Chapter 16: Varunapriya
On a giant ornamental eave in the shape of a downward facing lotus, situated on one of the tallest walls of the palace, the Little Prince Vajradandaka was seated carefreely, his legs flapping about in the strong winds. If any of the guards knew he was there or even if they thought about how he got there, they would've had successive heart attacks. But little did they know that the little prince routinely went there. It was his secret place that only his personal servant (a boy about the same age as him) and one other person knew.
While using a scratch-type pencil to practice on a metal drawing board, Vajradandaka heard the swishing sounds of a skirt.
"Hmm," he hummed, but didn't turn around, quietly anticipating the other person's arrival.
Soon, a small butt planted itself next to him and a pair of scrawny fair, hands wrapped themselves around his neck from behind. All was quiet, and only the wind conveyed greetings.
The pair of girl and boy remained that way for a small while, hearts entrusted to meaningful silence.
"Vaju, look what I made for you," the little girl chirped and produced a flower garland made of wild flowers from the arid mountains. In peak summer, wearing flower garlands as accessories was a luxury even for the princes. The flowers produced in the palace greenhouse were only enough to cater to the various temples within the royal enclosure, the ancestral shrines and to the queens and mistresses of the king. The remaining were either given to the use of the court for ornamental purposes. A few were sent to the princesses, but priority was given to those who were past adolescence, or at least reaching puberty.
"Oh Varu, these are supposed to be herbs that the monks harvest from the mountains every morning!" the prince giggled happily, "Where did you smuggle them from?"
"Just wear it already!" his fourth sister hmphed and expressed her displeasure at getting too few flowers in her share. They were enough to put in her hair, but hardly enough to make garlands for her two brothers.
"Uh, the mala (garland) is crooked. Now I have proof that it is indeed my fourth sister's hands that made it."
Varunapriya pinched her little brother on the arm evoking a shrill scream from him. "That's what you get for being a smartass."
After the boy put the garland on though, the round shaped face of the little girl beamed and her cute big eyes twinkled. "Hmm…" she nodded in satisfaction.
Looking at her brother's drawing board, the little princess asked, "Is this what you learnt this week at the wind palace? You forgot to teach me the forms last week, and now I'm behind you by another session."
"Uh…last week was very hectic with the foreign delegation, you know that! These people chose just the time to distract us when we were having problems at the border. All hands were needed on deck, even mine…Besides, the previous lesson was quite complex…and…Varu, you are always using freestyle to interpret the lessons. I don't even know how to teach you!"
"I told you, you don't need to worry about it. Just show me the forms and I'll pick it up myself."
The little prince made a weird face. "Eh, fourth sister, for you to scribble, do you really to rely it upon grandpa's sacred art forms? I'm supposed to be his successor, you know? I really feel like I'm being disrespectful here."
The little girl's red face scrunched up as she jumped to her feet, her tender form swayed by the wind on the lotus petal. "Smart-aleck! Dare to say some more?" she kicked the prince's head with her soft little foot.
"Aaah! What if I fall down! Crazy!"
"Hmmph!" she sat down, "Isn't it because grandfather doesn't put girls in his eyes that I have to learn from you? What you call scribbles is an artistic interpretation. You think you're so great just by copying whatever is given to you? Art is to reproduce your own themes based on how you interpret reality. What do you know. Pig!"
The little prince was about to refute when he remembered what grandfather said. 'When you create your own themes using the forms I taught you one day, that would count as accomplishment. This is nothing.'
He sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry." Looking at her seriously, he added, "Elder sister, grandfather is old and just doesn't have the energy to look after everyone. He only spends so much time with me because his art needs a successor. It has nothing to do with whether I'm a boy or girl."
The sharp chin on that round face stood proud and aloft against the arid mountain background. The little girl didn't reply. She only thought, everyone thinks I have no talent in any craft. But I have shown great talent in drawing in my childhood. Yet grandfather didn't pick me, he picked Vajra whose talent was only generic. Those teachers the palace assigned to me were unimpressive. They couldn't inspire me. If a thousand bulls chanted all day and all night that grandfather is impartial to gender, I would still not believe it.
Though clever, Varunapriya missed one detail though. Shwetasura was also grooming Vajradandaka for the future when he met the little prince for lessons every week. Choosing the boy was also a matter of efficiency, which the little girl was unable to see because of being too fixated on one thing.
"Anyway," little prince said excitedly to change the subject, "Guess what all grandfather spoke to me about last night!"
The little girl's eyes sparkled. She excitedly turned her whole body towards him, asking, "All the world's cultures?"
Little prince nodded his head a dozen times enthusiastically. "That's right, all nine types. But grandfather told me about at least a dozen of them."
When little children are sharing new things with each other, their body language is very vivid. They put their entire soul into telling stories. The little prince too got on his knees and spread his hands wide while staring his big eyes into his pretty sister's. "Elder sister, I just found out that the world is so, so big…" he stretched entirely, "that we are but small specks in it. Our entire Rthandra is but a small speck in comparison if you put all the lands grandpa went to together. You have to be as high as the sun and moon to see them all with the naked eye, and maybe not even then!"
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