.

　　Lakshmi hugs the kite to her chest as she ran inside to tell her father the news, " father! The stars have chosen me!!, father!!! I am going to be Abhi's bride "

　　" oh my daughter! The stars have indeed chosen you, the gods have favored us, may the gods bless your union.... , Siddarth prays as he rested his hand on his daughter's head, he doesn't know when tears started trickling down his face, Lakshmi is such a good daughter and he would miss her a lot.

　　" don't cry father... I will always come to check on you... I will be able to take care of you now that I'm about to marry a knight... I promise you father "

　　Lakshmi said as she cleans the tears on her father's face with a piece of her cloth.

　　Her father went inside the room and returned with a golden Saree and he handed it to Lakshmi

　　" your mother wore this on our star choosing ceremony "

　　Lakshmi is amazed at how the soft silky fabric has lasted for all these years, even though it smells like moth and old clothes, she could detect a subtle feminine fragrance as she holds it close to her nose, it gives her the feeling that her mother is right here.

　　She wears the golden Saree and after a while, her two friends, Anika and Geeta enters the house to beautify her, Anika draws a beautiful 'henna ' of a peacock on her leg and draws other intricate patterns on her hands while Geeta styles her hair and packs it in the latest Punjabi fashion.

　　People are coming in to greet Lakshmi for being the lucky maiden to be Abhi's bride, after her friends were done beautifying her, she puts on her mother's jewelry and stares at her reflection in the broken mirror, she looks so beautiful, just like a bride, she couldn't stop herself from breaking down in tears as she bids her father goodbye.

　　Anika and Geeta escorts her to Paltik where she would find a carriage that would take her to the royal palace of Jarha, Abhi is a knight and it is customary that all the knights should live in the palace.