Ruthless

↠ Chaar↞

A FEW WORDS:
Maa - Mother 
Devmata - A name for the former queen
Rajkumar - Prince
Raj-vedic - The royal healer 
Yuvraj - The heir to the throne
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❝No queen has clean hands.❞
George R.R. Martin

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One Year Later

AKIRA stood in her room in front of a table that stood on the far northwest corner, overlooking the gigantic map which lay ahead. Her fingers traced the rock-strewn passages and uneven roads on the map as her eyes scanned the printed terrain, soaking in the information.

The queen picked up a miniature soldier figure from the map and rolled it on the length of her palm, eyeing the tiny statue comprehensively. A war was on its way, a war which would have a heavy toll on the kingdom if left unplanned. The wind from the large window nearby moved the map slightly as Akira yet again heard sharp footsteps against the marble base and a figure entered her room.

Her mother's voice rang through the formerly empty chamber as her eyes scanned for Akira, "Akira."

Akira turned around, plastering a sweet smile on her face, "Yes Maa? How may I help you?"

Devmata stared at Akira, fury running through her veins as she said the words bit by bit, "What are you doing?"

Akira held up the tiny figure in her palm, "Planning the next battle against Ekam nagar." She turned around and set the sculpture in its original position as she gazed at the worn out map, "With Devi's blessing, we shall conquer that land too."

Her mother exhaled deeply, pacing the wide room as she looked back at the monarch, "Why did I just hear that Rajkumar Arjun of Kaveri nagar is no more?"

"Because..." The queen took a calculated pause, finding some sort of unknown fun in toying with her words, "He is no more Maa."

Akira slightly rubbed her hands together as she stood with her back to the former queen, "Well you see mother, our beloved suitor were boasting about how great a swordsman he is" Akira inhaled sharply, "I mean he was, so, I simply asked Aziza to have a friendly match with him but much to our inconvenience,"

Akira turned around to look at her mother with an innocent smile, her scarred palms resting one over the other behind her back, "He got stabbed and died on the spot. The raj-vedic tried his best but to no avail. A truly tragic event, I must say."

"Akira" Her mother's eyes widened as she sat down on the edge of the queen's bed, "You realize what people are saying about you, about our kingdom right? You can't keep doing this. You can't keep killing suitors—"

"Then ask the suitors to stop asking for my hand in marriage because" Akira paused and forced a smile, speaking with a small click of her tongue, "I am not giving up the throne." 

The monarch scoffed, bringing her hands in front, "And besides, they are accepting the challenge. They are not fools mother, nor are they small weak children. They know what they putting on the line when they enter this palace."

Devmata sighed in defeat – too exhausted to put up a fight with her daughter – as the queen continued, "They aren't even here to marry me, they are here to seize my kingdom and I am just wiping out the snakes after my crown."

"Don't you get it? There are no snakes." Her mother spoke exasperatedly, taking a step forward as her eyes got caught into a staring contest with the young girl in front of her, "This kingdom was never a woman's to rule, it had to be ruled by Veer or your husband and that had been decided the day you were born. This kingdom needs a strong ruler, Akira. It needs a man that can protect it." Her mother did not let her gaze down, standing as still as stone.