Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

LXIV

South Zilla

For the next four years, until Saraswati does not start school, she and Harshvardhan spend all their free time together, whenever Saraswati returns home. But once he joined Gurukul, they became almost inseparable.

After school, they will always gather either to study or eat.

They travel together to and from home, too. Teen Saraswati falls in love with the charming Harshvardhan. But two things happen simultaneously around her thirteenth birthday so she lets the love stay that way.

First, on her way home from vacation, she confides in him, bashfully about a classmate she likes.

She competes in earnest to become a competition contender for the Queen and she worries whether she will accept it if she becomes queen. And secondly, his father enrolls him in the mysterious Admin department that has been a real payer for years.

Hiding her recently broken heart behind a smile, Saraswati and her father move from South Zilla to the capital. After that, he tried hard to avoid Harshvardhan in Gurukul.

It was not a difficult thing to do since she was busy falling in love!

The next set of Harshvardhan words brought Saraswati out of her daydream.

"I'm very upset with you. It's bad enough that you haven't been in contact for years. But you've been here for quite some time and now is the first time you've been looking for me. Tell me, how should I do to punish you for that?" She asked.

He became serious and said, "I'm here for a job and it keeps me busy all this time. I know it's my fault and I'm sorry."

Harshvardhan was surprised by the change in his attitude.

"Is everything okay? Why do you suddenly look so serious?" She asked.

Taking a deep breath, Saraswati suppressed her doubts and looked straight into her eyes.

"Senior, I need your help. I can't tell you the reason or the details. But I need twenty handymen that you really trust. I know that your wife is overseeing the development of a new area in the zilla and has even more resources on her orders. But I don't want you to ask him. I want you to reach out to the people you trust blindly. Can you do this for me without asking questions?" his eyes were solemn and his hands clenched tightly at his side.

Harshvardhan grabbed his fingers and opened them.

"It's that small and look at you fretting over it. It will be done. Just tell me where you want me to send them. But before that, I only want to know one thing. Are you in trouble?? I can help you. Your senior is not a child but an influential man. Trust me. You just need to say it," she tried to warm her cold hand unconsciously.

He might not even notice it. Saraswati smiled and moved her hands in a smooth motion.

"No, nothing's wrong. I promise! I also know that you are very capable and you support me. Why do you think I'm coming to you now, even though we haven't been in contact for years?" he said casually.

"Who's fault is that? You have become so busy that you refuse to take time for me even when I come to the capital," he said softly.

Saraswati swallowed the nostalgia that threatened to surface and said, "I'm sorry. I was so caught up in my own new state that I was unable to give time to the old one. So, tell me what's the end of you?"

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

Saptindhu

"How did it go?" King Amrendra asked his son.

Mahendra is a clone of his father in every way. He smiled quickly and said confidently, "I promised him the moon and the sun. Everything is ready. You are just making preparations to hold a big celebration. I'll handle the rest."

Amrendra frowned at the arrogant attitude of his son.

"Too confident is the greatest folly of a king. The second is to underestimate the opponent. Are you sure he's unsuspecting?" he asked his son again.

It was a conscious decision on his part to let his son handle the preparations for such a big event instead of managing it himself. If his son succeeds in this task, he will immediately hand over the reins to him.

"Don't worry, dad. I won't let you down. I'm not very confident. I made sure that I discussed everything with him in detail, even debating the little things, making him believe that he was impartial in controlling the situation. I have learned these things from you. Please continue to guide me," Mahendra sat down on his knees in front of his father and said so.

That is the truth. King Amnrendra has been his hero since childhood. He has no affection for his mother or sister. To him, nothing existed or mattered except his father and throne.

Mahendra has gone to great lengths throughout his childhood to ensure that he does not disappoint his father. When Kritika managed to escape, she had done everything possible to bring him back but failed.

He apparently has more brains than he ever showed off or the person who helped him was a scheming mastermind. That was the last time he underestimated the opponent.

It won't be anymore!

Nonetheless, he intended to pursue it once this plan came to fruition. He will make sure that he and his bastard lover pay for the humiliation his father endured.

Princess Avantika has paid for her sister's sins. He has been under palace custody since the disappearance of his sister.

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

Gurukull, Chandragarh

"So, you want us to be your army, right? Are you worthy?" Nirbhay teases Mriga as she sits on the ground in the reception area of the currently deserted Admin department.

Ever since they returned to campus, they had never met either Prithvi or Saraswati. Since Ramanujam is presumed to still be in the Eastern zilla and Shaurya may be in the North, they are the masters and rulers of the Admin building, at least for now!

The weather had turned extremely cold and sitting on the floor made all of them realize it. Carrying a thick coat on his shoulder, Mriga made eye contact with the other four and began to speak solemnly.

"I don't think that I have reached a place where I deserve all your sincerity and effort, but I intend to make sure that I become that person in the near future. I cannot promise any results or success but I will give my best and then more. I will give my all for this competition and will try not to disappoint the trust that the people around me have given me. It doesn't matter whether I finish the first round or make it to the final, as long as I've been honest with it. But one thing is for sure, I will need all the help I can get and no one better than the four of you to give it to me. You know my strengths and weaknesses are like no other. I'm surrendering myself in your care!" with that, he lowered his head.

"Oh! Look at the queen of this drama. The plan was to become a Queen in training, not an actress in a drama. I almost thought that I was in the wrong place" Vandit rolled his eyes and teased him.

"I'm not interested in supporting someone if that person doesn't reach the top. So don't make me waste my time. Understood?" Chiranjeev's lazy voice drifted towards him.

"If you've all been wasting your time by giving irrelevant comments, can we go straight to business? Mriga, explain the details," Abhirath spoke impatiently.

Mriga has been used to Abhirath's behaviour for some time now. He knew that his frowning was mostly a way to show his worry or uneasiness. She was actually quite gentle inside with a spiked exterior.

He smiled and said, "OK, so first of all, the big change since the announcement was first made about the competition was this - the competition would last for fifteen days, not a month, as previously announced. Other rules are as follows. Oho! By the way, I heard some people say that some things have been changed from the queen competition held earlier. The biggest, of course, is the expansion of the age group from just 16-year-old girls to now the 15-16-year-old age group who can participate in the country's biggest competition."

He cleared his throat and took out a piece of parchment and began to read from there -

...~~~...

️ The decision to enter the competition is entirely the property of the participants, without any coercion.

️If the participant has filled his nomination, he will not be able to withdraw it unless there is a compelling reason for the same. Withdrawal of the name otherwise would invite punishment for his family who were disqualified for the next hundred years to participate in this contest.

️ There will be three big stages to the contest – physical, knowledge, evaluation panel.

A) Physical – This will be double evaluation and will cover –

1) Demonstrate talent or expertise.

2) Group activities that can be like relay running or treasure hunting. There may be more than one of these activities, perhaps multiple tasks and the duties of many people. There may be face-to-face events among the participants as well.

After this stage, half of the participants will be disqualified and only the remaining half will advance to the next round.

B) Knowledge – There will be three components for this –

2) Open questions related to state policy, of equal weight.

3) Combined rankings of various teachers about their behavior and performance in their studies. This will be worth the remaining 20% mark.

The top ten qualifiers of this round will advance to the final round.

C) Evaluation Panel – This round will again have two stages but unlike the previous round, the first stage here will act as a qualifier for the second stage.

1) In stage 1, all ten of them should try and gain the support of their respective zilla heads, using any means and influence. Each zilla head can only support one girl and as a result, no more than four girls will reach the final round.

2) Not much detail is given about this latest round but it will involve simulated exercises, discussions with ministers, either foreign or domestic or both and possibly direct interaction with the Queen herself.

...~~~...

Mriga finished telling them the whole process and finally looked up from the parchment she was holding. The boy had a teary look in their eyes. It obviously takes time for them to digest a fairly comprehensive process.

They knew that it would not be easy to prepare something like this, but suddenly, it seemed that they had too much work without any free time. So many elimination levels, it only takes one for him to be thrown away!

Abhirath was the first to recover.

"If Prithvi guruji were here, he would ask us to start over, wouldn't he? So, what do we need to get started?" he looks around.

"Solid action plan" Nirbhay said.

Vandit nodded his head vigorously and reached out to Saraswati's desk and took out a long parchment.

Taking the quill pen that was stored next to her, she wrote something quickly on it - 'The search for Mrignayani to become queen.'

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

Saptindhu

It's been more than a week since Shaurya's injury. The prostitute has returned to the brothel to resume her normal life while she wanders around the natives here in the valley, soaking in a different atmosphere and learning many things.

He even took the way they dressed and behaved. They were already a mental addition to his disguise collection.

He can move his legs properly, now. The combination of herbs used by the tribal medical practitioners on his deep wounds was simply amazing.

Not only did it heal well, the swelling almost disappeared as well as the pain. When he first sent out a message about the delay in the end, he was worried that he would be out for longer. But with his current speed, he should be able to move in the next few days.

There was an idea forming in his head, but he was unsure about the wisdom that came out of words. He recalls Bela's teachings where he told him that on the pitch, he would be the one to take decisions that would and could affect the future on a large scale.

Therefore, he needed to take calculated risks. Playing carefully does not win the game, but then, so does recklessness.

"Should I explore it?" he thought and thought again.

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

Vayuprastas

Mithilesh leaned against the fur-lined sofa with a frown when she heard the counter proposal from King Shaligram. Is this a joke?

How dare an insignificant small country like Vayuprastha dare to issue a requirement and it is too unreasonable? A bet on an iron ore mine? Haa! That guy must be kidding. But he was too smart to let his true expression show on his face.

Maintaining his friendly smile, he spoke to the king in a gentle tone, "I'm worried if I return this offer to my father, he'll probably attack Vayuprastha the next day for targeting our core resources."

King Shaligram paled at the young prince's words. Is that a veiled threat?

Although geographically, there was no big difference between the two countries, but when it came to war, it was like pitting a lotus flower against a wall. Perhaps, he was a bit in a hurry in his thinking!

Smiling at the prince, King Shaligram said, "Haha, you misunderstood. What I mean is that we should get a better purchase price for all that iron ore in exchange for letting you set up a profitable business here. After all, I also have a country to run and people to take responsibility for. How can I convince my board of the goodness of your proposal, if not?"

Mithilesh hides a grin behind a cold smile.

King Shaligram is a coward. It doesn't take much to threaten him. He took the time to answer back while he could feel the king's nervousness in the air.

"ah! I'm sure we'll be happy to show our good faith by offering you a 5% discount for the next year for your procurement. So, make sure you buy more during the year," her words were accompanied by a mocking tone.

"My minister will give you a final proposal. Should we put our stamp on tomorrow morning, then?" the question was rhetoric and he did not wait for the king's answer.

Getting up from the table, he bowed slightly, "I'll probably go and explore some of the attractions your esteemed country has to offer."

King Shaligram was still clutching his golden wine glass, tightly as Prince Mithilesh sauntered out of the palace. The king was a shrewd businessman and really hated him when he had to sign a bad deal. And that's what happened.

"I hope someone will teach this arrogant prince a lesson," his grunts before gulping a fine wine down his throat.

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

Gurukull, Chandragarh

Mriga had just come to the dorm after meeting everyone in the Admin department when the hostel warden texted her, asking her to get off.

With a frown, he retraced his steps and went to the office.

"Your mother's uncle is here to see you. Pack a bag last night and report to Gurukul's front gate" the warden said.

"Huh?"

It took Mriga a second to understand the situation. Is Shaurya back in the capital?

Quickly going up to the dormitory, he took out his packed sling bag and went down. He had picked up this custom during his stint in the Eastern zilla. They are taught that an agent should be ready in the shortest possible time.

As a result, the first thing Mriga did after returning to Gurukul was this and she was very happy at the moment.

Bowing to the hostel warden, he went towards the gate in quick steps. Is he here to help her with training for the Queen's competition?

No, no, why would he do that?

He is part of Suraksha's Chakra department, not his personal team. But why would he want to meet her now?

If she would ask him to come on duty, he would say no.

"I'm unable to distract from the competition right now," he trained the words in his head as it came out.

Mriga could not see anyone outside the gate and walked slightly forward towards the place where Shaurya usually waited for him.

"Other times, try and reduce the time it takes to get to the starting point" a voice pierced through the cold darkness of the night.

Mriga turned towards the voice in surprise.