Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

Hello my warriors, we started this journey last September and in a blink of an eye, it's coming to an end already. I think I will take some time before I can come out of this world. Even though, there are still a couple of chapters to go, I wanted to use this opportunity today to share my thoughts with all you readers who have been with me on this rollercoaster ride. Your comments, feedback and love has kept me going. It continues to be a source of motivation for me, even at my lowest and bleakest points. I thank you for it.     

Some of you have become such an integral part of my real life now and I hope that we carry this gorgeous relation forward. Having said that, I want to share a few things which I felt let down about during this period. I poured my heart and soul into the book and held the expectation of receiving your acknowledgment in the form of votes and comments. As a web novel writer, I always look forward to interacting with my readers, know what their thoughts are and their reactions to the chapters on a regular basis.     

But barring a few loyal readers, I didn't see that happen. The book hovered on the edge of making it in the top ranks, which could have happened, had you guys voted more often. I don't like to 'beg and complain' on a daily basis for votes etc. because I feel that it is something that a loyal reader would make the effort to do anyways. Since we are the end of this journey, I decided to put out what I honestly felt. At this juncture, a part of me is also am wondering if it is worth the effort to bring out another book on this platform, seeing the response.     

To all those of you who kept my heart and soul filled with your generosity and love, I am humbled and honoured. Thank you for always supporting me and being such a wonderful, warm group of readers. You know who you are...     

I have to make a special mention to the person who made this journey, all the more magical and looking back, I think the chapters would look incomplete without their daily dose of a gorgeous review.     

TanQ, you now have a piece of my heart for being such a loyal warrior. I am blessed to have a reader and a friend like you. Thank you for all your hard work and perseverance. I am eagerly looking forward to our next association!!     

P.S. For all those, who haven't gotten their discord IDs yet, I want to remind you that this party is shifting to discord Saturday onwards. Don't miss it!     

Chapter     

Royal Palace, Chandragarh     

The prince's men captured the scrawny boy and made him face the irate looking Mahendra.     

"It will take me five seconds to behead you, unless in that time you tell me what are you doing here," he said in a sinister voice.     

If he wasn't mistaken, this weak looking boy had been tasked with harming him by that white robed master. Ha… he couldn't have chosen a worse candidate or maybe he had run out of options!     

Mriga's entire body convulsed in fear as she looked at one of the men raising the sword to kill her. She lifted her trembling finger and pointed towards one of the walls of the chamber.     

"My task is to open that passage and let an assassin come in after you go to sleep," she said on a whisper.     

The men standing behind the prince paled when they heard this. The place where the boy was pointing towards, didn't look like an opening. But then all palaces were famed to have secret passages.     

"Do you know that I am your new king? And plotting against your king will directly lead to beheading. Do you want to die, boy?" the prince's evil voice made Mriga look up at him in a horrified manner.     

She fell down on her knees and begged him to show mercy. Snorting, the prince told her to get up.     

"Show me how the lever works," the prince commanded.     

No one saw the flash of satisfaction which blazed in Mriga's eyes for a second before she regained her scared expression again. With shaking fingers, she tapped on the wall haphazardly and not long after, a small dark opening was visible through the wall.     

The prince looked intrigued and gestured to two of his men to go in and check the place. While everyone else's attention was on the opening, Mriga quietly brought out the incense from her kurta's pocket and threw it unobtrusively into the wick of the lamp which was placed on the side. Immediately, she held her breath.     

Few metres away in the palace     

After Prithvi left, Nirbhay and Vandit came back to Sharada's room for a 'clean-up'. But looking at the scene in front of them, their faces became bloodless. They had been expecting the man to be dead but not decapitated in such a brutal manner. The Eastern zilla chief's head had been cut off from the body and it lay in a pool of congealing blood on one side. But that wasn't the worst part. The face seemed to have been trampled upon repeatedly for the features to look so badly distorted.     

"I… I think that guruji stamped on his face before he severed it from the neck else it would have been a tough task, no?" Nirbhay's whisper confused Vandit.     

He clarified further, "I mean that the severed head would keep moving away like a ball when a person hit it versus when it is attached to the neck."     

Vandit was feeling severely nauseous already and Nirbhay's attempt at morbid humour didn't help his cause. He ignored the guy and brought out the black cloth. When the instruction had been given to them, Vandit hadn't understood the purpose of taking such a small cloth with him but now he knew that it was to carry Sharada's head.     

"Is Guruji planning to use it for some sort of evil craft? Why does he need the dead person's head?" Vandit mumbled to himself.     

In the queen's chamber     

Mriga saw everyone go down one after the other like a pack of drugged flies, all except the prince. He looked at the boy in surprise as the haze cleared from the room after a few seconds. Immediately, his expression underwent a change and he had already unsheathed his sword.     

"I am immune to all sorts of poisons and drugs," he said with a smile.     

Mriga had also come to that realisation by now and she dropped her pitiful act as the air started clearing in the room. Looking at the gleaming sword, she lunged towards one of the fallen Saptsindhu men and pulled out his sword.     

"You will die by my hands today, little boy," the prince grinned.     

Mriga darted towards him in a swift movement, startling him to take a step back, "I don't mind laying my life down for my queendom. Just for the record, neither am I little, nor a boy."     

She was looking at him keenly and the minute she saw the surprise in his eyes, she slipped the sharp sword on the left side of his ribs. The prince felt the sting of the blade as it brushed past him and he growled, making Mriga take a few steps back. Circling around each other, they had become silent and vigilant.     

Mriga's assignment had been to make sure that the prince doesn't escape from the chambers once he enters it. Prithvi wanted to capture him alive to bring him in front of the queen and the people of the country. A strong message needed to be sent to Chandragarh's traitors. This is why she had been acting up all this while, to keep him occupied till reinforcements came in.     

"Little girl, you are no match for me, you know that, right?" Prince Mahendra's voice carried a lazy confidence in it.     

To his surprise, Mriga gave a short nod and said, "I agree with you!"     

Before he could figure out what she meant, he was surrounded by about twenty people, clothed in black from top to bottom and silent as the night.     

Mriga had made sure to keep his back towards the secret opening, distracting him while the royal guards slipped in quietly. The prince looked on sullenly as a white robed man came from behind these men.     

"Greetings to Prince Mahendra, I am Prithvi. Apologies that I couldn't come earlier to receive you when you entered our gates. I was caught up in some... important matters," his mocking words were not lost on the prince.     

"My men are all over the palace. If you think that you and these handful of men can defeat me, you have to think again," he replied calmly.     

Prithvi nodded his head and said, "I agree with you which is why I brought more people. These ones are simply here to serve you. For your men, I have another feast ready!"