Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

"You sure move fast! Does that poor guy know that you are flirting with someone else on the side while he went and fought the entire world for you?" Vindhya couldn't stop herself from reacting.     

How dare this girl laugh and make coy eyes at another guy so openly? Wasn't she supposed to be with Yash on the first day after being away for two months?     

The truth was that the whole episode with Yash was still a big sore point for her. Even though she had told herself and everyone around that she had moved on, she clearly hadn't. Her parents were already talking about a grander match for her but her heart was quietly bleeding.     

Mriga's face went pale but she ignored the other girl's outburst and pulled Abhirath away lest he reacted to the girl's words. She knew how protective he could be. But it was a conscious decision on her part to not get involved into any argument or showdown with the older girl. She had nothing to do with her. The matter had been between Yash and herself. Vindhya was a non-entity!     

"What is it that you wanted to tell me," she asked once they were out of everyone's earshot.     

Abhirath turned to face her and took her forearms into his palms, out of the blue, startling her.     

"Have you made up your mind about entering the competition?" he asked in all seriousness.     

Mriga was a little rattled by the close proximity but he seemed focused only her answer, not realising his actions, so she nodded her head.     

"Ok then, we need to start the planning from tonight itself," he said, nodding his head.     

"Huh? What are you talking about?" she asked him.     

He dropped his hands in the same sudden way as he had brought them up. What was wrong with him this morning?     

"Before leaving from that jungle on the last night, Guruji had a word with me separately. He told me that if you decide to take part in the contest, me and the others were supposed to help you prepare for it. I will see you outside the Admin department tonight post dinner. I will inform the others. You just bring all the information regarding the rules and regulations. We have been given the permission to use the reception area during this time," he told her.     

Mriga didn't know how to react to this. It seemed that many people were willing to put faith in her abilities, more than hers own self! It seemed that the Admin team was throwing their weight behind her. The idea warmed her but also frightened her at the same time. Was she worthy?     

She looked at him with smiling eyes and said, "Thank you! I have a feeling that I am going to say this a lot in the coming few weeks. Should we go to the foodhall now? I am assuming that you haven't eaten breakfast either, yet."     

Southern Zilla     

Saraswati had just entered the small inn where she had been staying for so long when she saw a familiar face. Keeping her expressions neutral, she walked past the person indifferently and asked the inn owner if there had been any letters for her. After that, she climbed up the stairs and went to the common bathroom. It had been a long night yet again and she was fatigued. But seeing that face, it seemed that all the tiredness had vanished in an instant. She needed to hurry otherwise before she reached her room, everything in there would have been inspected and judged!     

Twenty minutes later     

"What are you doing here? Did Guruji think that I needed help and worse, did he think you were the one who could help me? Are you even capable of doing anything apart from tormenting the trainees?" she asked in a low voice.     

Without looking at him, she walked past and went towards the small cot which was kept in one corner of the small room. He stood with his back towards the door and grinned at her caustic words. Until this moment, he hadn't realized how much he missed her in the past few weeks.     

Shrugging his shoulders, Ramanujam said, "Who knows? I am simply following orders. Anyways, I am not here to provide any help but only to convey a message which seemed too important to be sent through anyone else or so it seems."     

Saraswati stopped in her steps and turned to look at him in surprise.     

"You are to increase the pace. Apparently, we may not have too much time left. Does this make sense to you?" he asked the last bit on his own.     

Prithvi had asked him to come down from Eastern zilla for a day and when he met him in the capital, the former told him to travel all the way here just to give this message and go back to the Eastern zilla, straight away. He didn't know what was the project that Saraswati was involved in but the message seemed to have an ominous ring to it.     

She nodded her head slowly. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that any further speeding up may be a really tough ask. The resources were stretched thin as is. But she knew that Prithvi was well aware of the challenges and if he had sent this message, it meant that he had a strong enough reason for it.     

After a moment of silence, she said, "Tell him that I will do my best. But I may need to employ some outside help. I will ensure that I keep the secrecy of the project intact but my presence in this zilla will be known to people. If he isn't ok with it, tell him to send me a message in the next two days."     

Ramanujam shook his head indicating that he understood her meaning.     

"It was great seeing you today and I have a lot to ask and much to tell. Unfortunately though, I must sleep else my eyeballs will flow out of their sockets and shrivel. Wishing you a pleasant stay in Southern zilla!" With that, she flopped on the bed and shut her eyes.