Time flew by quickly, and the day of the swayamvar had arrived. The Kingdom of Manipur was euphoria. Their beloved princess would get married today, she would now become the queen she was born to be. Each and every corner was decorated, people themselves started cleaning and decorating their houses with fresh flowers and garlands. They even gathered together, before sunrise, to pray for Aadrika's safety. It was no secret that the people of Manipur loved the young princess, but this display of affection truly moved the royals. The love was reciprocated ten folds as Aadrika announced that once the swayamvar is complete, the entire kingdom would be invited for the wedding. She also declared in front of the family that she herself will make the sweets, she hoped her sugary delights would convey her love and affection to each and every person in Manipur.
Soon the music began, the kingdom was alive with the melodious tunes of sitar. It seemed as if Devi Saraswati was showering her love upon the earth. The kingdom was focusing on the wedding preparations and left the swayamvar for the royal help.
Various suitors from all over started entering the lands, hoping to win the princess over. Coincidently, the Pandavas entered the city at the same moment as Karna. As they entered the hall, they sat down with the rest of Kings.
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Following the sound of trumpets, the Maharaj of Manipur walked in. His three sons entered as well.
"Welcome all, Today each one you will be competing for my daughter's hand in marriage. I shall remind you all that the task would require the usage of a bow, so only skilled archers can participate." Suddenly the sound of heavy anklets surrounded the hall, making the Kings shuffle in anticipation. The mighty Balram was the first to walk in, and he sat down in his seat. It was at this moment when Aadrika walked in, with Dwarkadheesh by her side. Arjun was surprised to see Madhav in Manipur, but knowing that he was close to the princess, made him feel much better about this swayamvar.
Karna on the other hand refused to look at the princess. He kept telling himself that this marriage would solely be for the benefit of his Kingdom.

Karna's pov
I could hear the kings whisper amongst themselves. Beautiful....ethereal....goddess.... I kept hearing these words again and again. The Yuvraaj of Manipur walked towards his father and began explaining the task. "There is a small window in this hall from where you can see our royal temple, The task is quite simple, you have to shoot the target on top of the temple from here." Wait, this task IS very simple. There has to be catch ."By now you all must wondering about the catch. Instead of using your own bows, you'll have to use the one that is kept in the middle. It belongs to my sister and.." The Yuvraaj was cut off mid sentence by an angry King," Maharaj, Are you trying to insult us? Why would we  use a woman's bow? We are warriors, do you think we are weak enough to not yield a man's weapons?" That did not even make sense! What difference does it make? A weapon is a weapon....it doesn't matter who yields it. Although I must say that I am quite impressed with the princess, she must have had a difficult time with her education, as it is quite frowned upon. All the royals of Manipur were visibly fuming but it was the mighty Balram who spoke up, "If you differentiate between weapons then I don't think you even deserve to be called a warrior! And considering your flawed thinking I don't think you are fit to participate in this swayamvar either, but I do want to see you fail so I will let this pass." The king paled and sat down quietly, making me chuckle internally. "As I was saying before, my sister is a devotee of Narayana and he blessed her with this bow on her birth. No one other than my sister can lift it, the only exception would be the one my sister is destined to marry." His voice was crisp, as if daring us to cut him off again. 

And so it began, one by one each suitor would get up to try their luck, but so far not a single person could even move the bow. It was time for Rajkumar Arjun, his brothers had a smile on his face, as if they already knew he would win. Arjun walked over to the bow and looked up to Dwarkadheesh Krishna. Then he put his hand on the bow.....everyone was looking at him curiously, wondering if he'd be able to do it. Suddenly Rajkumar's face morphed into a shocked expression as he could lift the bow either, he looked up at Krishna again, but Krishna just kept smiling.  Now it was my turn. I stood up and walked towards the bow, and prayed to the God's for their blessings. I am going to be honest that I was quite nervous, after seeing Arjun fail.  I put my hand over the bow and could already feel the strong aura, signifying the strength that the princess held. No wonder the rest of the task is so easy, it is lifting this bow that is the real test. I clutched it tightly and put all my strength into it.  My mind fogged up for a second and I couldn't think of anything, it was as if there was some force that had taken over my senses. Only when I heard the Maharaj rejoice, did I realize that I had lifted the bow. With that I completed the rest of the task with ease. With a smile on my face, I looked and the sight in front of me knocked the air out of my chest. Right behind her elder brother stood the princess, and she truly looked like a goddess. She was wearing a royal purple lehenga and was adorned with gold jewelries.
She was standing next to Dwarkadheesh Krishna, laughing at something he whispered in her ear. They must be very close, wondered Karna.
The rest of the day went by in a blur, with various preparations and ceremonies. The rest of the suitors returned to their kingdoms but Krishna asked the pandavas to stay back, as he something to discuss with them. Karna was shocked at how kind the royals were, even the Maharaj helped him understand all the rituals. As I sat in my chamber, I wondered what his relationship with the princess would be. I wanted to have a word with her, to get to know her. So far from what I have heard, there isn't a single person here who doesn't love the princess.
My thoughts were interrupted by a soldier walking in," Maharaj, there is someone who wishes to speak to you. They want me to escort you to the royal garden." Someone? Who could it be ? "Sure, let's go.", I replied.
As we reached the garden the soldier stopped and asked me to walk ahead as the person is waiting inside. I walled further to see the silhouette of the princess. My heart started beating faster, I could feel myself getting nervous. What would this meeting be about?

She must have heard me because she turned around. Even in complete darkness she looked so beautiful that even the moon must be jealous of her. Her curly hair, cascading down her back like a molten lava, her eyes held so much fire that I could feel the warmth just from her gaze, her..."Angraj? Are you okay?", I was snapped back to reality and found the princess waving her hand at my face. Oh Lord, did I just zone out and mentally write a poetry about her....IN FRONT OF HER? A blush made its way on my cheeks as I tried to talk," Forgive me, I was thinking about something. If you wanted to speak with me, you could have called me to your chamber.", She looked at me with wide eyes, only then I realized how wrong that sounds, "I-I m-mean we could have sat down and had this c-conversation", I stuttered out as quickly as possible.  "No, I needed some fresh air ,and  this conversation can't wait either.", she said. I nodded, silently asking her to continue.

She took a deep breath and began,"Angraj as we are getting married tomorrow, I want you to know that I have a few conditions first. The reason I want to clear this out first is because secrets can ruin relations before they even get a chance to blossom." I was definitely nervous now, but equally curious as well. "Angraj, after marriage I'll be your ardhaang , that means your other half, I want to be treated as your equal. Being a woman, I have had multiple experiences where people assumed that I'm weak or fragile just because I am a woman, jut like what happened today.  After taking the position of the queen, I want to participate with the royal activities just like I did here.", she finished in a single breath. Everything she said made sense, if she already worked in the royal court then having her by my side would make things much better. I also remembered the incident at the swayamvar. Looking at her I said, "Rajkumari Aadrika, everything you said is fair and I can assure you that all of your conditions and expectations will be met, I will make sure of it.", I promised.

"There is one last thing actually", she said, but this her unease was prominent. "Please do tell, I urge her. "Angraj you are a king and there are some unspoken rules for Kings to make things easier for them. But let me tell you something about women, they are the strongest in the world even though no one ever wants to acknowledge it. We can take any amount of pain, both physical and mental, but one thing we can would never budge on is self-respect. Angraj my mother presented this condition in front of my father before their marriage and I am doing the same with you. I will take on every duty that will be expected of me, but I expect the same from you. I do not like to share Angraj, and I will not share my position with anyone either. I should not have to compete with anyone for that matter, after we get married..." "Then I will be forever loyal to you and spend my life fulfilling all of your demands" ,I finish her sentence, smiling at her. She looked at me, shocked, before a smile graced her lips. I was quite surprised when I heard her talk, once again she impressed me. It looks like Narayan had blessed  Ang pradesh with a kind yet fierce Queen and I was blessed with the best life partner I could have asked for. With this thought my insecurities too came in. I looked at her, maybe they don't know about me much. I should probably tell them, its only fair. "Rajkumari.....Do you truly wish to marry me?", I ask her. No matter what title I hold, it was still a fact that she was a royal blood and I was not. Even a royal marrying a commoner is frowned upon, so I just want to make sure. A look of pure confusion crosses her face and she asks, "What do you mean Angraj?" "Rajkumari I am not a Kshatriya by birth, I am a sut-putra. I wanted to make sure you knew in case you.."I could not finish the sentence, as I saw her expression change. Her eyes ablaze, "You think so low of us, that you expect us to reject you on the basis of your caste? How dare you Angraj!" "Because that is been the only thing that people identify me with", I tell her honestly.  "Well, in our Kingdom, we don't discriminate. I understand your reservations, the society must have been very cruel to you for you to have such views. But please don't think your caste is something you should let anyone shame you for.", she says softly. There was a comfortable silence that fell upon us, we both sat down to enjoy the peaceful time. Inside the palace, Narayan smiled to himself as the seed of one of the purest love story had just been sown.