The tent was large with scrolls and papers scattered around the place. Only the light of candles illuminated the dark tent, casting a dim yellow glow.

Karan looked around the area with curiosity and found a large map spread on the table at one side. He checked the map to see if any places had been marked which could give away their next move but no, there wasn't a hint of ink on the paper.

There were also drink glasses. What hr noticed was the variety of alcohols and wine bottles stocked up at the corner of the tent. The strategist clearly enjoyed his drinks.

His footsteps were silent on the ground. He was an expert in spying. So, he knew how to control his breath and pace whenever he sneaked to some place.

That's when his gaze fell on the figure sleeping on the bed.

Found him...

He slowly walked closer to catch a glimpse of that person. His steps halted when he finally reached closer to the bed.

And that's when he stopped breathing.

The only thought on his head was, The strategist isn't a man but a woman! He had never been more shocked in my life.

From the gap on the roof of the tent, the moon light peaked inside. The moon cast it's silver glow, illuminating her face. His breath got caught in his throat and he suddenly felt something stir inside of him. Not just any woman. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his entire life.

She was simply enchanting and he had never seen anyone look so peaceful in their sleep before. Utterly beautiful. It was as if the angels had taken an extra time to carve her face.

Karan had never been a man who was charmed by beauties. But even for him, this was entirely a different matter.

Her long hair framed her beautiful face and only the sound of her soft breathing was audible inside the tent.

'Wait. This woman could be the wife or lover of the strategist for all I know.'

It wasn't that he didn't believe in the capability of a woman to be a strategist. That also one, who was leading a war. If women wanted to, they could conquer the world and he knew that. His grandma raised him alone and he knew her to be the most powerful person. But everyone had assumed that the person was a man and he was naturally confused.

He took a sharp intake of breath as he finally snapped out of his reverie.

Mistake!

That small sound didn't go unnoticed by the woman. Her eyes fluttered open. He was frozen in his tracks as he found myself staring back at the most intriguing pair of eyes he had ever seen in his entire life.

They were hazel coloured. A mixture of brown with amber and green. Usually, this type of colour radiated with the warmth of the golden glow in them. But no, not for her.

Instead, her eyes were the sharpest brown infused with green. And something about them was so intimidating. Like an eagle aiming at it's prey. They didn't radiate with warmth. Those eyes were rather filled with coldness, arctic coldness that could freeze hell.

And karan was frozen by the sheer intensity of that gaze. She stared at him underneath her long eyelashes, assessing him. Her cold and calculating gaze said that he was in a lot of trouble and the thing was, he didn't even mind. He was a goner.

With one swift motion, so fast and agile, she plucked out the dagger underneath her pillow and held it in front of his neck.

"Who are you?", She asked coldly as she held him hostage underneath the sharp blade.

With her blade never leaving his neck, she got off her bed. Her black hair cascaded down her shoulders, flowing like a waterfall. The white night dress that she was wearing clung to her figure perfectly. She was-Stop!

'What the hell am I doing?! Focus karan, focus. Do you want to be killed?'

'But if death is so enchanting, I wouldn't mind-'

"Tell me fast. Otherwise consider yourself dead", She spoke. The tip of her blade pierced his neck a bit drawing out blood. Blood started oozing out slowly from the cut and surprisingly he found himself chuckling a bit.

She looked befuddled for a moment but her sharp, calculating gaze again focused itself on him.

"The strategist of Hyderabad is a woman..." He stated, beinv more than sure of it now. With the fast speed she had drawn out her dagger, he was convinced that she was that person.

The woman knew how to fight.

And he was so utterly foolish to be relieved that she was the strategist and not the wife or lover of the strategist.

'Why am I feeling like this?'

"Any problem with that?" She said coldly. The kind of cold that could freeze molten lava.

"No, I don't. But the others might do." he replied calmly

"Does it look like I care???" Her knife slowly traced the exterior of the soldier uniform of Hyderabad that he was wearing. He was frozen beneath that dagger. It was extremely sharp and he didn't want to take any chances. Then, suddenly, she tore open the entire coat with one swift movement and his military uniform of Lucknow came into view.

Busted.

"Sneaking off to an enemy ground so easily? I am impressed." The way her tone was laced with venom made him believe that it was certainly a bad thing to have impressed her on this part.

"Always a pleasure, princess. Something tells me that it's not an easy task to impress you." The corner of his lips tugged up into a smirk.

Her eyes sparked with fury. "Do not call me a princess. I am not a princess."

"Then, what should I call you, if you are not a princess, Your Highness?" He had initially thought that the woman could be the princess of Hyderabad but her vehement disinterest to accept the title made him believe that she wasn't a royal blood.

"That's of no necessity to you. Do not try to divert from the topic. Tell me who you are and what is your intention behind coming here."

"Curiosity", he said. "Curiosity brought me here. I was eager to see the infamous mysterious strategist of Hyderabad."

"And did your curiosity get quenched?" The hold of the dagger didn't loosen.

"Still not. Now, I have a thousand questions more", he replied nonchalantly, staring at those attractive eyes.

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't you fear your death? Your General sent you to spy on me, for sure. He is certainly not so bright in his head to have sent a crazy fool."

Karan pursed his lips to not let the laughter escape that was bubbling inside of him. It was a relief to know that she didn't recognize his real identity. But he still played along. "I was certainly not so crazy but you might have had something to do with it, it's you making me crazy."

"You will be sent to the dungeons", She said, her tone oozing with power and authority.

"Do you want your identity to be discovered?", he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is If you call your soldiers to arrest me the first thing I will do once I get out of here is disclose your identity. "

"You will do no such thing.."

"Oh, I will", he muttered.

The glare intensified and if he didn't have a bit of courage in him, he would have melted into a puddle by now.

He took a step closer towards her. Her chest was heaving up and down and he noticed how she was trying to keep her anger in check. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "Everything is fair in love and war."

Then, in a spin, he grabbed the dagger and whirled her around, in such a way that her back was pressed against his chest and the dagger was now pressed against her neck.

She protested but he didn't let the dagger fall.

He could feel the softness of her hands. The contact sending tingles down her body. The electric feeling coursed through his veins, sending shivers down his body.

The feel of her body against him was something he couldn't explain

"I am going to kill you." She hissed, as he held her tightly against him.

"That is something big to say when I am the one holding the dagger." he remarked.

"It's pitiful to see that your General has resorted to spying after the continuous failure of your plans. And what a great spy he has sent." Her voice was laced with sarcasm.

"That I am. And your plans haven't heen successful as well." Karan thought it necessary to point it out to her.

"Oh, they will" And suddenly, he felt a sharp stab on his right arm.

Damn it.

He staggered back. I should have held her hand tightly. Instead, he got distracted by her pretty talk and didn't notice that she had another knife with her.

She lunged forward to attack him. Despite the pain, he somehow managed to dodge and the candle stand fell down on the floor. The candles fell down on the papers tossed on the ground and immediately, they started burning.

The fire acted as a barrier between them and he lifted his gaze up. She was fiery, just like that fire.

Standing with pride and determination.

He had never seen a woman like her before. She was so regal, the way she held herself, the sharpness of her pretty hazel eyes, the fire that she emitted. She looked every bit of a regal Queen.

She was that flame.

And despite knowing that he would be harmed, he felt drawn to her like a moth.

Even though he knew that he would be set on fire against that flame and would die a pitiful death.

"Who are you?" The words slipped out of his mouth

"And what makes you think that I am going to tell you?", She retorted.

"Point made." He nodded. She aimed another two small knives at him and he again escaped by a distance of a hair's breadth.

I would be murdered if I stayed here for some more minutes.

Thats when he found the alcohol jars lying on the floor, the moment she saw his gaze towards them, she pulled out her sword, "You aren't going to touch that!", She warned.

But he paid no heed to her as he poured all the alcohol contents in the flaming fire. The fire started burning higher.

"I am going to torture you so badly for wasting that nice alcohol" She was fuming, now standing at the opposite side of the fire.

"I will look forward to that.", he smirked and saluted. "See you soon, Princess. Till next time." and immediately slipped out of the tent before she could catch him.

♡

His arm was bleeding profusely as he finally stumbled inside the safety of his own tent. He was trying to take off the coat that he was wearing but his hands froze mid-way as he saw that a shiny earring had stuck against his coat jacket.

He took off the earring that had clung to his coat and stared at it. It dazzled beautifully as the light of the candles cast on it. It reminded him of those eyes, the mesmerizing depth beneath those eyes. The encounter with that woman was something else...

Karan put the earring on the table and took out the medicine from the box. He grit his teeth in pain as he poured alcohol on the wound to disinfect it.

Hell, this hurts.

After finally wrapping up the wound in a bandage, he felt better. Still, the pain hadn't gone. He felt like he was being pricked by a thousand needles. The woman knew how to stab, both with eyes and daggers.

She is an enemy, karan. Your main enemy. How can you even think like this? But how can a woman whom I have just met once affect me like this?

He sighed, bringing himelf back to reality and settled down on the chair proceeding to write a letter to the king.

Your Majesty,

I express my greetings to you.

I managed to sneak into Hyderabad's camping grounds. The only information I have is that the strategist is a woman. If I have any other information, I will make sure to inform you

Yours Faithfully

GKL

After having the letter taken to the King by the messenger, his eyes were again drawn to that earring. He contemplated on throwing it into the fire.

What would I even do with it?

But for some reason, he didn't want to throw it. Not yet. Instead, he safely tucked it inside the book.

♡

The strategist is a woman.

The king of Lucknow went over the letter sent by the General again and again. What an unbelievable statement.

"Who do you think this person is?", He asked his trusted adviser, who was a man with shrewd eyes.

The adviser stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I believe this woman is related to the General's family. The General of Hyderabad."

"Why would you think so?"

"Your Majesty, the General of Hyderabad has the knowledge of the Art of War, which is passed down only to his heirs."

"But I have heard that the General doesn't have a son. He has two daugh-"

Realization dawned on the King as he looked at his adviser with wide eyes. "You don't mean that his daughter is the strategist, do you?"

"You are highly intelligent, Your Majesty.", The adviser bowed.

"I shall have her killed immediately. She is a threat to our victory.", The King's eyes gleamed with fury.

"No, Your Majesty. That would be extremely unwise of you."

"What do you mean?"

"The General of Hyderabad has imparted the military knowledge to his daughter. If she were to marry to our country, then we would be lucky because if we were to wage war in future, she can't fight from their side and we can gain the knowledge that she has."

"Then, who will she marry?"

"There's no man as perfect as our General for it. You may make a marriage alliance. The war will be stopped. Our plan will certainly become successful."

"That's a good plan. But which one of his daughters has the knowledge of The Art of War?"

"Such a grand marriage with the God of War of Lucknow, will certainly fall on the hands of the rightful daughter and heiress. You know what to do, Your Majesty."

"Indeed. Killing two birds with one stone."

🍁