Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

"Greetings to the King of Vayuprastha! Thank you for agreeing to meet me without a prior notice. As you can see, I have not managed to make myself presentable before coming here and I hope you can overlook this offence in the light of what I am about to offer," she started confidently, looking straight into his eyes.     

The king looked from her to her husband, who stood quietly in a corner. A good looking guy for sure, he was well built like most Saptsindhu men. But that was it. According to the rumours, he was a lowly groomsman who had caught the eye of the princess and became the root cause of the princess's discord with her family. For someone to cause such trouble, there should have been some extraordinary qualities about him. What a waste!     

Waving his hand, Raja Shaligram brushed aside her apology and indicated that they should all sit down. He was too much of a businessman to let his hasty impressions or hearsay to affect his judgement.     

"I am all ears, Princess Kritika," he said with a smile.     

She nodded and gestured to Abhimanyu who had not taken a seat till now. He came forward and placed a large dirty cloth bag on the centre table before moving back.     

"Oh, I almost forgot to make the introductions. This is Abhimanyu, my… bodyguard," she said.     

Raja Shaligram's eyebrows lifted up in surprise and he stared at her questioningly. Kritika looked fatigued and allowed herself a small sigh before speaking up.     

"Before I tell you anything about the past, let's discuss my present and our future," she started.     

"I am here to seek asylum from you and want to apply for a permanent residency in Vayuprastha for myself and the guard. I also want to gain permission to set up my own entertainment business, the profits of which I shall share with you on a percentage to be negotiated upon by us at a later stage. If you agree to my conditions, then as a token of my gratitude, I will offer these jewels valued at nearly 1/5th of the total net worth of your country," her words and tone was matter-of-factly.     

Raja Shaligram who was known for keeping a straight face under all circumstances, felt his mouth open after a series of explosive disclosures. Before he could formulate a response though, she continued as if she was discussing the menu for the next meal to be served.     

"Of course, you are welcome to get these stones apprised but in front of me," she leaned back in her seat, indicating the end of her side of the conversation.     

While she waited for the king's response, Kritika's mind recalled the frenzy of the past two years.     

Despite her appearance as a brainless ninny, Kritika had always been headstrong and knew how to get things done. As she grew older, she realised that in order to gain what she wanted, she needed to behave like the perfect daughter and useless princess as her father wished her to be. But she knew that she didn't want a marriage of convenience with anyone. To avoid a nearly pre-decided fate, she concocted a crazy plan of pretending to be in love with her groomsman to escape the scrutiny on the bigger issue. She slowly smuggled out her jewellery to different people over the first few months.     

The entire last year was spent in collecting those jewels from those places and now that she had her wealth back in her hands, she had arrived at her destination. Of course, Abhimanyu had been a loyal guard and she intended to compensate him handsomely for it, maybe even give him a profit sharing cut in the new business if the King approved.     

"So, what have you decided, Raja Shaligram?" she asked with a fast beating heart.     

Shaligram smiled, displaying his wine stained teeth and said, "Welcome to your home country. I look forward to a fruitful association."     

Saptsindhu     

Shaurya had timed his entry into the enemy's territory in the night so that the black clothes which he was wearing could help him stay undetected. Stepping out of the water, gingerly, he untied the cloth from around his waist and wrapped it on his face, leaving the eyes uncovered. Almost choking against the wet, smelly mask, he crouched low and made his way onto the land, taking cover behind the thick trunks of the evergreen trees located there. A cold wind was blowing, making him shiver in his drenched clothes. But he couldn't afford to stop or run. The person with whom he was to make contact was still many miles away. Till then, he was completely on his own.     

Himprayag     

"Can you stop pacing? It is not only carving grooves on the floor but also giving me a headache," Gayatri complained to Ahilya.     

Ever since the latter had come back from visiting her father, she was a bundle of nerves. She knew that proving her superiority over her brother would not be an easy task by any means. Mithilesh was capable of stooping down to the lowest level as long as it furthered his cause.     

The attendant announced the arrival of the queen at that moment.     

Gayatri and Ahilya turned to look at each other in surprise. Nayantara devi never had time for her daughter under usual circumstances. Hence her visit wasn't something thing to look forward to. The girls immediately switched places. Gayatri went and stood at attention while Ahilya sat down hastily, just in time.     

Even though a relation between two people of the same gender was not a problem, the queen would want her daughter to make an advantageous association which meant increase in either wealth or status, neither of which were possible with a poor, mere army general, Gayatri.