Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

"We have received the reply from Northern zilla police station," said Ramanujam.     

Prithvi took the parchment from his hand and read it –     

"It was good to catch a whiff of the Westerly winds after so long. This bird carries my scent. Take it under your wing, if you find it worthy." *     

A smile lit up Prithvi's face, making him look luminous.     

"Ask the Gurukul registrar for the girl's detailed academic and extracurricular performance record. I am especially interested in any remarks or observations made by her teachers during all these years about her personality which can give me insights about the how's & why's," he instructed.     

Mriga's body ached all over. It had only been five days but she was bone tired already. Her chores had taken her all over the Gurukul many times over. All five of the Admin department trainees were walking at least twenty kilometers a day, if not more. And then there was the pressure to finish the task in the given time limit.     

"Now I know why Maa asked me to join this department. At this rate, I would be able to participate in the annual Chandragarh Marathon, forget the school's sports day. Due to these tasks, I have no time to meet or chat with my friends also," she lamented to the mirror in front of her.     

"Oh, you are back. I didn't see you at lunchtime again today. What is this work which is keeping you so busy?" Ishani came and stood beside her.     

"Don't ask. I don't know how will I survive three more months of this torture. I am so hungry that I can gobble up an entire house right now," she cried.     

"Oh, my queen of exaggeration… let's go to the food hall. Your meal awaits you," laughed Ishani.     

"You look pale and tired. Are you unwell? I haven't even caught a glimpse of you this past week," exclaimed Yash in concern.     

He had been waiting impatiently for Mriga to arrive at the foodhall.     

"I have been busy with the tasks given by the teacher. Today is the first day that I have managed to finish on time. The last few days I have been the last one to make it to dinner. One night, I had to beg them to serve me food since it was way past their closing time," she wailed.     

"Why are you being saddled with so much work? We all are only doing internships here, not fighting the war," he joked.     

"Anyways, now that we are all here, let's not talk about it any further. I am curious to see how are you going to finish gobbling a house, tonight," teased Ishani.     

Yash stopped Mriga outside her dormitory. Waving at them, Ishani went inside, leaving the two of them standing under the pale moonlight.     

"I was, uh…hoping that you could come alongwith me tomorrow to the marketplace. I have to go study the different policies and practices of shopkeepers which they utilise to enable profit. That won't take much time. We could go and eat lunch somewhere and maybe watch a play in the evening," he said, trying to sound casual.     

She shook her head and said morosely, "I can't make it. A new teacher is coming tomorrow and we all have to report to the department, sharp at 6am. We have been asked to work the entire week. No holidays even on weekends, except when sick."     

"What is wrong with them? For heaven's sake, it's just the Administrative department. I never asked you this but why did you choose to apply here, anyways? They cannot treat you like this. I hope that you are aware that we are allowed to change our internship department once during the first month. Why don't you apply to the Financial department? With your grades, I am sure they wouldn't say no. The project which I am working on, is great. Also, this way, I would get to work with you side by side for the next hundred plus days," he finished the last line with a shy smile.     

Mriga was tempted, sorely tempted for a minute.     

She drew a deep breath and spoke evenly, "the idea sounds wonderful and I wish I could do that. Unfortunately, I will have to say no this time. I like to complete a task which I undertake, no matter the challenges. This is the choice that I made and I will see it through to the best of my ability. Can I request you to give me these four months? I promise to make up for my absence post the internship is over."     

With that, she, impulsively, stretched up to touch his cheek with her hand and ran inside the dormitory door.     

Mriga reached the Admin department next morning, surprised to find the receptionist's seat vacant. The remaining students also hadn't turned up yet. Usually, Saraswati had the bundle of tasks ready for all five of them before they all arrived.     

"Are you looking for the receptionist?" asked a voice.     

Mriga looked around in confusion, trying to locate the source of that voice. Suddenly her eyes fell on a ruffian looking guy, sitting in one corner of the room. A dirty rag was tied around his head, his hands were full of grime and there was a stink emanating from him.     

"Who are you?" she took a step back.     

Right then, the remaining four boys reached the reception area.     

During the past week, they had hardly found time to interact with one other. But Mriga had managed to form few impressions about each of them on the basis of this limited exposure.     

Abhirath was the first to finish the given tasks every evening. Whether he used speed or intelligence or both, none of them had managed to beat him during the past five days.     

Chiranjeev and Nirbhay worked as a team. Mriga discovered this on the second day of their internship. They both had opened their bundles of correspondence to be delivered and were swapping them based on the addresses so that both of them could take one side of the Gurukul each and finish their tasks more efficiently. Their body language and bickering had displayed comfortable comradery. She had deduced that they were old friends who didn't mind if either of them got the accolades for the effort put in.     

Lastly, Vandit seemed to possess similar level of skills as hers. She had this impression because they both returned after completion of chores at nearly the same time, most evenings.     

Surprisingly, she had never crossed paths with either of the four boys in the past years of staying at the Gurukul.     

*Decoded - "Your letter reminded me of the time in the Western Zilla. Mrignayani is my daughter. Please test her abilities to be a spy and train her if she passes the muster!"