Chapter Text
As the first birds rose & started chirping by her window Princess Amba woke up. She had barely managed to get any sleep last night. Long into the night her sisters & she had sat talking about their upcoming swayamvar in excited whispers. Ambika & Ambalika were anxious to know who all would be in attendance. Ambika had managed to bribe a maid with a beautiful bracelet for all the latest news about the swayamvar. Amba had sat quietly with them participating in their excitement but feeling none of their anxiety. Because without needing to bribe a maid she already knew the man who had stolen her heart had arrived in the city. Why would she need a maid when she had her heart to guide her.
She pulled a shawl around her & walked up to the window. The sky had turned a beautiful soft colour of pink. The day of the swayamvar had finally arrived. The moon was still visible in the early morning sky. This was the last morning she would be spending in this room. Come tomorrow she would be far away. Her future, as sure as the waxing & waning of the moon, was set before her.
A maid entered & quietly drew her a bath. Today the Princess would bathe first in milk & then in sandal scented waters with a generous portion of rose petals. The maid helped the Princess wash her long tresses, the warm water & scent of sandalwood relaxing Amba.
After a long soak Amba finally got up & covering herself walked up to the mirror admiring her reflection. Some of them called her vain. She studied the dusky skinned beauty looking back at her from the mirror. With eyes like a doe & her long straight her hair falling up to her waist in thick waves she was no less beautiful than an Apsara. If she was vain, she had every reason to be.
More maids came along bringing with them the royal jewels. They helped Amba dress up in the finest clothes in Kashi. Another maid came in to braid her hair & arrange it beautifully in a bun on the top of her head. Finally her every limb was covered in jewels & precious stones. Rubies sparkled around her throat & waist while a beautiful diamond rested on her nose. Gold glittered at her wrists & ankles.
As the conch shells sounded the beginning of the auspicious time for the swayamvar, for the first time Amba felt a punch of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. She was soon joined by her sisters who too would be choosing a husband for themselves today. Leading her younger sisters Amba quickened her pace. She felt an intense need to see Shalva. Only when she had assured herself that her Prince had arrived would she be able to quell her anxiety.
As she arrived in the Hall where the swayamvar would take place her eyes scanned the Princes & Kings who had come to the ceremony. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Shalva sitting there amongst the other Kings just as he had promised. He nodded slightly in her direction & she blushed red hoping no one had seen this little exchange between them.
After praying to the Gods the swayamvar began. A maid brought her a garland of roses. The maid introduced each King to Amba as she passed through the Hall with the garland in her hand. She didn’t listen to any of it. She had already chosen her husband. And very soon she would garland him.
While she was lost in her thoughts the maid had stopped talking. The entire Hall had grown still. Had she stood before this man too long? She quickly took a step forward so the maid could introduce her to the next King & then the next till finally Shalva’s turn came. But the maid remained silent. Instead a man roared somewhere. The roar roused Amba from her day dreams.
A man dressed completely in white stood near the doors of the Hall. He was armed & looked extremely angry about something. She took a step back as he moved forward like a whirlwind.
Amba noticed that the guards had not stopped him. Insulting her father this man had barged in. And instead of apologizing he stood there blaming her father for not inviting the Prince of Hastinapur. Someone somewhere snickered. Whispers broke out throughout the Hall.
“Had the Kashi princesses’s beauty finally made Bhishma lay aside his vows?”
Amba looked desperately at her father & then at Shalva. Both looked furious.
As she stood there frightened by the sudden arrival of a warrior like Devvratt Bhishma she registered he was speaking something. He talked of insults to the Kurus, of his brother Vichitravirya, of coming to take the Princesses for his brother. Surely he could not mean that. How could a man just barge in & abduct not one but three princesses? No one would allow that! Not her father! And definitely not Shalva! She was surrounded today by the finest warriors in Aryavarrta. They wouldn’t allow Bhishma to insult her in this manner. But she saw in horror as Bhishma advanced towards her sisters. And then he turned towards her. She wanted to scream but the aggressive stance of the man silenced her. She waited for her father to come to her rescue. Where was Shalva? How could he allow this to happen to her?
The garland of roses fell at Devvratt’s feet as he marched the three Princesses out to his waiting chariot. She looked at her sisters for support but they were as stunned as she was. Like cattle they were being herded into a chariot by this man.
As the chariot caught speed she saw a speck in the distance. Hope rose in her as she saw another chariot come thundering towards them. Shalva stood in it in his armour. Her heart filled with pride as her handsome King challenged this brute. At least someone had stood up for her. She watched with bated breath for Shalva to win. But nothing that day seemed to be going the right way.
She watched all her hopes crash as Shalva took arrow after arrow from Devvratt Bhishma whose skill was unmatched. She had heard many stories about this son of Ganga but she had assumed most of them to be exaggerations. But with each arrow that hurt her beloved she understood the gravity of her situation. There would be no one saving her today she realized even before Shalva fell to the ground injured.
Bhishma returned to the chariot & ordered the charioteer to drive on. As Amba watched with eyes brimming with tears she saw her hopes & dreams scatter away in the dust raised by the chariot wheels. The dust seemed to literally settle on her past as the dust clouds surrounded Shalva & he was completely lost to her eyes. In between she saw the man lying there defeated, trying to get up. As the distances between them increased he seemed like a mirage to her now. Was anyone truly there, fighting to stand up? Or was it just a figment of her imagination? She stared till even the mirage disappeared & she was surrounded by the reality of the man that was beside her driving her to a new future.