Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

After spending many years licking her wounds, Ujjwala had finally applied for the royal committee exams three years ago and had been selected.     

"You are looking too stressed, Maa. Has the work pressure been too much?" Yash addressed his mother after bowing down to touch her feet in respect, later that evening.     

"I could say the same about you. Have you not been eating well? The Gurukul has always been famous for its exemplary kitchen, yet I find you thinner. Maybe I need to complain to the Queen's office about it," she remarked.     

Ever since she had taken over the role as a royal committee member, she had been looking for an issue big enough to raise against Rani Samyukta. She still believed that the woman had been a wrong choice as their queen.     

"Ahem…health doesn't only need good food. Sometimes there are other factors contributing to it as well. Our son seems to suffer from one of those unnamed factors," Harshvardhan said cryptically before settling into his chair for dinner.     

Heat crept up on Yash's face. He knew it had been a bad idea to say anything to his father, who was born mischievous. Thankfully his mother seemed preoccupied enough to miss the import behind her husband's words.     

Levelling an impatient frown at Harshvardhan, she addressed Yash, "I came back tonight especially, to have an important conversation with you. I have to head back to the nearby coffee plantations early morning."     

"But Maa, I haven't spent any time with you during this vacation at all. I will be going back to the Gurukul by the end of next week and won't see you for another four months," he protested.     

Smiling fondly at her son, she replied, "I know and I am sorry. But I want to make sure that the Southern Zilla reports the best profits for this year and for that I need to personally tour the entire region right now. We have managed to resolve the long-standing feud between the land owners and workers. The negotiations were tough but I think the productivity will increase by multifold now."     

"Can we please be spared the politics at the dinner table?" said Harshvardhan quietly.     

In Chandragarh, the four zillas reported their balance sheets, new policies, problems and more during a comprehensive conclave at the end of every winter to the central zone. If any of the zillas came up with a best practice which could be replicated across the country, that zilla was recognised and rewarded through tax redemption, which in turn meant more money in the coffers of that zilla. In the last ten years, Northern zilla had won this accolade four times. They had reported the lowest crime rate, had also come up with the sewage disposal method which the entire country had adopted, maximum new jobs had been created by them in one year and they had come up with a method to store and utilise rain water throughout the year.     

Ujjwala couldn't stand the sight of the Northern zilla head and told herself that in her tenure, she would surpass that winning record. Hence, she had doubled her efforts towards the betterment of her area, making sure that all her underlings were working as hard.     

"Resting on the laurels of your family's money lending business, what would you understand about hard work and its rewards?" she sneered at her husband.     

Yash jumped into the conversation before the argument flared up further, "uh, you wanted to discuss something important with me, Maa?"     

Ujjwala paused to draw in a calming breath before addressing her son, "last month we received the missive from the queen's office regarding the selection process of new queen. All four members of the royal committee were asked to put in their views regarding the existing process and whether any changes should be brought in."     

"But this is the twenty fourth year of the queen's reign. So why have the preparations started so early?" he asked with interest.     

"It seems that this queen wants a longer and more comprehensive assessment of the candidates. Anyways, the important bit in this whole process is the fact that I have identified the most suitable candidate for the throne already," Ujjwala announced dramatically.     

Both father and son looked at her with emotions ranging from surprise to wariness. Harshvardhan knew about his wife's angst against the current queen and had not been in favor of her entering the politics arena. But he hadn't been able to hold her off from it any longer and had run out of reasons three years ago when she had applied for the royal committee position. Since the committee's tenure was ten years, he had thought that the term was long enough for Ujjwala to feel important and short enough to avoid any political mishaps. But the zeal which was shining in her eyes, currently, was raising his hackles.     

"Irrespective of when or who the queen chooses, it should have nothing to do with us. We have no candidates to offer from our house," Harshvardhan said purposely.     

"And whose fault is that? As per the queendom's rules, if a family is blessed with a daughter, they can't bear another child. But if a boy is born, they are allowed to try for another…in the hope of a girl. Yet you did not let that happen. Had we tried for another child after Yash was born, who knows, we could have had our daughter eligible for the competition too. I wouldn't have had to look at others," she got agitated.     

"Where was the surety that a girl would be born? I didn't want to risk your health after the previous still born babies. Yash was a healthy child and you were healthy. That was enough for me. And why are we discussing about matters of the past? The fact is that we have a wonderful son and while the parents of eligible girls would toil nervously over preparing for the competition, Yash and I shall go for boating and fishing," he winked at his son.