Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

"Why have I been summoned with the rest of them? In my few but brief interactions with her, I had found her to be a sensible woman. But these orders seem to prove otherwise," Prithvi was grumbling to Ramanujam who stood holding the walking stick which Prithvi would carry with him.     

To everyone who was not associated with the Admin department, Prithvi was something of a failure. A man with a bad leg, needing support to walk. Someone who was a recluse and had been given the worst possible segment out of all departments, at the Gurukul.     

He hardly interacted with the rest of the department heads and even when he did, he didn't speak beyond a few words. The rumour amongst the teachers was that he had a stammer which he was embarrassed about and wanted to hide it from others. As a result, most of them chose to ignore him after a polite greeting.     

"From what I have gathered, the queen not only wants the scorecard of all potential candidates, but also the impression of the teachers about those girls. Hence all department heads are being called. If she had not issued the invite to you, the omission would have surely raised an eye or two. This is probably the wiser move. All you need to do is stay invisible which shouldn't be a problem for you," Ramanujam cajoled him in his usual calm manner.     

Prithvi met Rani Samyukta a handful of times in the past whenever there had been a need to apprise her of some sensitive information regarding internal or external issue of Chandragarh. Surprisingly or not so, the place of rendezvous till date was Devyani's brothel house which had been modified to build some camouflaged entries and exits, so that anyone keeping an eye on the place wouldn't know who went out or came in.     

There was a strong rumour in the spy network that there existed a tunnel between the queen's personal chamber and the brothel, through which the queens in the past had travelled. But there was no way for anyone except the queen to know that for sure.     

Wearing his customary white flowing robe, his long hair pleated and held with a ribbon, Prithvi stepped out of the Admin department leaning heavily on his cane. He walked unhurriedly towards the gate where few chariots waited for him and his colleagues to take them to the royal palace.     

"They are here," Indrani informed Rani Samyukta of the arrival of the Gurukul's head and his department chiefs.     

Donning her royal robe, she strode out to greet them with a polite smile. They had been invited for dinner and everyone waited till the queen took her seat.     

"Let's enjoy the food first which has been prepared painstakingly by our kitchen staff. Let us leave the discussion for later," with that the queen invited everyone to start eating.     

Except for Prithvi and herself, everyone's plates were overflowing with the flavoured curries, succulent meat and fragrant rice.     

"Why are you eating a measly apple when there are heavenly dishes available at the table?" asked the man sitting next to Prithvi.     

Trying to recollect which department did the speaker belong to, Prithvi smiled politely and said, "Since it's full moon night, I am on a fast today. So only fruits and milk for me."     

As per the customs of Chandragarh, people were free to worship any of the five elements (and their parts), which were necessary for their existence – Akash*, Vayu*, Agni*, Jal*, Prithvi*.     

Moon was a part of Akash and worshipped by a lot of people, just like Sun was. Worship was carried out in many forms including prayers, fasts and offerings.     

The man looked at Prithvi with regret and said, "oh! What a pity."     

Prithvi had no interest in accumulating and remembering anything about people who were irrelevant to his cause, which included most people in the Gurukul. This was the reason why he couldn't remember nearly anyone's names or their departments.     

Sitting at the far end of the table, he directed his gaze towards Rani Samyukta who sat at the head of the table. Her plate consisted of some dry fruit and a glass of milk. He was aware that the queen was a frugal eater, leaning towards the saintly form of existence. That was one of the reasons why he thought she made a good queen. Someone who didn't have personal ambitions was perfect for the role of shouldering the nation's ambition. Currently, she was not talking much but seemed to be taking note of the conversations around her.     

Finally the dinner was over and everyone was asked to walk to the queen's official chambers where she conducted her meetings.     

Sitting in the sparsely furnished room, Prithvi looked around and nodded in approval. Minimalistic decoration and orderly stacked documents revealed a structured work flow. He hoped that the next queen would be tutored well by her.     

As per the rules of the queendom, the contest took place at the age of 16 and the new queen was crowned at 17. She was required to apprentice under the existing queen from the age of 17 till 20 to ensure her real time training and handling of situations. Post that, the current queen would retire after her 25 years of active and three years of passive reign.     

At the time of selection, the final result has two positions – "Chosen Queen" & "Challenger to Queen". The chosen candidate was given an year to show her potential as the future leader of the country. At the end of that one year, the challenger could contest the validity of the Chosen Queen.     

Under such circumstances, the onus would be on the challenger to prove that the Chosen Queen's conduct and decisions were wrong. Though the provision existed, no one till date had actually taken it up.     

*Akash - Sky     

*Vayu - Wind     

*Agni - Fire     

*Jal - Water     

*Prithvi - Earth