Paling in the face of the criticism, the male servant tried to come up with some excuses but Dharitri had moved her attention from him towards the gold inlaid, wooden table placed near the window streaming sunlight.
This study had originally belonged to her grandfather when he was still serving as the Strategy & Planning minister. After his retirement, he had converted one of the many rooms in his inner courtyard into a study and moved his work there.
Moving her eyes across the room, it seemed to Dharitri that the elegance and grandeur of the place had also moved with its original owner.
Her father, Rudradev, had been a bright student during his gurukul* days. Though his military training had not been up to the mark, he had more than compensated for it with his intellect and glib speech.
All young males in the aristocratic families and also some of the elite merchant families started attending the gurukul post their Vidyarambh sanskar* at the age of five and above.
While some families chose to homeschool their children initially and sent them to the gurukul at the age of 8, Rudradev had gone to the gurukul located in Kohila when he was 6.
Unfortunately, he wasn't selected by the Sarvaan gurukul, which was renowned for its education. The current emperor, Raja Indraneel, was a student of Sarvaan gurukul. So was her deceased Second Uncle, Hridaydev, who managed to clear the entrance of the prestigious gurukul.
Even though Rudradev stayed in the gurukul at Kohila, he was hailed as the best student graduating at the age of 16 that year and was deemed to have a promising future.
As his daughter, Dharitri had seen her father's brilliance dim slowly over the years. And it was all due to his fascination towards the fairer sex! He hadn't been this bad during her growing years but in the past decade, a lot of his attention and affection was directed outside the house.
Dharitri was well aware of the reason for her mother's deteriorating health, even though Lilavati had never even acknowledged the existence of the problem, forget tackling it. As a daughter, she found herself helpless and furious in such a situation.
Rummaging through the pile of scrolls on his desk, Dharitri found a folded paper which carried her younger cousin's signature seal. She opened it and pressed her lips together. It was dated three days ago.
"Eldest Miss, would you like a cup of tea?" The servant asked her cautiously as a flurry of maids scutteled around, mopping and cleaning up the place.
Without bothering to answer him, Dharitri picked up her skirt and walked out of the place.
Katyayani peered out of the carriage and looked at the stone pillars on both sides of the entrance of the capital city. A vivid carving of various stages of the Moon, from new moon to full moon, had been done in silver and embedded in both the pillars.
The royal kingdoms on this continent were divided into two categories. The royal clan following the Sun were called Suryavanshi and the worshippers of Moon were called the Chandravanshi clan.
The king of Mandhaar belonged to the Chandravanshi clan. As a result, the entire kingdom worshipped the Moon as their deity.
An hour Later, Bali Mansion
Katyayani got off the carriage with the aid of Eka and straightened her voluminous skirt. She lifted her eyes and looked at the intricately carved, tall wooden gates. The guards at the door recognised the carriage carrying the personal seal of Katyayani and immediately opened the heavy gates.
The Bali clan's symbol was a drawn arrow on a bow. This was visible on their seals, the carriages, and other forms of identification.
But Katyayani had chosen to cultivate her own symbol at the age of thirteen, as if wanting to separate her identity from her family. No one knew what she said to Kirtidev that year but since then, her letter seal, the emblem of her carriage and also the dresses of her personal staff started carrying the image of a Lotus bud.
The carriage stopped inside the front yard. Getting off with the help of Eka, Katyayani kept her eyes lowered. With drooping shoulders, she responded to the salutations of the guards and servants with a nod while walking past them to enter the main foyer.
She was carrying a small silk pouch in her hand.
As expected, there was no one from the family who had come out to greet her.
Trini followed behind her closely while Eka and Chatvari stayed back to off load the luggage.
"We'll visit my grandfather before going to my chamber," she said softly to Trini.
The maids and servants of the Bali house were used to this soft-spoken mistress's behaviour. She neither interacted with them much nor did she ever interfere in the matters of the household. She was, at most, a guest visiting the household for a limited period of time.
Since she preferred using her own maids for everything, nobody in the house really knew much about her personality or preferences.
Walking past the small pond located on the left side of the vast main foyer, Katyayani entered the warm corridor which was dotted with small fragrant shrubs on both sides of the floor. Charcoal burners were placed at intermittent intervals, trying their best to keep the cold away.
After fifteen minutes of walking on that path, Katyayani stood outside the quiet yard of her grandfather's pavilion. Before she could take another step, Bhadrak, her grandfather's most trusted servant, came up to her in hurried footsteps.
"Second Miss, forgive this servant. I missed your arrival at the main gate. This servant was remiss in his duties. Please forgive me!" he said humbly.
Katyayani smiled at him and shook her head. "Is grandfather inside his study room?"
"He is waiting for you impatiently, Second Miss. Please allow me to escort you inside," he bowed and started walking towards the chamber which had been converted into a spacious study by Kirtidev.
He spent most of his day inside this room, meeting with people, playing chess or reading.
"Greetings to grandfather. Wishing you a long, prosperous and a healthy life," Katyayani crossed the threshold to enter the rosewood panelled room and bent down to touch the feet of the old man who was standing there.
"Ayushmati bhav*, my child! Get up quickly," He blessed Katyayani in an emotional voice.
*Gurukul - a type of education system in ancient India with shishya (students) living near or with the guru (teacher), in the same vicinity. All sorts of education was imparted under this system, including military and medicine.
*Vidyarambha Sanskara: A ritual that follows Chudakarana or the Tonsure ceremony, i.e., shaving the head of the child. This was the beginning of home or primary education of the child at the age of 5. This was also known as 'Aksharasvikaranam' meaning commencement of primary education or learning of the alphabet.
*Ayushmati bhav - Blessing a female to live a long life