Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

III

Chandranarayan burst into laughter upon hearing this. He had asked his men to keep an eye on Vallabh after the confrontation between him and the head of South Zilla.

An angry military general has the potential to become a security threat at any time, but from what he hears, it seems the humiliation has made him a man.

"Good, good. Please tell the people waiting outside my room that I am tired now and will continue with the political affairs tomorrow" he ordered.

The minister had gotten used to the king's lazy manner and just nodded his head. Because of the king's apathy towards the welfare of the people, all the ministers under him managed to fill their coffers easily.

Ministers today belong to a long lineage of royal palace members in the past.

It is almost impossible for an ordinary person or outsider to apply for a position in any ministry as this is filled by the next relative of the previous minister. Dynastic politics is widespread.

Even so, the previous generations of palace members had never been this prosperous. It was all thanks to King Chandranarayan.

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

Day H

"It's been months since I visited my parents, Your Majesty. Can I travel today to meet them?" Damyanti asked her husband hesitantly.

Chandranarayan made the servants stop, in the middle of getting ready.

With a frown, he spoke, "So suddenly? You are well aware that these things need to be planned well in advance. You are not an ordinary citizen who can travel according to your wishes and desires."

Suppressing her nervousness, Damyanti spoke in a persuasive manner, "I know you are worried about my safety, but I just received an important letter from my mother telling me about my ailing father. The letter sounded very serious and I found it impossible to stay here even for a moment."

The king dispersed the servant girls who helped him get ready. Damyanti is the only child of her parents and her father has a small but thriving province on the Chandragarh border.

In fact, the reason Chandranarayan married this ugly princess was to obtain the kingdom when his father died. That was also the reason why he held himself near her when it came to ****.

Had he died from his talisman, the neighboring kingdom would have gone from him. Therefore, he always kept it behind his head. It seems that his hard work will soon pay off.

He thought hard and spoke affectionately, "I am really sad to hear that. Of course, you have to go. But for my peace of mind, I want you to travel with a large army of royal guards. They'll be with you as long as your safety."

Damyanti struggled hard to hold the shock on her face.

When Devyani tells him to talk to the king about traveling to his native place on the grounds of his father's illness, he tells him that the king will offer a large army to travel with him and he must accept it easily.

"How could he have predicted that the king would say something like this" mused the young queen.

"Sure, Your Majesty. Then I'll go and start preparing for my departure," with that, he exits his room.

Chandranarayan immediately gathered all his ministers.

He spoke to them, "I want about 40% of the guards present in the capital to accompany the queen to her parents' kingdom today. This is the most unquestionable way in which I can ensure the presence of my troops when the time comes. I want the minister of state affairs to also travel together, to inform me of the situation. I need to know how quickly we can estimate the king's death and also find out if there is a way to hasten his death away from this world. Do you understand what I mean?"

The ministers resembled a pack of hunting dogs who were also looking for new opportunities to increase their wealth.

They all nodded in agreement and stepped out to start preparing.

"Eh, if I may say something…."

The oldest minister in charge of state administration stayed behind after the others left.

The king looked at him impatiently and asked him to speak.

"It might not be wise to send so many soldiers out of the capital at once. You can summon soldiers from nearby Zilla to support the queen as she enters her father's kingdom. In this way, we are not at risk" he suggested calmly.

The king looked at the pitiful man standing there with a hunchback and a wrinkled face in disdain.

"Victory comes to those who are brave and willing to take risks. I think our border is quite safe and secure from the current enemy. Also, there was no internal threat until now to the outbreak of civil war. So, I suggest you stop your imagination and immediately obey my orders." he dictated.

As the minister bowed and turned to leave, the king stopped him with his next words,

"I think it's time for you to retire, minister Abhaidev*. Unfortunately, you are not being fair to your name. It's sad that you also don't have a son who can take your place. So, we're gonna find someone else to fill it in."

The minister turned around and looked at the king's back with something approaching hatred but chose to exit the room with his mouth closed and head bowed.

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

Her night.

The king was in a very good mood as the prospect of acquiring a province that flourished without bloodshed was in front of him.

Before leaving, Rani Damyanti looks like preparing for a funeral.

Moreover, the foolish Devyani has sent her most skilled girls as a means of apology pending to her, tonight.

As long as she remembered that she was a prostitute, she would let her business flourish as usual. It was good that he realized it himself.

It would be a shame to destroy him and his business.

‘Life is good!!’

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

After three hours

It's all blurred. Despite having tried many times, Chandranarayan's eyes were unable to see clearly.

Something seemed to have coagulated and stuck to his eyelashes. He tried to move his hand to rub it but realized that he could not, not just his hand, he could not move at all.

His body was frozen. Flashing hard to understand what was happening, he closed one eye and focused to open the other eye wider.

"What'sthis? Where am I? Is this a dream?" he muttered to himself.

"ah! You finally woke up. I'm tired of sitting alone here," Devyani's clanking laughter rang out in her ears.

"What is this place? How did I get here? What are you doing here?" he asked indistinctly.

He didn't know if he was sitting or lying down. His neck seemed to be fixated in one place and he could not move it in all directions.

"What's? Don't tell me you don't recognize your own torture chamber. This is where the traitors are brought in and interrogated. Have you never been here before? Never mind, it's not too late now" he said in a musical tone.

The room was dim and foul-smelling, enough for Chandranarayan to feel the urge to vomit.

Not only could he not move his body, he could not even feel it.

He's numb all over. Even his tongue felt swollen and sluggish.

He was starting to lose his temper or so he told himself.

He tried very hard to ignore the unease creeping on his back at this moment.

In a haughty voice, he said, "Bring the royal physician here without wasting any time."

Devyani stood outside her peripheral vision. Now he moved to stand right in front of her.

"I'm afraid the doctor can't help you. In fact, no one can help you right now" she whispered softly.

"W-what do you mean? Basic b*j*ng*n, how dare you ignore the royal order! I'm gonna hang you because of this," now, she realizes something's not right.

‘What happened?’

"Don't use your little brain too often. It might explode due to unprecedented pressure. As your loyal subject, it is my duty to help you understand the current situation."

He started pacing in front of her in an unhurried manner.

"Umm, I was thinking about what I should tell you first? Ok, so the good news is your father-in-law is healthy and the fortune teller has predicted that he is destined to live far beyond his normal age. Sixty. As a result, the queen was on her way back to the kingdom. Now, for the bad news, unfortunately, his entourage was ambushed a few hours ago and no royal guard survived. Also, there are some mystical diseases that run rampant all the time over the palace tonight. It seemed that the soldiers in and around the palace were seriously ill. Maybe they were poisoned. I am just a prostitute. I don't know anything" her voice contained sarcasm.

On her panicked expression, she walked towards him and patted his head in a calming manner.

"Don't be too stressed. This is a small problem. All you have to worry about is yourself. I intended to ask you this in the last few minutes but it seems disrespectful on my part. Argh, I can't help it anymore. Forgive my curiosity, but how do you feel?" he asked her, pretending to be worried.

Chandranarayan believes he is hallucinating. Did he suggest that he be captured as a prisoner in his own palace?

There was no way this s*al*n could successfully conquer his army and make it that way. No, he doesn't trust her.

Suddenly, his opened eyes became blurred again. Something was dripping on it.

He tried to tilt his neck upwards and could only move it a few degrees.

"Yes God! Is it ... blood dripping from above? Whose blood is that?" he was starting to thrash in fear now.

"I'm sorry. These girls have become very stubborn now. Despite my loud protests, they did not listen to me and insisted on hanging it over your head. Give me a minute and I'll take it down" he said, wiping blood from his eyes.

While curving upwards, he took out a needle that had been used as a cushion to hold the object in place.

He let the needle remain in it and held it in his hand, while walking towards the brightly lit lantern.

"Here, do you want to see it? Although I'm not sure if you'll recognize him in his current state. I told the girls to carefully remove it from your body. After all, it belonged to the most precious man, 'in at least his own eyes'. But they didn't heed me at all. In their excitement, they cut it. Then one of them took a needle to pierce it and hung it over your head," he said, he came towards her, with a brightly lit lantern.

Telling himself not to look at it, he could not help but look at the thing in his hand.

A piercing scream filled the room. Devyani holds a wrinkled and bloodied manhood in her palm.

Suddenly, he was happy because he could not move his neck or feel anything in his body.

"Is that ...what is it?" his voice came out like a frightened child.

Devyani laughed, raising her head back.

"You don't recognize your own shit?" he asked in surprise.

Chandranarayan fainted in fear. Devyani looked at him with a hint of dislike and walked out of the basement.

At the other end, the ministers were dragged from their beds and taken to the royal palace in the middle of the night.

The people of Vallabh have done a great job in securing Central Zilla.

Nobody outside the provincial premise even had a hunch about what happened that night.

The ambush site on the outskirts of Zilla has been set on fire by Vallabh's men, hiding the deaths of the royal guards.

The ministers sat curled up in a corner, surrounded by masked soldiers. They don't know what's going on.

Suddenly the door opened and Rani Damyanti entered with her head held high and several soldiers followed behind her. He came to stand in front of these people.

The leader of the army stepped forward and asked, "What are my orders, Your Majesty?"

"Are they all here?" he asked coldly.

With a nod of his consent, he said, "Take them to the torture chamber where the beloved king awaits them. Make sure no one gets out alive."

The ministers began to howl and scream in confusion. It's too real.

One of them got up and shouted, "My heart, I speak my eternal loyalty to you. Please save my life."

Rani Damyanti stopped, turned to him and told him to follow her.

Abhaidev calmed himself down and quietly walked towards him. The other ministers also started saying the same thing.

"I am useless to a brainless man. Take them away!" said cold.

Abhaidev followed the queen to her inner room where he was surprised to see a familiar but unexpected face waiting for them.

"You did very well, my queen. I'll take it from here, now. Please go and rest. Tomorrow will be a big day," Devyani got up from the sofa and told Abhaidev to follow her to another room.

"I know that the queen is incapable of carrying out this coup on her own. He also has no guts or brains. But I don't think that I will see you here, Devyani Bai. Now that you have your revenge, may I ask what your next plan is? How do you intend to convince people to accept a woman to rule the country? And even if you succeed, how are you going to save us from the target of another Zilla head or a neighboring country? " he asked angrily.

"I love that you have managed to maintain clarity of mind even during near-death time. We'll need your skills in the coming days. As for convincing people, you may not realize it, but most of the big households in the country have experienced a shift in power. Right now, we have women running and organizing these households. So, I guess that answers your first question. The head of South Zilla is currently holding a private audience with Rani Father Damyanti about Chandragarh's safety. I think the old king would be pleased with the idea of his daughter gaining power and would be cooperative enough to lend his army to us to conquer the armies of the three Zillas in our country. As soon as we have the loyalty of the army, defending our country from outsiders will be a matter of policy and strategy, where you will enter. After all, you just swore in favor of the queen," she spoke in a sharp and short manner.

Abhaidev was very impressed with the woman's foresight and intelligence.

He also imagined that the real ruler of the country was standing in front of him and it would be in his best interest to cooperate with him.

The next morning, the young queen sat on the throne.

The courts are full of people, old and young, men and women, rich and poor. Those who arrived late, were right outside the door, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening.

On his orders, the blood-soaked head of King Chandranarayan was brought to the plate. The collective gasps rose in the room.

The queen rose up and put the blood on her crown. He raised his blazing eyes and looked at everyone.

"When a child is born, he is covered in blood, porridge, and his mother's pain. Today, Chandragarh and his people may be helpless and fragile. But soon, it will turn into a noble nation, one that will be healthy and strong, that will protect and nurture you, that will serve you instead of asking you to serve. Believe me!" his emotion-laden words echoed in the packed hall.

It seemed that even the walls seemed to echo what he said.

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

A few days later

Vallabh was sitting in the Devyani lair he now knew in his brothel.

Not much has changed since the last time he came here, including the person sitting in front of him, wearing inconspicuous clothes.

"I don't understand why you're staying here anymore. Why can't you move your residence to the Palace? It's not comfortable to come here and talk about related things all the time" he said.

He laughed softly at the burly man in front of him. He had just returned after touring all the borders of the country.

He managed to unite the forces under the queen, either by using force or coercion or both.

Abhaidev, the old minister, is on a diplomatic trip with Devyani's most skilled prostitute force to the neighboring country.

The aim is to establish peaceful and strong economic relations with them, so that their interests can be harmonized. As long as the two countries made money, the chances of creating a war-like situation would be reduced.

Prostitutes are offered as a gesture of goodwill but are actually sent to build a network of information that will be useful for the future if the time comes for war.

"You're totally incompetent on political matters. It will undo all our hard work if it is publicly known that I have a role in this coup. And this is not just for today. For future generations as well, only the queen and her most trusted aides should be the ones who are always on the lookout for the spy networks and information we place throughout brothels, both at home and abroad. For the world, it was Rani Damyanti who planned this coup with the help of her father" he said calmly.

Vallabh looked at the beautiful woman in front of him. He's amazing!

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

*Abhaidev – Someone who is fearless