Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

XV

Gouruk

"Why am I being called to the others? In some of my brief interactions with her, I have found her to be a wise woman. But this command seems to prove otherwise" Prithvi grumbled to Ramanujam who stood withhold walking the stick that Prithvi would carry with him.

For all those who are not related to the Admin department, Prithvi is a failure.

A man with bad legs, needs support to walk. A person who is a hermit and has been given the worst segment of all departments, in Gurukul.

He barely interacted with the other department heads and even when he did, he did not speak more than a few words. The rumor among the teachers was that he had a stutter that made him shy and wanted to hide it from others.

As a result, most of them chose to ignore it after politely greeting.

"From what I gathered, the queen wanted not only the scorecards of all potential candidates, but also the impression of the teachers about the girls. All department heads are called. If he did not issue an invitation for you, negligence would definitely lift an eye or two. This might be a wiser move. All you need to do is remain invisible which should not be a problem for you," Ramanujam persuaded him with his usual calm demeanor.

Prithvi met Rani Samyukta several times in the past whenever there was a need to tell him about some sensitive information regarding Chandragarh's internal or external issues.

Strange or not, the meeting place to date is the Devyani brothel that has been modified to build several disguised entrances and exits, so that whoever is watching the place will not know who is going in or out.

There were strong rumors in the spy network that there was a tunnel between the queen's private room and the brothel, which the queen had passed through in the past. But there's no way for anyone but the queen to know for sure.

Dressed in his usual flowing white robe, his long hair folded and tied with ribbons, Prithvi stepped out of the Admin department leaning against his cane.

He walked leisurely towards the gate where several chariots were waiting for him and his comrades to take them to the royal palace.

"They are here" Indrani tells Rani Samyukta about the arrival of the head of Gurukul and his department head.

Dressed in his royal robes, he stepped out to greet them with a polite smile. They had been invited to dinner and everyone waited until the queen took her seat.

"Let's enjoy the food that our kitchen staff has painstakingly prepared. Let's leave the discussion for later," with that the queen invited everyone to start eating.

Except for Prithvi and himself, everyone's plate was filled with scented curries, fresh meat, and fragrant rice.

"Why do you eat very few apples when there are heavenly dishes available at the table?" asked the man sitting next to Prithvi.

Trying to remember which department was the speaker, Prithvi smiled politely and said, "Since it's full moon night, I fast today. So it's just fruit and milk for me."

As per Chandragarh custom, people are free to worship any of the five elements (and parts thereof), which are necessary for their existence – Akash*, Vayu*, Agni*, Jal*, Prithvi*.

Moon is part of Akash and is worshipped by many, just like Sun. Worship is performed in various forms including prayer, fasting and offerings.

The man looked at Prithvi with regret and said, "Oh! Too bad."

Prithvi has no interest in collecting and remembering anything about people who are irrelevant to his cause, including most people in Gurukul. This was the reason why he could barely remember their name or department.

Sitting at the end of the table, he directed his gaze towards Rani Samyukta who was sitting at the end of the table. The plate consists of some dried fruit and a glass of milk.

He was aware that the queen was a frugal eater, leaning towards the sacred form of existence. That was one of the reasons why she thought she became a good queen.

A person who has no personal ambition is well suited to the role of shouldering the ambitions of the nation. Right now, he did not say much but seemed to be paying attention to the conversation around him.

Finally dinner was over and everyone was asked to walk to the queen's official room where she had a meeting.

Sitting in a sparsely furnished room, Prithvi looked around and nodded in agreement. Minimalist decor and organized piles of documents show a structured workflow. He hoped that the next queen would be well taught by him.

As per the rules of the queen, the contest takes place at the age of 16 and the new queen is crowned at the age of 17. She was required to intern under an existing queen from the age of 17 to 20 to ensure her training and handling in real time. After that, the current queen will retire after 25 years of active and three years of passive rule.

At the time of selection, the final result has two positions – 'Queen Chosen' and 'Challenge Queen'. Selected candidates are given one year to demonstrate their potential as future leaders of the country.

At the end of that year, the challenger can challenge the legitimacy of the Elected Queen.

Under such circumstances, the challenger would be responsible for proving that the Chosen Queen's conduct and decisions were wrong. Even though the provision existed, until recently no one had actually taken it.

Perhaps because it is a tough task and its repercussions include being labelled as a traitor if the opponent fails to prove the charges filed.

This was because someone directly challenged the ruling monarch of the country and denounced his decision-making ability, there needed to be severe punishment accompanying him.

It is said that a warning has been made, had it been, though through a rigorous selection process, that an improper ruler was chosen. That is why, each queen has tried her level as best as possible to make the next selection process as complete as possible.

Of course, the children of the reigning queen, despite being eligible, were NOT allowed to participate.

'Well, at least there is no lineage problem in the case of Rani Samyukta. She has never been married and it seems like she didn't mean it, ' Prithvi thought to himself.

While she was busy with her own thoughts, the queen had finished talking to most of the other department heads.

Prithvi set his face with an expressionless expression and waited for his turn.

Right at that moment, Rani Samyukta got up and walked out of the room.

"Thank you all for coming tonight and offering invaluable insight into potential candidates. I fear that some urgent state issues have arisen which led Rani Samyukta to have to leave the room. Since most of you have finished your conversation with him, We have arranged for you all to return to Gurukul. There is a little sign of our gratitude that will be handed to you at the main gate," Indrani spoke to the room with a smile.

"Uh, I'm afraid you will have to wait for the queen for your discussion, Guruji," Indrani spoke to Prithvi who also headed straight for the door, silently.

"Ah, I almost escaped," she did not let the thought appear on her face as she nodded politely and returned to sitting in her chair.

As soon as everyone left, Indrani looked at Prithvi and gestured for him to follow him calmly. Intrigued for the first time at night, he remained pretending to be limping and walked across the room in slow motion.

Indrani stopped at the entrance that looked like a semi-bright room, "Rani Samyukta is waiting for your presence. I'll send you a glass of hot cardamom milk."

Prithvi turned to look at him in surprise.

How does he know about his favorite?

"How are you, Guruji? How's things going in the Admin department?" Rani Samyukta's soft voice reached her.

"According to my understanding, everything is under control and in order, as it should be," he replied cautiously.

"Please accept my apology for making you have an uncomfortable night. But I need your council" he told her.

Suddenly Prithvi looked at him sharply,

His voice contained admiration.

"I thought the brothel was perfect for a quick secret meeting where you gave me an update and I made up my mind. But tonight, I'm looking for a discussion, not a brainstorming session that might take longer. No one is going to bother us here, "he replied.

Prithvi bowed deeply and said, "I'm ready to serve you."

He took a pile of parchment from the table and handed it to him.

"This is the criterion I have set for the next queen. I need to know your thoughts about the same."

Saying so, he went to the other side of the table and sat down with one of the documents from the pile stored there for his attention.

Prithvi marked it and read the parchment carefully. After some time passed, he lifted his head and found the queen drowning in her own work.

Clearing his throat, he sought his attention.

"You have compiled a fairly complete list of attributes that competitors should have. But I think it would be a miracle if you could find even one of the hundred qualified attributes that would match most of these. I'm thinking you're setting yourself up for disappointment" he said frankly.

Samyukta gave him a nod of approval and said, "I agree with you and that's why we're going to issue this criterion for everyone to see."

Prithvi frowned at him confusedly.

"The purpose of this exercise is to categorize candidates into three parts - those who will be frightened by looking at the list, he said, those who will apply think that they really have all of this expertise and lastly, those who will participate to really test their abilities and suitability as a candidate, regardless of the given list," inexplicably.

Before he could say anything, he continued, "The reason for looking for you tonight is another. You may not be aware of this but the new queen is chosen by the reigning queen and head of the Administrative department at all times."

Prithvi looked very surprised.

He told her calmly, though,

"How else do you think an orphan like me surpassed the more 'worthy' girls during that competition. That was because the contest was not based on whose grades were higher or who could use the sword better or even, who could negotiate well. A ruler always has fighters, scholars, and diplomats ready to help for all these tasks. Before a new queen is chosen, it is the job of the selectors to identify what needs to be achieved in the next twenty-five years and what kind of person is needed to realize the vision. The state is also like a human being who undergoes various stages of development. I think we're in the development stage right now but we're at risk of stagnation."

Prithvi goes to great lengths to hold back the increasing admiration for Rani Samyukta. She was not the type to let her emotions look freely on her face, but the queen had managed to captivate her with her visionary thought process.

'For all my teachings about a person who thinks nothing of a person or situation, I myself fail to follow that principle.

I underestimated her as a Queen. To have a vision and foresight is indeed worthy of being Queen Chandragarh.

'I let his background and attitude color my opinion of his abilities all along. She was a master from whom I could learn a lot had I tried to go beyond the mandatory minimum contact required between a queen and the head of the Administration.' Prithvi pondered regretfully.

Unaware of the thought in her head, the queen continued her story.

“In the past few months, the queen's office conducted an extensive survey in which we asked each zilla chief about what they thought should be the criteria for the selection of the next queen. This is not done to take their advice but to find out what they think is lacking from the current administration and also what is in their eyes, the image of a queen. Another reason for doing this task is to understand what kind of candidate we will see during the competition" he said .

He knew that after an initial round in which most candidates were eliminated based on written exams and physical scores, all four zillas were required to support candidates from their provinces.

This is to examine the girls' ability to convince their respective zillas of their potential.

So it is impressive that the queen tried to measure in advance what kind of candidate the different zillas would send depending on what they think the current ruler is missing from.

He interrupted his chain of thought, 'As is the case today, most of our policies and best practices have been implemented and there are enough checks and balances in many places. As far as I'm concerned, what we need is someone who can see the bigger picture, who can identify what needs to be done in a given situation, who relies on his intelligence and instincts, and most importantly, who knows how to handle and recover from failure.'

Prithvi stood up and bowed deeply in front of him. This was his way of showing his admiration for his thought process.

"Tell me how I can help you" he said after raising his head.

"I realized that you were very pressed for time with all your other duties. I also know that you remain aloof from Gurukul's daily activities. But I need you to do a background check and offer your own evaluation of the girls. With a background check, I don't mean any information about their families, eating habits, etc. Akj wants to know details about people, things or events that will tell us about his character" he explained.

"Sure, me and my team will be ready to help you for the same. But I have a question, if you don't mind my request," he said respectfully.

With his encouraging nod, he asked, "What if a suitable candidate was eliminated in the first tier or if he was unable to convince his zilla chief to support him. In this way, aren't we going to lose what should have happened? a good choice?"

Until now, Samyukta's attitude remained calm and composed. Upon his question, a spirit suddenly entered his eyes.

"He must want it, desperately want it to do his best. That's the most important and most important requirement in a candidate at that stage. It is up to us to distinguish between people who will do so because of his patriotism or for his moment of glory" he replied excitedly.

...****************...

The same night, Gurukul

"Why do you look so sad? Don't tell me you've missed her," Ishani teases Mriga, who sits in one of the windows in the long corridor of the princess's dormitory.

Mriga shook her head and said grimly, "Please don't remind me of that. It was a terrible day. I'm really upset."

His friend looked at him in wonder.

Holding his best friend's shoulder, he asked, "What happened? Do you need me to go and slap him?"

The tiny framed shadow of Ishani trying to defeat Yash pops into his mind, leaving Mriga giggling.

"What's so funny? A second ago you were sad, now you laugh. Have you lost your mind due to overwork?" Ishani asked with a huff.

Mriga hugged him and replied, "A minute ago I was upset and then my best friend made me smile. The lesson I learned today is that jealousy is a deadly emotion and carries with it many complicated and irrational behaviors."

Under Ishani's curious gaze, she continued, "When I walked over to Yash this morning, I found her standing next to a beautiful girl, immersed in what seemed like an intimate conversation. They looked into each other's eyes as if there was no one else. It makes me feel very insecure. Since I was irritated, I walked away from her to calm down and also, to make her a little upset. At that moment, I became my usual self, he developed a bad mood and that too without any reason. So we ended up returning to Gurukul earlier than intended. We didn't even say goodbye to each other. I was so irritated that I went to put out some steam at the sports field post. What a great date!"

......................

*Akash - Sky

*Vayu - Wind

*Agni - Fire

*Jal - Water

*Prithvi - Earth