Ruthless

↠Solah↞

❝All I am saying is that there is a reason why the Queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard and why you need to kill the King to win the game.❞

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THE sun was barely above the horizon as the night embraced the sky.

Shree and Aziza walked inside the monarch's chambers with a perplexed expression. Aziza's wounds were now properly bandaged and she looked well-rested while Shree's bloated face now looked a bit more relieved now that she had stopped crying.

"You wanted to see us Aki?" Shree voiced, her voice still a bit hoarse.

Akira turned away from the window to face her friends with a solemn expression, "Yes." The queen walked a few steps ahead, her eyes set over her clasped hands, "I wanted to discuss our next plan of action."

Aziza and Shree exchanged a knowing glance before Aziza spoke up, "We assume you have already thought something through?"

Akira looked up from her hands to meet the commander's eyes, "Yes... actually no. Not really, I suppose. I need you opinions before I decide on anything."

"Of course" Shree nodded with a small smile.

"We don't have enough force to protect the palace from further attacks, I assume you both know that." Akira asked and the two girls nodded, "Good."

"Some troops are still in Ekam nagar," The Maharani continued, "Some of them left the castle during attack, some injured, some dead and so on. The point being that we need more people."

Aziza popped her knuckles absent-mindedly, very interested in what the queen had to say, "Go on."

"We need more people and..." she paused, "the truth is, we don't have nearly enough force to protect our kingdom. There's no denying that fact, even a fool can tell when he's about to lose."

"So... what are we supposed to do now?" Shree exchanged a confused glance with the two other girls, "Ask for troops from other kingdoms?"

"God no," Aziza rolled her eyes, easily dismissing the other girl's suggestion, "Asking for help from other kingdoms is what started this mess. Mahapuram is the proof of that."

"Well then what do you suggest Aziza?" Shree asked, her tone harsh, "We don't really have options here. It's not like people would just magically show up to help us."

Aziza responded with the same fierceness, "I know that, but you are suggesting that we give up our kingdom." She scoffed, "I mean after all the stuff we went through to protect this kingdom, you want to give everything up?"

Shree's voice jumped up an octave as she defended her words, "That's not what I am saying at all. It's like you're not listening to me. I simply gave a suggestion, okay."

"A very stupid suggestion." The commander said under her breath.

"You know what?" Shree squinted at the girl in front of her, "You're mad at everything that has been happening and you're taking it out on me, it's not like I have enjoyed the past few days."

Both of them argued back and forth – finally snapping under the circumstances they had encountered in the past days.

"Oh please," Aziza waved her hands vaguely, dismissing Shree's words again, "you suffered the least out of all of us Shree. What exactly have you lost in this whole exchange?"

The curly-haired girl's eyes widened, her eyes yet again on the brink of tears, "Are you kidding me? Do you even think before you talk? I am so sorry I wasn't the one who lost the boy I loved and you did."