A FEW WORDS:
Mantri - Minister
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❝Every day when you wake up, there is a crown prepared for you. Each day, forsake everything and everyone that will try to keep you from it.❞ 
C. JoyBell C.

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AKIRA sat on the throne, the sunlight lighting up the already radiant court-room as she overlooked her courtiers who sat in silence. A seat to her on the left side was empty. It was usually occupied by the governor of Mahapuram – Mantri Rishabh.

Akira glanced at the empty seat, "Where is Mantri Rishabh?"

Her voice boomed over the grisly silence, causing all the courtiers to look at the empty seat.

"Maharani" Another courtier stood up and bowed, "We didn't receive any sort of letter from Mantri as to why is he not here."

Akira nodded and gestured the man to sit down, "I will ask one of the messenger to go check up on him."

"So, Aziza" The queen looked to her immediate left where her commander general was seated, "How is the position of our troops for the Ekam nagar war?"

"Ak-" Aziza glanced sheepishly at the courtiers before continuing, "I mean, Maharani, as you said, we are deploying the army in small pockets so that Ekam nagar doesn't get too alarmed and by now almost half of the army has been sent."

A faint smile graced the sovereign's physiognomy, "That's great."

"Mantri Ashish," The queen looked to her right, "I suppose that the trades are still going smoothly."

"Yes Maharani, the trades are going fantastic."

"Maharani" A handmaiden made her way in and bowed down, "A messenger from Mahapuram has come to meet you."

"Send him in."

Soon a quite young man walked in. He looked slightly beaten up due to the journey he must have endeared. He bowed down, "Maharani, I have some news to share."

"Go on."

"Mantri Rishabh is no more." The messenger uttered out.

The hall seemed to fall silent, the confusion and tension hung heavily in the air.

"How did it happen?" The queen asked, casting a slight glance at the empty seat which once belonged to the courtier.

"I have no idea Maharani. He was found dead in his room at the palace this morning and as soon as the news reached the people, a small uproar had started. The forces did manage to contain them and the situation seems better now."

Akira inhaled sharply, "Thank you for sharing the news, you can go now."

The messenger bowed yet and walked out. Aziza ran her hands on the smooth plane of her chin, staring at the door, deep in her thoughts.

"Maharani," Akira was broken out of her trance by Shree's voice. The queen's royal adviser muttered, "I have a question, if you may."

Akira gave a curt nod, indicating her to go on, "I was wondering if attacking Ekam nagar is the wisest decision as of now."

Shree looked at all the courtiers before continuing, "I mean doesn't it seem alarming that Mantri Rishabh dropped dead all of a sudden? Then a uproar by the people? We do know there is something fishy going on in Mahapuram. We should wait till we are sure everything's alright there." 

She looked back at Akira, "If we deploy the soldiers in Ekam nagar right now and something goes wrong in Mahapuram or here, then we won't have enough force to retaliate and I don't know if that would be very wise of us."

Aziza shook her head as she looked at Shree who was seated beside her, "That's a good point, Rajashree but we have already deployed the designated soldiers in Ekam nagar." Aziza looked at the sovereign too, "More than half the army is there, it would be foolish of us to retreat, especially when we know that we have very high chances of winning in Ekam nagar."

"But we can't just ignore Mahapuram, now can we?" Shree voiced her concern and soon the whole courtroom was buzzing with people's opinions clashing – some supporting Shree while the others standing with Aziza's strategy.

"That's enough." Akira's voice put an end to the chatter.

"Both of you made valid points," The queen said as she looked at the two girls, "We can't ignore the fact that something is wrong in Mahapuram but we also can't call the army back from Ekam nagar, especially when we are so sure of the winning the war."

"So what we do?" A courtier spoke up and all the eyes landed on the queen, looking at her with apprehension.

Akira exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment, clearing her thoughts, "We act smartly, of course."

"Veer," The monarch looked at her brother, "You and a small pocket of army is going to go to Mahapuram to ensure everything is moving smoothly. I want you to contain the uproar there and take command of the forces. I trust you to look after the land. The army there would provide aid too." Veer nodded and the queen could see her commander's eyes widen just slightly.

"Should-" Aziza took a pause to give a quick glance at the prince, "we send Veer to Mahapuram during such dangerous times?"

"I can take care of myself Aziza." Veer interjected ever so softly, worried that he'll cause a distraction in the court.

"But maybe someone should come with him to ensure-" The commander started, doing her best to mask her concern for him with a mere bored look.

"Aziza," Akira interrupted her, dismissing her concerns, "I am sure Veer is capable of looking after himself. He has been training long enough to protect himself and the people there. There is room for no debate here. Let's continue with our discussion."

"Aziza," Akira looked at the commander general who quickly disguised her concern for Veer with a firm nod, "you are right, we won't call the army back now. You tell me, the amount of troops we have there as of now, are they enough to win the war?"

"Well..." The commander started, "I do believe that the number of soldiers we have there right are enough, we can make it work. I mean the force will be reduced by one-third but it is going to work."

"Good." Akira paused for a second, re-evaluating her plan of action in her head, "Then it's settled. We will slightly reduce the number of soldiers we were sending to war and instead send some of them with Veer to keep Mahapuram in check while the others will stay here, making sure that if there is even a hint of uprising, they can easily safeguard the kingdom."

All the courtiers nodded in agreement and the sovereign looked at her brother, "Veer, you should leave by this afternoon as the journey to Mahapuram is quite long and tiring. If you move with a good pace, you will perhaps reach your destination by tomorrow evening."

"Yes sister" Veer nodded and excused himself from the discussion to go prepare for his expedition and soon after the discussion came to an end. All the courtiers retreated to look after their respective works.

The queen walked out of the room, past the Aurelian doors into the buzzing hallways as her commander general followed suit.

"Aziza" The queen called out to the girl who was walking closely behind and casted a sly glance around the corridor to make sure no one was in earshot, "I want you to send a few spies in disguise to Mahapuram just to make sure everything is alright and," Akira took a pause, "don't tell Veer about it just now alright? It really doesn't concern him."

"Yes Maharani." The commander said, now, her tone changed from sincere to playful, "But... What is the situation with the imposter or may I say," She let out a chuckle, "lover boy?"

That smug imposter.

"The plan as to what to do with him is under works," Akira replied back dryly and turned back to the commander, "don't worry about the imposter Aziza, just do what I say."

"Yes Maharani." Aziza slowly nodded, the smile fading.

"Also," Akira started, her voice slow but thorough as if making up for acting harshly, "Maybe Veer needs some help with the preparation, so, how about you go help him out before he leaves?"

"Yes" The commander nodded, fighting off a small smile as she bowed and took the queen's leave, "I'll do that."

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Akira's gaze half-heartedly looked for the Yuvraj in the hallways which brimmed with life as handmaidens laughed and walked together. A few children ran through the passageways shrieking and laughing as they tried to catch each other unaware of any worry in life.

"Radhika?" The monarch called out to the handmaiden who was talking to another handmaiden and she came walking steadfastly.

"Ji Maharani?" She bowed down out of courtesy.

"Have you perhaps seen Yuvraj Kartik anywhere?" The queen's glance swept over the hallways one last time.

The woman didn't look Akira in her eyes, "Yes Maharani, the Yuvraj was in the training grounds the last time I saw him."

Akira thanked her with a small smile and made her way to the training grounds. The grounds had been enveloped by silence and the silence was just breached by the clashing and clanging of metal against metal as the foreign monarch fought against three guards.

Kartik fought with the guards, oblivious to the fact that the queen was standing nearby, analyzing his fighting patterns. Akira's gaze stopped at the scar that ran on his chest but she looked away from him quickly and focused on his fighting style, taking notes of it with great vigour.

Kartik was agile and light on his feet, yes, but he had the habit of repeating his movements which could be easily used by his opponent against him - Akira noted. Soon enough, the clatter of the metal stopped and instead a melodious chuckle filled the training grounds, painting it in thousand invisible colors.

The Yuvraj had disarmed the three soldiers and raised his sword above them, a slight smirk was etched almost permanently in his features as he looked down at them, muttering, "If this was a war, you all would have been dead by now."

Akira clapped as an unimpressed smile breached her visage, "Not a bad one Yuvraj."

Kartik looked at the queen with a smile as he helped the soldiers to their feet, "Didn't see you there."

Akira shrugged with indifference as she walked inside the specifically marked training area and the soldiers scattered away, giving the two monarchs their space.

"But I do believe that you should fight someone whose skillset matches yours," Akira took an extra hairpin from her hair and used to it to tuck the strands of hair which were left for face-framing by the handmaidens. She looked at the soldiers carefully, "After all, it's no fun to win against someone who is not at your same level, is it now?"

A chuckle left Kartik's lips as he looked at the queen while his fingers absent-mindedly traced the lethal edge of the blade in his hands, "Are you proposing the idea of us fighting?"

"Yes, yes I am." Akira took off the jewellery which had been draped over her almost religiously by the handmaidens this morning and handed it over to the soldiers as she gestured them to leave them both alone, "That is, if you are not too scared to fight."

"I am not scared of anything." He shrugged, letting the sunlight illuminate his figure.

"Alright then," Akira muttered as she unsheathed her sword and stood in a precise stance, her eyes focused at the foreign monarch, "Let's see what you can do."

"Alright then," His features turned cold as he eyed the queen's figure with the same intensity and raised his sword, "You're in for a fight."

Akira stayed in her stance, waiting for him to strike first and he surely did. Kartik raised his sword and cut through the thin air as Akira ducked down and moved past him. The queen quickly gathered her senses and raised her sword hilt to hit the opponent in his shoulders, which caused him to stumble forward. He caught himself in time and managed not to fall down.

Kartik turned around and saw a proud smirk adorning her face. "Did I hit you too hard Yuvraj?" She asked, with a teasing smile.

The foreign monarch rolled his eyes and hit again but Akira defended herself with ease. The two blades rested against each other – both fighting for dominance - as their eyes met in an intense staring contest, brown against brown.

Kartik used his body weight against Akira, trying to make her stumble but she decided to use his strategy against him. Akira used her feet to sweep Kartik off his feet, causing him to lose control and she then used the opportunity to disarm him. He fell down on the ground with a low groan as the dust coated his torso, sticking to the thin layer of sweat on his skin.

She took his sword in her non-dominant left hand and pointed both the swords at the man who was at the ground unarmed and repeated his words, "If this was a war, you would be dead by now."

Kartik shook his head with a smile and raised his hands in defense, "Alright, you win."

"Ofcourse I win Yuvraj, I always win." Akira smiled down at him as she let go of the sword in her left hand which fell down next to him with a loud clatter but she kept her own sword in position, "Though you weren't much of a competition, I must say."

Kartik examined her figure. She hadn't broken a sweat other than the fact that random strands of hair had fallen out of braid and were now vaguely obscuring her face from his sight. He had to hold back the urge to tuck those random strands away from her face as he scoffed and tried to distract himself, "Well not everyone is an expert like you."

"Accurate." As silence settled over them again, Akira saw - for the first time - the flecks of hazel in his brown eyes. The brown in his eyes was illuminated by the sunlight and small constellations of hazel flecks swimmed in his gaze.    

A moment passed in awkward silence - their gazes resting against each other - before Akira spoke up, her tone hinting slight humor as she pretended to think, "Should I kill you?"

'Why would you say that?' Her conscious begged her for answers but she had none.

"I would be more than happy to die like this Maharani." Kartik muttered, his eyes not leaving hers as he referred to their close proximity.

Her gaze traveled yet again to the scar on his chest which looked quite old – it looked faded but by the looks of it, she could say that the scar dated back decades. Akira's thoughts wandered to how he might have got that scar but decided to not to ask him about his personal matters.

Akira shook her head in slight exasperation as she retreated her sword and her gaze and quickly changed the topic, "So you give me your permission to kill you?"

Kartik stood back up in one quick movement and dusted off the dirt which had coated him. His lips carved into a lopsided smile, "I thought you didn't ask for permission before killing anyone?"

Akira turned around from the suitor as she sheathed her sword and tucked away the obnoxious hair strands which had fallen out, "I don't."

Her voice was a mere whisper which would have gotten lost in the vast courtyard had it not been this silent. The only sounds were the faint laughs and shrieks coming from the hallways which could be easily ignored.

"I think I should take your leave now." She said as she looked over her shoulder and at the figure who was still sporting a small half-hearted smile, "It was a good match Yuvraj."

Akira had only taken a few steps away from the arena as she called out over the tranquil silence of the abandoned grounds, "And for God's sake put on some clothes."

She could almost feel the smirk that had overtaken his features as he called back, "Why? Am I perhaps distracting you?"

A faint red spread through her cheeks like wildfire and she blamed the heat for it, "No."

'What an infuriating creature.'  She thought, 'I hate him.'

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A

/N - This was more of a filter chapter so that the story remains consistent but I hope you enjoy anyways :)

Stay safe, overthrow the government ♥️
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