Flash Floods And Betrayal ( Part 4 )

Harsh-deep was then reminded of all the arguments the fourth princess would have with the king in court these days. Frankly speaking, the kingdom was still in the hands of the regent since the king had yet to come of age. But the old Duke Shwetasura loved to live quietly in the Solitary Wind Palace. He was also advanced of age, so he did not involve heavily in court matters. This allowed the two wayward kids to take ground, to fight and bicker in court whenever they got the chance. The ministers all simply laughed it off, the major decisions will not be taken by the child king anyway. They accepted it as a process of him growing up and did not think it was wrong to consult the princess before she was married off.

However, if they did pay attention, they would've realised the princess agreed with the king less and less these days. It was like she always had a problem with what he is thinking and wants to stop whatever he wants to do. She masked her agitation nicely with acerbic words and prickly little comments, but if one gleaned past all that, they would see that she clearly stood at an opposite standpoint with the king. And she did it all the time! If he says left, she said right. If he says river, she says mountain. It was like she had a problem fundamentally with everything about the kingdom and what the king represents. And yet, the king merely thought they were having a healthy rhetoric. This was the problem with intellectuals. They don't even know it when they are at war until their throats were slit.

Harsh-deep suddenly felt that the princess's intentions were not so pure as teenage infatuation. She was really planning something. Although it was impossible for it to be an ambush or anything violent that may harm their king, it was his job to assume the worst.

He ordered his second in command, "General Shaura is in town from the borders. Get him right now and tell him to intercept the Martanda at the palace gates. Our platoon will join him shortly."

Shaura might not necessarily be faster than Harsh-deep. But Harsh-deep decided to slow down so that he can meet the king first. When he sets his mind to something, the king doesn't listen to anybody. It wasn't even like he loses his temper, so that people can cry and fall on his feet calling themselves his faithful subjects, thereby guilting him into changing his mind. He just becomes eerily quiet, listens to everybody's advice and then does whatever he decided in the first place. The only people who could possibly get through to him in times like this were old retainers like Shaura who had been with him since childhood. Although Shaura had been promoted to general and lives in the borders now, he still has the same influence on the boy. Hopefully he can get there in time.

Monsoon in the drylands is not a yearly occurrence. But every year there are some showers that allow the farmers to live on in hope for a better harvest next year. They say in the year the king was born, there was not even a drop of rain to be seen from the skies. And yet, the crops didn't dry. The land was miraculously not affected by drought. That's why his mother named him after a cactus. A plant that survives despite any adversity.

The year the king comes of age was the polar opposite of that year. This year, the rains were the highest, nearly flooding some of the lower regions of the capital and drowning many crops throughout the nation. The populace did not worry about aid this time. Every time a royal heir came of age, many countries will give them tribute. Rtadhara enjoyed this prominent position in the drylands because of its historical and religious significance. It is only natural they will send grain this time to aid the citizens. And yet, the citizens couldn't help but feel weird. Never in their lives did they think they will one day hate the sight of rains. But just as they say, excess of anything is unsavory. Even rain.

Varuna burst into the king's tent in fury, bringing droplets of rain of with her as she raised the flap. Curiously however, even when she put the flap down, the droplets kept pouring around her as though she was the bringer of rain. Her delicate figure didn't turn into drowned rat under the downpour. Her visage appeared as though it was flowing. And yet it was stationary. It was like not a drop of water touched her, and yet the flow itself was her. She gave off the ethereal feeling of a water nymph, yet the wrath she carried with her was reminiscent of a water dragon.

"How dare you restrict me and bring me back by force!" she shouted the moment she spotted the lone figure in the dim candlelight. His tresses were loose and wet, falling over his forehead. He was holding his head as though suffering from a headache.

He didn't look up and just said, "I'm restricted myself here. How can I use force on anyone?"

"Nonsense! If it wasn't for your order, would the royal guard dare to manhandle me?" Varunapriya looked like she was about to burst into a million water droplets. She was boiling.

Vajradandaka smiled wryly. It was almost bedtime and his good, unmarried sister was complaining that she wasn't allowed to play with a stranger outside the palace. If it wasn't for the damn rain that started pouring out of nowhere, he would've really killed that guy. Now he couldn't even confirm his identity! He kept waiting for Sheesha, but even he didn't turn up somehow. What in the world did she give him to buy his complete loyalty? At that time when he asked Sheesha to be her hidden guard, he didn't anticipate that he would be in this kind of situation one day.

Vajra looked up smiling, as though he was genuinely pleased. "It looks like something spurred on fourth elder sister's divine awakening…I'm really glad." He narrowed his eyes. "Or is it someone?"

Varunapriya herself noticed all the agitated water droplets around her just now. She blinked and frowned, but she couldn't get rid of them. She was a long way from understanding what was happening to her, so she simply decided not to mind it.

"Who I spend time with outside the palace is none of your business," she clenched her fists and said.

"Is that the case…" Vajra's tone was flat. And he looked into the dark, as though lost in the sound of the downpour outside.

"Vaju, you are not my father. Nor my big brother! What gives you the right to judge me for what I've done?"

"I suppose being king is not being taken into account?"

Varunapriya shed all pretenses right then. She snorted and sat haughtily on a chair opposite Vajra. "Hangi is the weakest of the four kingdoms in the alliance. Everybody thinks Dhija is the weakest, but we all know Dhija has more friends in the dark than it cares to admit. Yet it is precisely Hangi that you plan to marry me off to! Why? So that you can sit and gloat when the three kingdoms swallow it right after they swallow Abhaya?"

"I already told you there's no hurry for you to get married…I wasn't pushing you. So please do not give that to me as a reason."

"You are right. I should just say it. I think Pranaya will take over the five kingdoms in the future and I would like to be its queen!" Varunapriya slapped her arms on the armrests. "What is wrong with that? Am I not allowed to have ambition just because I'm a girl?"

Vajra was silent for a long time. He didn't even ask her why stop at five. His own throne was available as well. Why not take it too…

He was simply not in the mood for sarcasm. He also did not take Varuna's threat seriously. He knew her limits. She might believe that her wit would be the perfect compliment to Yuga-dheera's stateliness and allow him to take that final leap towards his ambitions, but Varuna was still immature if she thinks Yuga-dheera would actually let her. Just because her brother allowed her to meddle with his business, doesn't mean all men would.