Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

And he stopped breathing!     

He didn't dare move a muscle, not even to take a peek at the girl who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He didn't want to do anything which would cause her to wake up. He could feel her soft breath on his neck and it made all the cells in his body come alive.     

But after sometime, Shaurya couldn't control it anymore and turned his neck sideways to look at the sleeping beauty next to him. As always, her hair was pulled back in a braid and he was glad about it tonight. It afforded him a clear view of her face as she slept with her head thrown back on his shoulder.     

Thankfully it was dark and the boatmen around them couldn't see the intensity on his face as he drank in her features.     

Her long eyelashes were straight and touched the supple cheeks which curved into the slightly open mouth. She was frowning at something in her dreams and a line appeared between her thick eyebrows. Even before he registered his actions or try and stop them, his long finger had found its way between her brows, smoothening the crevice there.     

A sigh escaped Mriga's mouth and she sunk deeper in the crook of his neck, shielding her face from his eyes.     

The adam's apple bobbed in Shaurya's neck as he tried to ignore her softness which was pressing into him and her unique fragrance which had invaded his senses. Her lips were tantalisingly close to the skin on his neck, now. He could feel his body go taut. It was a 'delicious torture'.     

"God, how much longer to the riverbank?" he thought to himself.     

Capital     

Prithvi walked into his empty house and started preparing a small bag. His partner had left him a message saying that his troop was offered a show in the nearby city and he would be gone for the next few days.     

Prithvi knew that his subordinates had been surprised at his decision to go undercover for a seemingly small matter. But his intuition was urging him to probe this incident closely. At the time when he had received the information about the businessman, he hadn't paid closer attention to the source but now he was wondering about the tip.     

In the past two decades, he had never ignored the warning which his mind emitted, even if it was proven false later. He had learnt his lesson the hard way. Better to be safe than sorry!     

Standing in front of his hidden cupboard, he surveyed the various costumes hanging there and finally decided to dress up as a fashionable, upper class guy. He changed the make-up style which he normally did, turning him into a completely different person.     

After half hour, his heavily kohl lined eyes were scrubbed clean and his open long hair was braided and tucked under a short haired wig. He wore a fitted kurta with long pantaloons instead of his overflowing robe which touched the ground. He removed the bangles from his wrist as well.     

Finally, a tall and lean dandiacal man stood in the room. Satisfied with his appearance, he picked a few music sheets and slipped out of the house after it turned dark.     

His first stop was outside the merchant's house where Shaurya's informer stood waiting for him. There was a quick but brief exchange of tightly rolled up scrolls between them. Prithvi continued walking while the young guy stood there for a bit longer before going back in.     

Next, Prithvi went and stood in a queue outside an eatery. Someone brushed past him, slipping a scrap of paper in his kurta's pocket. Prithvi stayed in the queue till his turn didn't come. Stepping inside the place, he ran his eyes across the room before finding a table which had a single person sitting on it.     

"May I sit here?" he asked politely, to which the man gave an indifferent shrug.     

Prithvi placed an order for himself and kept his gaze at the crowd around him. The man finished eating and pushed his plate away. Emitting a loud, satisfying burp, he got up from the table. But upon reaching the cashier's counter, the man suddenly collapsed. Before people could reach him, Prithvi was there and stooped down to help elevate the unconscious man.     

"I am afraid that my friend had a little too much alcohol today before arriving here. I am sorry for the inconvenience. Please allow me to settle the bill on his behalf," he said politely to the cashier.     

Seeing that all was fine, people resumed their eating and Prithvi left from there, dragging the man along.     

An hour later the man woke up disoriented and blinked his eyes.     

Peering at the person sitting in front of him, he looked surprised and said, "Shalabh?"     

Prithvi said nothing and waited for the guy to speak more.     

Looking closely, he said, "No, you aren't him. Who are you? Where am I?"     

The guy didn't sound scared and had in fact raised his voice, authoritatively.     

"What is the real purpose behind the new drugs?" Prithvi's soft voice could barely be heard in the dark place where they were at the moment.     

The guy was stumped by the query. Out of all the things, he wasn't expecting this question.     

He looked at Prithvi warily, "I don't know what are you talking about. How dare you bring me here? I will report you to the authorities."     

The man tried to get up from the chair he was sitting on, only to discover that he couldn't move. He was confused.