Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

XVII

Mriga nodded her head at Prithvi's instructions. It seems pretty simple. He rubbed his hands with anticipation and excitement.

He blinked his eyes a few times just to keep his eyesight clear and stood by the table to ensure a perfect view.

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

After five rounds of play -

"Guruji, I hate this game. Can we go back to playing chess?" her voice pleaded and she almost seemed to be crying.

In the last five attempts, he did not manage to recall more than six-seven items while Prithvi barely missed a single one. He was really upset with himself.

"Mrignayani, this time the cover is off, I don't want you to see the tray. Instead, look at me. Watch my attitude. Maybe then, you'll realize the reason for your poor appearance," he told her in his usual monotonous tone.

Although he had lost to Prithvi in chess quite a lot, he managed to give him a tough fight in every game. But he thrashed out of this one park. It seemed like the skill required for this game was not in him.

Nodding his head in surrender, he looked up to observe it while he reached out to uncover the contents once more.

Even though he did not know what he should look for, he remained fully concentrated on his face. Unfortunately, there was nothing extraordinary that he found there. Infact, nothing there at all. He had an unchanging neutral expression on his face throughout the activity.

'Wait a minute! Is that what he meant? Was I too nervous or agitated before the task and therefore underperformed?' He asked himself at the time.

Prithvi finally looked at him and asked,

"Ready for the next round?"

He gave her a short nod and took a slow breath through the nose, exhaling it at the same speed through the mouth. This was a technique taught to him by Ramanujam while doing strenuous physical activity in the field every morning.

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

At the end of the twelfth round -

Mriga smiled looking at the list. This time he managed to write fifteen items on his piece of paper.

"If I were you, I wouldn't smile. Tomorrow night we'll see double the number of things. So be prepared," he warned her without even seeing her face.

Mriga's smile turned into a frown right then and there.

Does he have eyes all over his head?

"That's very unfair. I was just starting to find my feet in the game," he couldn't stop the wailing that came out of his mouth.

Prithvi raised his eyebrows at his childish behavior and he immediately shut up. Bowing to him, he walked towards the door.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you - Shaurya has asked you for an assignment at the upcoming annual zilla fair. I'm sure the five of you will be given different assignments that night. It will be a team task where the mentor and mentee will work together to complete it. Treat it like a test" he said backwards.

Mriga turned around and almost clapped in excitement.

"Really, Guruji? When should we go?" he asked quickly.

"The end of the week," he replied with a small smile at his enthusiasm.

"Ap.." he stopped himself from showing his disappointed reaction.

But apparently he did not do a good job of hiding it quickly enough as he raised his eyebrows towards her.

"Is there a problem?" inquiring.

He shook his head violently in denial but then stopped.

"I, ahem, that's, I mean.. Our presence is not necessary during the day, right? You said it was a night event," she ventured and asked him.

There was an unpleasant silence in the room that made Mriga feel that she had committed a great sin by asking the question.

"The basic principle of any successful mission is the preparation that goes into it and the focus of the spy. If you can't give respect, you probably won't bother showing up" she said gently.

Although the sound remained the same, the temperature inside the room seemed to drop by several degrees, all of a sudden.

He folded his arms to apologize and said,

"I don't mean to sound relaxed about it. I just have another commitment during the day and want to clarify whether I need to cancel it or not."

On his raised brows, he continued in haste, "I'm ready and waiting for further instructions for this mission."

He nodded and he used that as permission for him to withdraw from the room.

Prithvi leaned against the table to record his observations that night about her. The log book he kept for him, contained various columns that had different human traits written as their respective titles.

"He has made improvements in every area except in his attitude. He needs to learn how to control his emotions and hide them better. The task to come should be a good learning," he thought.

"Yes God! It was a narrow escape. But what am I gonna tell him, now? As soon as I told her about it, she would probably deny me," she leaned against the wall of the Admin building and lamented.

...----------------...

"Hey Vindhya, isn't it your birthday this weekend?"

Gauri, his closest friend, follower, admirer called out to him while they were in the bathing area.

Standing under the spout, Vindhya let the cold water wash away the sweat and dirt from her supple body. He had just returned from an exhausting sword fighting session and every part of his body was sick.

Born to wealthy parents nearly sixteen years ago, Vindya is named after the Vindhyachal hills located in their zilla.

Because these hills are a source of food, shelter, and many other resources for the locals, naming one's child with those elements is considered advantageous.

Depending on the geographical location of the zilla, eating habits, clothing, architecture are formed. Chandragarh has mandated the use of one language across the country, but others including festivals and customs are typical for each zilla.

The capital city of Chandragarh has no particular cultural identity and is more of a culmination of the various cultures that come together because of the influx of people who come to study or make a living, bringing with them their heritage.

Vindhya's parents are overjoyed by the arrival of a beautiful girl into the family. Her older brother, Vidyut, was then five years old and had insisted on her siblings for a long time before her parents left and obliged her to give birth to him.

She was a little disappointed by the arrival of a girl, but she was too sweet for her to overcome that disappointment right away.

Since childhood, Vindhya has the expertise to wrap everyone around her finger. If his smile did not work out, his tear-like pearl was almost invincible.

He is a pretty ambitious kid and works hard at everything, be it studying or sports. To him, being and remaining a 'numero uno' was paramount in every field.

By the time she was seven, her doting family realized she would be eligible to participate in the competition for the next queen.

Vindhya is told to sit down and be explained about the same by her enthusiastic parents and siblings.

Although she may not fully understand what it means to be Queen Chandragarh at the age of seven, but she clearly knows one thing – there is only ONE queen.

Delighted by his prospects, he became the epitome of perfection from that day onward. There was nothing he did not follow, whether it was a social cause or an act of virtue. He began to prepare for horseback riding, sword fighting, and learned etiquette suitable for a queen.

Although Rani Samyukta has proven herself to be a fantastic ruler, there are many protectors in the upper society who, until recently, believed that she was not the right choice. Vindhya's parents fall into the same category of thinkers.

Thankfully, they were given the chance to fix the same thing through their daughter. Therefore it is their duty to give their best for the purpose. No business need was missed in his upbringing and Vindhya also gave everything for him.

By the time he started attending Gurukul at the age of nine, he was well ahead of his class mates in many ways, especially lessons and sports.

His parents made sure that his lessons were not interrupted and had applied for permission from the dean of Gurukul to allow him to attend specially arranged classes in the evening after school hours outside Gurukul's premises.

They have hired the most skilled teachers to continue his training in all the areas he has previously trained at home.

Vindhya's schedule is very busy throughout the day. But he never complained and always maintained a calm and pleasant attitude in front of everyone.

As a result, it was rare for anyone to ever come into contact with her and say such bad words about her.

Even after rejecting countless applications, he had a long line of suitors competing for his attention.

His fame began to spread in Gurukul and among his classmates, he enjoyed an almost god-like status.

His reason for studying medicine was also influenced by his ideals in the future.

Being a medical practitioner is considered a noble goal as there is still a lot to be found in this field and also because it is one of the most difficult subjects to learn.

"Yes, right. You are very kind to remember it" Vindhya replied to Gauri.

"So, what's the plan this year? This is your sixteenth birthday, a big milestone. Don't tell me that you intend to spend it again with a less fortunate society or something," Gauri stepped out of the bathroom and now, bowing in front of a brass vessel filled with clear water.

She checked her skin for blemishes and pimples before straightening and combing her hair.

Vindhya stepped out of the shower room and replied, "I really enjoy spending time with those people. Unfortunately, I was unable to visit them this year. I thought my parents and brother planned to come here on that day to celebrate with me."

"Yaaa. I mean it's great that your family will be with you at such a joyous occasion. So, will they come to Gurukul as well?" Gauri asked a question with a butterfly in her stomach.

Gauri had seen Vidyut for the first time three years ago when she came to visit Vindhya and she fell in love with him. Like her sister, she is perfect. A successful practitioner of medicine, she is charming and a great speaker. More importantly, he is a bachelor to date.

Gauri knew that she had no chance to be noticed by him, but her traitorous heart did not care about his rational thinking and began to hit hard once he heard his name.

"Umm, I don't know if they'll come here or not. But you will definitely be invited to the party they have organized for me" Vindhya replied with a smile full of kindness.

Gauri's hapless brain becomes overdrive trying to control the heart that is now starting to gallop and threatening to jump out of her mouth at any moment now.

"Now that you have reminded me, I wonder if you can help me," asked Vindhya hesitantly.

Hoping to change the topic, his friend could only nod his head, mute.

“Actually my parents have asked me to invite some family friends who are also studying in Gurukul. Since I don't know them personally, it would be awkward for me to hand over an invitation to them similarly?" Vindhya asked in a soft helpless voice.

"Oh, it's a very small thing and you make it sound like a big deal. Of course, I'll go and send it. Leave it to me" Gauri replied warmly.

They left the bathroom and went to the dining room. Actually Vindhya expects Yashvardhan to come looking for her soon after the first meeting. But he had yet to hear even a peek from the tip and it irritated him to no end.

This was the first time he had taken the initiative to approach someone, not the other way around.

His indifference should have made him go away. Instead, it made him think about it and see it as a challenge.

This time, he definitely did not want to come to her alone, especially to invite her to the party. He might not admit it, but he knew that their parents had come to an agreement about their alliance.

As far as she was concerned, it did not matter to her who she was going to marry. The only thing the person needs to do is - not interfere in his life.

Her parents' marriage is a perfect example of how an alliance with mutual advantage looks and she wants something similar for herself. He honestly thinks that true love and everything else is a waste of time and energy.

Yashvardhan seems to be a good choice for a husband for several reasons - he is younger than her and should be easy to control, his mother is the current head of the zilla who will help her become queen, lastly, honestly..he's nice to see!

For a moment, his mind speculated about the girl who was with him that day but he sneered at her the next second.

'She was too innocent to stand beside my shadow. She couldn't possibly be interested in him after meeting me, ' she thought to herself.

Looking at his calm face, no one could understand the thoughts he had in his head.

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

Next morning

"I can't keep procrastinating. I have to tell her," Mriga was saddened to have to cancel her date with Yash from the previous day.

With a full load of steps, he walked towards the Finance department where Yash usually went after the morning class for internships.

"Uh, please thank my family for the invitation. Can you tell them that I will arrive on time but have to leave early because I had a prior commitment on that day," Yash had just been given a beautiful gift. the invitation was engraved by Gauri and responded to it.

By the time Mriga walked up to him, he had already turned around after saying goodbye to her.

Waiting for the girl to get out of hearing range, Mriga commented in a low voice, "You seem to be very popular among girls these days. Every time I see you, there's a new one hanging in your arm."

Smiling at her scathing words, she replied, "I think you just quipped. There is no reason for you to feel this anxiety. As for the girls, this is a long story I'm going to tell you about this weekend when you didn't run away for a task or come back from one. For now, I need to apologize to you. We have to postpone going out on that day for about an hour. I was just invited to attend the daughter's birthday of my parents' friend. Since I represent my family, I can't say no. But don't worry, I'll just show my face and step out. Actually, why don't you come along? I won't be giving my greetings to my family for too long. Then I will not waste time coming and going from Gurukul. "

Jealousy is forgotten, Mriga feels worse now for what she says. Yash has prioritized their dates over family events and she will cancel them without even being able to give him an honest reason for the same.

Is this what happens every time you become a spy? was the thought of beating the tattoo inside his head as he tried to think of a way to disappoint him, gently.

"Uh, Yash. I actually came here to tell you that because of the big trade fair held this weekend, I have been asked to report for work on that day. I think they're short on staff and have called everyone to work." deck,' he spoke in haste.

"Wait, what? Are you talking about the night we're scheduled to live?" he asked again in case he misunderstood.

On his mute nod, he became angry and spoke without thinking, "How? How much did they pay you for that day? Is it worth it to cancel our plans?"

Mriga had been looking down all this time in shame.

But now he raised his eyes and said in a sad tone,

"It's not about the money. They need me to be present and as an employee, I have to report to work when asked."