She was born under a lucky star on a lucky day, even the hour was a lucky one, at least that is what her village elders were chittering and chattering about every time she walked by. Well, if her destiny was to be an idiot-village-girl in an idiot-village, she was on the fast track to fulfil her destiny.  Aniyata, as all other girls and boys in the village, got up by the sounds of the cock and first glimpses of the sun. She milked cows and fed chickens, milled grains and stacked hay, picked fruit and spread dung in the fields, all until evening came and the bed seemed soft even while being made of wood with a few strands of hay. She could just not see the great destiny in all this, for she had heard the tales of great heroes, also said to have great destinies. They had swords and armour, fighting monsters and evil kings, they were handsome, wealthy and the blood in their veins was blue like the sky. She had a thin stick to chase the chickens and goats, the only monsters she faced was in her own mind, the closest she came to an evil king would be her own father nagging about how slow she did her duties, she was covered in mud every day, so she could not see if she was beautiful or not and her blood was red like the rose, for she had seen it many times. Continue reading →