"Princess," Aita fumbled with her hands but Shyra beat her to it.

"How would my parents have felt when they heard a baby's cries from out here, how they must have stopped their vehicle and searched for the sound? They would have been shocked to find me under here, right?"

The handmaidens looked at each other, avoiding Shyra's eye, but like all the times she'd asked them, they didn't have an answer for her.

"It was quite the celebration, they said," Shyra continued. "Ziya's childless royalty sets out to the temple to pray for a child and returns with a beautiful and healthy baby girl. It made the headlines quite a few times."

And she wouldn't even have known she was adopted if she had been less curious and pestering about her surroundings.

As it was, when she was young, Shyra had come to the temple with her parents to pray on her birthdate. She noticed that they always stopped by a little rocky ledge and muttered their thanks to the gray stone instead of offering prayers to the Cosmos first, as tradition dictated.

After observing them for a long time, Shyra mustered the courage to ask her parents about their little ritual, and their response shook her to the core.

"Shyra dear, I know this would be hard on you. Papa and I wanted to reveal it to you when you grew up a little more, but it looks like you're ready now," her mother had bent down and said in an unusually serious tone.

Her father knelt down as well and held her hand. "Shyra, the thing is, not all of us are blessed with our own children. Sometimes, we need someone else's help in finding a child to raise and shower with love. In our case, you were not born to us but handed over by fate and the Cosmos. This here-" he pointed at the hollow. "Was where we all first met as a family. You see, when we were returning from the temple, your mother was crying and praying when we heard a baby's cries."

"And your mother, being the brave woman she is, went and found the child all by herself!" Queen Nayaka butted in with a smug smile. King Sinay laughed and nodded.

"The kshana we laid eyes on you, we knew that you were our child, whether or not you were born to us. So we took you home and raised you as our princess."

"And I became the Princess of Ziya as well, since then," little Shyra said with wide eyes. The small child wasn't understanding much of what her parents were saying, but they seemed so serious that she felt inclined to nod and agree with them.

Their words stayed with her though, and as she grew up their implications became clearer. The fact that she wasn't their child made her feel obliged and undeserving of her title, and she tried to treat her parents with extra love to make sure that they wouldn't regret taking her in.

This was till they laughed and told her they love her as much as they would have loved their own child, and that she needn't feel like an unworthy princess.

Of course, that was before the Asteroid Path completely broke on her eleventh birthday and changed her life forever. Because of the destruction it caused on her planet, her parents busied themselves in stately affairs, slowly breaking their bond and turning them into strangers.

Shyra shuddered, dispelling the terrible memories from her mind. She turned and started walking towards the temple, and her handmaidens followed in her wake.

Stopping in front of the rough-hewn steps of the temple, she folded her hands and offered a small prayer to the Cosmos. Then she left her mojaris at the entrance and entered the building alone.

The wind whistled playfully as Shyra passed the various sections of the structure and stopped before the main segment of the temple.

It was a stone carving of their people's representation of the Cosmos. A giant stone wall dominated the room and was inlaid with a carving of Pranali. This depiction had a trail of light wrapped around it, meandering through the empty space around the planets.

In reality, of course, there was no such stream of energy across Pranali. But they believed that this energy flowed through them all, indiscriminate of race, gender, and species.

Shyra bent to her knees and bowed with the deepest respect for the Cosmos. After muttering prayers, she stood up and lit a few incense sticks on the burner. Then she walked around the stone slab three times with the incense, her other hand held over her heart.

She stopped in front of the stone and lovingly offered a bit of the sweet prepared for her birthday in a golden bowl. Then she ate some of the sweet, now turned into prasad, and sprinkled a few drops of water on her head.

Shyra barely refrained the urge to run as she strode through the Castel like a gale of wind. After her visit to the temple, she'd had to rush straight to practice, even though she just wanted to rela. Otherwise Aahil would refuse to train her further, and that was something she couldn't afford.

So, on the way, she picked up a few weapons and a bag and slung them over her shoulder mid-stride. She then stopped by her rooms and changed into more battle-ready clothes and tied her hair in firm battle braids.

By the time she reached the grounds, Aahil was already slashing away with his back to her, the dummy enemy propped up on the ground. His sword shone in the light and his forehead was slick with sweat. Around them, the breeze ruffled the grass playfully and the green meadow danced along lazily, creating a swooshing sound. A few flowers grew here and there, dotting the green expanse with colorful vistas.

Shyra clicked her tongue at Aahil, drew her sword with a definitive clang, and pointed it at him. He spun around with a smirk and met her sword with his own. His watch beeped and he glanced at it to make a statement.

"You're late to practice, Princess."

Shyra scoffed and narrowed her eyes. "I was late by just five kshanas!"

And it's my birthday today, she wanted to say, but she knew what he would comment in return. The Games were hard, and she needed all the perfection she could get if she wanted to win it.

Aahil drew his sword in an instant and swung it toward her. Shyra blocked it with her own and pushed upwards, throwing him backward. Aahil took a few steps back and spun his sword, trying to distract her through the reflective light.

Shyra, however, aimed right at his heart with a thrust, which he parried by holding his sword vertically. Their weapons clashed and resounded in the crisp air.

They practiced Shyra's left-hand swordsmanship as well and worked on improving her flaws. Upper thrusts, parries, left side defense... Shyra put her heart and soul into the lessons Aahil was giving her. Sometimes he purposefully nicked her to make them stick.

"So Princess," he said, jabbing at her undefended stomach. "Why do you want to win the Games with such desperation? I know you've forbidden this conversation, but consider your answer as a treat for your birthdate."

"What kind of a treat would that be?" Shyra mumbled to distract him, but when Aahil glared at her she sighed and answered him. "You know the Asteroid Path break right? The one that completely messed up our planet and put it in loads of trouble?"

Aahil groaned at her words and tried to reply, but Shyra beat him to it.

"I know you guys have told me to drop the idea. The RePathing has never been done before. And it's expensive to the moon and back; more than our treasuries have the funds for. I know all that. But I played and won the Games..."

Aahil's eyes widened and he paused mid-strike. "You plan on using the reward money to start the project, isn't it?"

Shyra nodded slowly and used the distraction to push the sword out of his hand. Its clattering sounded even more against the ensuing silence. Aahil didn't bother to pick it up and hazily drew his lightblade. Shyra drew her breath sharply and pulled out hers as well.

These blades were certainly cooler than traditional blades, but Shyra loved all weapons she'd ever laid hands on, no matter their usefulness.

"Yeah, I do," she said. "But it's not just the money. Do you remember those times I debated for our RePathing project to take off? Those days that Council had harrumphed at me and told me to go back with my fanciful ideas. But if I win this, they'll listen to me with the utmost respect, and fulfill my dream."

Aahil gulped roughly and started attacking her with the lightblade. "But Shyra, what everyone said..."

"Everyone doesn't believe in how great we can be!" she retorted savagely, swinging her lightblade in all directions. "Everyone hasn't grown up with stories of our valor and intellect. Our ancestors were the first ones to survive in Pranali, Aahil. Can you even imagine the willpower they would have had to survive? All the hardships they went through. We have those genes even now. We have it coded in our very cells to be great once again. And everyone will realize this when we return to our former glory."

Prasad: A type of sweet that becomes holy once it is offered to god and blessed by the deity