Patrani (The Chief Queen)

The Conflict

Aaryawati (Veerti's) POV

"Look, this is the map. We are here. And Sanket Singh's army is HERE." Explained Harisenji, as everyone gathered around the table to read the map. Harisenji had used the figurines from the shatranj (chess) to indicate various figures like their senapati (Chief Commander), soldiers(pawns), horses (to indicate horsemen) and King (Sanketsingh). The enemies were white in color while we were in red. I was impressed how he had detailed everything so elaborately.

We were standing inside the Aaryaveer's tent. It was the biggest one out there. To show my level of importance, my army had erected my tent that was as big as his. Just as an unspoken symbolic way of addressing that my stature was no less than his. Utsav, Harisenji, Veer (that's what I used to call my husband whenever I felt an inkling of affection for him, though always in my head) and Nakul were standing beside me, fresh from yesterday's exhaustion. I stole a glance at Veer's hand and it was tightly bandaged. He caught me looking at him and gave me a slight nod, indicating that he was okay. I felt a tornado of guilt creating havoc in my heart. However Harisenji was busy trying to explain me the current crises we were tightly embroiled into and I decided to focus on him, not before admiring how gentleman my Veer was. He treated me with so much respect, and yet, never tried to flirt with me. Was he like that with all the women? definitely! he was faithful, only to ME. Unlike other kings who possess many wives/lovers.

"How many armymen do they have?" I asked him.

"Last time, I had asked a spy of ours to sneak into their kingdom and report the numbers. From what I gather, they had around 700 men (they had called 200 additional men later) while we are only 350." Sighed Harisenji.

"That's not the problem Guruji, I can always call for backup. We have ample of people." assured Veer.

"There are other ways to win the battle." I spoke up. And then suddenly bit my tongue. Why did I need to be over smart and blur out anything even though there was a presence of Guruji?

I looked around to see everyone staring at me.

"You may speak Veerti." said Guruji.

I nodded my head. "A war can be won by the principles or without them. I suggest we use the "other" methods." I looked at Harisenji to find his frown getting deeper every second.

" I mean, You know, If Sanketsingh can cheat, why can't we?" I spoke up, looking at impressed face of Utsav and Nakul whereas Veer was trying to hide his grin and Harisenji was still frowning.

"Veertiji, we the people of Aaryasatta Kingdom are known for their honesty and truthfulness. Both, inside or outside the battlefield. Why do you want to tarnish our reputation?" He spoke up, his voice pricking me like a thunderbolt. I should have thought before I spoke. To make the matter worse, the other side of my brain decided to blur out its thoughts, unfiltered. And my tongue decided to support it, unhinged.

"Why Guruji? why should we fight the battle fairly? So that Sanketsingh can defeat us with fraudulent means? Just like he had defeated its other allies in the previous decade? " I had read the history of his kingdom in the isolated library before I decided to join Veer's army.

Everyone looked at me and the powerful silence prevailed. Harisenji kept a strong eye contact towards me but I didn't have the pride to look at him, eye-to-eye so I looked down. After all, he was our senior. But I was not ready to back off my opinions. I was a strong ally so I had full fledged right to voice out my opinions.

The silence had worn a cloak of laziness, dragging itself uncomfortably.

"Why don't we have our breakfast and then think about it?" Said Utsav, trying to cool down the atmosphere. Veer looked at him gratefully and ventured us out of his tent. I was the last one to leave.

I couldn't leave the tent before eyeing that beautiful small leather trunk. I was sure that Veer had kept those letters stored in there. I made up my mind that I would sneak into his tent and read those when Veer wouldn't be around. And then put them the way they were so nobody would come to know about it.

"You seem to like the leather trunk." Boomed the voice of Aaryaveer from behind. I jumped at the sudden sound and took two steps back, only to fall into Veer's arms.

"You scared me, Your Majesty." I gasped as I looked into his eyes.

"You scared me the moment you stepped into the battlefield." He whispered and helped me getting back on my feat.

"I... I should go and have my breakfast." I said as I tried to exit from the place, in the most dignified way. However, Aaryaveer simply kept looking at me, as if trying to solve a puzzle. I decided to leave him alone with his thoughts and rush out.

I reached inside my tent and fell on my bed. I couldn't help but recollect his strong arms, supporting me as I fell into them. Those dreamy thoughtful eyes that rested on my face while I frantically tried to control my heavy breathing. Again, I fell into daze, wondering about the brute strength of his arms and gentleness of his manner, every time he had ever hugged me. Even though he was so close to me, I couldn't hold his hair or touch his lips with mine. For the first time in my life, I felt pathetic.

************************************************************************************************************

Aaryaveer's POV

"Why do you seem so dazed? what happened?" I guess it was the second time Utsav had asked me the same question as we sat on the ground to have our food.

Looking at the plate reminded me of Aaryawati as she had inculcated the habit of having food in the same dish.

"You are missing, sister in law?" Joked Utsav. I couldn't help but blush.

"Who could have thought that such a brave, fearless and dangerous war-hero is head over heels with his wife?" Utsav banged his palm on his temple.

"Its just that, whenever I see Veerti, I feel like its Aaryawati. The way she walks, the way she talks, hell the way she smells!" I couldn't help but vent out my frustration.

"That's maybe because you are missing Aaryawati that you see her in every other woman. I think you need to focus on the war. Didn't you see how Veertiji dared to defy Harisenji? No one, I repeat no one has ever challenged his decisions." Utsav tried to divert me to the real matter that needed an urgent solution.

"I know. As much as I respect Guruji, I agree that Veerti's opinion is correct. It is sometimes okay to employ diabolical means to win a war." I couldn't help sharing an unfavorable opinion with my closest pal.

"I agree. But we need to come somewhere in the middle, don't we?" Asked Utsav.

"You do not need to worry about that. I know how to manage such matters." I assured him and focused on my breakfast. I was more hungry than I had earlier thought.

Soon, I found Veertiji joining us. She sat opposite to me and quietly proceeded to eat her food. I stole a few glances at her dish and I admit, she had a certain manner of arranging food and eating, just like my Aaryawati.

Suddenly I saw Veerti looking at me. As soon as I caught her glance with mine, she looked away. Call me mental but my instinct pointed out that she was my Aaryawati. I had to be patient. When you fight a war with your ally, you end up spending more personal time together. She won't be able to keep up her cover for too long. But why on the Earth would Aaryawati hide the fact that she wasn't someone that she had been pretending all along? That was beyond me.