Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

Mriga could feel Abhirath's frown boring a hole on her back but she had no time to give him a reassuring look.     

It was all about timing right now!     

The other competing girl had only managed to get one hand on the rotating dais and as a result was dragged along the circular platform but she didn't let go of the handle. She soon disappeared towards the opposite side of the tree being pulled by the moving motion.     

Now!     

Mriga threw the khukri at an angle sharply towards the hanging resource on the tree. At the same time, she launched herself with all her might at the girl's partner. The poor girl had not been prepared for a body attack and fell backwards, landing hard on her bottom. Mriga recovered at a whirlwind speed and ran back to catch the gaily packed prize in her hand.     

"Come to me, my precious," Mriga whispered with a grin to herself.     

All of it happened in fraction of a second. By this time the contestant, who had managed to finally get both her hands on the dais, came back to this side with a triumphant grin on her face. Unfortunately, the grin turned into first a frown and then a scowl as soon as she realised the changed circumstances.     

The gong rang loudly making Abhirath and Vaishali stop mid-way in their combat to look at what was happening.     

Without missing a beat, Vaishali pushed Abhirath away and ran to where her partner was. She picked up the bow and arrow which was being guarded by the partner. Mriga started laughing as she realised that the other girl intended to copy her trick. But she didn't wait to see as to whether she will beat the other girl who was frantically trying to climb the tree now to capture the final prize.     

Taking Abhirath's hand, Mriga ran out towards the exit and stopped only when they reached the sentry. Only by handing over the object in her hand to the officer and marking the attendance of both the partners, would she be able to register her success.     

Once they stepped out of the place, did Mriga release the breath which she had been holding in subconsciously.     

Abhirath, who had maintained a serious face and calm demeanour all through out the event and especially in front of others, finally broke into a throaty laughter.     

"Your royal highness, you were magnificent today!" he turned to face her and bowed deeply.     

Mriga threw her head back at his antics and laughed as well. Even though this was just the first stage, but at the moment it felt as if she had won the battle.     

"I am thirsty and also hungry," she complained the very next second.     

Looking up at the sky, she realized that it had been more than four hours since they went in first.     

"Guruji is so harsh. Did he want the contestants to die of dehydration if we managed to escape the obstacles somehow?" she pouted.     

Abhirath gave her an indulgent smile and said, "You are being unfair. He provided us with a whole lake. Was that not enough for you?"     

She rolled her eyes at him and called him a teacher's pet.     

"Should we leave now? I want to go back and have a long shower. Who knows what all is crawling on my body," she gave a shudder.     

He nodded his head but then suddenly remembered something.     

"Why don't you go and find out the travel arrangements for going back and I will see you at the entrance gate shortly," he said.     

"Huh! His face resembled a sunflower moments ago. Why did it suddenly become stormy?" Mriga thought while she saw him hurrying away.     

"I am here to lodge a formal complaint. I want to meet the organisers," Abhirath spoke to the officer who was stationed at a desk nearby, making some notations on a parchment.     

The guy looked at Abhirath's serious face. He seemed to be debating something internally before raising his hand and pointing towards the high tower on his left. The young guy wore a determined look on his face and walked away in long strides.     

Fifteen minutes later     

"Where were you? We just missed a coach to go back. Now we will have to wait for another ten minutes," Mriga told Abhirath who had just stepped out of the place.     

"I, uh… needed to do something urgent," he said cryptically.     

She frowned and was about to ask him to clarify when it hit her.     

"Ah… I understand. Sure," she patted his arm.     

Abhirath's eyebrows drew together. What did she mean? There is no way that she could have figured out that he went to complain about the miscreants. Then what was going on that devilish head of hers?     

He was yet to form the question when she suddenly started giggling and told him in a smug tone, "At least, now you agree that Guruji was mean, right? He didn't even allow us an opportunity to use the washroom. Pity, the lake couldn't help you in that aspect."     

Abhirath's mouth dropped open wide. Was this girl indulging in toilet humour with him now? Gross! He was tempted to question his own wisdom in falling for such a girl instead of finding himself a polished, elegant one. Oblivious to his dark thoughts, Mriga kept rolling her head side to side on her crass joke.     

They dragged their tired bodies inside the carriage which had just arrived. Right on their heels, came Vaishali and her partner. Acknowledging her with a small nod, Mriga leaned against the seat and closed her eyes which was mimicked by the injured partner of Vaishali. Abhirath looked out of the window, seemingly paying attention to the passing surroundings.     

"You have a military background as well?" Vaishali's softly spoken words broke the silence in the carriage.     

Abhirath understood that she had asked the question because of their similar fighting styles in the room earlier.