Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

XLII

"I will not press or force him. But if he raises the topic himself, I promise to guide him to the best of my ability," Bela said in a stern tone.

Prithvi looked like he wanted to say more but he held back. He knew that Charulata could become very stubborn when he wanted to.

"Ah, did Mrignayani mention that he had been assigned to go to the Eastern zilla in a few weeks for his apprentice?" he asked her at the meeting.

Bela looked at him in surprise but then told him that they had barely any free time to pursue each other's lives since yesterday.

"I wonder that while we wait for Mriga to make a decision about the contest, we can at least train him with Shaurya for the next few days. If nothing else, at least it would help him perform better in his apprentice. After all, he had to live up to his mother's reputation. I'll tell someone to send you a detailed report so you can identify and work on the areas of improvement, "he said hurriedly, not giving him a chance to argue.

Bela looked at him with raised eyebrows but she ignored him, chewing on that savory snack.

"Living in a gurukul makes you very thick-skinned," she finally told him.

He grinned at her scathing words. If he did not reject her properly, it meant that he would comply with her wishes.

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

"How dare he?"

It was a rare sight when Rani Samyukta lost his composure, but when he did, it was usually not a good sign for the opponent. Indrani stood up angrily as well. They had just received a letter from the king of Saptsindhu, King Amrendra through his royal courier.

She has sent out a marriage proposal to the next queen of Chandragarh on behalf of her son, Mahendra.

Although not mentioned in the official letter, but Rani Samyukta knows that she did so with the intention to take control of the queen's Kingdom. For a century now, the surrounding kingdoms greedily observed the matriarchal arrangements.

Belonging to a strong patriarchal way of life, they have tried various ways to try and suppress Chandragarh and his different governing philosophies. But due to strong defense arrangements and smart economic policies, the country has managed to get through various pitfalls.

Among all the countries competing for control, Saptsindhu took the lead from the front and this was another attempt on the same note.

Messages had been delivered at the royal palace and the queen held back her reaction in front of her ministers.

But now, with just his trusted friend in the room, he vented his anger without restraint. Dressed in cotton and salwar kurtas, her hair was tied into a bun and her hands had been bandaged many times with a thick bandage.

He started hitting the punching bag that was hung in one corner of the spacious room. He continued to hit the dense mass until he could not raise his arm anymore.

Tired, he slumped to the ground and stared unfocusedly in thin air.

Indrani secretly beckoned to the servants who stood up, to begin to open the Queen's hand-pack. After taking the bowl with cold water, he asked everyone to leave the room.

Indrani took Rani Samyukta's two hands and immersed her in the freezing water.

Although it definitely made her jerk painfully, there was no expression of discomfort on the Queen's face.

After a few minutes, he said softly, "We must not go wrong in choosing the next queen. Vultures have started to grow in numbers and strength and we have to guard our homeland with full force. One wrong move and we may find ourselves pushed back into the dark ages."

Indrani rambled and replied in a soft tone, “Trust in your wit and foresight which has helped the country thrive in the last two decades. Even if we had to separate the contestants down to the root of the base. I just hope the girls are ready for AgniPariksha.*"

Rani Samyulta nodded her head and got up from the floor. He took the offered towel and wiped the sweat off his face. He felt better after spilling his frustration.

One of the golden rules that his predecessors taught him, was to never make important decisions in anger.

In fact, the previous queen used to immerse herself in the lake whenever she got angry and only stepped out when her body froze and could barely think.

The time it took to warm the numb limbs was enough for him to rationally assess the situation. As per his claim, some of his smartest decisions came after the immersion of this lake.

"Send a letter to the ministers to take a day and propose their thoughts on how to respond to King Amrendra's message. Arrange a meeting with them in my private room tomorrow at midnight" he told Indrani.

His adjutants groan silently on behalf of the unfortunate ministers who are about to lose another night because of their workaholic queen. But he did not dare to beg Rani Samyukta at this moment.

"Have we received word from Prithvi?" she asked.

"It's too early to hear from him. According to my information, he should have a meeting with a former spy tonight. We have to hear from him tomorrow night, hopefully," Indrani replied quickly.

"I'm not a spy, but the recent upsets and incidents of the day, all lead to Saptsindhu's growing irreverence. The defeat that the country has faced over the years has not been enough. It seems like we need to teach them a lesson, one that they will not easily forget in the years to come. Have the defense chief meet me before the meeting tomorrow night" Rani Samyulta told Indrani.

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

South Zilla

"Why have you been sulking since you got here? Fighting with your boyfriend?" Harshvardhan asked his son as they strolled by the lake outside their home.

They had just finished dinner and Yash had been quiet throughout the meal.

"How does dad care even if I do? As long as your life isn't affected by it, you won't interfere in any matters, will you?" Answer Yash with a frown.

He looked at his son in wonder. This was the first time he had spoken to her with this kind of tone and attitude. For as long as he can remember, Yash was a polite and sensible boy with no single bad deed to his name.

There seemed to be something burning the inside of his son so he attacked in this way. He chose to face her calmly rather than take offense to her words.

"That's not a fair judgment. I may not be ready to fight every war, like your mother, but that doesn't mean I don't care. Tell me what happened that put you in a bad mood" he persuaded Yash.

"Mother forced her will on me and it has caused a lot of misunderstanding between me and Mriga. Is dad aware that he has contacted the girl's parents and talked about our engagement? Moreover, he had invited the girl to stay with us during the holidays this semester without bothering to make me confident. Is my opinion not important with respect to the decisions that will affect me throughout my life? I feel as if I'm tied up," he bursts.

Over the past few weeks, this anxiety had accumulated within him but he had nowhere to vent it.

Harshvardhan looked at his son with guilt. He knew that his wife had been playing power and lobbying for some time now, but he had stayed away from intervening in his affairs to date. His son was right about that one thing.

As long as it had no impact on him, he did not care much about it. He did not even bother to attend his awards ceremony in the capital for the same reason.

As a result, he did not know that the situation with Yash had already reached this stage. As he recalled, they had just talked about it just like that during the previous vacation when Yash came home.

How could his wife go ahead and engage in a conversation with the other party without his consent? He frowned as the implications permeated.

"Your mother is expected to return from her tour to zilla tomorrow morning. I promise you that once he gets back, I'll take care of this. Sorry to disappoint you until now. But I'll make it up to you. Don't worry, "he said firmly.

Yash's heart relaxed slightly after listening to his father's words. But the anxiety did not disappear at all. He knew that things with Mriga did not end well and that made him very anxious.

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

Northern Zilla

The next morning, Bela accompanies Shaurya to the clinic and asks Vaidya to do a full-body examination.

"Okay sure, I'll do a thorough check. Talk to me at night about it after you get back from work" Vaidya said.

Bela frowned and said, "Why at night? There doesn't seem to be a long line of patients waiting outside right now."

Vaidya shook his head at his behavior,

"Why are you so impatient all the time, Bela? Did I tell you what the results were tonight? Where's the fire?"

The man is the same age as her but has little doubt about being smarter based on his profession.

In most circumstances, he tends to ignore his behavior, but today he is not in a helpful mood. He had just finished the round with Raghu at home who was back into sulking mode and now this man was trying to give him lips.

He banged his hand against the table, making various bags of herbs spill over its contents.

"I'm a client who has brought you a patient. I'll pay for the service you provide. Please tell me, who asked you to make a decision on my behalf? I'm waiting outside. I want to know the prognosis in fifteen minutes. It's just a physical examination. I'm not asking you to carve his heart out" he said, sarcasm dripping from his words.

Vaidya paled and his hand touched his own heart, unknowingly. Nodding, he waited as he stormed out of the cabin.

Shaurya held back his smile that floated around his lips. That woman is amazing. He waited while the man poked her in various places and asked her to open her mouth, eyes, etc.

To be honest, she felt much better now and wanted to get out of break mode. Except for a slight weakness, there was nothing wrong with him. The wound on his neck was also almost healed.

But Shaurya was curious to know why Bela was so rushed to know her physical condition. He has discovered that he has more than what he looks like, but has yet to come close to solving the mystery.

After a while, Shaurya walked back to the residence, bidding farewell to the fiery Bela.

"Sha.. ahem, Veer, you're back. What did Vaidya say? Everything all right?" Mriga started babbling as soon as she entered through the door.

"Why isn't he okay? Eat good food, sleep well, relax all day long.what else do men want," Raghu murmured softly while picking up a tub filled with dirty utensils.

Shaurya walked up to her and told her with a smile that he would pick up the equipment to wash.

Raghu considered between holding a grudge or making his life easier before letting the boy take the heavy bath from his hands.

"I'll show you the way, Dad. Why don't you go and check out the new sprouts you're working on?" he told her wisely.

He did not wait for his father's answer and said, "Let's go, Veer. We need to get back in time to clean up the house and other chores."

As soon as they came out of the house, Mriga immediately turned her head towards Shaurya with a regretful expression on her face.

"Let me take it from you. I'm really sorry for my father's behavior. I think he is suffering from a midlife crisis," he said with a sigh.

Shaurya surprised.

"Uh, what is this midlife crisis?" he couldn't help but ask.

Furrowing her nose, she looked for the right word to explain the concept to him.

“Well, I'm not too clear about that. My mom explained it to me recently. According to him, it is a phase where a man or woman feels the need to prove his ability or usefulness to himself and to those around him, more than ever. The fickle mood and behavior that comes out of character are some of the symptoms," he explained with an overbearing expression.

It was a rare occurrence that she seemed to know something that her mentor did not know.

He couldn't help but feel proud about it.

Shaurya could sense that he was reciting what his mother might have said without understanding it properly. This was because what he was describing was something that he felt as well, right now. He wanted to put his best ahead of him and his parents and his mood was also unpredictable.

At times, he feels as if he wants to conquer the whole world and shows Mriga that he is nothing less than his dirty classmate, but at other times he found himself completely depressed and low-spirited, as if he had lost the battle before it began.

Does that mean he also had a midlife crisis? Isn't he too young for that?

While he was deep in thought, they arrived at the place where the community washes their equipment.

Small bodies of water have been created that have two arteries, one where water flows from a nearby river, and a second from which dirty soapy water flows into the sewage system.

Mriga crouched down on the wet and soft ground carefully and began to take out the dishes from the bathtub. Hurrying to help her, she did not notice the slippery surface and lost her footing.

"Ouchhhhh!"

Facing him, his head hit his head, making his butt land on the ground with a thud and his body almost hit his.

Thankfully, he managed to lay his hands on the soft mud, on both sides of his body. She did not hit him but from the third person's view, her body was trapped beneath him.

Mriga was still in a daze post headbang when she heard tittters around her. Swinging his gaze, he looked towards the few women who paused for a moment in the act of washing clothes and laughed at him and Shaurya. He scowled at them so loudly that they retreated, subconsciously.

He immediately detached himself from it and sat on the ground.

"Are you okay? Ii'm sorry. I didn't realize that.." Shaurya's ears were hot with embarrassment.

He did not believe that he was the same person who was watching over the entire capital until a few days ago. Did the poison affect his brain as well?

"I'm doing fine. Don'worry. Are you hurt somewhere?" he asked with concern.

His face was right next to her and he could see her blushing. Does he have a fever?

She refused to look him in the eye in shame and shook his head, indicating that he was fine.

"You're back. I'll clean this up and take it with me" she said the next second.

"No, no, you're back. You don't look great to me right now. We can't make you sick anymore" he argued.

Shaurya suddenly raised his eyes and looked into his eyes. Sitting next to each other, he could see brown spots mixed with gold in his eyes.

"I know you're worried about me but I'm fine and want to help with homework. Sitting still makes me nervous. So, please let me do this," she spoke in a low voice.

Due to the close distance, his voice sounded like it was bouncing off his skin. Mriga felt goosebumps on his arm and quickly rose in confusion.

He did not know why his feelings suddenly became chaotic. Maybe he had been hit hard on the forehead.

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

*Agnipariksha – Experiments with fire