Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

But he needed to endure it for the next half hour for them to succeed!     

Shaurya had come to the ground at 3 am with Bela. Since the field was restricted to the usage by the princess, not many people milled around the place. It was because of this, that Shaurya could plan an action like this. He came right next to the wooden fence and using the dark as a cover, he had dug a pit and placed a couple of blankets inside along with a small pouch of kesar and dry fruits. That was going to be his bed for the next few hours.     

While he had been digging, Bela took that time and carved a finger sized hole from beneath the fence all the way till the top of the surface. This was going to act as an opening through which air could seep into the pit for Shaurya to be able to breathe. Once they were ready, Shaurya went and laid down on the frozen slab of ground and Bela had gone ahead and put the snow back on. They had to finish this quickly because the groundsmen who came to level the field arrived usually at 5.     

Shaurya hadn't dared to take anything too warm inside the mini pit, lest it affected the top surface. He had only put onions under both armpits to help him keep the body temperature warm. The kesar and dry fruits were also to keep his body from going into shock.     

By the time Ahilya arrived at 5:30 am, the entire ground looked flat and even. Shaurya had purposely wanted to dig the pit below the wooden fence located near the entrance gate from where Ahilya would enter. The chances of closely scrutinising the starting place were slightly lower than the rest of the field.     

5:35 AM     

Bela stopped herself from wringing her hands and kept her gaze straight, suppressing the building anxiety in her. Her biggest fear was that he shouldn't die before he could be brought out. Twenty minutes later, Ahilya was back at the spot where Bela had been standing all this while.     

"Are you sure that he is here? Is this a trick?" she asked on a huff.     

There was simply no way that he could be hiding anywhere on this ground. She ran her gaze across the entire place for the umpteenth time.     

"Does this… mean that you are ready to concede defeat?" Bela asked in a soft voice.     

"If he is not found inside or on the perimeter of this field, then I will acknowledge… wait a minute!" Ahilya stopped speaking as the thought struck her.     

"Someone call the groundsmen. Tell them to hurry. Bring shovels and plows," she shouted frantic instructions to the waiting attendant.     

Failure was the one thing which Ahilya hated the most!     

Bela paled! Now this race against time was going to come down to sheer luck. If the princess decided to start from this side, there was no way that Shaurya would be able to go undetected before the time ran out.     

Ahilya seemed to realize the time constraint as well. As soon as the four men came in, she told them to spread out from the centre of the ground, two going towards the end of ground, two coming to where Bela stood.     

Bela's eyes were now only focused on the time piece which seemed to move excruciatingly slow. The cold air and the majestic mountains along with the tall pine trees, all seemed to be counting down as well.     

"Time up!" Bela's shout echoed in the open area, startling everyone present on the ground.     

She ran to where Ahilya stood surveying the dug ground.     

"Princess Ahilya, do you agree that Shaurya has won this bet?" she asked with a slight tremor in her voice.     

Even though she needed to get Shaurya out, her first priority was work. Ahilya seemed to hesitate but then gave a firm nod.     

"Thank you! You will not regret it," Bela bowed quickly.     

Without bothering about anything else, she ran like a mad woman to the person who was digging really close to where Shaurya actually was. She took the shovel from him and started removing the snow layer frantically. She had never prayed like this in her entire career as a spy or a police officer, as she was doing now. If something happened to Shaurya on her watch, she won't be able to forgive herself. She had agreed to this because of the stakes being so high, but the thought of that young guy lying under the freezing surface had been squeezing her heart for the past two hours.     

"Help me, please," she spoke on a near sob, as the curious groundsmen gathered around her.     

At Ahilya's nod, they started digging quickly and soon, a body wrapped in a dark material could be seen.     

By the time Shaurya's body was dragged out, he had lost consciousness and seemed to have frostbite on his face and other body parts. Bela brought her finger close to his nostrils and was thrilled to feel his breath on it. The men picked up his body which had been wrapped in a couple of blankets and took him to the nearest resting quarters.     

Bela was too busy worrying about him and missed Ahilya's troubled look as the latter summoned the royal doctor to have a look at Shaurya.     

Few hours later     

Ahilya came to the room where Shaurya had been taken to. She hesitated at the door but then didn't bother to knock and went straight in. The doctor had informed her that Shaurya regained consciousness and apart from some superficial injuries, he seemed to be in good spirits.     

But she had felt an uneasiness, rather an undefined restlessness and decided to come see him in person.     

As she entered the room, Shaurya was sipping some hot beverage. The way he held the mug tightly, it looked as if he was seeking warmth from it.     

"Did you have to go to such lengths for the bet?" she asked as a means of announcing her arrival.