Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

Bela shook her head vehemently and said, "Minister, I am not adept at wordplay like you. If you are here, it means that you are aware of my reason for being here. What I want to know is – was it Chandragarh who reached out to you or did you take the initiative?"     

Rudradev replied after a moment, "It is refreshing to interact with someone who doesn't waste time in mincing her words. I don't think it is relevant about who made the move first. Let's get down to business, shall we? I want to be clear about a couple of things. First, my loyalty lies ALWAYS and ONLY with Himprayag and I will work towards what is best for my country. Second, I am here to offer my assistance because I believe that Princess Ahilya is the right choice for the throne, instead of Prince Mithilesh. As long as your actions don't stray from what my goal is, you will receive my full assistance."     

Not only Bela, but even Shaurya was taken aback at the guy's upfront admission.     

"I understand that you are suspicious about me and my motives. I am wary of your presence here as well. So that keeps us on an equal footing. From what I have been told, you are here to secure a strategic alliance with the princess in return for helping her get the throne. I will leave the convincing of the former to you, while you can be assured of my aid in the latter. I think we should stop here for tonight. Ah, before I forget, remember, under no circumstances, you are disclose the contents of tonight's meeting to anyone in this country. Else, that would make our pact null and void. As for further meetings, I will connect with you when the time is right. If there is anything urgent, you can reach me through grandpa. I bid you both a goodnight," Rudradev got up in a swift movement and went towards the kitchen, with his glass in hand.     

Bela and Shaurya stood immobile till they heard the side entrance door opening and shutting again.     

Gurukul, Chandragarh     

Mriga ran at full speed to the Admin building to try and make up for the lost time. She knew that Chiranjeev would be very upset with her right now. He was a stickler when it came to following the rules. With her legs pumping, she reached the place in half the time than she normally would have taken.     

Chiranjeev looked at her pointedly but held his hand up, "Don't bother wasting any more time in coming up with an excuse or explanation. Let's just start, ok?"     

Mriga bobbed her head energetically and went to Saraswati's desk to retrieve her working materials from there.     

Twenty minutes later, both of them were in the middle of a heated argument when Yash walked in. Not looking at Mriga, he addressed Chiranjeev and told him about the reason for his presence here. Speculation and understanding sparkled in Chiranjeev's eyes before he gave a small nod and invited him in.     

Today, Chiranjeev was running a simulation exercise with Mriga and questioning her on the policies and laws of the country, which she had been studying with Vandit. They had been in the middle of it when Yash walked in.     

Now, as they got ready to pick off from where they left it, Yash spoke up, "Is it alright if I posed as a competitor to Mriga?"     

Both pairs of eyes swung at him as he explained, "I think that these tests would take place as a collective exercise instead of a one-on-one. Adding an opposing view into the mix will help us test Mriga's quick thinking and her ability to counter an opinion."     

Chiranjeev agreed with him and told him to join in. Mriga looked at Yash warily as he sat down on the floor across from her.     

Raising his eyes towards her for the first time since he had come in, he said, "Don't take this personally, please. I am only trying to help."     

She didn't know whether he was referring to his presence or his participation but she acknowledged his words with a nod.     

What followed next was a 'BLOODBATH'. The combination of Chiranjeev's relentless questions and Yash's radical counter arguments to each of Mriga's sentence, left her literally panting.     

She felt completely wronged by the end of it. It seemed that these guys were here for some long standing revenge extraction. In all probability, had she tried to show the sun and say that it was day right now, they would have shot her down and proven through one way or another that it was midnight.     

Chiranjeev grinned at Yash when Mriga walked out on a huff for her next session. Since only five days were left, they had started focusing on her mental skills a lot more.     

"I think she needed that jolt!" Chiranjeev told Yash.     

To which, he replied ruefully, "I am afraid that by the end of it, she will hate me multifold of what she does now."     

Chiranjeev didn't reply to his comment and asked instead, "Do you plan to do this in all her sessions?"     

Yash gave an apologetic grin and said, "I am not worried about her batchmates because they all got the same amount of time as her. But the senior batch who has been preparing for the QIT all their lives will not be easy to defeat. Mriga needs to brace for the worst possibility."     

"Hmm, I agree. In fact, I have done a short analysis of the contestants from the senior batch. I have a few girls in mind who would pose a serious threat to Mriga. Do you want to have a look?" Chiranjeev asked.     

Yash smiled and said, "Can we do it later in the night? I want to go to Mriga's next session now."     

Chiranjeev smirked and agreed to meet at midnight.