Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

LXXII

Himprayag

An hour later, they arrived at the cottage where Shaurya had been staying all this time. Having been with Prithvi for quite some time, Shaurya knows better not to ask for any details from Bela at this point. But he could see that he was a little nervous.

Once inside, Bela asked him to stay in the small lobby area and went to look for the old man guarding this place. He had been given the reference of the owner of the lodge by Prithvi and did not investigate it himself. Therefore, he did not know much about his background or comrades.

Thinking back, he realized that it was a huge mistake on his part. Regardless of the reliable source, he should have done his own acceptance. He took out a gloved knife from under his breast bone which was held in place with a bolster. He slipped it behind his back to make it easily accessible.

Knocking on the door of the old man's room, he got no answer. Going to turn the door knob to enter the place, he heard footsteps and looked to the side.

"Oh! You're here," the old man's face wrinkled with a smile.

He held a tray in his hand that had three glasses.

"I think he hasn't come yet but I want to prepare the milk first and keep it in the lobby" the old man told Bela as he walked past him towards the living room.

Bela put a hand on the man's arm and asked him, "Who is this guy? How could he know about me and the man who currently lives here? Did you tell him? Wh why? Are you a spy? The himmprayag? Chandragarh?"

The old man took his slightly hostile attitude and smiled.

"A spy, you say? I'm not sure who I am anymore, a Himprayag hermit citizen or a long-forgotten agent of Chandragarh's army. At this point in my life, it doesn't even matter anymore. As for the person who came here tonight, he carried a trace of past glory, so don't be so rude to him until you meet him. I think he wants to taste a little bit of what his ancestors went through. But then, what I know. I'm just an innkeeper," with that, he walked forward, his protruding knees creaking in protest.

Bela looked. His instincts told him that he was someone who could be trusted, but that did not mean he would lower his guard in the near future.

"Hello, grandpa! Long time no see" a cloaked man walked in from the side door and walked towards the old man with a smile.

"Leave your smelly cloth on the door before you enter. Didn't I tell you this before?" the man grumbled.

Rudradev lifted his robe with a single flowing motion and threw it to the ground.

With an apologetic smile, he said, "If I do that, someone might be curious about my presence here and then unearth the secrets of this place. Do you think I'm ready to share the secret of caulking milk with others?? Like that, you're very stingy and haven't given me the recipe!"

Bela, of course, recognized the young strategic minister of the royal palace of Himprayag. He was the last person in his mind to meet him here under these circumstances.

Shouldn't she be Prince Mithilesh's closest aide?

Shaking his expression to normal, he bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Minister! I didn't expect to see you here. This shabby lodge seems a lot different than your fancy accommodation in town."

Hearing his test words, Rudradev grinned and shook his head.

"I think grandfather here would be offended by your unkind comments about his place. As for my presence, don't you hear now? I'm here for the milk," with that, he's headed to the glass that's been put on the middle table in the room.

"I'll leave you for it. Make sure you all put an empty glass in the kitchen before you leave. Oho! I've left you a jar of milk to carry, Rudra. Be sure to bring him back next time," with that the old man walked out of the room.

Shaurya did not move from his place. He stood alert and calm, waiting for the signal from Bela. Rudradev, on the contrary, seemed oblivious to the vigilance in the room. He picked up a glass and sauntered towards the area where several lounge chairs had been placed.

"Are you not going to sit?" he asked Bela with raised eyebrows.

Deciding to let him lead the scene, Bela sat down before him and waited while he sipped the drink with obvious enjoyment.

"ah! The old man seemed to have defeated himself tonight. Every time I come here, it feels better. I'm sure you're wondering why I talk about it all the time. Well, as per the legend, I was told that my esteemed ancestors loved it very much. He attributed his sharpness of mind to this drink. Since she is my role model, I tend to follow in her footsteps. Unfortunately, no one in Himprayag seems to know how to make it like you Chandragarh people. Therefore, I have to travel to this place at all times," he said with an indifferent smile.

"Although your ancestors came from other countries, wasn't your loyalty directed to where you came from, Himprayag?" Bela asked sharply.

Rudradev looked back and laughed, "Is my presence here a sign of disloyalty to my country? Doesn't this mean you have bad intentions towards Himprayag?"

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

Himprayag

Bela shook her head loudly and said, "Minister, I'm not good at wordplay like you. If you're here, it means you know why I'm here. What I want to know is - did Chandragarh reach you or did you take the initiative?"

Rudradev replied after a while, "Fresh to interact with someone who does not waste time on pleasantries. I think it's irrelevant who's moving first. Let's start a business, okay? I want to explain a few things. First, my loyalty IS ALWAYS and ONLY with Himprayag and I will work towards the best for my country. Second, I am here to offer my help because I believe that Princess Ahilya is the right of choice for the throne, not Prince Mithilesh. As long as your actions don't deviate from my goals, you'll receive full help."

Not only Bela, but even Shaurya was surprised by the man's confession in advance.

"I understand that you are suspicious of me and my motives. Alu beware of your presence here as well. So that makes us equal. From what I have been told, you are here to secure a strategic alliance with the princess in exchange for helping her obtain the throne. I'll leave the first one to you, while you can be sure of my help to the last one. I think we should stop here for tonight. Ah, before I forget, remember, under any circumstances, you revealed the contents of the meeting tonight to anyone in this country. Otherwise, it would have made our agreement null and void. For the next meeting, I'll call you when the time is right. If there's anything urgent, you can reach me through grandpa. I say good night to the two of you, "Rudradev got up in a quick motion and went to the kitchen, with a glass in his hand.

Bela and Shaurya stood motionless until they heard the side door open and closed again.

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

Gurukull, Chandragarh

Mriga ran at full speed to the Admin building to try to make up for the lost time. He knew that Chiranjeev would be very angry at him at this moment.

He is a person who insists when it comes to following the rules. With his legs pumped up, he reached the spot half of the time he normally took.

Chiranjeev looked at her sharply but raised his hand, "Don't bother wasting any more time to come up with an excuse or explanation. Let's get started, okay?"

Mriga nodded her head vigorously and went to Saraswati's desk to pick up her work materials from there.

Twenty minutes later, the two were in the middle of a heated argument when Yash walked in. Without looking at Mriga, he spoke to Chiranjeev and told him about the reason for his presence here. Speculation and understanding sparkled in Chiranjeev's eyes before he gave a small nod and invited him in.

Today, Chiranjeev ran a simulation exercise with Mriga and questioned her about state policy and law, which she had learned with Vandit. They were in the middle of it when Yash came in.

Both pairs of eyes swung towards him as he explained, "I think this test will be done as a collective exercise instead of one on one. Adding opposing views to the mix will help us test Mriga's quick thinking and her ability to fight opinions."

Chiranjeev agreed with her and told her to join. Mriga looked at Yash carefully as he sat on the floor opposite her.

Raising her eyes at him for the first time since he entered, she said, "Don't be offended, please. I'm just trying to help."

He did not know if he was referring to his presence or his participation, but he acknowledged his words with a nod.

What followed was 'BLOODBATH'. The combination of Chiranjeev's relentless questioning and Yash's radical counter-argument for each of Mriga's sentences, left him completely breathless.

He felt really wronged in the end. It seems that these people are here for the long-standing extraction of revenge.

Most likely, if he were to try to show the sun and say that it was currently noon, they would shoot him and prove through one way or another that it was midnight.

Chiranjeev grinned at Yash as Mriga came out riled up for the next session. Since there were only five days left, they started to focus more on his mental skills.

"I think he needs that jolt!" Chiranjeev told Yash.

Which, he replied dejectedly, "I'm afraid that in the end, he'll hate me many times more than what he's doing now."

Chiranjeev did not reply to his comments and instead asked, "Are we planning to do this on all sides?"

Yash grinned apologetically and said, "I'm not worried about his classmate because they all have the same time as him. But the senior group that had prepared for QIT their entire lives would not be easily defeated. Mriga needs to prepare for the worst."

"Hmm, I agree. In fact, I have done a brief analysis of the contestants from the senior force. I thought of some girls who would pose a serious threat to Mriga. Do you want to see it?" ask Chiranjeev.

Yash smiled and said, "Can we do it later tonight? I want to go to Mriga's next session now."

Chiranjeev grinned and agreed to meet in the middle of the night.

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

Gurukull, Chandragarh

By the time Mriga reached the ground behind the Admin department for a session with Abhirath that night, he was ready to kill Yash.

Since those sessions were crazy to overcome, her intervention only made the situation unbearable and impossible. The extended sessions with Chiranjeev and later with Nirbhay had left his brain dead.

He hasn't seen or heard from Abhirath since last night. Things would have been awkward the day before. Fortunately he is having a session with her now. He had gone too far thinking about all the preparations related to QIT to care about the incident last night.

The only thing that the evil bones in his body hoped for was that Yash would not dare to appear in front of Abhirath now given their recent dynamics. He did not think that he could take a combination of the two warring suitors as his current instructor. He might as well jump off a cliff.

"Hey, you look like you're dead and back" Abhirath said as usual.

Mriga snorted but did not bother to waste her energy on making a comeback.

"Hello, am I late?" Yash's voice reached them before he was seen in the darkness.

Abhirath's body stiffened as he looked at the man coming towards them. He did not know about the developments that occurred during the day.

Prithvi has given him an important task that keeps him busy all day. He had been tasked with selecting someone from a hidden place and taking him to another location without being discovered. Abhirath is very proud of the fact that he was able to achieve it successfully.

He has just made it to the time for Mriga's session and has yet to meet anyone else.

"What are you doing here? Who let you come here?" Abhirath's militant pose was reflected in his voice as well.

Mriga sighed and got up from the lying position she was sitting in. He foolishly thought that he could avoid this, but it seemed like it was time for him to talk to the 'boys'.

Clearing her throat, she sought their attention before they verbally fought.

"Abhirath, Yash, for the next few minutes, I don't want any interruptions or refutations from the two of you. What I'm going to say now is my true feelings, and I hope I don't have to repeat myself or have a conversation on this topic at any time before the QIT competition is over," he began.

Thankfully the two remained silent and Mriga took the opportunity to move on.

"I realized that the QIT competition was not a test of my ability but a mirror to be able to see the real me. I want to know what kind of person I am, I want to know to test my threshold, and I want to know if I can handle the pressure. In this effort, I earnestly asked the two of you to guide me and help me. In return, I promise to give my best!" his words were greeted with complete silence.

Both Yash and Abhirath wiggled their legs awkwardly before Yash spoke, "I'm happy to help. You can count on my unwavering support."

Abhirath's voice sounded rude as he said, "I think we've wasted enough time on unrelated topics. Let's just move on."

He turned to look at Yash and growled, "A word of warning to you - don't try and interfere in my midst. I don't care about anything you might do."

Mriga who felt hopeful a moment ago, rolled her eyes in frustration. But then he comforted himself with the fact that it could have been much worse.

Yash stood to the side as he watched Abhirath take him through warm-up practice before practicing archery with him.

After about half an hour, he intervened and said, "Do you think we should practice swords now? I know it's not something you're good at but…"

"He's been training for that with us. We want him to be ready for the unexpected" Abhirath interjected.

Yash smiled and said, "Good thoughts which means I don't have to waste time learning the basics with you. Let me show you some techniques that might look simple but can help you disarm a more qualified opponent especially when he's not expecting it."

Abhirath wanted to protest him but he saw kindness in the man's words. Taking the bow from Mriga's hand, he went to pick up some swords lying beside many other pieces of equipment a few meters away from them.