Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

Even though Chandragarh was smaller than Saptsindhu in terms of population, the vast area under this regime was similar sized to its neighbouring country and hence was more of a sore point stuck in King Amrendra's throat. Even the natural resources were far more abundant in Chandragarh, making it a near self-reliant country, if need be.     

Himprayag, also known as the military state, was a much smaller country in population size and economy when compared to both Chandragarh and Saptsindhu. Situated on the highest mountains in that region, it was a country with harsh weather conditions and relied on its neighbouring countries for even food and daily bare essentials. The country lay adjacent to Saptsindhu but enjoyed a favourable trade relation with all the countries in the neighbouring region.     

The only thing that Himprayag was abundantly rich in, was iron ore. They extracted this mineral and used it to make the finest weapons and multiple items like nails, horse hooves, wheel's axles and more. Apart from selling these things, the country sold its military training programs and modules in exchange for the essentials which they procured from these countries.     

Himprayag had the strongest army, comprising of men and women who were put to training since they could barely walk. Almost all families had atleast one member enlisted per generation. They were also known for possessing the best research and development team when it came to weapons manufacturing and development. There was a rumour about them having developed a kind of powder which could cause havoc if packed and combusted well.     

Since Himprayag depended upon the export-import business heavily, their political stance was absolutely neutral. They were no one's friend nor anyone's enemy. As long as the trade relations were working well, they were satisfied and had no further ambitions.     

The current king, Raja Indraditya had a daughter, Ahilya from his official queen and a son, Mithilesh from his favourite concubine. Ahilya was currently a commander in the army and was in constant battle with her bast*rd sibling in the race to the throne. Mithilesh wasn't a good soldier but a great strategist. In his opinion, a battle wasn't won on the battlefield but in the royal court. The king was indifferent to this power struggle between his children. In his opinion, it was the survival of the fittest. He would pass the crown to whoever eventually emerged victorious.     

Raja Indraditya was extremely shrewd and business minded. The king believed that there were many ways to have dominance in a region. Politics was just one of them. Since the entire region was already dependent upon Himprayag for their weapon supply, this tiny country had enough muscle to flex, if needed.     

But the current monarch wasn't satisfied with just sitting on his laurels. He had the vision of reducing the dependency upon its military and expand into the financial sector as well. Since, they were primarily a military country, the financial knowledge hadn't been their forte to begin with. It was upon the suggestion of Rudradev, his strategy and foreign minister that he decided to go down this path.     

Recently, they had started setting up lending institutions in different countries with extremely attractive loan rates for mid-sized and large-sized businesses and now wanted to enter the retail sector by offering many new, lucrative services like currency exchange services to high net worth individuals.     

Rudradev, though a bona fide citizen of Himprayag, was originally a descendant of Abhaidev, the old minister in the council of King Chandranarayan who had been thrown out. Later, he established the extremely successful foreign diplomatic channels for the first queen, Rani Damyanti after the coup. Under the directive of Devyani, Abhaidev had settled his son in the small, near barren country of Himprayag while he had served by the side of his young, inexperienced queen till his last breath.     

Rudradev was the current most remarkable man in this family of extremely intelligent men. Though he had never been to Chandragarh in his entire life, he had heard all about his outstanding ancestor and tales of his success through his family. In a corner of his heart, he had the desire to usurp that position and establish his name as the sharpest, most intelligent man in their family's history. If things went as per plan, he should be able to do so without any hitch.     

Vayuprastha was the other neighbouring country which completed this quadrant of countries in this region. In geographical sense, it lay equidistant to Chandragarh and Saptsindhu. Though a small country, Vayuprastha's tropical conditions made it a hot tourist destination throughout the year. The country's monarchy had been smart enough to recognize that from early on and had made all possible attempts to convert it into the most desirable destination for holidaying for all economic classes across nations.     

The country's economic policies had also been established keeping the hospitality motto in mind. They were a peaceful and fun-loving country. The king, Shaligram had multiple wives and children through them. The monarchy was actually just for show. Vayuprastha was like a franchiser of hotels, aimed at earning maximum profits.     

By the end of the lesson on the first day itself, Mriga's head was ready to roll off her neck. This was despite Shaurya nudging her multiple times. Political science hadn't been her strong suit even at Gurukul and now her mother was trying to make her learn not only the family tree of various kingdoms but also their geography, science and culture. She wanted to get up midway and tell her mother that she would rather go through the perils of the training hill or practice her archery for hours in the sun without even a squeak.