Loose Ends (Part 1)

Chandragarh

Prince Mahendra had agreed to a matrimony alliance between his unmarried sister, Avantika and to appoint Vidyut as the ministerial head for the entire Chandragarh region in return for his help.

Thanks to her sister, Kritika's running away, Avantika was detained in the palace and it was easy for Vidyut to seduce her during this time.

"I will deal with this matter later. I have to meet the ministers now," Prince Mahendra controlled his emotions and told Vidyut in an expressionless voice.

Walking away, the prince had only one black thought in his head, "The guy would have to be dealt with sooner than later. How dare he threaten me!"

Looking at the man's body language, Vidyut knew that the prince wasn't keen on keeping his end of the deal. Ha... one must always have a back-up plan!

Midnight, Border between Capital and Southern zilla

Even though Yash hadn't been a part of the Suraksha Chakra group, he had been pulled in by Prithvi for an important task, early in the day. He was on his way now to the Southern zilla. His mother had been captured along with the other two zilla heads by Sharada and was being held in the royal jail. Even though there were Saptsindhu's soldiers swarming around the place, he needed to find a way to go back.

Gurukul

Vindhya's eyes grew round as saucers when she heard her brother's calm description of the happenings behind the scene. They were sitting under a tree in the Gurukul and Vindhya couldn't help but shiver. Whether it was the cold wind or the chill in her brother's voice which caused her to tremble, she didn't know. But she couldn't reconcile the image of the hero in her head with the guy sitting in front of her.

It turned out that the person helping her in the shadows during the competition was her brother and his minions. But not because he wanted to help her achieve her dreams. It was just a back-up plan in case the invasion by the Saptsindhu prince didn't go through successfully.

Raising her eyes, she looked at him and asked carefully, "What if I refuse to marry him, brother?"

Vidyut turned his cold eyes towards her and replied, "Did I give you the impression that I was asking you? For the past ten years, I and many others like me, have worked really hard towards our goal of restoring what went wrong a century ago. Do you think that your feelings matter in the scheme of larger things? And why would you even think of refusing him? Becoming the most powerful woman in the region is far nobler than being a queen of a small country. And if it is that Southern zilla boy you are still coveting, don't worry. Brother will ensure that he comes and works for you as a slave. You can play with him as much as you like."

Vindhya clenched her teeth to suppress the nausea which was building inside her.

"Do our parents know about this?" she whispered in fear.

She didn't want to know the answer but she had to ask.

Vidyut shook his head and smiled ruefully, "It was a blessing in disguise for me when you turned out to be the center of our parents' universe. They were so busy trying to make you worthy of the Chandragarh throne that they missed seeing the lofty ambitions in my eyes. I never told them about my dreams because they hold a foolish notion of patriotism about Chandragarh. They would have never understood my goals and the path that I took to achieve them."

Vindhya breathed in a quiet sigh of relief.

But then asked him again, "Our father is also in the jail. He will... he will be safe right?"

Vidyut turned to look at her and smiled, "Doesn't that depend upon your cooperation? After all, the prince wouldn't harm his own father-in-law, right."

After a minute or so, he asked Vindhya, "Where is the other contestant? Mrignayani? Have you seen her today?"

Vindhya raised her red eyes to look at him warily, "Why are you asking about her? Do you like her?"

Vidyut gave a short bark of laugh and replied, "My dear sister, you are overthinking. My personal like or dislike has nothing to do with this. That girl slipped out of my hand in the first instance and that turned out to be a mistake. With her on my side, I would have been able to control many factors much early on!"

Vindhya looked at her brother in confusion but dared not ask any further. She had her own problems to tackle right now.

Royal Palace, Chandragarh

Vandit and Nirbhay were carrying large bowls of fragrant water and herb pouches and stood outside the door. Hearts hammering, they looked at each other as if drawing strength from one another.

"Come in," a hoarse voice commanded.

"Greetings to the Eastern zilla chief. We have been commanded to bring medicinal water from the royal physician's chamber. May we administer it?" Nirbhay was the one speaking, in a subservient voice.

Sharada had not participated in any of the clashes which took place between the Chandragarh royal guards and the Saptsindhu force. She had simply entered the palace once the Saptsindhu army managed to subdue the forces of Chandragarh. She could finally relax now.

At this time, they had the control of the country, both internally and at the border. On one side of Chandragarh was Vayuprastha, which was good for nothing, and the remaining area opened up in the sea.

Chandragarh had finally fallen!

Sharada waved her hand and let the two young guys come closer.

"Uh… we were instructed to ensure that the chief is given an all over treatment. Both me and my brother are professionally trained, medical masseuse. Would the zilla chief be willing to give us a chance to show our sincerity?" Vandit asked the person in front of him in a mellow tone.

Sharada narrowed her eyes down to slits and asked, "Who has sent you?"

The boys looked frightened and backtracked immediately.

"Please forgive us. We were sent to you as a gift from the prince himself to show his benevolence. Kindly allow us to please you, otherwise, we won't be allowed to see the rising sun tomorrow," Nirbhay pleaded with grievance clear in his eyes.