Information

Shivani has a minion!

Parvati the Mizami

Shivani
Legacy Name: Shivani

The

Sun Zentu
Owner:

Lisa

Age: 4 years, 9 months, 3 weeks

Born: June 22nd, 2019

Adopted: 4 years, 9 months, 1 week ago

Adopted: July 11th, 2019

Pet Spotlight Winner
August 18th, 2023

Statistics

Level: 5
Strength: 14
Defense: 12
Speed: 12
Health: 12
HP: 12/12
Intelligence: 4
Books Read: 4
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Beach Comber

She was the obedient daughter. She cooked in the traditional style, grinding grains for the bread and chopping the colorful array of vegetables her father or brothers had purchased at the market. She kept the floors swept and carried the heavy water jug under the careful supervision of her mother. She sat among her cousins as evening fell, helping them choose bangles, bracelets and toe rings as they giggled and gossiped about the young men of the village. She ignored this girl-talk, for the most part. As the youngest of the family, it was easy to think of marriage as some far-away threat.

Shivani was the ideal girl-child. Until she wasn't.

The nine-day festival of Navaratri was filled with feasting, parades and many prayers to the beloved goddess of families. Shivani had come to think of Parvati as her own personal goddess. As a young child, she had once been separated from her father in the confusion of a large crowd. He'd found her unharmed, sitting between the feet of the goddess' statue, braiding tiny white flowers in her hair.

Shivani thought her heart was breaking when she turned suddenly, caught up in the rhythm of the dance, and cast her glance on the lithe figure of Indrani.

Soft-spoken and graceful, Indrani had wide brown eyes that gave away her thoughts, a sensual mouth and alluring curves that were only made the more enticing by a sari that was a size too small. Shivani finished the set but her heart was no longer lifted by the music...it was too busy chasing the form of Indrani when the girl walked away.

Shivani knew her brother would be missing her but she couldn't resist following the object of her heart. Indrani had been stalled by a merchant trying to move his stubborn pair of oxen hauling his cart. Shivani sent a silent prayer of thanks to Parvati and reached out a shy hand to touch the other girl's sleeve.

"I saw you dancing, in the square. I...you're very beautiful."

Indrani's face lit like the sun had set early to fill it. "Said the glorious rose to the plain sunflower. I almost lost my steps twice, seeing the way you turned a perfect curve and the sway of your arms was better than the dew-sprinkled neck of the swan as she folds her wings to settle on the water."

They spoke of their families and Indrani begged Shivani to come and visit her garden. They might have remained, talking until the sun set, if it weren't for their fathers.

Shivani's father grabbed her hand, frowning at her new friend. "Come, Daughter. You forget yourself. Besides, there is someone I would like you to meet."

Shivani shot one miserable look over her shoulder but couldn't resist the strong arm that pulled her away.

She most certainly had not missed Indrani's widow mark. She'd simply chosen to ignore it.

Thoroughly miserable, she at least tried to catch the rest of what her father was saying so she wouldn't earn another lecture.

"...comes with quite the impressive income for a man who doesn't have much hope of rising above the level of a low-ranking merchant. The fact that he was so taken with you, that he would agree to an engagement with the daughter of a mere craftsman...I was right in thinking the gods had set their mark on you, my daughter."

The force of her father's words hit her like a monsoon wind. Engagement.

The distant threat was now a very real nightmare.

The young man was taking tea with her male relatives. She could hear his harsh voice, a sound that to her was the brutal combination of a donkey braying and a monkey chattering. She got only a glance at him from a distance. He dressed handsomely enough but his eyes shifted to each man in the room, measuring them all with a rapidity that spoke of insecurity. His lips pinched together, giving him a cruel look. She let her imagination run wild, envisioning a cobra springing from that muscular body, slithering the length of the room. It would twine around her leg, lock her in a deadly black gaze and sink venomous fangs into her breast.

A loveless marriage is its own poison.

She knew her father loved her. She would let the men have their fun and catch his attention in the morning, before he went with the other men to the market.

His eyebrows rose when he saw his daughter standing in the doorway. "Is something the matter, Shivani? Are you ill?"

"I will be, Papa, if you force me to marry that...that...man. I've heard what my cousins say about him, that he mistreats his horse and has his servants whipped if they refuse an order.

Her father smiled in that condescending way that enrages all teenagers. "It is only pre-wedding jitters, my dear. When you have your own house and servants to see to every whim, you will learn to love Bikram like a brother."

"I don't want a brother or a husband or any man. Can't you see, Papa? I'm in love with Indrani!"

Her Papa's face was like stone. "I thought we were past this foolishness."

She had known her preference for years. Her growing friendship with Leela had earned them both smiles...until they'd been caught kissing behind the temple."

"I'm sorry I can't be the daughter you want, Papa. This is who I am."

He grabbed her by the ear, making her cry out in pain. "You will marry Bikram and be grateful that he will have you!"

She ran for the sanctuary of her room as soon as he released her. For two days, she refused the attentions of her mother and aunts. She would not eat, she barely slept.

It was as she stared listlessly at the row of garments in her closet that she realized what she must do.

She packed a wicker basket with clothes and jewels. Listening carefully in the direction of her father's study, she slipped out the front door and struggled her way through the trees, choosing the jungle in favor of the easier village road. Indrani's house was only a few blocks down the road. She'd memorized the way, the night they met. Though she had little formal schooling, Shivani had an eye for detail that made maps come alive.

Indrani looked up from the flower she was pruning. It nearly broke Shivani's heart to see that the other girl had also been crying.

They embraced, clinging to each other like two twining vines that will wither and die if they are torn apart.

"Come with me Indrani. We will go to Japan, England, even America if we must. I would have you for my bride, even if I must stand before Brahma himself and declare my love."

Indrani smiled through her tears. Shivani was well-formed but small.

"I would follow you into the realms of the dead, my love."

Hand in hand, they turned their backs on the village of their childhood and started on the path to a life of their choosing.

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