Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

Bracing himself for his father's tirade, Mahendra waited but the king seemed to have lapsed into a contemplative silence.     

"Dig into it and find out all that you can about what exactly happened. The spy network in Chandragarh is a big reason why we haven't been able to gain inroads into that 'women ruled' country till date. Report the findings to me as soon as you find out. Tell that double agent to personally conduct the investigation," the king's voice was firm and serious.     

"Understood, father!" Mahendra took his leave from there.     

Many miles away from the Royal Palace, Saptsindhu     

Shaurya thought that he had managed to break the communication barrier between him and the tribe successfully but unfortunately, that was not the case. He had asked them for an apple, and they had given him a cucumber.     

Standing at the foot of the cold mountain, he wanted to bang his head against the snow covered rock in frustration. At this rate, his well-laid plans will go awry one by one.     

"How am I going to get out of this muck, now? Should I just go die or wait for Guruji to kill me?" he muttered to himself.     

Unaware of his dark thoughts, the guy who had been leading the way, turned to grin at him. He was feeling very proud at the moment to have found this path from his childhood memory. Gesturing to Shaurya to keep walking, he moved ahead.     

Right at that moment, Shaurya's eagle, rather Bela's eagle, landed on his shoulder.     

Gurukul, Chandragarh     

Mriga's next few days were like a watermelon cut into precise slices. All the participants and their teams had been given a leave of absence from the school work. There was no restriction on the number of people one could have in her team to help her. Some had chosen to go with just one teammate, but girls who fancied themselves a good chance, mostly the ones from the higher grade, had a near battalion following them around.     

Mriga couldn't get a handle on her four teammates, she wondered how those with an army were faring. Her day began with a session designed by Chiranjeev who took her through modified versions of physical exercises personally tweaked by him. If Ramanujam guruji had been here, he would have been proud of the spike in his student's growth graph. The exercises seemed to have only one motto. Butcher her!     

Next was Vandit, who took her through various country related laws and policies. Since it was his first time mentoring someone, he had taken on the role a bit too seriously. He was simply too unforgiving and unreasonable, expecting her to learn and remember the laws in a jiffy.     

If that wasn't enough, Nirbhay had a series of mind-numbing codes and games ready and waiting for her, that too with a timer. It was sheer torture. Abhirath had chosen to be the last and deliberately so. He duelled with her, beat her at archery, fought using swords and when she was ready to drop dead, he would start a heated discussion with her on a topic related to good governance.     

Mriga wanted to die by the end of two days but she couldn't afford to. She still had to burn the midnight oil and learn the damn map and its contours for her upcoming test.     

"I am going to fail! Not in one thing, but everything. How can all of them expect me to develop a photographic memory, become a skilled fighter and a good administrator in two freaking days. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh," she shouted, standing at the Gurukul's entrance gate.     

It was four in the morning and she had just returned from the shop after bleeding her eyes out looking at the damn map. In three hours, Chiranjeev was going to expect her at the ground hidden behind the Admin department. She wondered if she should go through the torture of going to sleep and then get up after those measly hours or should she just apply some glue to keep her eyes open all through the day. The birch trees' bark was an effective adhesive used across the country. The maximum that could happen will be that she turns into a piece of wood herself.     

Somewhere in the Capital, Chandragarh     

"Can you at least try and offer some resistance? What is the point of sparring with you if you will let me win within the first five minutes of the fight?" Vindhya threw her sword down in disgust.     

The boy, though her senior, stood on the side with his head hung in shame. As per the rules, none of the participants were permitted to take help from outsiders, only fellow students were allowed to pitch in with the training.     

"I need Yash," she muttered to herself.     

Whether it was an excuse or a genuine reason, she didn't stop to think about it. Writing on a scroll quickly, she gave it to a junior and asked her to go and find Yashvardhan.     

"B... but, Senior, it's 4 in the morning. Won't he be asleep?" she said hesitatingly.     

Everyone who was present in this hall, had no doubts about Vindhya's capabilities but her temper was like a simmering curry. You never knew when it would erupt!     

Vindhya was about to give a biting retort but then realized that it may be politically incorrect. She did not want to give the impression of being over friendly with Yash.     

"Thanks for reminding me. I had lost track of the time during practice. Please find him for me, post breakfast," she said and picked up her sword again.     

If Mriga's schedule was gruelling, Vindhya's was nearly inhuman. The only difference was that in this case, it was Vindhya who was driving it. This was the time for which she had spent the better part of her childhood preparing. She needed to work really hard. If she got it right, she would have the next twenty five years to rest.