Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

A lot of guests had already arrived by the time Vindhya descended from the stairs which separated the residential area and the open party place. She knew that the party was not just a simple celebration of her turning sixteen but was a way to introduce her and showcase her pedigree and potential to the various influential people who resided in the capital.     

An invitation had been sent to Rani Samyukta as well. But as was her policy, she didn't attend any non-state related celebrations. Not that it mattered to Vasudev. Though the selection process of the Queen hadn't been announced yet, nor would the opinion of all these influential people carry any weight during the same, but Vasudev wanted a general consensus to start tilting in his daughter's favour as the most worthy candidate. It would create a psychological advantage for Vindhya versus her competitors.     

Wearing a burgundy colored silk lehenga* and a muted gold choli* with a matching dupatta*, Vindhya's skin gleamed against the setting sun's rays. Her shoulder length hair had been coiffed into an elegant bun and had jasmine flowers entwined in it. She wore a simple silver bangle on each hand, indicating her single status and a pair of heavily embellished anklets which demanded that attention be paid to her beautiful feet.     

Kohl laden eyes added a little maturity to her face, enhancing her pretty features.     

"I can see so many matrons sizing you up for their sons, already. How does it feel like being the centre of attraction of so many people?" her brother whispered in her ear.     

He had walked up to accompany her to the place where their parents stood, interacting with the guests.     

She shrugged a shoulder daintily and replied, "It feels the same. I am used to it since childhood."     

Vidyut laughed at his sister's complacent reply. People turned to look at the striking pair of siblings. They were both extremely good looking and accomplished in so many fields. Their parents were really blessed to have such kids and whoever would marry them would be really lucky.     

Vindhya met everyone politely and with grace. Her smile remained intact all through but her eyes kept searching for the one person for whom she had taken the effort to dress up. In the past week, she had discreetly enquired about Yashvardhan's academic and extra-curricular performance from different sources.     

The impression which she finally received about him was that of a thoughtful, kind but shy guy who excelled in both studies and sports. His expertise was in the area of finance and he only had a couple of friends whom he was close to. The one thing which everyone seemed to confirm was – he had NO girlfriend.     

Then why hadn't he approached her? For Vindhya, it had become a matter of pride now. She wanted, no, she needed him to fall for her.     

Not too far away     

Mriga had woken up some time ago and discovered that the sun had gone down already.     

"Did I sleep through the entire day?" she asked herself in surprise.     

Looking around, she saw that Shaurya wasn't around but there was a bunch of bananas kept next to her. She had been taught not to go for an assignment on a full stomach. Not only did it make one feel sleepy but also caused the urge to poop which could be distracting in the middle of a stakeout!!     

That morning, it had taken her three wrong attempts before finding the right path back to the dilapidated hut from the ground Shaurya had not even offered a hint to help her guess whether they were on the right track or not. They had walked a fair bit before she realised her folly every time and turned back.     

As a result, the sun had baked her head by the time they came back. Shaurya had told her to have a bath at the nearby stream while he went to look for some food for them.     

Mriga had cursed herself for not realizing that a stream was flowing right next to their hut. She could have easily followed the sound and found her way back.     

By the time she had removed the sweat and grime from her body and washed her clothes, Shaurya had returned with a large wooden box.     

They had eaten a sumptuous lunch of fruits, puris* and a couple of delicious vegetables.     

"I am surprised that you managed to get such food here, on the outskirts," she had remarked that afternoon.     

To which he had replied with a grin, "I got lucky. Apparently, there are lavish preparations going on for someone's birthday and they were kind enough to give me some of them in exchange of fixing the shoehorn of one of their horses. Better fill your stomach now and sleep. You need to be ready and energised when we head out in the evening."     

"Ah, someone gets to spend the birthday lavishly. And then there is me... "she thought for a fraction of a second about it, feeling morose but then didn't ponder over things any longer and started to eat quickly.     

Now she was glad that she had eaten to her heart's fill during lunchtime. She got up and started to get ready quickly. She didn't know what time would Shaurya return but didn't want to be the reason for any delays. Though she wasn't competing with anyone directly in this assignment, she was aware that her batchmates were also going to be performing tasks tonight. She didn't want to let Shaurya and Prithvi down because of her performance.     

*Lehnga - a long Indian skirt worn by Indian women across India. Secured at the waist with the mid-riff left bare, lehenga is usually worn on ceremonial occasions     

*Choli - Blouse worn with the lehnga     

*Dupatta - A piece of cloth, draped over the lehnga as an accessory, sometimes like a shawl or scarf or cape     

*Puris – round fried bread made from flour