Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

0"Now that she is gone, you can tell me the real reason for making me stay back," Shaurya said these words quietly to his teacher cum boss.     0

"Haha, this is a reason why you are a part of the team already at this age," Prithvi gave a short bark of laugh and said so.     

He had wanted to continue his discussion with Shaurya when Mrignayani walked in at that time. Instead of asking Shaurya to wait for him outside, he had pulled him into the discussion regarding her internship. He was impressed to see that Shaurya had figured out that there was another reason for making him stay back. Though the tone of the conversation had been light, Prithvi genuinely did want his opinion on the path which he had chosen for Mriga. He hadn't mentioned it to anyone but he definitely wanted the girl to participate in the contest. It was a pity that she had no interest in it yet. As per official rules, he wasn't allowed to coerce her towards it.     

But he had different means to make it happen. The exposure in the Eastern zilla will help her pick up the necessary skill sets which may come in handy during the competition in the meanwhile. But as of now, there were other important things than the Queen's contest which were building up and for which he had held Shaurya back, to discuss.     

Shaurya waited for Prithvi to come out of his musings, patiently. He was used to his teacher slipping into long silences in the middle of a conversation. Suddenly, Prithvi got up and started pacing the room. It was an indication that he was ready to start talking again.     

"A time may come very soon when the long-held peace may be in jeopardy. It will need the combined efforts of all the people responsible for the protection of Chandragarh, to safe guard our sovereignty. You are one of my key people who is going to play an important role when the time comes. I need you focused and battle ready," Prithvi's voice was casual but his words shocked the daylights out of Shaurya.     

He waited for Prithvi to elaborate further but it seemed that he wasn't going to say anything more. He stood up and straightened his deep blue kurta which he was wearing.     

"I am always ready, Guruji. I will wait for your instructions," with that, he bowed deeply and left the building.     

Saraswati, who had unwittingly heard the conversation through the door which Mriga left ajar, mulled over the words uttered by Prithvi. She knew that in the past few weeks, there had been some sporadic reports coming in about disturbances at the border but his words just now had sounded decisive as if he knew something which others didn't. Also, what did he mean by asking Shaurya to be focused? Was that a generic remark or was he hinting towards something specific?     

Sometimes she suspected that Prithvi was a psychic who could read people's minds. How else could he get to know stuff which most people had no clue about? And always so cryptic!! She couldn't recall a single time when he had answered the how and why and who in one sentence. Always left people guessing...     

"I guess its karma for a nosey person like me to have found a job in a place where everything is an unsolved puzzle. I can never get to know the whole picture," she sighed.     

Gurukul's Entrance Gate     

Mriga saw Shaurya walk out and waved to him. She wanted to tell him that he was late by three minutes but dared not open her mouth. If her eyes weren't deceiving her, he looked even more severe now than he had back in the Admin building.     

How could he hold onto a grudge against her for so long? Her mistake had not been so serious, right?     

"Let's take a walk. I don't want to run into familiar faces," with that brusque remark, Shaurya took off on his long legs.     

As always, she panted after him, trying to keep up with his strides without looking like that she was jogging.     

"The atmosphere in the Suraksha Chakra office will be a lot more serious than the Admin building. They work on actual cases there and you need to exercise prudence before opening you mouth to even breathe," Shaurya started speaking, once they were slightly away from the Gurukul's gate.     

Mriga rolled her eyes directing them at his back. This was common sense. Did he think that she was brain dead just because of one error of judgement? He was being mean.     

He prattled on about the dos and don'ts till she touched his arm after a long bout of monologue. Shaurya jumped back at the contact. She looked at his reaction, quizzically but then shrugged it off as one more of his quirks.     

"Sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to let you know that I have understood the point which you are trying to make for the past twenty minutes," she told him primly.     

He turned sideways to face her. Raising his eyebrow, he waited for her to speak more but Mriga understood that she had probably sounded a bit too brash.     

Keeping in mind her well-being, she back-pedalled immediately and said, "I only mean to say that you are a great instructor and have explained everything really well for me to understand quickly."     

Shaurya's knowing look told her that he had seen through her white lie but was choosing to let it go.     

"Just remember, you will be representing me and the entire Admin department. It is upto you as to how to behave," he said quietly.