Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

0She tried to discern the tread of the person by the sound of the steps but failed. Suddenly, a large shadow swung right next to her, making her scream soundlessly. She stared at the unblinking eyes in terrifying horror. Her arm had risen on its own and she brought it down to poke the branch in the person's eyes.     0

"Oww… that hurts. Who? Why…?" with those slurred words, the shadow fell down on the ground with a loud thud.     

Mriga looked at the fallen figure in horrified fascination. It was definitely a male. Could a hit from a tree branch make someone unconscious?     

"Wait, didn't the voice sound familiar?" She bent down gingerly and nudged the prone body.     

But there was no reaction. Bringing her finger next to his nostrils, she felt for the breath. Relieved that he was alive, she moved closer to take a look at the person's face and GASPED!!!     

"Sh… Shaurya??? Oh God! Oh no!" In acute panic, she realised that the person whom she had felled with that apparently deadly branch was none other than her mentor.     

Wait, why was he here at this hour? Hadn't she bid farewell to him that evening itself? And why had he fainted?     

Telling herself to think rationally, she grabbed his shoulders and shook them forcefully but there was no reaction from his end. She knew that he couldn't have been in this state because of her attack.     

Running her hands all over his body, she tried to figure out if there was anything wrong with him. She had assisted her father as a child a few times while tending to the little birds and animals in this manner. But she couldn't find any broken bones or wounds on him. Thinking hard, she slipped her arm below his neck and tried to make him sit up but he swayed in her arms making her nearly fall down as well.     

There was no way that she would be able to drag him to the dispensary but she felt that she could carry him on her back atleast till the Admin building which lay a few meters away. Shaurya's body was limp and heavy. Mriga grunted as she half carried, half dragged him on her back for that short distance.     

Reaching the entrance door, she was dismayed to see it shut. Somewhere at the back of her head, she had always thought that someone would always be present there.     

She was not wrong in her thinking but the person who came and replaced Saraswati every night was none other than Shaurya. This was the place where he slept every night when he was not out for a mission. Apart from the official entry through the Gurukul, there was another entry into the Admin department which came from the rear end of the ground where Mriga had been running right now. While the walk from the main entrance of the Gurukul to the marketplace took about half hour, this end of the Gurukul was only fifteen minutes away, due to the change in direction.     

Clenching her teeth, Mriga gently got Shaurya off her back and made him lie down on the dusty floor outside the building door while she went to look for a sharp pin to crack the door lock. Though she hadn't become as proficient as Chiranjeev and Nirbhay in the skills of lock picking, she was hopeful of succeeding here because this is the one on which she had practiced countless number of times during the training.     

After few minutes, she breathed a sigh of relief. She had managed to open the door without resorting to breaking it and even managed to drag Shaurya in without causing him any further harm.     

Though she hadn't discovered any obvious injury on his body, his body felt cold to her touch and his lips seemed to have no colour under the light from the lamp. Biting her lip in indecision, she tried to elevate his head with a pile of books before running out of the door to get help. On the way to the dispensary, she ran into no one who could be of help. She banged at the door of the dispensary where the man lived. The old man came out and squinted at her through sleepy eyes while she tried to explain the situation as best as she could, coherently. He went inside to pick his bag and asked her to lead the way. Urging the resident Vaidya to hurry up, she brought him to Shaurya and ran out again, this time, towards the boys' hostel.     

She knew that she needed help but she also remembered that she had to be discreet. Running up the stairs of the dorm, she walked upto the incharge's room and knocked.     

"I… am so sorry to bother you at this hour but I have received some bad news from home and I need to speak with my fiancé urgently," she fibbed.     

The teacher frowned and stared at her for a moment. Maybe the tension on her face convinced him about the sincerity of her request. He called in the peon and asked him to go fetch the student whom she had requested for.     

"Wha… what? My fiancée?" rubbing his eyes, Abhirath sat up on the bed disoriented.     

"Yes. She is downstairs waiting for you. Come quickly," the peon left before he could tell him that there had been a mistake.     

Confused, he nonetheless complied and quickly went down and was shocked to see Mriga in an unruly state.     

"Are you alright? What is wrong?" he took her hand in his own and asked urgently.     

She shook her head and told him, "I have just received some bad news from home. Can you come out with me for a bit?"