A Twelve-year-old girl dashed to her mother. She hugged her and asked lovely," What happen, beta?" The girl looked up in her mother's eyes and said," Maa, I also want to learn sword fighting. " Her mother, listening her, made her sit on her lap and said," Sahiba, aap ek ladki hai, aap sastra vidya nahi sikh sakti."

"Par kyu? ", She argued. Her mother smiled weakly and explained," kyuki sastra sirf purus hi chala sakte hain, stri nahi." But she was'nt ready to listen, she argued further,"Nahi maa, hum bhi sikh sakte hain sastra chalana".

"Tum bikul apne Bapu ki tarah bate kar rahi ho, wobhi yahi chahte the, kuch esa karo jo abhi tak purusho ne hi kiya hai", her mother said, remembering the old days. " Toh phir aap hume unka sapna pura kyu nahi karne de rahi? "

" kyuki unke sath unke sapne bhi mar Chuke hai" , She said, her voice raising. The girl was taken aback by the sudden raise in her mother's voice but she didn't give up. "Maa! hum Bapu ka sapna pura karna chahte hai, agar bapu bhi yahi chahte the toh ye galat toh nahi hai, bhir aap hume kyu rok rahi hain " , tears swelled up in her eyes as she said.

"Kyuki ek aurat ko khare hone ke liya bhi ek mard ki jaroorat hoti hai, aur tumhare sath khare hone wale bhi tumhare bapu akele the jo chal base " , her mother said in raised voice , probably because she was hurt. She stood up and went from there, wiping her tears.

The girl looked at disappearing figure of her mother as she went out of there. She looked out the window and saw two boys practicing swordfighting.

"Koi bhi ladki nishaye nahi hoti, hum vo kar ke dikhaenge jo ye duniya har ek ladaki ko karne se rok rahi hai. Hum apne bapu ka sapna pura kar ke rahenge." Her voice full of determination.

...****************...

Gargi's POV...

I ran towards him with joy, that he is here finally. But the joy didn't last long. He ordered his soldiers to arrest me.

"What??", I asked, confused that did listen right.

He smirked looking at me, saying" jo aapne suna Sahiba ".

"Hum kuch samajhe nahi, Ravi! what are saying?", I asked my heart sinking in sadness.

He didn't answered, just looked away from me. The soldiers came near me, forcing me away from there. It was becoming the worst nightmare, I could ever have, but it was not a nightmare, it was real.

I was imprisoned.Till now, my eyes were dried. But the emotion, which was sinking in my heart was still there. The emotion of betrayal! It was something, I can't erase from my mind, my memories and from my heart, ever.

I cried, remembering the day, filled with love and care. But now I am realizing that it was all fake. I loved him unconditionally and all I get back was betrayal and hatred.

He betrayed me, but knowing it only made me feel miserable. It cannot erase his place in my heart, it cannot make me hate him, it's just making me hate myself.

He hate me, but I can't!

He betrayed me, but I can't even think about it.

Why God? Why you made me so pure and threw me in the world, filled with filthyness.

The day when he filled my hair portion with vermilion. The day when he confessed his love for me. The day when he called himself mine and me his. All these scenes are roaming in my mind.

I have seen his love for me in his eyes. If his words were fake, how can his eyes seemed so pure.

No, he can't do this !!!!!

...****************...

3 years ago... (1692)

It was a beautiful sunny morning. At the river side, were some women, some washing utensils and clothes, some filling water, while some were just gossiping.

Arre, sun Gargi! A woman called her as she was going. "Ji kaki! " a girl from the group stood up and went to her.

"Kya hua kaki? " , she asked her.

"Kuch dino se Ganga dikh nahi rahi, sab thik toh hai?", the asked on which she answered, "Vo Maa ki tabyat thik nahi hai."

"Jada bimar hai kya?", the woman asked.

"Nahi-nahi, Guru ji ne kaha hai ki thode din main thik ho jaengi " She answered.

The woman nodded and went from there.Gargi turned her friend Vani and asked her to return back ,"Vani! Jaldi chalo, nahi to phir daat khani paregi."

"Haan aayi! ", She said as she lifted her pot and made her way towards her.

As they were walking back to the Ashram, Vani spoke," Gargi! Kal maine Guru ji aur kaki ko tumhare baare main kuch baat karte hue suna."

"Kya baat?" , she asked, looking at her.

"Tere Shadi ki baat!", Vani giggled after saying. In response she rolled her eyes. But Vani was in mood to tease her.

" toh kaisa ladka chahiye tujhe? "

" Pata nahi!" , she answered, not sure what to say.

"Arre yaar, bata na!", Vani insisted," Har ladki ka koi na koi sapno ka rajkumar hota hai...."

Gargi was listening while she talked to her, and then they went into the Ashram.

"Toh bata, tere sapno ka Rajkumar kaisa hai?" Vani inquired, but her gaze was elsewhere. They witnessed two boys wrestling, but it did not appear to be a practice or a match; rather, it seemed as though the stronger, more muscular boy would kill the other. That boy collapsed to the ground and gave up, but the other boy showed no mercy. Anger filled Gargi's eyes as her hold on her pot tightened.

Just as the boy was about to strike him again, a strong, loud voice interrupted.

"Rajkumar Ravikanth!"

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Gargi's POV...

"Rajkumar Ravikanth!" I screamed in anger. How the hell can he treat him like that? There are some rules to be followed.

Everyone's attention went to me, but without caring about them, I took some steps forward.

"Rajkumar, ye aap kya kar rahe hai?"

He stood up, wiping sweat from his forehead, and said, "Abhyash kar rahe hai, dikh nahi raha."

"Abhyash! Aap ise abhyash karna kahate hain, yaha ke kuch niyam hai, kisi ke haar maan lene ke baad bhi aap unpar pahar nahi kar sakte," I said back.

"Accha, agar itna hi pata hai, toh phir khud mukabla kya nahi karti Ravi se?" one of the boys standing there mocked. I smiled, placing my pot on the ground. "Kyu nahi! Hum tayar hai," I said with such confidence that everyone standing there were taken aback by my reply. Vani came to me, Gargi,i kya kar rahiho?,Chaloo varna bure phasenge."

"Jo hoga vo baad main dekh lenge, abhi hamne keh diya hai toh aap hum piche nahi hat sakte, I said and walked further.

I was confident, but he stepped back saying, "Hum, ek ladki ke sath nahi lar sakate ". " Kyu, dar gaye?", I fired back which was enough to hurt his ego. And as I had thought, he agreed.

I tied my dupatta around my waist and pulled out my dagger. He pulled out a sword and extended to me, saying," Take this, you won't to able to fight with me with this small dagger. But I denied his offer, saying,"It doesn't that if your weapon is either big or small. the only thing that matter is that your passion and skills." He stared me for a while and then took the sword back. "As you say", he replied and we both started the fight .

At first, he was taking me lightly, but slowly, he realized that it's not that easy to defeat me. At first he was only defending himself, but I knew why. He took some steps backward and attacked me from right side but I was already prepared for that. I bend down immediately, making his attempt to fail. Next, I attacked, not from any side or behind, but from front. My dagger clashed with his sword and our eyes met.

I sensed his grip losing and taking advantage of this, I moved to his back in a swift motion and placed my dagger on his neck. And for a moment, my body touched with his, resulting my stomach to churn badly. It causing sensations all over my body. It was something very new to me. But before my running mind could process any further, he, suddenly attacked me. I was taken aback by his sudden response. He smirked, playing my own tricks on me, but I wasn't going to give up. He attacked me again but I moved side immediately. I tighten my grip on the dagger, turned to him and started clashing my dagger with sword again and again. He was taken aback. I was taking a step ahead with each move.

He didn't even was getting the time to attack back as I was moving the dagger very fast. The slow whispers around us turns into chaos. But we were too engrossed in the fight to care about them.

I took a spin and hitted him with my elbow, the move was so sudden that he hadn't expected this, causing him to fell on the ground. With a last move, I jerked the dagger in the ground , just beside his neck. And our eyes met again. His eyes were amused, but I am not sure why I felt like I was sinking into them. I stood up straight and extended my hand to him. He stared at me, smiled and stood up himself, denying my proposal. He took his sword from the ground, turned away for a moment, and then returned to me and said," You are a good fighter though. "

......................

His words surprised her; she knew she was good at sword fighting, but hearing it from a man was unexpected.

She looked at him, her rage slowly fading. He was the first man to compliment her fighting skills. Even her mother did not support this; she did not receive a single compliment from her when she told her that she had learned sword fighting on her own.

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