Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

All the correspondence which was received, was decoded by Saraswati with the help of that fourth team member who didn't live on the Gurukul's premises. He was the handler of the new recruits. For the first six months post selection, it was his job to train them and get them ready for real life assignments. His name was Shauryaveer. At eighteen years, he was the youngest handler ever and was famous for his ability to evaluate people and strategies to stay undetected and undercover.     

"What is your first impression of the new batch," Prithvi asked Ramanujam.     

"The four boys are all kids of our former team members. The only thing we need to check is their aptitude. With the program that I have devised, we should get a fair idea about whether and which ones are a fit to our team. As for the girl, I will send out a missive to Charulata today with an enquiry to the girl's background. If she has recommended her daughter to the team, I am assuming that she would have done so with a valid reason. In the meanwhile, we can let her train along with the others. For all we know, she may bow out of the program, herself," said Ramanujam to his superior.     

Prithvi fiddled with the colourful bracelets on his arm while pondering over the situation.     

"Tell Saraswati to send out a message to Shauryaveer. I want him to come to the Gurukul this weekend. Let him look at the potential recruits. His instincts are fairly spot-on," with that, he walked towards the back end of the room and pressed a lever.     

A gap yawned open on the floor and he jumped into it. The floor slid back smoothly. Ramanujam went out of the room to give the requisite directions to Saraswati.     

"Chief, there is a letter from the Gurukul. Why would they send it here instead of your home?" the constable came to Belavati's cabin at the police station.     

"Is the letter addressed personally to me?" she asked, immersed in the previous day's report.     

"It says – To, Chief of Northern Zilla Police Station. Also, the man who brought it, is waiting outside, in case you have a reply for him to carry back," came the constable's reply.     

Bela nearly snatched the letter from his hands and tore it open.     

Scanning the contents quickly, she said, "ask the courier man to wait. Also, I do not wish to be disturbed for the next fifteen minutes. Make sure you shut the door on your way out."     

"It must be some bad news regarding her daughter's performance at the Gurukul. I have never seen the chief this rattled," the constable mused while walking out.     

Bela stared at the letter but her mind was seeing the events which had occurred twenty years ago.     

"Please give this to the man. Ask him to deliver it to the Chief of Administrative department personally. Also, I will be leaving for home early today," Bela summoned the constable and gave him the instructions.     

Walking towards home, she re-read the coded letter from Prithvi. He had addressed the question to Charulata.     

Bela hadn't heard herself being called by that name in sixteen years now. When she had moved to Northern Zilla for the first time with her father, a new identity had been given to her. It had taken her nearly a year to recover from her injuries.     

In fact, she had met Raghuveer due to her injuries. At that time, Raghu's father was the local physician and Raghu used to help him out at the clinic. Bela and Raghu had become friends due to her frequent trips to the clinic. Her injuries had been fairly gruesome and he must have been curious. But to his credit, he had never pressed her for details beyond what she shared.     

She had sensed a basic goodness in him and after two years of knowing each other, she had asked him to marry her. Three years her junior, he hadn't hesitated for a second before telling her that he was relieved that she had proposed. Had it been left to him, he would have taken another decade before mustering the courage to ask her out.     

"You are home early today. Did the sun rise from the wrong end?" Raghu teased her, as she entered home.     

"I got a letter from the department where Mriga is interning currently. The head of the department turns out to be my junior from the previous err…job," she told him, cautiously.     

There were few things which Bela had never shared with anyone, even Raghu.     

"Mriga told me that you had asked her to apply to the Administrative department during the last semester break. Funnily, when I attended the Gurukul, I didn't even know that a department by that name even existed. I am assuming that you thought our daughter was capable enough to apply there," he had a quiet question in his voice.     

"You know that I have been grateful for your unflinching trust in me. I would never abuse that faith. I believe that with the right training and tutelage, Mriga would surpass my skills in no time. I just want her to have the opportunity to realize her true self. Whether she wants to walk down that path any further or not, will solely be her decision," she said to him.     

Bela was assaulted by the past's memories that night.     

At eighteen, she had qualified to become a bona fide member of the spy network under the Suraksha Chakra ministry. Fast as lightning, she was one of the most promising talents in her batch. For the next three years, she travelled the breadth and length of the queendom to carry out orders of the ministry. Her main task had been identifying the spy network of other kingdoms, if it existed in Chandragarh.