Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

It had been one of the rare days when Mriga felt benevolent towards Chiranjeev but that feeling didn't last beyond few minutes. Why were all these boys so rude to her?     

She grimaced at his mean words and with her nose in the air, she said, "The people who set this paper are definitely not stupid. They are aware that a QIT won't be required to spout out population or mortality numbers of a region at the drop of her hat. There are many other people to tell her that. What she needs to know is how to improve or fight that number. And that's exactly what was asked."     

She was in the middle of explaining the details to the boys when someone tapped her shoulder from behind, "Hello Mrignayani."     

Mriga turned around and smiled in surprise as Ganga's smiling face surfaced in front of her. No one noticed the change in Chiranjeev's expressions as he saw the older girl there.     

They were all seeing the chess champion after a long time today. Ever since that iconic match on the sports day, Mriga had kept in touch with Ganga off and on but then the holidays started and post the reopening of the Gurukul, Ganga went to participate in the tournament organized by Himprayag where she represented Chandragarh in chess in her age group.     

"How did it go, Senior?" Mriga asked respectfully after the girls exchanged pleasantries.     

All the others had moved away, giving the girls time to catch up. Before walking away, Abhirath had whispered something in Mriga's ear, to which she had given her nod. Chiranjeev had given a forlorn look to Ganga but it had been too quick for anyone else to notice.     

Ganga smiled and said modestly, "Well, they organized a tough match and talented students from the entire region made the matches extremely challenging. But by the grace of Moon, I managed to lift the trophy on behalf of our Gurukul."     

"Wow, that is amazing. I so wish that I could have come and seen the match," Mriga replied wistfully.     

She was thinking about her mother in that moment who had also gone to Himprayag with the same purpose.     

"From what I see, your life has been pretty exciting as well," Ganga said, referring to the ongoing tournament.     

Looking at her, Mriga felt a twinge of regret. In her eyes, Ganga would have been a perfect candidate for this competition. Unfortunately, she was older and missed the range by a year.     

"You look deep in thought. I guess you must have a lot on your plate right now. I won't disturb you any further. Let's catch up once the tournament finishes," the older girl said.     

Mriga stopped her and said, "No no, I was just wondering whether to ask you about a favour that I wanted from you, especially since you just returned and would have a lot to catch up in terms of school work."     

At Ganga's enquiring look, she continued, "I was hoping that I could ask you to come in my team as a strategic back-up in case I need people in the next few stages of the competition. The details of the next stage haven't been rolled out yet but your acumen and thought process is awe-inspiring and I would definitely benefit from it."     

Ganga's laughter made a tinkling sound when she said, "Look at you being so polite and distant with me. Of course, I will help you. It goes without saying. In fact, I had wondered about coming and volunteering my services to you earlier. Couple of days ago, someone called Yuvati reached out to me, asking me to join her team. But I said no because I wasn't willing to put in hard work on behalf of a person whom I didn't know personally."     

Mriga thanked her stars and also the big oaf who had given this suggestion to her few minutes ago. They didn't know the details of stage 3 and even though the boys were good, Mriga needed a 'think tank' which comprised of varied people. Ganga, being a senior and more experienced, would definitely add value and diversity to the group. They chatted for a few more minutes and then Ganga excused herself from there.     

"Hey… your name is Mrignayani, right," Vaishali's booming voice made the shorter girl stop in her tracks.     

She looked at her competitor in surprise. What did she want now?     

"Can we talk somewhere private?" the approaching girl asked her.     

Mriga tilted her head sideways and studied Vaishali, who was walking towards her in big strides. It felt out of character for her to have approached Mriga and that too for a 'talk' in the middle of the competition. Nonetheless, she had no reason to deny the request and nodded her head, indicating with her hand that Vaishali should take the lead.     

"Please go ahead and speak," Mriga said as she leaned against the big banayan tree waiting for the other girl.     

A fleeting look of awkwardness came and vanished from Vaishali's face, short enough for Mriga to feel that she had imagined it.     

"Were you the one who helped me in the maze that day?" the taller girl asked her.     

Mriga's brows crumpled together in confusion. She couldn't recall helping her and shook her head.     

"Did you cut the rope for someone who had been hanging upside down from the tree?" Vaishali asked again, this time the embarrassment was clear on her face.     

"Ah! Was that you?" Mriga's brain finally remembered the person making a big sound as she fell on the ground but Mriga had been in too much of a hurry to pay attention or be gentle about it.     

"How did you figure out that it was me who helped you? I didn't speak even a word to you," Mriga asked with her head cocked on one side.     

"My partner was lying injured next to the side of the tree where you were hanging upside down. Apparently, she heard you muttering to yourself but she became sure that it was you when we entered the dais room nearly the same time and saw you with the khukri. She told me about it later," Vaishali explained.