The efficient queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore was burning in anger and disappointment. The awful stench emanating from the untreated wounds of the injured soldiers along with their helpless cries was nauseating her to the core. The titian-red blood was splattered from the gaping wounds of the soldiers of Vijaygarh who were crying helplessly. With her eyes brimming with unshed tears, the queen was behaving robotically.
With swords clanking against each other and venomous arrows whizzing in the sky, the putrefying smell of death was hanging in the air. Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore was galloping on her horse with a sword in her hand, slashing the throat of anyone who came in her way. Being enraged, all she wanted was to punish her elder cousin Vikrant for killing innocent people.
The poisonous arrows dipped in snake’s venom were zipping and hissing in the beamless sky. With the fear of death engulfing the minds of courageous soldiers of Vijaygarh, the zeal to win the battle was replaced by the questions upon queen’s efficiency. The battle between the two royal Rathores was truly horrific.
Vikrant Singh Rathore was standing at the foremost edge enjoying the scene unfolding before him. He simpered realizing that his father had planned things really well. Having divided the small tribal army into two troops, Vikrant had made sure everyone used weapons dipped in snake’s venom so that the untrained soldiers could kill their opponents with just one stroke.
With the wails and whimpers of the brave soldiers of Vijaygarh echoing in the battleground, the army was anxious about their fate. Strangely, the small tribal army of Pranathgarh led by Vikrant Singh Rathore was able to overpower the humongous army of Vijaygarh. Moreover, the queen’s order of not attacking the village and capturing the locals had left soldiers with sheer disappointment.
Usually the rulers followed the strategy of trapping the villagers as the number of prisoners played a key role in deciding the winners of a war but the queen was against the idea of using innocent people as bait in the battle. Though, even if the queen wanted to trap the natives of Pranathgarh, she would have not done so because her father had promised her sister-in-law to protect the tribals of Pranathgarh.
The armors were chiming and horses were galloping in the battlefield killing the opponents aimlessly. The army of Vijaygarh was split into two groups. A group had heroic soldiers who were supporting the queen despite being extremely lethargic after all, it was the third war in a span of one month. Though the homesick soldiers were missing their families yet they had patriotism instilled in their hearts. Standing by their queen with their heads high, these soldiers were serving for their kingdom heroically.
On the other hand, another group of soldiers had fear of death engulfed in their minds. They were not only questioning the efficiency of their queen but were also worried of the fact that frequent wars would disrupt the economy and peace of Vijaygarh. With fear in their eyes, they were either willing to run away or stand by the winning side ultimately betraying their queen.
The prince of Shivgarh, Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput and his friend, Uday Singh Chauhan were also present in the battleground. “I never expected that alcoholic rogue to be so brilliant when it came to implementing a war strategy”, Uday whispered with disgust lacing in his tone.
“Never underestimate the enemy especially if he or she is a Rathore”, Veerbhadra chuckled sheepishly as he shot an arrow to divert the path of spear heading towards the queen.
“Why is she behaving like a mad woman?” Veer mumbled horrified at the mere thought of his goldfish getting wounded by a venomous arrow.
Uday, being an experienced general could sense the course of the battle.
Unfortunately, he could foresee the defeat of Vijaygarh because of the fearful and disappointed soldiers.
“Veer, Her Highness is losing hopes and so is this army. We need a strategy to win.” Uday voiced out his opinion ducking the arrow that was just about to strike on his forehead.
Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput commanded his friend, “Uday, go and blow the conch shell demanding a break. We desperately need one.”
“What are you planning?” Uday asked his friend.
“Just go, Uday”, Veerbhadra pushed his friend protecting him from another blow of a spear.
Taking a deep breath, Veerbhadra analyzed the situation. Covering his face with the thick cloth of his turban, he determinedly asked the army of Vijaygarh to gather near the tents. Much to his relief, he eyed at the queen rushed towards her tent perhaps to shriek in agony and pain after tasting the bitter taste of her continuous downfall.
Uday was surprised to see his friend at the verge of addressing the army while the commander-in-chief, Avdhesh Singh Ranawat rushed towards the tent of the queen to report about massive deaths of their soldiers.
Veerbhadra realized he needed to hide his identity. Briskly eyeing the people around him, he realized the son of Siddharth Pratap Singh, the teacher of Aparajita who gave him shelter on the night, Aparajita saved him from the dacoits, was not present in the battleground.
Carefully modulating his voice just like that of the young boy, the prince of Shivgarh announced, “Dear soldiers, it is a shame that we are losing from untrained soldiers of a tribal group after getting the best training.” He surely knew how to rile up the egos of the soldiers.
“They have a strong leader. They are equipped with poisonous arrows while our fellows are just dying helplessly.” A young general objected in despair.
“We have a gem with us. Our queen rides her horse and protect us by killing the opponents instead of watching the due course of war sitting on her chariot. We decimated the army of Rajgarh and Shivgarh effortlessly. Why are we losing our sanity in front of a small group of tribal combatants?” Veerbhadra questioned the soldiers who had their heads hung in shame. The soldiers who were ready to run away from the battlefield moments ago realized how wrong they were by thinking to betray their queen and their homeland.
“We are tired. This is the third war in a span of one month. We have not met our families properly. We are homesick and tired. We are anxious what would happen if we lose.” A young lad spoke up fearfully.
“My dear, we are soldiers. It is our duty to serve our motherland and save our people from the clutches of those evil rivals who wish to usurp the throne of our queen. If we lose hope today, we might not only lose our families but our people would be subjected to the brutalities no one can imagine. We will be putting the honor of our women on stake today if we lose after all, we don’t know what would happen if God forbid, our rival usurps the throne.” Veerbhadra explained ultimately convincing the soldiers to fight back zealously.
After successfully igniting the lost passion in the hearts of the soldiers. Veerbhadra was about to leave for the battlefield when he realized Avdhesh Singh Ranawat was back with the queen. A satisfying smile crept on his face when he glanced at the face of his queen which had the glow of optimism.
“Who are you?” the commander-in-chief of the army asked him with suspicion in his eyes.
Veerbhadra’s breath hitched looking at queen in front of him. “Maanav Pratap Singh, My Lord”, Veerbhadra spoke bowing his head in respect. His heart was thumping loudly. He had never anticipated to get caught. He knew Aparajita would slash him into pieces and feed them to the stray dogs if she realized he was the prince of Shivgarh.
“Brilliant and sensible just like your father”. Avdhesh mumbled praising him with a soft smile on his face while the queen kept looking at his hazel green eyes.
The queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore was an intelligent woman. Though, she had a bad day today yet, she was not a fool to not recognize the pair of those hazel green eyes which had certainly stolen her heart at a point of time.
“Show your face”, Aparajita demanded with mixed emotions in her eyes. With anxiety, disgust and hatred for the prince of Shivgarh, she was shocked to the core.
Has Veerbhadra allied with Vikrant to witness the downfall of Vijaygarh? How can he stoop so low?
With thousands of such questions popping in her mind, Aparajita was disgusted at the owner of those hazel green eyes whom she admired at a point of time.
♥️♥️♥️
Hi everyone
Good morning 🌼
Sorry for the delay😍
I love Veer for this but Aparajita is not wrong too. 😅
How is the update? 🤔
If someone is interested into mystery genre, do try a story written by me. It is called ERROR. I have made its entry in ONC 2021 ♥️
Do not forget to VOTE, COMMENT AND SHARE 😍😍😍😍😍
Love you all
💜
YOU ARE READING
Love and Redemption
Historical Fiction⭐ FEATURED ON OFFICIAL WATTPAD PROFILES ⭐ It is said, "Everything is fair in love and war", but falling in love amidst animosity is exotic, painful but indeed selfless. ❤❤❤ Love is an emotion just like hate. This is a journey of turmoil between lov...
