294 Kingmaker

Gurukul, Chandragarh

Many royal guards had died during the day, fighting against the unexpected attack. Even though the Saptsindhu prince had come with only hundred odd men, they were enough to subdue the depleted looking force of the palace guards. The palace had been conquered but the queen was missing. Maybe a large unit of these guards had been sent along with the 'queen' to protect her. Was it Prithvi who was working from the shadows?

"We will not disappoint you, Guruji," the three of them bowed their heads and spoke up solemnly.

They filtered out and went to change into the disguises as given to them.

Prithvi needed trusted hands in the royal palace and who better than the pups which he had trained himself. All three of them came out wearing the official uniform of the royal palace attendants. They slipped into the palace through the stables as instructed.

As per the narrative, Mriga had turned into a young lad and was supposed to have been serving in the queen's corridor for the past one year. She stood in her designated position only to be alerted by a rustle of clothes and hurried footsteps approaching her.

Indrani came near her and asked in a low voice, "Name."

Mriga, "Silver Koehl."

Indrani, "Follow me."

All of this was done within a few seconds. A meek looking Mriga went behind Indrani and kept her posture in line with that of a simple attendant.

They entered the queen's private chambers and Indrani took her to the far end of the room. Within a few minutes, the door was burst open and Prince Mithilesh came there.

"Have you hidden the queen here?" he asked with a smirk.

The queen's body had mysteriously disappeared since he last saw her on the sick bed. Even though the palace had officially been taken over by Prince Mahendra, both of them were a bit uneasy about not finding the previous ruler's body.

They had been searching for her through the day but to no avail. It was Prince Mithilesh's hypothesis that the queen's favourite confidant would know about it for sure and he was keeping an eye on the woman's movements all through. Since she knew everything that there was to know about Chandragarh, she was too precious to be killed just yet.

"I don't know where the queen is. I was simply asking the attendant to start making preparations. This is the best chamber in the entire palace and Prince Mahendra would be residing here. You are welcome to stay here and supervise," she replied in a careless manner.

Prince Mithilesh narrowed his eyes and saw the impudent woman rattling off instructions to the servant. Impossible! These two had been closer than blood sisters. How was it possible that she remained unaffected by the turn of events, to go to the extent of preparing a welcome for the enemy. He ran his eyes in the room but nothing looked out of the ordinary at the moment.

"Wait!" his voice made the two people in the room freeze.

Indrani was fretting inside. It was imperative that the prince of Saptsindhu sleep in this room tonight. But she couldn't let it show on her face.

"What is the matter now?" she asked in a calm voice.

The prince walked upto her and said, "The preparations will be made in front of our people. No one is allowed to be in this room without the presence of our guards. For your sake, I hope that the prince spends a comfortable night here. But if you are found colluding against your new ruler, it will be your head served as breakfast tomorrow morning. I am telling you this because I don't want to see you die before I have tasted you!"

Indrani swallowed the bile rising at the back of her throat because of his words.

She gave him an indifferent look and said, "Understood."

On the other side of the Royal Palace

Prince Mahendra had just finished taking a tour of the palace. Much to his disappointment, it was too plain when compared to the one in Saptsindhu. It seemed that the rumours about the queen being a minimalist were true. What a waste!

Never mind, he had enough time in the future. While merging the two countries, he would ensure that the palace is redone as per the status befitting its owner.

"Greetings to the Prince. Everyone is ready for you in the royal hall," the attendant came and informed him.

Prince Mahendra's lips curved into a satisfied smile. Things were going as per the plan, in fact, much easier than what he had imagined.

On the way to meet the current ministers of the fallen Chandragarh, Prince Mahendra ran into an unexpected visitor.

"Greetings to the prince. I was just coming to look for you. May I request a few minutes of your time right now?" the person asked in a polite voice.

Prince Mahendra looked at the person standing in front of him with a complicated gaze. Though the appearance was polite on the surface, the arrogance was clearly visible in the eyes. Had it not been for the person's usefulness all this while...

"What is the matter?" the prince asked.

Himprayag

Though Rudradev had always been compared with his great ancestor, Abhaidev, in reality, he was a lot similar to Prithvi in his thinking and modus operandi. He had a huge network of information running across the entire region, with multiple sources of information at his disposal. He had moles on both sides of the fence. Rudradev strongly believed that it wasn't the king who was powerful but the kingmaker, who operated from the shadows. The one who controlled the flow of information, was in control of how events unfolded.

He had taken a lot of time in deciding between Prince Mithilesh and Princess Ahilya. Had he chosen to go with the Prince as the ruler of Himprayag, the current unfolding of events would have been a lot different!