Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

Before Vallabh could speak any further, the door was opened and the attendant walked in with a few people following behind. The king gestured them to come ahead to where he was sitting. As those people came under the illuminated lamps, Vallabh turned to look at them and was shocked.     

Sivakumar stood there alongwith the village chiefs who had gone and petitioned to Vallabh.     

"Ah! Good that you are here. We were just talking about you," the king said in a gleeful tone.     

He hadn't seen a good show in the recent times and unexpectedly, the evening had turned interesting.     

"The king has been in the meeting for more than an hour. Don't you think that he would be too tired after that for us," one of the girls pouted.     

The attendant who had just exited the chamber told her, "after this meeting, I think the king is going to be in a great mood. If I were you, I would take this opportunity to please him with all my might. Who knows what reward could one get in return!"     

The girls looked at one another and a silent message was communicated between them.     

These entertainers belonged and worked under Devyani bai. She was the clan head of all courtesans, musicians and maids which worked in the Central zilla. She was a fierce lady who, at the age of thirty had achieved enough wealth to last her a few generations and had an information web to rival that of any country's spy network. She took care of all her girls, eunuchs and men in a way that a mother does, strict but loving.     

Starting as a courtesan at the age of twelve, she had seen and experienced all possible evil which one could in a lifetime. Instead of lamenting over her luck, she had turned the tables around by learning from various women who had been in the trade for much longer. By the time she was seventeen, there was no man who didn't want her and not many could have her. She was picked up from the dirty brothel by one of her powerful patrons and given a small house of her own where she could entertain whosoever she wanted. Devyani started seeking and employing girls who had potential similar to her own and whom she groomed to form an army of girls which no red-blooded male could resist.     

She was enterprising enough to have enticing options for powerful women, as well, who wanted a little fun outside of their marriages and even for those people whose preferences didn't fall in the mainstream. Slowly, various brothels started to complain about all the big business going her way, to which she responded by asking them to comply by her rules and regulations, following which, she would send enough clients their way. Within a couple of years, she had the entire Central zilla under her command and placed some of her senior, trusted girls in the other zillas to represent her and set up similar networks. She didn't want the money but the allegiance from these networks.     

On her thirtieth birthday last month, not only had she managed to get all brothels of entire country under her command, but had set up rules and regulations regarding hygiene and safety which were to be adhered by every client. This had been her dream from the time that she had gone through the mistreatment meted out to her since the age of twelve.     

Though most norms were being set up by a courtesan for the first time in the history of Chandragarh, they were not so tough to swallow, barring the most controversial of them. As per this condition, it was the right of any courtesan to refuse to serve a client should she choose to. Of course, she needed to present a valid reason for it, like health, hygiene or cruelty of the patron.     

This diktat caused a hue and cry amongst the clientele and they had refused to adhere to it.     

Undaunted, she had petitioned to the king thinking that he wouldn't refuse her! After all, he was also dependent upon the wiles and charms of the girls trained by Devyani.     

Much to her shock, not only did Chandranarayan refuse her, he even humiliated her by taking her there and then, in front of the people who were present in the royal court.     

With her clothes in tatters and her pride in shreds, Devyani had walked out of that court with the king's hateful words ringing in her ears, "maybe under all those shiny clothes and glittering ornaments, you forgot that you are a woman and on top of that, a measly courtesan. How dare you issue orders to your patrons! A woman is a creature, designed, only to serve and pleasure men. Never forget that!"