Patrani (The Chief Queen)

The Suspicion

Aaryawati's (Veerti's) POV

I sighed as soon as I came out of the tent. It was Aaryaveer! My Veer! As soon as I saw him, I badly wanted to hug him, kiss those red lips, play with his hair and tell him that I had just came to stand by his side, to fight for him till my last breath.  However, the reality glared at my face, saddening me.

As much as I wanted to go close to him and assure that everything was going to be perfectly alright, I was scared. He would be furious with me. For all the lies I had inscribed in his head for the past three years of our marriage. He felt that knew nothing about horses or weapons or war or army. How would he react if he would realize that I had lied to his parents, created false pregnancy hope into their heads and ventured to fight with the enemies without his permission? That all the façade of a devoted, timid, shy, illiterate wife was nothing but a hoax?

I had made up my mind. That I would be simply happy with his proximity and company. And once the war would be over, I would vanish as a cloud  and never ever appear again. With the end of war would lead to death of the character of Veerti. I then, smiled as remembered how beautiful the name was. I chose the name because it was the name given to me by my parents when I had undergone the secret training of a warrior,as a princess. My father, just like my mother believed in self-reliance. He has always been an able ruler and I guess, that's  what I had inherited from him. I wished I would have been able to meet her before coming here, just like I met my mother. But I knew, I always had his blessings with me.

My army had their own tents. They had already arranged mine. As I opened the flap, I felt the exhaustion slowly creeping into my body. I hurriedly removed my travel clothes, opened my trunk and chose a comfortable pair of dhoti and blouse. As I slept on the mattress (made up of jute and straw), I realized that there was a threat of my identity reveal. So I wrapped a scarf over my face and decided to take a slumber for a while. As I had light sleep, I knew I would be able to wake up with any sound of footsteps or opening of the tent's flap.

I took a deep breath and decided to sleep. But despite of the exhaustion, I was reminded of hot nights with Aaryaveer, our urgent mating, heat between skin to skin, warm mouths searching for each other, our moans that would play in sync and warm bear hug afterwards. Tears of frustration finally made their entrance and the sleep wrapped me inside its cozy blanket.
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"Your Majesty?" I asked while standing at the periphery of the tent, wanting his permission to enter inside his den.

"Sure, get in." Said Aaryaveer, revealing his dimple face. And I felt something. As if my heart ached to touch his tired face.

"I apologise for being late. I admit I overslept." I bowed and apologised.

"That's fine. I understand you have travelled far for this." He asked as he led his way towards a table made out of huge sack of grains. Its surface was properly covered with a cloth with a map covering its surface.

"You see, " he said, explaining me the diagram.

"We are here. On the extreme left. There is a river in between and on the extreme right is the enemy camp. The river extends to around 150 kilometers. We cannot go beyond the river because after the end of 150 kilometers, the borders of the Kingdom Sanyuktanagar begins and they are neutral. They have already made it clear that they are uninterested in the war and wouldn't entertain any bloodshed beyond periphery of their border."

Kingdom Sanyuktanagar sounded a bit familiar but I couldn't remember why. I decided to think about it later and focus on the plan as made by the King.

"We have an army of 350 soldiers. After reaching here, we are estimated that enemy might be having an army of 500 soldiers. We can always call for backup army." He said but I figured out that calling for help must be done atleast 5-6 hours in advance in order to receive timely aid.

"I want you to introduce me to your army and important people from your team. Similarly, tonight, you can join us at the fireplace and I shall introduce my most capable commanders." He said. I was glad that he didn't make fun of my army of mere 20 people.

Even though I had only 20 people in my army, they were best of the best. The soldiers were specially handpicked by my parents. They specialised in different kind of surprise attacks. Besides, I could always call for backup. Since my maternal kingdom was closer than Aaryasatta kingdom, it would take lesser time to call for additional aid.

We talked about our arms and armours and the I decided to take my leave so that I and my army can assist King's army in preparing the dinner. I turned around towards the exit.

"Umm Aaryawati!"

And then I made a huge blunder. I turned around.

For a split of second, I could see his eyes getting large with shock. His eyes were still inspecting me.

"I apologise. I called out my wife's name by mistake. Have been missing her." He clarified.

"Oh.... Um I take your leave." I bowed and forced myself to calmly get out from the tent. However it was difficult to make my trembling hands steady while I tried to open the tent's flap and make my steps look calm till I crashed into my own den.

I was sure that King was suspicious. I would have to be extra careful next time.