Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

XXXV

Carefully, Mriga measured the portions of the various elements the old man had given him before putting them into the stirring bowl.

"This is a new drug that I have prepared especially for him. The ingredients are hard to find. Make sure not a single particle is wasted," Vaidya had instructed him firmly.

Mixing the potion well, he started crushing it with all his might to extract the maximum juice from it.

THUMPED UP!

Mriga heard the voice and ran back to the room. Shaurya fell to the floor and tried to sit down, holding the side of the bed.

"Argh.... What are you trying to do? You will hurt yourself like this," he reprimanded in a worried tone.

Squatting in front of him, he tucked his arm under his armpit and helped him get up. Their bodies almost touched. She could see curly eyelashes covering her half-closed eyelids. A thin sweat was visible on his forehead.

He could even hear the slow humming of his heartbeat under his hands. The muscles of his lower arm stiffened as he made him sit on the bed and then stand upright.

Shaurya looked at him with blurry eyes and said, "Who are you? Where am I?"

"I. your mentee and you're in your room. You are injured and you should be recuperating. Why did you get out of bed?" he asked gently.

Shaurya held his forearm and touched it to the height of his eyes.

"Prove that!" he ordered with that hoarse voice.

Mriga looked at him in fear. What exactly did he have to prove to her???

After thinking for a moment, he took his fingers and placed them at the base of his neck.

"This is where the poison is removed from your body. The injury is severe enough that you cannot make any sudden movements. Since this is your room, if you look around, you will find many familiar things. And about me being your mentee, umm, I know your favorite dining spot is five minutes away from the store at the market. I also know that you're an expert in disguise and yes, you gave me a set of kurtas and pajamas as my gift for being a good student," he was blabbering at anything he could think of at that moment.

His heart started racing uncomfortably staring at him so close but his grip on his arm did not loosen. Suddenly footsteps were heard and Mriga turned her head to see Ramanujam enter. He took the scene quickly.

"The poor lamb. You're safe now," he said these words and gently removed Mriga's arm from Shaurya's grip.

Cueing Mriga to move on from there, she helps calm Shaurya down on the bed.

"Did he scare you?" Ramanujam asked her after Shaurya's eyelids closed back.

Mriga shook her head and smiled doubtfully. He could not forget the fact that Ramanujam had greeted Shaurya affectionately.

The whole Admin team is really.. freak!

Following him, he walked out of the room. Perhaps his thoughts were written on his face because he gave her a mysterious smile but did not give any explanation.

"I'm here now. You can rest" he said.

Mriga bowed to him and walked towards the stairs only to return in the next second.

"Oh. Guruji. The medicine is ready and stored in the kitchen. I followed the instructions given by Vaidya carefully. Please give it to him" he said and left.

He looked at his back backwards deep in thought.

On his way out, Mriga meets with Saraswati and informs her that since she had been relieved early by Ramanujam, she will come at dawn to replace Abhirath.

"What just happened? Are you scaring that girl?"

Saraswati asks Ramanujam as she exits Shaurya's room.

"Why? Did he complain to you?" he asked back.

"No, he didn't say anything but his face was pulled and he looked like he had been bullied" she replied.

He rolled his eyes at his statement and asked, "Certainly? I didn't know that people have a certain expression if they're bullied by someone."

Saraswati looked ready to argue but she raised her hand in surrender. He held an empty medicine bowl in his other hand.

"I didn't do anything to him. Shaurya wakes up confused and may mistake him for a threat. I intervened and made her go back to sleep using a special code. Since I didn't tell her why I used such an arbitrary affection, her mind must have gotten more and more muddled. That's why he might seem bullied by you," he theorized.

Each active agent is given some special code that has a different meaning attached to it. These codes are embedded deep within the recesses of an agent's subconscious mind during rigorous training.

No one other than the handler and the agent should know the special code for that agent. Even Saraswati doesn't know the code for Shaurya.

"Hmph. That poor girl. Since last night, there had been quite a number of revelations that made him wary and confused. By the way, how's it going now?" she asked.

"He will need a few days to recover. The problem is that the drugs your father gave you contained opium that had strong side effects and might take longer to wean," she said.

Saraswati immediately said, "If she had not added opium to her medicine, Shuarya would have screamed all over the place. According to him, the poison was deadly and meant to cause excruciating pain until that time it stayed in the body. "

Ramanujam nodded grimly and said, "Shaurya got away this time. But we've been following in the footsteps of the people behind this. Rest assured, the culprit will be arrested soon. How dare they attack one of us?"

Saraswati saw flames burning in her comrade's usually calm gaze. They are small units but that makes the unspoken bond even stronger. On the surface, most of them appear cold and indifferent, but it may be an effective mask to mask the intensity of their feelings.

He sighed and turned his gaze across the hall, finally falling onto the large bag Mriga had brought there. Walking there, he rummaged through the contents and a smile spread across his face. This girl is really wise.

Mriga left the Admin building and went to the son's dormitory. He wanted to convey a message to Abhirath about the change of plans.

After writing a note quickly, he left it in the hole given to each student at the entrance of the dormitory.

Dusk is coming soon and he knows that Yash will finish his task for the day. He went to the Accounting department and sent a message to her through a student.

Yash was in a bad mood when a junior came and told him about Mriga waiting for him outside. He was surprised and very happy.

This was the first time he had looked for it himself to patch up. Straightening his clothes, he bid farewell to the students and teachers around before stepping out to the foyer where he was standing waiting.

Mriga's gaze was focused towards the setting sun and his side profile made for a dazzling picture.

Yash stood there admiring her for a while before clearing his throat to attract her attention.

"Oh! Hey, you're here. Are you done with your work today?" he asked gently.

He said nothing except,

"Let's go."

Mriga also followed and walked along. With tacit approval, they started walking towards the road they usually took for an afternoon stroll.

"sorry. I shouldn't have called Abhirath my fiancee even if there was an emergency" she said gently.

"Hey! How coincidental? I came to look for you" Vindhya said as she exclaimed.

Yash's statement hung in the air as he turned to look at Vindhya, standing beside his friend.

Giving them a brief smile, he asked politely, "Why are you looking for me?"

He could feel Mriga's inquisitive gaze moving from one to another but knew that Vindhya would do nothing to jeopardize the situation.

Before Vindhya could say anything, Gauri spoke up with excitement.

"Mother Vindhya has delivered a box full of items for you including Till ki chikki* and delicious custard apples that are only available in the Western zilla during the fall. Since your Southern zilla weather is always hot, you can get a chance to enjoy this here. Though, I wonder why you were chosen for special treatment. Aunty didn't send it for me" he said with a wink.

After returning from Ujjwala's party that night, Vindhya 'accidentally' tells Gauri about the impending engagement between the two families. But soon, he asks her not to say a word about it to anyone, knowing fully that Gauri will not be able to hold her tongue.

Mriga looked at Vindhya's reddened face and then Yash's embarrassed face.

Unable to hold back, he asked in annoyance, "Yes, tell us Yash. Why the special treatment of you?"

Until now, Vindhya pretended not to see Mriga standing there. But now, he directed his beautiful eyes towards her. There seemed to be a hint of humility along with a stifled laughter in his sight or was Mriga too imagining it?

"I. err.." he started off unsure.

Not even a second did he think that Gauri would say something provocative like this. He did not want to lie properly nor did he dare to tell the truth for fear of misunderstanding at this moment.

"Please don't take my friend's words seriously. Yash's family and my family have been close friends for a long time and so my mother sent some things for her" Vindhya said in a very soft voice to Mriga.

Turning his understanding gaze towards Yash, he said, "Since the box is heavy, I will send it with someone to your room, later. May you both have a good night."

Yash looked at Vindhya with relief in his eyes. He tilted his head in gratitude to her and muttered his farewell.

Vindhya lets herself smile in satisfaction once she leaves her former lover. His presence in front of them, was not intentional.

He had seen them from his lab window as they passed by. He runs to get Gauri and uses the excuse he used to meet her later.

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

A few meters away

Mriga swung her eyes to the side to look at Yash. He took a deep breath and told him that he wanted to walk outside the Gurukul gate. Yash was a little surprised by his words but kept complying.

"What's going on, Yash?" Mriga spun on his heels as soon as they were some distance from Gurukul's entrance.

He looked at her confusedly and muttered, "I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"Are you deliberately trying to be blunt or do you think I'm completely blind?" reply Mriga.

Surprised by the sudden spirit, Yash stretched out his arms signalling that he knew nothing.

"I'm referring to the girl we just met. Vindhya's name, right?" she asked.

Yash's guards immediately went up. A few minutes ago, he thought everything was going smoothly and was actually happy about it. Then why did Mriga become riled up about nothing.

While he was standing there racking his brains about what to say, he could not help it anymore.

"On various occasions, you had the opportunity to tell me about the girl who became your family friend, but you didn't. Instead, you shrink your relationship with him to the point that he is nothing more than a new acquaintance or fellow student. On one occasion, you even turned my attention to another topic rather than talking about him. I challenge you to deny this, "he said forcefully.

Yash stretched out his palm hinting him to stop talking.

"But that's how he is. Our parents have been good family friends for a long time, but he and I met recently. I don't understand what the problem is?" he grunts.

Mriga narrowed her gaze and replied, "Are you sure? Is that all he is? Then tell me why does his friend seem to be hinting at something else? And also, why didn't you tell me about you meeting her on the same night that your mother was having a party. I assumed that if your family was so close, she would have been invited as well. But as your girlfriend, I've never heard a single bit about it. Isn't that what you think is strange, rather that word - suspicious?"

Without letting him interrupt, he continued, "Not once have you introduced us. If I hadn't brought up the topic, you wouldn't have voluntarily told me anything about partying with him or enjoying an item that was sent specifically for you."

Yash exhaled a sharp breath and spoke, "You blew like this out of proportion. Nothing happened between Vindhya and me. He is well aware of the fact that you are the person I like. As for the other things, you and I barely got a chance to chase each other. When will I tell you about these unimportant things? Not important? Let me tell you that 'friend' - you came to me a few days ago and insinuated that he was more than your best friend. Tell me why he did it? Just because I chose to ignore something, right? not that I didn't realize it," his tone was agitated right now.

Yash was surprised to hear his words. He did not want to believe what Mriga said, but he knew that he was not the type of person who concocted to prove his opinion.

But she is also convinced that Vindhya will not harm her relationship after making up for it in front of her mother. Maybe it's a misunderstanding. No wonder, he was reacting like this at the moment.

Thinking hard for a moment, she decided to be frank about the whole matter before Mriga misunderstood her further.

He did not want to tell her at first because he was worried that she would worry or misinterpret everything. Now that the topic was alluded to, he would not hide it anymore from her.

"Listen, you are right about some things but wrong about the most important things. The absolute truth is I like you and only you. It is true that Vindhya realized it. I didn't hide anything from him. The part I'm holding back from telling you is about uh. So.." she tugged at him, bashful.

Mriga did not let him finish his sentence and shouted,

"Marriage alliance??? You mean HE and YOU??"

In response to his nod, Mriga felt her legs limp.

He swayed a little and he immediately reached out to support her. Moving out of his range, he sat on the muddy road with a thud.

His mind was spinning as events in the past began to make sense to him. The girl's taunts, all the smiles that know, Yash's evasive behavior.

"And you don't think it's important enough for me to know this? Or are you waiting to surprise me at your engagement ceremony? Wait a minute, the party you attended..is it to announce an alliance? I must say that you have a very understanding fiancee. He didn't mind his man dousing him, it was also in front of him," cried Mriga now.

He covered the distance between them with long strides and bent down to hold his elbow with both hands, firmly.

"Take me off. I don't want you.." He started to break away from his clutches.

Just to be stopped by his harsh tone, "Listen to me. Stop making stupid assumptions without listening to them all. Your immature attitude is one of the reasons why I didn't want to tell you about it in the first place."

Mriga's sore eyes looked at him and he said softly, "Oh! I'm not an adult yet? So this is my fault?"

Yash let go of his hand and sat down beside him.

"You know that's not what I meant. I just want to say that I am well aware that this matter will cause misunderstandings between us and that is why I did not talk about it until now. If my intention was to cheat, I wouldn't do it."

"I didn't tell Vindhya about it at first. As I said, he knows about it and is very kind and understanding. Right now, I'm trying to figure out a way to tell my mom about us. The most important thing is to get his approval and then no one can take you away from me" he said in a soft voice.

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

*Til ki Chikki - Sweet food made with Sesame and Jaggery