Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

LXVII

Capital city, Chandragarh

Prithvi tore the message he had written to Amrapali and wrote another, asking her to empty the Surakshan Chakra building as quickly as possible.

He added an additional line where he mentioned that in order to show their goodwill, he should not move any decorative pieces from the building.

He instructs her to go into ghost mode on all operations after moving into a new building provided by the head of the zilla, until further instructions.

Ghost mode means that all ongoing operations will run on autopilot and no updates or discussions are taking place at the head office regarding it. Instead, the handlers would pass the information on to the chieftain through secret methods.

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

East Zila

Ramanujam had heard about the incident through the Amrapali office pipeline before the official letter that Prithvi had expected came. The angry woman kept raving about the zilla head in her cabin for the past two days, making Ramanujam wish she could turn off the plug for this noise.

After receiving Prithvi's message, she went shopping. He had been asked to buy food and other essentials for the next fifteen days. Basically, this new mission was purely gathering information.

Over the past few months, Ramanujam has suspected that a major operation is being planned by the enemy and a key part of it is forcing the people of Chandragarh to carry out their orders, by any means possible.

The people he had followed and interacted with the Eastern zilla, had revealed that much.

Prithvi had chosen not to inform the head of Suraksha Chakra's office about it, nor had any action been taken against this intelligence until now. This meant that he was not yet convinced by the enemy's final plan.

Although Ramanujam is known for his intelligence, in terms of strategic foresight, there is rarely anyone on par with Prithvi. He will always wait for a definite move from the opponent instead of revealing his own move, first.

Prithvi has been working on developing a game similar to chess over the past year. The style and rules are similar to chess, only that the ultimate goal of a player is not to kill the king, but to surround the opponent with his strength, so that the enemy has no choice but to accept defeat.

To that end, the player must ensure that not only does he need to fight and block the enemy invasion, he is also required to build his traps around the enemy without him noticing.

Considering that the entire admin department is working in different directions on seemingly unrelated tasks, Ramanujam concludes that his mentor has decided to make the game go live rather than play it on the board.

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

Himprayag

Shaurya shivered and his lips turned blue as he arrived at the outskirts of the capital city of Himprayag. Thanks to his mentor, one of his fake identities was already registered in the visitor's notebook that was allowed to cross the border.

He finally reached the place where Bela asked him to meet her. This was his first visit to the country, he did not know her at all and had asked the locals passing by about her location.

"I hope I'm not too far from where I should have met him," that thought had just formed in his head when he saw a pair of familiar wings coming towards him.

The eagle descended gracefully and sat on his outstretched palm. Over the past few months, they have found new ways to send messages through eagles. It was now flattened and tucked under its wings.

Each parchment is colored with the same color of its fur and to make it more veiled, some feathers are affixed to the message folder, which is the, so it is almost impossible for anyone to know that it is a messenger bird even if caught, unless they examine its body thoroughly.

Shaurya checked but the bird did not carry any message.

"Are you here to tell me that Guruji is coming soon?" the bird tilted its head to the side and its beaded eyes shone with intelligence, as if he understood what Shaurya was saying.

Resting her tired legs, Shaurya leaned against one of the tall pine trees. He put his hands together and rubbed them. It was cold but very beautiful.

Everywhere that his eyes could see, was covered with white. The ground crackled under his feet due to the freezing snow. Mriga must have gone mad in her excitement by now, running from one end to the other. I'm sure he hasn't seen this much snow in his entire life!

Suddenly, Shaurya felt a kind of tremor under his feet. He squatted down quickly and stuck his ear to the ground. There was a rumble that seemed to increase with the passing of a second.

The filth! Is there an avalanche headed here?

He had only heard about the avalanches that were happening in this part of the world. Unsure about what he should do, he turned his gaze to the entire mountain range that was in front of him. But it looks peaceful there.

Right in the next second, the silence of the place was shattered by a loud rumbling sound.

Shaurya's mouth gaped at the sight before him. A small figure was riding a giant bear. Coming towards him at an extremely fast speed, that fellow seemed to be fixated on the huge beast.

He rushed back, moving out of the path of the towering huge rock that came towards him. But a few hundred meters away, the animal began to slow down and its rider started to look familiar.

Impossible! Is that...

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

Himprayag

Before his thoughts cleared up, the whirlwind had stopped in the distance from him. Bela was talking to the bear and in front of his eyes, he made the beast sit on the ground. He descended from his shiny armor that served as a saddle. That looks amazing!

As expected, this is the famous Himprayag bear, large and strong, able to survive in the heat and cold.

Shaurya belatedly remembers that Himprayag trained these bears for military purposes. But how can Guruji get one for himself in such a short span of time?

"I see that the beast has captivated you completely," Bela's sour voice reached her ears, making her realize that when she looked at the beast, she came down and walked towards him.

Bowing, he said, "Sorry, Guruji. I hope you're okay."

Bela smiled at him and replied, "I'll try and see if I manage to get permission for you to ride one of these in the future."

Shaurya's eyes sparkled with excitement. At that moment, his expression was more akin to that of a two-year-old than that of a twenty-year-old adult man.

"I also promise to tell you all about it and how to make it submit to your orders. But before that, I need your report. Tell me everything you know," he turned his attention to the task at hand.

Soon, Shaurya came to his senses and began to tell him everything that had happened in this past month.

"There's no word on the road about Sapsindhu planning anything big. The army is still in their training camp and no major troop movements are taking place" he said in the end.

During the days of being 'dumped' by Shaurya by playing around with Ratansingh, he goes on excursions under a different disguise every night and explores a drinking hole located outside a military camp in the area.

Prithvi has decided to send Shaurya to this part of Saptsindhu because the largest army camp Saptaindhu is located here.

Although the soldiers were not out of the facility, there were quite a number of people related to the army that could be found in this pub.

For example, there were various merchants who were assigned to buy items for the army. Shaurya's goal is to find out if anything unusual happened.

During his stay there, he could only surmise that the soldiers had been asked to remain on standby, as usual. There is no unit mobilization.

The only thing that caught his attention was the exercise conducted for the entire army, with the aim of identifying the top hundred soldiers from them. Shaurya had already told Prithvi about it. And that's what he just told Bela.

Then he goes on to tell him about his misadventures and the accidental discovery of the valley and its inhabitants that follow.

"Hmm. Good thing you found these guys. They may be useful to us in the future" he said, after listening to her.

"But Guruji, why did you call me here? Do we not have two different responsibilities? If I were here, what would happen to the mission in Sapsindhu?" She asked.

Bela watched the bear scratching the tall pine tree. The tree trembled dangerously due to the force used by the bear.

"I think Prithvi has made the definitive move this time around. As of now, he might be testing the water in a different direction. Since he gets information from various parties and can see the bigger picture, which we cannot do, we will just follow the direction he gave us. Your mission for now is to impress Princess Himprayag so that she finds you worthy enough. From what I understand, his support is crucial for us to succeed in our final plan. Let me share with you everything I know and have observed about him until now," he began.

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

Capital city, Chandragarh

"Ah, finally! I'm so worried. Had he not sent me this message today, I might have needed to present myself on a plate for the queen at dinner" Indrani murmured to herself.

But this was enough for the queen. He smiles at himself and instructs Indrani to write a reply to Prithvi.

His colleague had left again a few days ago on a rural tour with his troops. Prithvi is glad that the man went alone, otherwise he will have to find a reason to expel him. With so many birds flying back and forth from his home, the place now resembles a real courier office.

It was time for him to go see Mrignayani who was waiting for him at the shop in the market.

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

An hour later

"Now that you have managed to grasp the map read a little, I want you to concentrate on this region and start learning it from the beginning," Prithvi surrounded the area with a quill pen and instructed Mriga.

The downcast head was relieved a moment ago, appearing anxiously at the end of his sentence.

Whahuh? The torture isn't over? Is there part II? Can I cry?

Mriga kept her face completely expressionless and did not even let the slightest hint of her tormented mind float on her face.

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

Capital city, Chandragarh

Bowing in front of Prithvi, Mriga left from there. He praised himself for his self-control.

But as soon as he reached halfway from the store to Gurukul, he roared so loudly that a flock of shocked birds woke up and flew out of their nest from a nearby tree.

"Sorry," he whispered to the birds apologetically and shut his mouth.

When he reached back, a worried-looking Abhirath was waiting for him at the gate.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in wonder.

This stupid girl! Can he not see the worry on my face? What else can I do here at this hour besides waiting for him?

"I was debating whether to prepare a stretcher for you to be brought back to Gurukul if you don't make it back alive" he said vilely.

Mriga landed a fist right on his elbow. It reached where his hand could reach.

"Why did God decide to give me a friend like you? I will accept the evil enemy at any time. Good Lord! I have a feeling that this is my last month in this world. I didn't think I'd survive this, what a torturous life even longer," she began to wail.

Abhirath wanted to scold her for her exaggerated reaction, but she looked extremely cute as her arms wrapped around her shoulders to pat her awkwardly.

"It's okay. I'm here to help. You are too precious to immediately leave this world," he calmed her down in a soft voice.

Mriga's cries stopped and she looked at him in wonder. Was the wry-faced bear being nice to him on his face?

Is this a dream?

He raised his hand to check his forehead for a fever. Abhirath understood his intention and broke away from him with a frown.

He is the bad one, also the blind one, not to mention, stupid!!!

"Tell me what happened," he asked with a long expression of suffering on his face.

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

South Zilla

Saraswati stretched her tired limbs completely before she sat on the cot. He had just returned from the site and his whole body was sick.

Although Harshvardhan has arranged extra help for her, the target revised by Prithvi is harming her, physically and mentally.

"I'll take a sabbatical after the project is over" he told himself before falling into bed.

He had no strength left even to clean himself up.

"The lioness doesn't need a bath, does she?" muttering to himself, he fell asleep.

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

Beberapa kilometer jauhnya

"Oh! You back? Howwasyourjourney? How's Yash doing?" Ujjwala asked her husband as he entered the living room.

He had just returned from the capital after a five-day trip.

"He's fine. Trying to focus his energy on studies and other things" Harshvardhan replied quietly.

The sad face of his son swam before his eyes, but he knew that there was no point in bringing him up.

They were all well aware of their mistakes and repeating them over and over again would not help anyone.

"That's great! I'll look for it as soon as I go there" he said casually.

Harshvardhan looked at her in surprise and asked, "You're going to the capital? When's? If you plan to leave, you should be traveling with me."

Ujjwala got up from the recliner and stood in front of him.

"Have you forgotten that the QIT* competition starts from the end of this week? As the head of the zilla, I had to be there from day one to observe all the candidates. You know that I have to support one participant in the finish right? For that, I have to start making a list of potential candidates,”.

Harshvardhan looked at her, trying to figure out the meaning behind her words. Now, what is being cooked on his head?

"Are you saying that you won't burden Vindhya again?" he asked after a pause.

He shrugged and replied, "After a deep contemplation, I realized that he didn't have the right temperament to be the next ruler of Chandragarh and I would do everything in my power to make sure that he wasn't elected."

He chose not to challenge his wife's reasoning and nodded his head. There's something more important.

After framing it in his head, he said, "The girl that Yash likes to be fair and see if she and our son are a match."

There! He has said it.

Ujjwala did not immediately respond. He knows that he has agreed to support Yash but he does not know that the moment will appear this soon.

"If you're implying that I should support her even if she doesn't qualify, then you can forget about her. This competition is too important for us to be treated as a private playground. My decision to support Vindhya earlier came from my belief in her ability. Wishing she was a part of this family came after that," she sounded furious.

Under normal circumstances, he had never given an explanation but he had been trying for the past few weeks.

Harshvardhan smiled at his thorny hedgehog and said, "You may have many flaws but being a con man is not one of them. I didn't ask you to help her, just stared at her with an impartial look."

Ujjwala nodded his head and muttered that he should go and check on the urgent official matter now. Harshvardhan looked at his wife's back backwards and smiled patiently.

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

*QIT - Queen in Training. This acronym will be used next to indicate the same thing