Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

0After another half hour, Vindhya was beginning to get upset and the strain probably started to show on her face because her mother walked upto her and asked her if something was wrong. She assured her hastily that all was well and widened her smile. She was never going to admit to anyone that she was on tenterhooks because of another person.     0

Her friend, Gauri had walked in to the party some time ago. After handing over the gift, she also seemed to have disappeared in the crowd. Vindhya tried looking for her in the milling crowd.     

"Uh, hi… wish you a very happy birthday," a tentative voice spoke from behind Vindhya.     

She whirled in delighted surprise and beamed at him. He had finally arrived.     

"My parents send their best wishes along with this small token of their blessings," Yash gave her an engraved wooden box.     

"Thank you. My parents have been waiting for you. Let me take you to them," she said, hastily.     

It was the first thing that she could think of, while fighting the blush off her face. She was taken aback at the ferocity of her delight at his arrival.     

"I am just feeling flustered because of the heat and the overcrowded party. I always knew that he would come. I hadn't been worried about it," she told herself.     

While Yash greeted her parents, Vidyut slid next to her and whispered, "Well, at least, he doesn't look that bad. But I am going to grill him thoroughly. If he doesn't pass the muster, no matter how much you plead, I won't allow you to go ahead with this alliance."     

"Huh, I don't care one way or another," she replied with false bravado.     

Vidyut grinned wickedly, "Is that so? Then who was the person whose eyes kept drifting to the entrance every three minutes? I even timed it."     

She gave him a hard nudge on his stomach with her elbow and threatened, "I absolutely did not look for him. Irrespective, don't you dare say that in front of anyone, even in jest. I will kill you."     

He winked at her and waited for Yash to get free after greeting the elders. Before Vindhya could intervene, he clapped a hand on the younger guy's shoulder and introduced himself.     

"We are going for a short walk, birthday girl! See you in a bit," he waved towards his sister, ignoring her murderous look.     

Vindhya was extremely dear to him and he understood his parents' aspirations for her but he would not let them comprise her happiness in the process. He spent around twenty minutes chatting with Yash. Initially Yash was a little wary and stiff but soon Vidyut had drawn him into an animated conversation on everything including the current policies, school studies, sports, new opportunities, his vision for himself and the country and more. By the end of the walk, he concluded that the guy was not only well-educated and polite but also someone with a good heart. The only hitch in his mind was Yash seemed too soft.     

His aggressive sister would probably eat up the poor guy!     

Vindhya had been on tenterhooks despite telling herself that it didn't matter to her, whether her brother liked Yash or not. Even if the alliance didn't happen, it wasn't as if she was in love with him, or anything. But her heart stayed in her mouth till the time she didn't see her brother strolling back into the party with Yash.     

"Why do you look so stressed?" Gauri had been unable to trace the whereabouts of Vidyut for the past ten minutes and finally remembered that she was here for her friend's birthday and not to stalk and ogle at her brother.     

"I am not stressed. But where did you disappear ever since you came in?" Vindhya asked her on a sulk.     

"I… uh… oh look, there is that guy from the Gurukul, whom I had handed over the invite to. It seems that he is the only person apart from me who turned up for your bash," she tried to distract Vindhya by pointing in the direction of Yash who was walking towards them alongwith Vidyut.     

"Hi, you are Vindhya's friend, right? We met this morning at the girls' dorm," Vidyut greeted Gauri with a smile, who was trying hard to keep her blush off her face.     

Coincidentally, the birthday girl also was facing the same predicament.     

Gauri nodded her head vigorously, excited that he remembered her. But also dismayed that he could recognize her as the same person from this morning. It meant all her efforts at dressing up had failed!     

Thankfully, both the boys were too occupied with their own thoughts or simply clueless to pay close attention to the girls' unaccountably rosy cheeks.     

Yash had been mighty upset for the past few days. He had hoped that Mriga would probably reach out to him and try to make up before leaving for her assignment. But since last night, his anger had reached new heights.     

"I am nowhere on her list of priorities. She could have at least tried to see me before leaving. But she left without even informing anyone," he had thought to himself, wallowing in self-pity.     

He had been in no mood to attend the birthday bash. This morning he regretted saying yes to Vindhya's friend the other day for the invitation. But as norms dictated, he couldn't back off after agreeing to attend. Also, his mother would have raised a hue and cry had he tried to skip it. So, he had made it to the party eventually, albeit reluctantly.