Part II
Part II
Before his thoughts sorted themselves out, the whirlwind had stopped at a distance from him. Bela was talking to the bear and in front of his eyes, she made the beast settle down on the ground. She climbed off its shiny armour which had acted as the saddle. It looked amazing! As per his estimation, this was the famous Himprayag bear, big and powerful, capable of surviving in the heat and cold.
Shaurya remembered belatedly that Himprayag trained these bears for military purposes. But how did Guruji manage to get one for herself in such a short span of time?
"I see that the animal has mesmerized you completely," Bela's wry voice reached his ears, making him realise that while he had been staring at the animal, she had dismounted and walked to him.
Bowing down, he said, "Apologies, Guruji. Hope you have been well."
Bela smiled at him and replied, "I will try and see if I manage to get permission for you to ride one of these in the future."
Shaurya's eyes lit up with excitement. In that moment, his expressions resembled that of a two-year-old rather than that of a grown man of twenty.
"I also promise to tell you all about it and how to make it bend to your command. But before that, I need your report. Tell me all that you have found out," she called his attention towards the task at hand.
Immediately, Shaurya sobered up and started narrating all that had taken place in the past month or so.
"There is no word on the street about Saptsindhu planning anything big. The army is still in their training camps and no big movement of troops has taken place," he said in the end.
During the days which Shaurya 'wasted' in toying with Ratansingh, he had gone for excursions in different disguises every night and explored the drinking holes which were located outside the military camp of that area. Prithvi had decided to send Shaurya to this part of Saptsindhu because the biggest army camp of Saptaindhu was located here.
Even though the soldiers didn't venture out of the facility, there were enough people associated with the army who could be found in these pubs. For example, there were various merchants who were commissioned to procure goods for the army. Shaurya's objective had been to find out if anything was happening which was out of the ordinary. During his stay there, he could only surmise that the army had been asked to stay in readiness, like it usually was. But there was no mobilizing of the units.
The only thing which caught his ear was a drill which had been conducted for the entire force, with the objective of identifying the top hundred soldiers from them. Shaurya had already informed Prithvi about it.
And that is what he told Bela just now. Then he went on to inform her about his misadventure and the accidental discovery of the valley and its inhabitants which followed.
"Hmm... it's a good thing that you found these people. They may be of some use to us in the future," she said, after listening to him.
"But Guruji, why have you summoned me here? Didn't we have two different responsibilities? If I am here, what would happen to the mission in Saptsindhu?" he asked.
Bela kept an eye on the bear who was scratching itself against the tall pine tree. The tree was shaking precariously due to the force being used by the bear.
"I think Prithvi has made a definitive move this time. Till now, he was probably testing waters in different directions. Since he is getting information from various quarters and can see the bigger picture, which we can't, we will be simply following the directives which he gives us. Your mission for now is to impress the Princess of Himprayag so that she finds you worthy enough. From what I have understood, her support is critical for us to succeed in our final plan. Let me share with you all that I know and have observed about her till now," she started.
Capital, Chandragarh
"Ah, finally! I was so worried. Had he not sent me this message today, I probably would have needed to serve myself on a platter to the queen at dinnertime," Indrani muttered to herself.
She quickly walked to Rani Samyukta's chambers and handed Prithvi's letter to her. It was a brief note which held sketchy details about Prince Mithilesh's proposal to the Vayuprastha king, Raja Shaligram.
But this was enough for the queen. She smiled to herself and instructed Indrani to write a reply to Prithvi.
His partner had left again couple of days ago on a country tour with his troop. Prithvi was glad that the guy went away on his own else he would have had to find a reason to send him away. With so many birds flying back and forth from his house, the place resembled a real courier office now.
It was time for him to go meet Mrignayani who was waiting for him at the shop in the marketplace.
An hour later
"Now that you have managed to understand the map reading a little, I want you to concentrate on this region and start learning it from scratch," Prithvi circled around an area with the quill and instructed Mriga.
The head which had bobbed down in relief a second ago, sprang up in dismay at the latter part of his sentence.
What? The torture wasn't over yet? There was a part II? Can I cry?
Mriga kept her face absolutely impassive and didn't let even a whiff of her tortured thoughts float on her face.