Devika walked carefully, carrying the weight of twelve silk sarees in her tiny arms. She felt proud that her princess gave her the right to make the selection, among all the servants. 

Though Mayanshi treated all the maid-servants with respect, Devika had always been special. For she was not just the chief handmaiden. She was a part of the princess's family. 

She adjusted the position of sarees, trying to make the most beautiful one sit on the top of the column. She almost dropped them when someone caught it. She looked up to see a man, several inches taller than her, smiling at her. 

"Thank you very much." She forwarded her hands, asking him to return the sarees.

"They look heavy. I will help you carry them." He offered.

"No. It's alright. I don't want to trouble you." She refused politely.

"Not very noble of a warrior like me if I let a beautiful young maiden carry this." He insisted. She had to agree. They walked together.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are these new clothes for? You or your sister?" He initiated conversation.

"My sister?" Devika frowned.

"The princess. Your cousin." He replied.

"No, no. You are mistaken." She said, suppressing a giggle. "She is not my cousin. I am her handmaiden."

"Forgive me. I didn't know much about her uncle's family. So I thought you were prince Abhimanyu's younger sister and the princess's cousin. I mean anyone who looked at the pair of you, would think so. She seems to treat you like family."

"Yes." Devika's eyes twinkled. "My princess really loves me though I am not related to her. And the prince is always very kind to me." She spoke fondly of them.

"That's very nice. I personally like Prince Abhimanyu very much. He is a very polite man. It's a pity, he is going back to Srimukha."

"No. Why would he go back?"

"I have heard that Princess Mayanshi ordered him to leave post the temple incident. For his own safety, I believe." He worded everything carefully.

"She did order him to leave. But the prince refused."

"But she said he was an obedient brother." He pretended to be surprised. "Maybe I misheard it."

"No. Our prince always obeys his sister. In fact it's the first time they had a big argument like this. He had a valid reason to disobey her. She was attacked. Wasn't she?" She defended Abhimanyu. "He is a caring brother. He made it clear that he wouldn't leave her alone."

"I'm glad he will be staying." They reached the wing where Mayanshi resided. He handed over the sarees to her. "I take your leave now, Devi. If you need any help don't hesitate to ask. It would be an honour to assist someone as sincere as you. May you always serve the princess dutifully."

"Thank you very much." She smiled. "May I know your name?"

"Venu." He bowed to her and started walking away.

---***---

"Ganesha? You don't mean Senapati Jayendra's younger brother. Do you?" Mayanshi hoped the answer would be no.

"Yes. That's him" said Abhimanyu. 

"Never. He is the strictest and the meanest person ever. He always used to scold me for the smallest of mistakes. I once climbed a tree to catch a bird. He emerged from nowhere and pulled me down. And then he complained to my mother." Mayanshi refused to meet him.

Abhimanyu rolled his eyes. "He was your father's most trusted adviser. He quit working for the court after Vasishtha's coronation. He dislikes that family as much as you do. Also, he is much smarter than the Queen's advisers. Trust me, we need a brain like his."

"From where did you gather this information?"

"What do you think I have been doing all these days? I only have one job. To make sure you sit on the throne. I already asked Senapati Jayendra's permission. He agreed to take us to his brother's house. Come on, akka. Time to be Mahamaya. Manipulate him and bring him on our side."

After thinking for a long time, she reluctantly agreed. She called one of the servants to inform the Queen. She carefully avoided telling her where she was going.

She ascended the chariot Jayendra arranged for her, while Abhimanyu mounted his horse. They reached the palace gates, when the charioteer stopped. "Any problem?"

"Yuvarani always seems to forget that the Queen has assigned a guide to her." Samarjit smiled sweetly at her. "Had it been someone else, I would have taken offence."

"My apologies, Yuvaraja. I didn't know you finished your princely duties this early in the morning. A prince of an empire as big as this, is usually expected to be a lot busier."

"Looking after you is my duty as well as my priority. And you can be assured that I never neglect my responsibilities." He joined her entourage.

Mayanshi found it hard to be polite to him after their previous conversation. She was unsure whether she was angry because of what he spoke or because it was true. She was in deep thought when the chariot stopped again. 

"We are here, Yuvarani." Jayendra helped her get down.

"I'm so sorry for troubling you. I know how busy you are these days."

"It's an honour to serve you." He led her to his brother's house. "I must warn you, he doesn't like having visitors. If he is mean to you, er,... I apologize beforehand."

She nodded. "Sriman Ganesha?" She knocked the door. There was no response. She knocked again. 

"Who is it?! Can't you wait until the person reaches the door?" Ganesha shouted at her as soon as he opened the door.

She was startled. "Forgive me. I thought you didn't hear me." 

"I'm not deaf." He replied rudely. 

Samarjit tried to intervene when Mayanshi stopped him. "I meant no disrespect. If my presence is causing you inconvenience, I will leave." She didn't sound disappointed. Instead, she was hopeful. It was evident that she didn't want to meet him.

"No. I can't allow a guest to leave just like that. Come inside, girl." He ordered her. He stopped the others from entering. 

She glanced at Abhimanyu, who nodded at her, encouragingly. She followed Ganesha inside. Something told her that he was too wise for her to manipulate him.

She touched his feet and sought his blessings as the protocol dictated. "You are being formal. I'm surprised. What have you done with the impolite, naughty girl?"

"Transformed her into a wise and well-behaved woman, whom everyone, including you, would appreciate." She said with politeness oozing from every word. 

"I like your confidence."

"I inherited it from my late father. Hope he'll be proud of me." She thought the mention of her father would make him emotional. Only, it didn't.

"You also seemed to have inherited your mother's silver-tongued nature." He scanned her. "A Srimukha trait, I believe."

She sighed. "I need your help." She tried not to show her annoyance at his behavior.

"You must be really desperate to come to me for help, despite the presence of so many courtiers."

"They are not you."

"Praising me won't work, child." He offered her some fruits. 

"That doesn't change the fact that you are the best." She accepted the fruits and thanked him.

"Alright. What's bothering you? Vaishali's power or the courtiers' disloyalty? Be honest."

She was taken aback. Yet, she composed herself quickly. "Both. But none as much as Samarjit's wisdom." 

"A wise woman like you feels threatened by someone's wisdom? Interesting. Tell me more."

She hesitated to show her vulnerable side to him. "He is, well, he is unpredictable. I never understood who he is loyal to. I can't help but feel that his presence gives Queen Vaishali the strength to act against me." 

"Wrong. His presence is what keeps her in control."

Mayanshi frowned before continuing. "She ordered this attack on me few days ago. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't have his support."

"Wrong again." Ganesha shook his head. "There is no doubt that she hates you. But her style of defeating her opponent is different. She won't kill you. She will humiliate you. Publicly. Like she did to your aunt, long ago."

"My aunt? You mean my foster mother?" 

"Yes. We won't be discussing that now. The point is, she will try the same with you."

She made a mental note to ask Abhimanyu about it. "She already did. She was unsuccessful." 

"This is not the end of it."

"I don't understand." Mayanshi looked around, regretting her decision to speak with him.

"If you don't understand this, you are a fool. Do you think Vaishali will let go of an opportunity as good as this? She won't. If the court didn't support her, the common people would. Remember. You are not the only one who can manipulate them. All she needs to do is to make them believe that you are a disgrace to our empire. A traitor" said Ganesha.

Mayanshi clenched her fists. "I think I should leave."

"Why? Does the truth offend you? Then you are doomed."

"You are no one to decide that." She stood up and took a deep breath. "My apologies. I'm just,... I will leave now."

She walked away without look back wondering whether the meeting was worth her time. She decided to give Abhimanyu an earful for suggesting this.

---***---

"I'm sorry for how he spoke to you, Yuvarani" said Samarjit. 

"Didn't the Queen teach you that eavesdropping is wrong?"

"No. She taught me to stay well hidden while eavesdropping." He chuckled. "Nevertheless, let me assure you that I didn't witness anything I am not supposed to, this morning. Just the last part where he said you are a disgrace to our empire." His smile indicated that he heard more than he was letting on. "If it makes you feel better, I don't agree with him."

"I doubt that very much, Yuvaraja." She faked a smile. 

"I don't think I have given you any reason to doubt me." He was mildly offended. "But if you would be so kind to tell me why, I will try to rectify my mistake."

"Remember our conversation before I was attacked?" She asked in the sweetest tone possible. 

"Yes. How can I forget?"

"Then I am sure I don't need to remind you that you accused me of taking advantage of the situation and demanding my birthright when your family is in the most vulnerable state. Correct me if I am wrong." 

"You are right. I did say that."

"You seem to have followed my example. We are more alike than you would think." She decided to make him feel guilty.

"I beg your pardon?" 

Mayanshi looked into his eyes and spoke in an annoyingly polite tone. "These days you are doing exactly what you hated me for doing. Not very unlike me, you are also taking advantage of the situation. Half the courtiers are against me due to Rudragiri issue and the other half are against your mother for humiliating their princess. And you chose the perfect time to step forward and show everyone how noble you are. The hero who would put an end to conflict. The hero who would ascend the throne reluctantly, thus uniting the courtiers, who otherwise would remain divided." She faked a smile once again.

Samarjit tried hard to come up with a counter argument. He opened his mouth several times to speak. But he couldn't.

"From where I stand, Yuvaraja, you and I are not very different. We both are implementing the same strategy." She reached her bed chambers. "I take your leave now. Let's resume our daily practice from tomorrow. Now that I got used to you as my opponent, I am unable to enjoying fighting others. You set the bar too high." She joined her palms in a formal Namaste, satisfied that she successfully guilt-tripped him. 

---***---

"Any news for me, Venu?" Samarjit asked weakly.

"I interrogated Princess Mayanshi's handmaiden" said Venu.

"Did she cooperate?" 

"She did. She had no idea I was running a formal enquiry." Venu felt proud of himself. "From what she said, Princess Mayanshi and Prince Abhimanyu had an argument. The prince, who always follows his sister's orders, refused to go back home when she told him to. The princess reluctantly agreed to let him stay."

"As expected. But that is not enough evidence." 

"I have another news" said Venu.

"What is it?" asked Samarjit, impatiently.

"The experts who examined the dead bodies determined that the clothes worn by them and the weapons wielded by them are from the eastern border of our empire."

"Eastern border? That's the Virata-Srimukha border!" Samarjit gasped. "Does that mean..." He looked at Venu, whose eyes mirrored his thoughts. All evidences led to only one conclusion. Abhimanyu.

---***---

It's my birthday!!!

Can I expect a big comment as birthday gift? Please. 

Now let's see reactions of different characters to a given situation.

When they have an argument with you in your house:

Vaishali- Storms out of the house and slams the door on her way out.

Abhimanyu- Walks out of the house slowly and locks the door from outside.

Mayanshi- Walks out of the house and leaves the door wide open for the satisfaction of seeing you get up and close it yourself.

Samarjit- Leaves the door slightly open on his way out, so that it keeps bugging you whether he is eavesdropping from outside.

Which one among these is you? 

Don't forget my BIG COMMENT. 

Also please do VOTE. 

We need more votes to make the book popular and more comments to make the writer feel good.