Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

LXVI

Entrance gate, Gurukul

"Oh," Mriga fell down and landed on his butt with a loud bang.

He had hit someone, without even realizing it. That's what almost zero hours of sleep does to a person. Rubbing his back, he got up carefully and raised his gaze to the cause of his fall.

"Hi!" Yash's face showed unmistakable excitement and shock at this moment.

He looked very handsome with a young orange sun rising, forming a beautiful backdrop, preparing to shine.

Mriga's heart was racing, but the next moment he braced himself and said, "Sorry, it was my fault. Excuse me."

Before he could walk past her, he slipped his hand through the indentation of his elbow and carried her nearby in an embrace, all in one flowing motion.

"What's that...?" his words were next swallowed up in the kiss he planted on his shocked lips.

"Sorry, I stole it. But I just need something to keep me going. Please don't hold it. I understand that you are angry and I am ready and waiting for my punishment, although not being able to see you and talk to you is the worst punishment. Why do you look so tired? Are you sleep deprived? Don't work too hard. And. ah, I heard that you participated in the competition. Everything is very best. You can do it. Let me know if I can help in any way possible" he said all in one breath.

Pushing him backwards, Mriga landed a hard punch on his jaw.

"Never be presumptuous with me, ever again. Hear me? You're no longer my boyfriend. We're done!" with that he picked up the bag that fell on the ground and walked away.

His heart completely melted hearing his words at that moment and the punch was aimed at himself as it was at him. It was to remind him that he would not go down the same path again.

Never was!

Yash rubbed the sore part where he hit her and smiled sadly at himself.

Do your best to keep me away and I will do my best to fight it!

He took out a pile of parchment that fell from his hand and shook off the dust from it. He was on his way to take the train to go and meet his father, who had just come to the capital for a purpose when he met him.

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

East Zila

Amrapali stood upright in front of the head of the zilla. The head of the Eastern zilla, Dushyant is a transgender and prefers to be called Sharada, his female altergo.

He had worked very hard during his thirty-five years of existence and managed to reach the position of head of the zilla a few years ago. He was the youngest among the four zilla heads and also the most gentle and reserved of all.

He runs the zilla in the same order as his predecessor and is known as a fun guy.

Therefore, Amrapali was shocked when she received an urgent call to come to her office. Suraksha Chakra offices in all zillas operate under the queen's direct command through the Gurukul-based recruitment chief.

The buildings were hidden in plain sight as obscure vanilla administrative offices in their respective zillas. Because, they operate strictly under the radar, their presence usually has no impact on the head of the zilla or their officers.

As soon as Amrapali received the call, she sent a letter to Prithvi, informing him of the same. He did not expect a reply from her before he went to the meeting because he was asked to report to the zilla chief on the same night.

Before going to his office, Amrapali had been told by officers that he should call the chief as a woman.

Wearing a pastel muslin robe along with a churidar*, there was no decoration on Dushyant's body to show his feminine side.

Chandragarh does not restrict its people from practicing their personal choices whether it be in terms of religion, gender, or work, as long as it does not adversely affect others. It is unlike any other country where anyone outside of a defined gender role is treated with phobias and discrimination.

It has been ten minutes since Amrapali stood in the chieftain's cabin, but it has not been recognized. Sweating a little, he wondered for the umpteenth time about the purpose of his presence here.

"So, you are the head of business from a big place near that beach," Sharada (aka Dushyant) looked up from the ledger and commented as a way to greet.

Amrapali nodded her head and smiled doubtfully.

"Well, we want to buy that land from you. You will be given the same square foot area elsewhere. Since you don't own a retail business, the location of your property doesn't really affect your business operations, does it? So, it's sorted out. Please talk to the officer standing outside about the details. Close the door as you exit, "said Sharada and return to the ledger stored on the table.

Whaties??? What's wrong with this guy?

"Sorry, Mom. Uh, I don't want to sell my place," Amrapali began cautiously.

Sharada looked up sharply, "Did I say that you are consulting on this? Zilla needs the land for official purposes and under the Chandragarh Land Act, you must not refuse. Please come back and start preparing to move."

Amrapali wanted to retaliate but she held back. Under no circumstances can she disclose that they operate under the direction of the queen. Over Here. He had to send another message to the Capital and wait for Prithvi's response.

Putting a polite expression on her face, she leaned over and left from there.

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

Gurukul, Day 3 of the Prithvi deadline, at 11 p.m

"You look like you're dying" Abhirath said unkindly staring at Mriga who had fallen to the ground without caring about the cold surface.

After a hard and never ending day, he still had the biggest challenge waiting for him.

He looked at her through narrowed eyes.

"I have a valid reason for that, but why do you look like you're dead and back?" he asked, returning the favor.

His words might not be good but he did not exaggerate. He looked as sick as he felt. His sunken cheeks, dark circles under his eyes and moody mouth tell his own story.

"No, seriously, what's wrong with you?" she asked.

Abhirath looked a little hesitant but he glared at her and he could not help it.

"I've been given a secret assignment by Guruji with a deadline. It just felt a bit hard, so it had already burned midnight oil on it, that's how it is!" said shy.

Mriga looked at him in surprise, "You too? Is that Chandragarh's detailed map?"

It was Abhirath's turn to look at her suspiciously.

"You mean, you too?" he asked and he nodded sadly.

"Why did Guruji do this? Three others have already got it. Didn't you notice that we've all been lenient with you in the last two days? Designing your lessons is a time-consuming task, even though you may not have realized it. Having an almost impossible task to study the map in such a short span of time added to the pressure," he told her in a pitiful tone.

"Huh! Is that sarcasm? Ease me? Can't you see that in three days, you guys have managed to squeeze out whatever ghee* I've eaten in the last fifteen years. The four of you must come with a torture device, I experienced it. How dare you compare your situation to mine?" he glared at her.

Before Abhirath could respond to his shot, he changed the topic himself.

"So where are you supposed to practice? I assume that Guruji won't let you do it openly either, right?" she asks him because he was told to go to Shaurya's shop for the same thing.

"I trained in Brother Sharuya's room here in the Admin building. I've been tasked with keeping the place clean since I got back, '" he said.

"What is Guruji doing?" Mriga wondered in a loud voice.

She was not too worried about fate in the competition for the selection of a queen like her in terms of appearing in front of Prithvi. The man exuded an aura so powerful that it was hard to imagine failing in front of him.

Seeing his pensive face, Abhirath felt sorry for him.

"I have an idea. Why don't I ask you about the map now? Because of my exam tomorrow, you can help me tomorrow night" he suggested.

Mriga was bright and agreed. For the next hour or so, Abhirath roasted him mercilessly. Although he had yet to master it completely in the end, he was definitely more confident now than he was sixty minutes ago.

Wishing her all the best, Abhirath comes to lower her down to the gate and waits until she gets out of her sight. With a smile on his face, he turned around but stopped in his tracks, looking at the two familiar faces.

Although he did not want to be around them, he told himself that knowing about the enemy was always beneficial.

Yash and Vindhya stood under the tree in her direct view. At this late hour, there was not much activity around and their voices were clearly heard as he moved a little closer.

"Why did you refuse my request to help me practice? I think we at least owe each other a lot of kindness," Vindhya's words flowed through her gritted teeth.

Although there was not enough light, Abhirath could see the expression of his feet.

Yash replied in a soft voice and Abhirath had to completely sharpen his ears to hear his answer,

"sorry. My father was in town and I spent all my free time with him, helping him in his work. I've started an apprenticeship under him. It's uncomfortable for me to step away from my duties, right now."

Vindhya's face suddenly brightened and she nodded in understanding.

"Oh, I don't know that. How long is he here? Can you help me as soon as he leaves? We still have time before the competition starts. You see, I'm not allowed to bring my tutor to practice and there are no students." he said.

"I'm really sorry. Now that Mriga is entering the competition, I really can't help his competitors. I hope you can understand," his tone was polite and respectful.

Suddenly, Vindhya's smile turned scornful and she couldn't help but reply, "Right? How moving is that sentiment? But why would he choose to seek help from that weird loser rather than a qualified man like you? Are you sure that the girl, who pisses you off at the people around you, is even attracted to you from a distance? To my knowledge, he has found a new pasture for himself, or maybe it's the old one and you don't know about it."

Yash looked at her steadily for a moment before walking away from there, silently.

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

Gurukull, Chandragarh

Abhirath came out of his hiding place and stood there in surprise. The Southern zilla man seemed to have opened a new leaf. Too bad, it was too late for him. There's no way she'll let Mriga back to her, forever.

He had decided to express his feelings once the competition was over, regardless of the outcome. He had spent the past few years loving it from a quiet distance. But now that she knew him, in and out, his feelings had surpassed simple words like love.

His days begin and end with him and he wants to spend the rest of his life fighting and making up with him!

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

The Saptsindhu - Himprayag border

Shaurya and his tribe are standing on the border between Saptsindhu and Himprayag. Initially, Shaurya's plan was to try and find another way to enter Chandragarh from Sapsindhu.

He hoped to pass this on to the natives of the valley but instead confused them into thinking that he was talking about Himprayag. So Chandragarh is the apple and Himprayag is the cucumber.

But the message from Bela comes just in time to stop regretting her fate. He had asked her to join him in Himprayag as soon as possible.

In accordance with what he understood, he was now only a few hours away from the capital city of Himprayag and had sent the message back to him, telling him the same.

Thankfully, he had drawn maps of the entire path from the valley all the way here, so he knew how to return, if necessary.

He bowed and thanked his guide for bringing him here. Then saying goodbye, he started walking forward, only to be pulled back. The man handed her the sheepskin shawl and placed it on Shaurya's shoulder.

He smiled at the younger man and patted his shoulder. Shaurya looked at her with gratitude and pulled her tightly around his body. He knew that Himprayag should be very cold and appreciative of the man's kind demeanor.

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

Capital city, Chandragarh

Prithvi read Amrapali's message again. It seemed that the other party regarded them as incompetent fools or no longer feared if their actions were revealed in front of Chandragarh. In any scenario, the enemy has been caught off guard and that is what Prithvi needs.

He quickly wrote down two messages, one for Amrapali in which he asked her to do as the head of the zilla ordered. The second message is for Ramanujam who has returned to the Eastern zilla.

During their month-long internship, Mriga and the others wondered about Ramanujam's mole in the office of Cakra Suraksha zilla Timur. But they do not know that Ramanujam prefers to work alone and does not easily trust anyone.

Seeking information from someone means someone has to offer something in return and Ramanujam hates showing the cards in his hand to anyone.

In essence, no one had relayed any information to him from the Amrapali team. None of them were aware of his presence in the zilla.

The Admin office in Gurukul is not the only place with a secret nest underground. All zilla offices were built the same way, a long time ago.

But information about their whereabouts is shared in a very stingy way. If it were not for Shaurya poisoning, Mriga and Abhirath would never have known of any whereabouts in Gurukul.

Similarly, Ramanujam was also informed of the Eastern zilla unit only now, when he needed to use it.

He has been based in the nest just below the Suraksha Chakra building for two months now. After walking through the tunnel, the exit to this nest which was covered in plants from outside, opened close to the sea.

That made his initial task of patrolling the area and searching for the homeless easy. This is the same place where Prithvi lived when he came to the East zilla before Ramanujam.

The specialty of this underground base is that the roof has one end of a hollow wooden pipe protruding from it. The other end of the pipe is connected to a variety of aesthetically designed wood carvings that are stored in various rooms in the Cakra Suraksha building.

Many years ago, when Ramanujam himself was still a trainee, he had presented the idea of using wooden pipes as a listening device from one room to another.

He had attracted the attention of his superiors because of this project, but he only knew now that his project was not only approved but also implemented.

Prithvi recalled Ramanujam's reaction with a wry smile. Usually not prone to theatrics, she gave a sulking look to her senior last month when she was told about using this method to find out about the operation of the Suraksha Chakra unit of the Eastern zilla.

He raised an eyebrow and asked Ramanujam, "Do you expect the medal to be given to you? Secret ideas are chosen and applied in the same way. Consider yourself lucky that you will use your own creations for operational purposes."

In response, Ramanujam says nothing but Prithvi can see that he is not as sorry as before. He went on to provide details of the various rooms in the East zilla office where the pipes were placed.

Out of his reverie, Prithvi mused,

"Maybe it will benefit us if the head of the Eastern zilla moves into the building as quickly as possible."

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

*Churidaar - Leggings

*Ghee - Pure Butter