"Lali, can't you go a little easier on the rest of us during these debates?" Baahu pleaded. "You always refer to some forgotten libraries and manuscripts that we didn't even know existed before you went to research the topic."

"Do you go easy on us during sword fight practice? Or archery for that matter? Don't you hound Kattappa Mama the day before and ask him to practice with you so that you can get your technique perfectly right?" Lalita said with a proud smirk.

Baahubali rolled his eyes. He did not want to admit that he could be just as much of an 'irritating' person when it came to competitions. "Anyways, we were saved from a humiliating defeat only because Rudra was on our team," he patted Rudra's shoulder. "Thank you, my friend."

He smiled in response. Lalita wished she could magically teleport to her chambers so that she could just dance in happiness every time his lips curved upwards into the most beautiful, charming expression she had ever seen on anyone's face.

"It's still only a tie, Baahu," Bhalla said. Lalita snapped out of her reverie. "You better be more prepared next time. We are going to be more ruthless."

"Come on, Bhalla, this is not a war! Leave them alone," Lalita chuckled. But just before Baahu could feel glad that Lalita attempted to put a stop on his incessant gloating, she spoke again. "Let him bask in their supposed glory of near victory for a while," she teased, making Baahu groan and roll his eyes. Bhalla and Lalita rarely teamed up against him, but when it did happen, he would be the worst impacted one by the chaos created.

"They should also know that this is the last time they will ever get this near to victory, though, Lali. No new additions to the team working as last-minute saviours are going to help," he casted a sidelong glance at Rudra before walking to Akanksh, his other friend.

Lalita and Baahu were frankly quite embarrassed by that comment. This was not the first time Bhalla was being subtly rude to the new guest—no, new member of their friend group. At first, Baahu assumed his lack of warmth was because this was quite an unexpected change. This behaviour of Bhalla was angering Lalita quite a bit. Baahu tried to reassure her that Bhalla would come around, claiming that it even took him quite a bit of time to accept that someone new was just going to share so much space with them, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise when their brother who was generally a little more closed-off around new people is behaving this way. 'But you did not behave in such an unmannerly way even as it took you time to accept him, Baahu! Stop trying to justify what he's doing,' she'd said. He did not know how to argue against that, knowing she was right.

"It seems to me that the eldest prince does not like me," Rudra was a bit hesitant in speaking his mind, but did it nevertheless. Lalita felt a pit form in her stomach. She dearly hoped Rudra was not taking these words to heart. "Have I done anything to upset him?"

"Oh, no!" Lalita exclaimed. "No, Arya," she still had not felt confident enough to address him by name. "I apologise on my brother's behalf. I really wish there was a way I co—"

"Call me Rudra, please. And Rakumari, please do not apologise. You have done nothing wrong."

And the butterflies in her belly were back, flapping their wings and racing all over. Baahu turned away, hiding his smile.

"Uh, you can call me by my name too... Rudra." She liked the way his name tasted on her lips.

"As you wish, Raku—Lalita," he chuckled, wincing at his reflex to address her formally.

And she absolutely loved the way her name rolled off his tongue.

"Don't mind my brother, Rudra," Baahu placed a hand on Rudra's shoulder. "He'll... come around." To Lalita, it sounded more as if he was trying to convince himself.

"In the meantime, I hope the both of us have been doing enough to make you feel welcome here?" Lalita asked hopefully. "If there's anything—and I mean anything, even if it might seem silly—you need, you can always let us know."

"No, not right now," he assured her as they sat at the tree near the royal training grounds. "And anyways, my newfound friends keeping me company will far overshadow any possibility of an inconvenience."

Lalita smiled and shook her head. "You are really good with words."

"So I have heard," Rudra nodded.

Before he could feel awkward as if intruding on the private time of two lovers, Baahu cleared his throat and spoke. "I'm really hungry."

"But Baahu, the dinner is probably not ready yet—"

"Why don't we go out into the city and get almond milk from our usual place? I'm sure Rudra will love it too," he turned with a pleading look on his face to Rudra. "It's something you must try, after having shifted here. Come on, please?"

"I wouldn't dare disobey you, Yuvaraja," he said, but in all honesty, that was not the reason. He could see in the very little time he spent in the palace of Maahishmati that Baahubali truly deserved all the love and respect he got, and more. He deserved anything on this planet that he wanted. He was a great man. Still young, but a great man nevertheless. Rudra could not find the resolve in himself to deny such a simple request of his.

"I have already said this before, Rudra," he rolled his eyes. "It's Baahu to you." Even Baahu had taken a liking to Rudra very quickly. Perhaps they were both so similar to their respective fathers that it was but natural for them to grow into such good friends in a short period of time.

"Okay, Baahu," he sighed with fond exasperation. "I am up for the plan. Let's go."

"Lali," Baahu whined.

"Ugh, Baahu, who's going to go out all the way there now—"

"Mahadeva!" He groaned. "Stop being so lazy!"

"Excuse me? Am I being lazy?"

"Then what else is it?" He tried his best to make puppy-eyes.

"Long gone are the days when that face used to work," she told him firmly. "I'm exhausted, Baahu. Let us go another day. For now, we can adjust with whatever is available in the palace kitchens. What do you say, Rudra?"

"Um..." he did not know what to say, but chose to be loyal to Baahu within a few seconds. "I would really love to explore the city, Lalita." Baahu smiled in victory and held Rudra's forearm firmly, with force. It was a gesture he often did as a manly display of appreciation.

Lalita was angered that Rudra would choose Baahu's side over hers. "You two do whatever you want," she muttered, about to leave. But the edge of her angavastram caught onto a jewel in Rudra's kadiyam, which he said was gifted to him by his father. Birds were screeching as they flew into the skies, outside the boundaries of the palace. She gasped inaudibly in surprise and walked back, gently freeing the fabric before turning around again.

"Please, Lalita," his voice stopped her again. "Look, even the birds want you to come along," he said with slightly raised eyebrows and a gentle smile dancing on his lips.

Now it was Lalita who did not find the resolve to say no. "As you wish."

The common people of Maahishmati were delighted at the sight of their beloved prince. They were overjoyed to hear that he was accompanied by his twin-sister, whom each of them regarded as their own daughter, or friend. Lalita regularly spent time in various neighbourhoods of the city to understand what difficulties her people might be going through, and did whatever she could to solve them. She had spent large amounts of her personal wealth on their problems so many times, that Sivagami almost sanctioned a restriction on her freedom to use the wealth to a great degree, only to be dissuaded by Baahubali. While the older ones among the crowd were excited to see the son of Vikramaditya in the streets, the ones who did not know stood with their curiosity piqued.

The three of them smiled at the old man who made the best drinks using almond milk in the entire empire of Maahishmati. "How are you, Thatha? You still look quite fit! Perhaps the secret of your health is the exercise you get chasing around Sravani," Lalita referred to his young granddaughter. Everyone, including him, laughed as he handed Baahubali and Lalita their favourite drinks. "And what would this young man, a striking replica of his father, like to have?"

Rudra's smile grew shy. He did not feel comfortable being compared to his father—not that he did not respect the man Vikramaditya was, but... it was just difficult to deal with the pressure to live up to the standards set by him. "Anything shall do."

"Well, my son, this one was your mother's favourite..." he handed Rudra a variety he last made nineteen years ago. The unfortunate demise of Vikramadeva, Akhila, Vikramaditya and Sugandhini, all in quick succession, was not easy to deal with. This was his way of mourning the most humble people he ever knew, especially among those who belonged to royalty. "I expect you will like it too. The ingredients to make it are rare, just like the kind hearts your parents—both yours, and Baahubali and Lalita's—had."

The jolly smiles of the young people quickly turned melancholic. They slowly sipped on the drink.

"Hey, Mukundayya, why are you making them sad? They already must be really troubled in the palace. They come here for leisure. Don't burden them further!" Vinodini, a young woman who sold fritters, chided.

"No, Amma, there is no such thing—" Rudra tried to defend him, but was quickly interrupted.

"You don't know this old man, my son," Parvathamma, another old woman owning a small utensil shop, stepped up. "Once he goes down memory lane, there's no return. And trust me, you do not want to go along that journey with him."

Everyone laughed again as Mukundayya wiped the stray tears that escaped his moist eyes.

"Thank you Thatha, the drinks were excellent as always," Baahubali handed him some coins. He forcefully pushed them into Mukundayya's hands when he tried to deny them.

All the people were visibly disappointed at the fact that Baahubali, Lalita and Rudra had to return to the palace, but tried their best to put on cheerful faces as they bid them goodbye.

"We'll be back again soon," Lalita assured before they left, and turned to whisper to Rudra. "Thank you for forcing me to come here, Rudra. Sometimes the palace and all my duties can suffocate me, but visits such as these are what remind me of why I need to keep working harder."

Rudra smiled. "I will be glad to keep reminding you whenever you need it, Rakumari."

Oh, that smile. That wretched smile that made her fall all over in love with him again.

As the days passed, Lalita grew prouder and prouder of herself, for choosing the right kind of man to be the vessel of her love.

Many months had passed since Rudra's arrival at Maahishmati. As he grew closer to her and her twin, Lalita found herself unable to shake off the feeling that they were also drifting further apart from Bhallaladeva. She suspected that Baahubali too felt the same, but still refrained from voicing her concerns. He would only dismiss them, she knew, just to prevent her from worrying too much.

Baahubali was practicing how to deflect arrows from various directions, using just a sword. It was an art he intended to perfect, to an extent that he would return unscathed even if tens of skilled archers surrounded him, shooting hundreds of arrows. The sun hadn't even completely risen yet, but he was out in the training grounds, snapping imaginary arrows into pieces using his favourite sword, which once belonged to his father. Rudra only sat and observed him from a distance in awe. Though he was older than Baahubali, he had an unshakeable feeling of admiration for him, alongside affection and concern.

"Rudra!" Baahu stopped swinging his sword in the air. "You've been standing here the whole time?"

"I couldn't resist, Yuvaraja. Watching you train is akin to watching a lion in its element. There are few sights more glorious."

Baahubali put his sword back in its scabbard, settling next to Rudra under the banyan tree. He too had begun to find Rudra's company increasingly pleasant. There was a warmth in the way he cared for Baahu, like that of an older brother. A warmth that he hadn't found in Bhalla's company for a long, long time, though Baahubali did not admit that, even to himself.

"You are a great warrior, skilled beyond measure, no doubt." Rudra placed his hand on Baahu's shoulder. "But what is truly impressive about you is your commitment and discipline to ensure your craft is constantly evolving. I truly respect you for that, Baahu."

"You are a flatterer, my friend," Baahubali politely dismissed all the praise. He was a very humble man. "However, in the future, you should join me in practice, if you find yourself awake at this time. It would be a great way for the both of us to hone our skills."

Rudra nodded in agreement. Just as he was about to say something, he heard someone singing in the distance, paired with the sound of anklets. "Is that—"

"Lali, yes. She likes to practice dancing during this time."

The sound of her singing captivated his mind like no other.

"Would you want to be her audience today?"

Rudra was too mesmerised to reply immediately.

Baahubali cleared his throat. "Rudra...?"

"Wh—what? Oh! Oh, sure."

Baahubali smirked. Certainly, his sister's feelings were not unreciprocated.

"Come on, then."

"Chandana charchita neela kalebara, pitavasana vanamali..."

She was enacting a scene of grinding sandalwood paste to apply it to Sri Krishna, the flamboyant and charming incarnation of Vishnu, the Protector of the Universe.

(He whose dark body is adorned with the paste of sandalwood, he who wears yellow silk and garlands of wild flowers.)

"Keli chalan-manikundala-mandita ganda yuga smita shali... Haririha mugdha-vadhu-nikare, vilasini vilasati kelipare..."

The song was from the work of a poet named Jayadeva, a dear devotee of Krishna. How she captured the beauty and grace of Krishna playing with the young, modest milkmaids, the Gopis, as a single dancer, Rudra did not know.

(The gem-studded earrings dangling from his ears were shining brightly, the light from which was reflecting on his cheeks. Hari and the Gopis were joyfully sporting in Vrindavana.)

She also depicted Radha's dismay as her friend described the same scene to her. Watching Lalita's face in pain, at that moment, made him feel as if his heart was bleeding. He promised himself he would never make her cry.

No twitch of a single muscle on her face went unnoticed by him. The elegant movements of her limbs felt beguiling. The display of love and longing in her eyes mirrored the feelings in his mind.

He felt oneness with the woman before his eyes. A woman like no other he had ever seen.

If she was the arrow, he would be the bow. If she danced, he wanted to be the song that she danced to. When she watched, he would be the sight. When she heard, he would be the sound. When she read, he would be the book in her hands, and when she learnt, he wanted to be the knowledge she was so eager to grasp.

Was this... love?

When she finished dancing, she noticed a different spark in his eyes.

"When did you two arrive?" her voice broke through his reverie, but he was still too stunned to speak. Suddenly, all the memories of her kindness, the way she spread joy, the way she was just a being of love, exuding positivity all around, flooded his mind.

Baahubali could not contain his excitement, as he saw the two people before him so besotted with each other, yet oblivious to the other's affection towards them. He was grinning ear to ear. "Just now."

"Why are you smiling like that?" Lalita frowned. "It is usually a matter of concern to see that look on your face. I hope you are not going to get us into trouble, Baahu."

"Oh, you are already in way more trouble than I can ever put you in, little miss," he muttered to himself before loudly saying, "no... No, today's just a good day. A happy day."

She smiled, her eyebrows still scrunched together. "You are so weird sometimes."

'You wouldn't know until you get your turn to tease me about being lovesick, Lali,' he thought to himself.

As the twins walked ahead, Rudra stood behind for a few moments. To comprehend what happened to him. What she just did to his heart.

"Rudra?" She called from a few feet away. "Are you coming or not?"

He nodded, sprinting to catch up with her. He would follow her anywhere. And he would go to any lengths to protect her.

His face lit up with a dazzling smile. The kind that poets would give their muse after inspiration struck them.

She smiled back, just as beautifully.

He was in love. And unbeknownst to him, so was she.

Hope you enjoyed <3

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