YEARN

PROLOGUE

L A S Y A

Of all the things that Lasya would have to endure in life as a woman, she had to be standing in the middle of the throne room of the mighty kingdom of Vibhava, bearing the weight of the countless gazes on her. Squirming under their scrutiny was out of the question. She didn't want to come off as a defenceless lamb, so she pushed her chin up and focused her gaze forward.

The Prime Minister nodded in acknowledgement before he began his announcement. "Lasya Singhania, the second daughter of the honourable Welfare Minister, Haridas Singhania."

Whispers erupted the moment he was done, and from the sheer number of people there, it became quite a buzz soon enough. The Prime Minister raised his hand to silence the crowd. He held quite an amount of power in the kingdom and his word was second only to the royal family.

Her eyes gravitated to his left, seeking the source of power that drew everyone in. Rudransh Agnivanshi, the Crown Prince of Vibhava.

He sat on the throne, an aura of regality wrapping around his form. Every move was calculated and every breath had a purpose. His presence had everyone shrinking into themselves, owing to his ungodly transformation every time he entered the battlefield. He was ruthless and that had earned him both a reputation and a moniker.

A moniker that wasn't meant to be taken likely. People believed him to be the reincarnation of Lord Yama in war. Anyone who stood against him was considered dead before they could even start fighting. Their end was inevitable anyway.

It took a second for Lasya to notice that the endless depths of hazel were staring into her own, making her scramble to shift her gaze to the floor. He was dangerous territory, one that she had no intentions of tampering with. The Prime Minister cleared his throat.

"You may drop your rings now."

A soldier took the pot around, collecting the signet rings as he went. Each collision of the ring to the bottom of the pot had her struggling to rein her grimace in. There were ministers and eminent people of all ages and no one was letting their age hinder their decision. If anything, it only spurred them to get married.

"No wonder she's renowned for her beauty." a minister muttered as he dropped his signet ring in. The minister beside him nodded in agreement, adding his ring with a grin.

Lasya didn't want to be bartered off like a sacrificial lamb, but she couldn't do anything. She could only hope that a decent man with power would nullify all the other proposals that had dropped into the pot. Spending life with a man thirty years her senior did not sound appealing in the least, let alone with a rich forty-eight-year-old minister who had an arrogance to match.

The soldier went around the throne room and circled back to the front. The ministers began to talk among themselves when the Prime Minister moved to check. Lasya clenched her fists as she muttered a mental prayer, hoping that the gods would side with her.

The Prime Minister straightened back up and faced the Crown Prince, his movement casting a veil of silence over the room. "I have checked the rings, Your Highness, and there is a clash between two of them. It's customary for the highest power in the kingdom to make the decision."

He placed a signet ring on each palm and closed it, holding them face down in front of him. A maid held the pot for him to place his choice into. Prince Rudransh's calculative eyes met hers once more. 

He sat up. "Prime Minister, this is a huge responsibility. I'm deciding the fate of this woman here. It's not an easy choice to make."

The minister smiled. "You may take your time to make the choice, Your Highness. No one would dare to oppose it anyway."

The prince exhaled. "I'd rather not choose at all."

A buzz of shocked whispers travelled around her. Lasya couldn't find it in herself to care. Her fate was in the prince's hands and her eyes refused to stray away from him.

"Whatever do you mean, Your Highness?"

The prince stood up and what he did next created chaos. He removed his own signet ring and dropped it into the pot. His blazing eyes met her astonished ones. "I'm making an informed decision."

Everyone stood up at that, including the Queen Mother. She walked to the balcony. "Are you sure about this, Rudra? Your decision does not just affect you. It affects the entire kingdom."

The wheels in Lasya's head froze. What was happening?

He nodded once. "Yes, I'm sure."

The moment he said those words, everyone around her bowed, including her father and the Prime Minister. It took a second for her head to comprehend what was happening and when realization dawned, a gasp escaped her. In Vibhava, the Crown Prince would be coronated to become King after he chose a wife. 

Effectively, he was choosing the Queen.

The Prime Minister stood back up. "It's decided then. The coronation and the wedding will be held in two days. It will be the grandest event that Vibhava has ever seen! Long live, King Rudransh Agnivanshi!"

"Long live, King Rudransh Agnivanshi!" everyone chorused back.

"Long live, Queen Lasya Agnivanshi!"

"Long live, Queen Lasya Agnivanshi!"

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