Laxita's POV

"Sister, your eyes are going to pop out of your head with the way they have unnaturally widened." Devansh taunted me. He was practically yelling as the only way we could communicate with each other was through yelling otherwise there was no way that we could hear anything over all that cheering and stomping. After a while, my ears got accustomed to the hollering of the crowd.

I chose to ignore Devansh because I was admiring the views of the city and also, my eyes were mainly fixated on Veer. I don't know how much of the city I actually ended up admiring because for the majority of the duration, I was observing him.

I was busy noticing how he was interacting with the people. How he smiled at each and every one of them, how he stopped in between to talk to them and how radiant he looked among all those people. Us, on the other hand were trotting behind him like a shadow. Nobody was actually interested in the guests who had accompanied him. Their entire focus was on Veer. Devansh was right, the people of Somapura LOVED Veer.

The path to reach the palace was a straight one which extended from the entrance of the city to the palace gates. I tried to see what was in the shops which were lined on the sides of the path and I marveled at the architectures and fountains. Even the fountains looked majestic. I was witnessing a new city with a new culture - a very vibrant one at that.

It took us longer than expected to reach the palace as we stopped a lot in between. We got down from our horses and made our way inside the palace entrance. Somehow, we were walking in the same formation - Veer in the front, the commanders flanking him and the rest of us following him. I was still directly behind him. When I lifted my gaze to look up at the palace, my jaw dropped because behind those huge entrance gates was the palace of Somapura.

The royal palace of Somapura was gigantic and magnificent. I had to crane my neck to look at the entirety of it. This type of craftsmanship and carvings were something I had never seen before. Gorgeous statues lined each side of the wall. Such attention to detail....The more I saw this place, the more awestruck I was.

When we reached near the palace gates, the cheers of the crowd finally subsided. I spotted that the palace servants were standing there with plates full of flower petals. When we stepped into their vicinity, they started showering us with those petals or more precisely showered him with petals. Soon, the floor was covered in a carpet of flowers and the entire area turned fragrant.

Suddenly, a bouquet of flowers came out of nowhere in Veer's direction. He caught it with ease. When I whipped my head in the direction from which it emerged, I saw a group of young women. All of them giggled and squealed when Veer looked at them.

Devika came closer and whispered in my ear, "They're trying to woo him. It is sort of a daily occurrence around here." She was right when she said that the girls would kill someone to be in my position. But it's not like I could blame them, Veer was quite the ladies' man.

"So, you're telling me this showering of petals is done every time he returns?"

To which she replied, "No, not every time. This time, his return symbolises something. His return's important."

"For what?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Devansh also came closer to me and said, "You see sister, he's returned back to his kingdom when he's presumed to be a traitor."

"What?!"

He didn't answer me and before I knew it, we entered the palace. There was a stark contrast between the life outside the palace and the life inside of it. There was deathly silence all around. I could even hear the footsteps of the soldiers who were stationed across the hall. It was as if we had stepped into a different world.

The most shocking change was visible on Veer. Right outside the palace, he was the usual outgoing Veer with charming smiles but inside the palace, his emotions were masked. I couldn't make out what he was thinking. His entire demeanor changed - his presence became powerful, commanding and his smile vanished.

We started walking towards the main hall to attend the court meeting. From what I could tell, this meeting was highly important for him. So, he walked in the front with long strides and we followed behind him.

On our way, the stationed soldiers kneeled on one knee to welcome him. It was done to show respect. All the soldiers had to kneel in front of the army general to greet him as he was the supreme leader of the army. The army generals and commanders only kneeled in front of their king. Otherwise, they never did so, not even in the face of death.

"Look who finally decided to show up." An old man interrupted us. He had greyish hair and his eyes held a wicked gleam. He was standing right in the middle of our way.

"Nice to meet you too, Bhimasura." Veer replied with a cocky grin.

"Let's see for how long you can hold that smile boy." With that, he left. I didn't know about anyone else but I found his presence unsettling.

Soon, we reached the doors of the main hall. That's when I heard the announcement, "Somapura ke senapati, Veerendra pravesh kar rahe hain!" And with that, we went inside the main hall.

("Somapura's army general, Veerendra is entering!")

Veer's POV

The courtroom was the same as the last time I had been here. The officials looked at me with the same scrutinizing gazes - nothing new there. Bhimasura wasn't the only one who hated me, there were plenty of others as well.

The main hall of Somapura was huge, bigger than any kingdom I had ever seen. This was coming from someone who had the opportunity to visit a lot of kingdoms during his tenure.

There was a straight way from the doors of the main hall to the throne. The officials were seated along the sidelines of this path and at the center of it all was the eye of the main hall - the throne of the king.

The throne was actually situated atop a small staircase. The crown princess's throne was on the right, just one step below the king's throne and the queen's throne was on the left. Currently, Nitya and the queen were occupying them and were looking at me with curiosity. Nitya was aware of my circumstances and she wanted to help me but I requested her to stay away because if she helped me, she would be accused of being a partial ruler in the future. Raghav and Chitra were standing beside her. When they saw Laxita, their eyes glinted in recognition. I was sure that they wanted to ask a thousand questions but now was not the time.

Somapura's Main Hall

As soon as we reached near the throne, I kneeled on one knee to greet the king. "Maharaj ki jai ho. Apka sevak - senapati Veerendra apke bulane par upasthit hai."

("I greet the king. Your servant - general Veerendra is present at your call.")

Shalini and Samriddhi also did the same. The rest of our group just bowed their heads in greeting. To introduce the mages, Devika announced, "Soma Sangha ke jaadugar Somapura ke maharaj ka abhivaadan karte hai."

("The mages of Soma Sangha greet the king of Somapura.")

The king nodded his head in acknowledgement. After that, my commanders and I stood up.

Bhimasura appeared in front of us along with 4 of his men. Those were few of his most trusted men and they never left his side, like ever. He opened his big mouth and said, "Now, now. Since, the greetings have been exchanged, let's move on to the real agenda of today's meeting."

"Surely," the king replied indicating the beginning of the court meeting.

"So, Veer," Bhimasura started, "Do you know about the allegations against you?" No beating around the bush I see.

"Yes."

"As many of the people don't know about those said allegations, I would like to brief them about the situation. Our beloved general Veer here is a traitor!" His voice echoed. As soon as the words escaped his mouth, the entire courtroom collectively gasped.

"That's nonsense." I heard Laxita's voice. It was only audible to our ears. Oh love, you have no idea about what this sly old man is capable of.

"Yes, you heard that right. Veer is a traitor." He turned towards the king and continued, "Your majesty, Veer has been selling the weapons of our army to Chandraketu - our enemy kingdom." Another round of gasps filled the hall. Many of them started whispering amongst themselves. The queen and Nitya looked concerned by the allegations but the king's expressions remained unchanged.

"He's been doing that for years now. He steals the highest quality weapons from the army and replaces them with poor quality weapons. After every thing you did for him, took him in and treated him like your own, he went ahead and backstabbed you. He's not satisfied with his current powers, he's greedy for more wealth and fame and now, he has shaken hands with the enemy!" He yelled the last sentence. "Some treacherous son you are Veer."

"Do you have any proof of what you just said?" I asked.

"Yes, I do." Of course he has.

"I would like to call the palace servant who has been serving general Veer for the past 4 years." The king nodded to give permission.

Soon, my personal servant appeared before the king. "Don't be afraid woman, tell us about everything that you saw." Bhimasura said.

"It was a day like any other," she started. "I was doing my regular chores when I spotted a suspicious man with a cloak in the palace. I followed him for a while and I saw that he was heading for the stables. When I reached there, I saw general Veer. He was meeting up with that man. When that man removed his cloak, I saw that he was wearing Chandraketu's armour."

"Thank you. You can go now." The servant bowed and left. "So, do you have to say something about this Veer?"

"She's lying. Her story's a lie, I know it. There's no way that the palace guards would let a suspicious person inside. And definitely not someone who's wearing a cloak or Chandraketu's armour. There are too many variables in her story."

"The palace guards would only let a suspicious person inside if the general allowed it. They can't go against you. If you want, shall we call the guards who were on duty that day?"

"No need." It was obvious that he had bribed the guards in the same way he had bribed my servant. The problem was, I couldn't prove that he had done so. There was no point if I didn't have any proof for his bribery.

"Don't have anything to say, do you? Your majesty, when I heard that something like that had transpired in the palace, I immediately sent my men to catch him. But by that time, he caught a whiff of my plans and fled the palace."

"I indeed fled the palace, but it wasn't for the reasons you just mentioned."

"Oh really? Then please do tell us as to why you ran away?"

"I didn't run away, I was forced to leave. You didn't send your men to catch me, you sent them to kill me!" An uproar erupted in the hall by my statement.

"Silence!" The king raised his voice. Then he looked me dead in the eye and said, "Explain in detail."

"Your majesty, that day, Bhimasura sent out his men to kill me. I escaped to the woods to save myself. My aim was to reach Soma Sangha to get help. There was no time, so I couldn't stop to explain everything. Not to mention, everyone was busy in the post-marriage celebrations of the crown princess and commander Chitrasen.

His men caught up to me multiple times along the way and gravely injured me. I travelled on my horse-Chetan's back for days before collapsing from exhaustion.

If it hadn't been for her," I turned around to look at Laxita, "I would've died that night." Her eyes widened from shock as the realization dawned on her.

"Is that right?" the king asked Laxita.

"Yes, your majesty. About two months back, I found him fatally wounded in the forest...." She went on to describe the whole story about how she found me.

When she finished, Bhimasura started speaking again, "What a touching story! You rescued a stranger from the forest - not knowing if he was a friend or a foe? Such kindness! But...I don't believe a word you say."

"Why?" She asked in disbelief.

"Because you're Veer's would be wife. Tell me, aren't you planning on marrying him? Isn't that why you're here?!" I winced. How did he know that? I wanted to break the news to my family but not in this way. I might've underestimated him. I should've known that he always has a few moves up his sleeves.

His statement rippled a shock in the entire hall. Everyone went deathly quiet and just watched the drama unfold. Right now, three pairs of royal eyes were digging holes on my face. I owed them a lot of answers. My sudden plans for marriage came as a shock for everyone. 

"It's obvious that she's lying. She's trying to save her would be husband."

"Watch your words, commander. My sister doesn't lie." Devansh said in her defense.

"Calm down young man." Bhimasura might've guessed that he messed with the wrong person so he took a few steps back. "Let's say that your sister did find him gravely injured in the forest but is she sure that those wounds were caused by a weapon. What if a wild animal attacked him? We all know that wild animals are a common sighting in the forests around Soma Sangha."

"I was not attacked by a wild animal. Your men were out for my blood. You're the one who wants me dead."

"Veer, Veer, Veer." He scoffed. "Why would I want to kill you?"

"Because you're the real traitor of Somapura. You're the one who's betraying the kingdom. You're the one who's selling the army's weaponry to our enemies. You want me dead because I threw a wench in your plans!"

He started laughing manically at my accusations. "You have officially lost your mind." His laughs subsided and he roared at me in anger. "Me? Betraying the kingdom? Me? What nonsense! Do you have any proof regarding what you just said? Huh? Do you have anything against me?!"

"I have." I said calmly and his expression changed. Good. The fear looked good on his face.

"Your majesty, I have something which can justify my claims and at the same time prove my innocence." I took out a small bite-sized spherical artifact from my armour. "Your majesty, this is a recording artifact. Please listen to it before you come to a judgement." I squeezed the artifact a little and soon, the hall was filled with two voices from the artifact...

Are you sure nobody followed you? It was Bhimasura's voice.

No. The unknown voice replied.

No problems in entering the palace?

None.

Good. Now, let's get down to business. Here's the record of all the imperial weaponry. Choose whatever you like, I will get it for you. I am doing whatever you want but do you remember your end of the deal?

Yes. We have to remove Veerendra from your way so that you would become the army general. Don't worry, we will launch a surprise attack on Somapura. Without appropriate weapons, the army will be crippled. We will use that to our advantage to kill that general of yours. Then, you will emerge heroically from the crowd and defeat us. And thus, you will reclaim your rightful place.

Bhimasura laughed at what he said. Believe me, that laugh was unmistakable. Even if he does end up surviving, he will be heavily blamed for the loss in the war. He will never be able to recover from that.

I pressed the artifact again and it stopped. "I rest my case." The chatters in the hall were audible yet again.

"That's impossible..."

"What's impossible? The fact that I proved my claims or the fact that this artifact survived when it was supposedly destroyed in front of your very eyes?"

"That's a lie!" His face leeched off colour.

"It's not a lie and you know that. Your majesty, I had suspected commander Bhimasura of treachery for a long time now but I had no proof. So, I installed this device under the desk of his room. That day, when I was trying to retrieve this artifact from his room, somebody saw me. So, I was forced to retreat.

As I was in a hurry, the artifact slipped from my hands and broke. Bhimasura saw that and sent his men after me. I quickly assembled the broken parts of the artifact and fled the scene. That's where Soma Sangha came in. The mages at the association helped me in restoring the artifact and here we are."

"Arrest the real traitor!" Nitya stood from her spot and commanded.

"No! Please listen to me your majesty. I can explain..." Bhimasura kneeled in front of the king.

"I don't want to hear any of your explanations. Seize him!"

The guards appeared in front of us to catch him. "Don't touch me!" He screeched. "Don't you know who I am?" The guards ignored his warnings and dragged him away.

This was my plan all along. I wanted to give him a false sense of victory only to pull the ground under his feet. Finally, it was all over.

"Veer! Look out!" Laxita screamed.

It happened so fast that it took my mind a moment to register. Laxita pushed me aside and stood in front of me. When I gained semblance, I saw that she was standing in between me and one of Bhimasura's men and her impenetrable shield was activated. Their powers were clashing for dominance.

The powers which were emerging from his fingertips were pitch-black. I had never seen anything like it. What was that?

"Everybody look out! There are dark mages over here!" Devika shouted. Chaos ensued because of her words. Everyone started screaming and running.

Dark mages? DARK MAGES? Inside the palace? How? What's going on?

Another one of Bhimasura's men came forward and threw a ball on the ground. Soon, the smoke emitting from that ball engulfed us in darkness. I couldn't see anything. The smoke was clogging my air supply. Everyone around me was coughing because of the smoke.

When the smoke finally cleared, we saw that all four of Bhimasura's men had vanished into thin air.

The bigger concern was - there were dark mages here, inside the heavily guarded palace, living right under our noses and we had no idea....

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Hey Readers🥀

Did you enjoy the chapter? Because I for sure enjoyed writing it! This is by far my favourite chapter yet🤭

The story's taking off and there are many more twists to come!