Capítulo 31: Do not choose the one you don’t trust and trust the one you chose.
Bali Mansion
"Eldest Miss, that… that groom wants to see you," Dharitri's closest attendant, Ekshika, came in and announced it softly in her ear.
She looked worried and her heart was racing uncomfortably. This matter regarding this groom was only known to the eldest miss and her.
"Everyone, leave the room," Dharitri announced calmly, but her hand which lay hidden beneath her long sleeved dress, trembled suddenly.
She had been sitting in front of the dressing table, getting ready to go and meet a few friends at the newly opened teahouse.
"What exactly happened?" Dharitri asked in a whisper.
Ekshika was already wringing her hands in anger and frustration as she replied. "He sent me a message the same way as before. It seems that he arrived in the city the previous night and his friend, who sells the wares to our mansion regularly, came looking for me just now."
"Send someone to inform the outer yard that I will be going out in the evening to the marketplace. Ask them to prepare a carriage," she said without much inflection in her voice.
Ekshika understood her meaning and gave a bow before walking out.
"Damn it! An impulsive mistake has become such a headache for me," she muttered to herself, banging her hand on the dressing table, causing the rouge and kumkum* bottles to jump up.
But the next minute she composed herself as the maids trickled back into the room to help her get ready. The one thing that she had learnt from her mother was - one must keep up the appearances.
Same day, fifty kilometres away from Dima city
"Your highness…" Laasya started, only to be reprimanded harshly.
"Have you forgotten again? Address me as Miss now that we are out in the open. Do you want us to be recognised and sent back home?" Princess Anara reprimanded her with her teeth clenched.
"Apologies, Miss. I will go and seek another carriage now. Why don't you take a rest at this tea stall till then? It doesn't look too shabby," Laasya suggested.
They had decided to change carriages to avoid detection once they reached the city of Kohila. They had successfully managed to cover one-third of the way to the Northern army's base camp where General Agastya was stationed without being detected and Princess Anara was feeling a little smug about it.
She was sure that she didn't want to make any long stops before reaching the Nildiri Hills due to the fear of being captured by the royal palace guards.
She knew that by now her mother would have already dispatched people to follow her. The only advantage that she had was an early start and she didn't want to let go of it.
"Here you go, Miss. Your servant ordered these snacks earlier," said the cheerful little boy who was a server at the tea shop. He placed a plate of hot, aloo tikkis* tossed with tamarind and mint chutney along with a teapot, and two small clay cups on the small table in front of her.
Princess Anara scrunched up her nose at the inferior quality of utensils and didn't bother acknowledging the child. She moved her eyes and looked around. The air had turned chillier as the sun went down.
She pulled her cloak closer and unwillingly poured tea into the cup to at least warm her hands.
Busy in her actions, she missed the two pairs of eyes which had been trained on her ever since she stepped into the tea stall.
"She seems to be someone really important for the shadow guards to be following her. But what's her purpose in travelling towards this direction and that too without any escorts?" The voice asking this question belonged to the young lieutenant, Vibhorarth.
Clad in ordinary traveller's attire, with a dusty face and shoes, he was sitting nearly hidden in the deeper section of the stall along with his superior, General Dushyant.
They were returning to the army camp after staying undercover in the capital city for a couple of days. The secret mission at the Mandhaar-Ardra border had finally finished a few days ago and under the guise of taking a break, they had come to Dima.
"It doesn't affect us as long as the shadow guards don't trouble us. Her identity and affairs are her own problem. Don't keep thinking about unrelated girls all the time. Have you forgotten the humiliation that you experienced two months ago after being played by a girl half your age?" Dushyant's deep voice brutally mocked him.
Vibhorarth's face reddened up in embarrassment.
Two months ago (Part 2 of the prologue)
"General, this just came in from Adra!" Vibhorarth entered the place with hurried steps.
Sunlight was streaming through the open window in the nearly bare hut. The small area held a table and a couple of chairs, along with a single bed pushed in one corner.
The tall man stood with his back towards the solitary door of the hut. He seemed to be engrossed in the unimpeded view of the deep valley visible from the window. This was the Baneri valley area which lay on the border of Mandhaar and Adra.
There was a high mountain on one side and a deep valley on the other. A small, rugged path had been laid for travellers moving between the two kingdoms.
Dushyant turned around at the shout of his subordinate. His body was blocking the foggy sunlight from trickling in through the window and instead, formed a halo around his lean, straight figure.
Crossing the tiny space in large strides, Dushyant took the folded paper from Vibhorarth's hand and opened it immediately. A message from Adra at this hour could only imply unforeseen complications.
There weren't many people on both sides of the border who knew about his identity and the purpose of his presence here.
He had taken over the border patrol duties from the actual border guards and replaced them with his own team for the past few weeks due to a hidden mission. Since it was a covert military operation, there were only a handful of people working on it and some of them were spread across both sides of the border post to collect information.
'The cuckoo bird has flown away. It seems she was scared of the cold.'
This was the message which had been sent by Dushyant's man stationed in Rusi, the capital city of Adra.
He frowned for a few seconds, absorbing the implication of the message. Though he had decoded the cryptic line immediately, he didn't know whether this was related to his mission or not. Irrespective, since he had received the information, he needed to act on it.
"Seal the border tightly. No one can pass without my approval," he barked out the order to Vibhorarth.
As the military order was issued, he didn't dare dither and immediately started walking out to inform the team about it.
*Kumkum - is a red pigment used by Hindu women, made from 95% turmeric and 5% limestone, as a decoration on forehead, hands, nails and feet
*Aloo Tikki - is a famous Indian snack made of potato and spices
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