Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

Ujjwala ignored her husband's banter and as always failed to register his emotions. She had never taken him or his feelings seriously enough to consider them important.     

"Yashvardhan, I want you to listen carefully. The daughter of the Western Zilla's chief is the right age and has the potential and breeding to become the next queen. She is a grade ahead of you and her specialization is in medicine, so maybe your paths haven't crossed yet. Her name is Vindhya and I want her to become the daughter of this house," she announced.     

Yash choked on the food in his mouth. His mind tried to process his mother's statements. He... he hadn't seen this coming.     

"Maa, if you have identified that girl to be the next queen, she surely would have potential. But I am really far from even thinking about any girl, remotely. Currently, my focus is on studies and my career," he spoke earnestly.     

He gave his father a surreptitious glance in the hope that he wouldn't mention the conversation held between them during the day. His father had a neutral expression on his face which reassured Yash.     

"Nonsense! I am not asking you to get married to the girl next year. I am not even asking you to court her. This understanding has taken place between her parents and me. I am doing the courtesy of informing you so that you don't waste your time running after some useless female," her mother's voice brooked no argument.     

"Has she discovered about Mrignayani and my feelings for her? Impossible…I haven't told this to anyone, not even HER. Maa is just being cautious, I guess," he thought to himself in panic.     

"But how do I extract myself from it? If she has already spoken to the girl's parents, then that is bad enough already. Argh… I need to have a plan in place. Noooooo, two plans – one to woo Mriga and second, to thwart, what's that girl's name?" his mind was working furiously.     

Gurukul     

"Oh God! I thought the vacation would never end. I was soooooo tired of doing the chores at home," Ishani complained.     

Mriga and Ishani had joined the Gurukul on the same day, from Northern & Western zilla, respectively. Their bunkers were allotted one above the other. Coincidentally, both their fathers had science backgrounds. There had been no other option but to be best friends.     

"Why do you say that? I wished that the holidays would go on and on," Mriga said wistfully.     

She recalled her parents' tearful farewell standing at the river coast this morning.     

"That's because my household doesn't run on timetables and schedules as yours does. You know that my mother has her utensils' business, right? So, she leaves home early and comes in late. And dad has to do all the housework because of which, he doesn't get enough time for his experiments. So, the day I reach home, he simply hands over the house responsibility to me and goes into his den to work on his pet project," moaned Ishani.     

Laughing at her friend's exaggerated narration, Mriga recalled that Ishani's dad had been working on a machine which can take you from one place to the other. He had even managed to convince his village's local council to get him a meeting with the Science ministry head regarding the same. Post which, he had received funds from the queendom to work on the project. It was an exciting prospect and Mriga hoped to meet him one day and understand it better.     

Ishani belonged to the Western Zilla and had been delayed today in arriving due to volatile sea conditions.     

The girls dragged their luggage and carried it to the girls' dormitory. There were four wings of the Girls' dormitory. One wing contained all girls below eleven years of age. Those aged twelve and above were sorted on the basis of their subject choices. The three broad wings were – Arts, Finance and Science. Arts had the maximum number of residents since there were many branches to that field of study.     

Each wing was a large hall with high ceilings and stained-glass windows. The ceilings and pillars were adorned with carvings. Beautiful motifs of flowers, birds kept the place cheerful. Bunkbeds were placed in rows and the walls were packed with wardrobes for everyone to store their clothes and study materials. Since education was mandatory and free of cost for all children of Chandragarh, children weren't allowed to bring any money or material things from their homes. Children, fourteen years and above, who wished to earn some money, took up apprentice work within or outside the Gurukul premise.     

"Someone is looking for you. He is waiting outside the dormitory door," a girl came to inform Mriga.     

"If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the Southern Zilla's carts have arrived in the Gurukul courtyard, already," Ishani said mischievously.     

Trying to keep her expressions nonchalant, she replied, "it could be the someone from the Administrative department where I had applied for apprenticeship before leaving for the holidays. I am yet to get a reply from them."     

"Is that so? Alright then, how about a bet? If it is indeed the school peon, I would hand over my favourite pair of sandals to you, the ones which you have been eyeing for quite some time now. But, if the prince from South has come, then you would give the entire box of laddoos to me," she dared Mriga.     

"I don't agree to either. I have to go now. The person is waiting," Mriga spoke hurriedly and ran away.     

Yash had never sought Mrignayani outside the school hours prior to this day, but he had missed her a lot during these vacations and just wanted to catch a glimpse of her as soon as he reached back. Dressed in the sea green uniform, she looked gorgeous walking towards him.     

Though all colors looked good on her, but Yash loved seeing her in this shade the most. His hungry gaze took in her chocolate brown eyes and the twinkle in them. She greeted him with a shy smile.     

"How was your holiday? Did you have a good time?" he enquired.     

"Yes, and yours?" she asked softly.     

"It was wonderful except…" his voice trailed.