|| Sanguine - Book 2 of The Rajkumari Trilogy

Chapter 5 (part one)

Chapter 5 (part one)
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"Are you sure you got everything?" Charu questioned.

"Yes, Bhagini," Suryakanti replied for seemingly the tenth time in fifteen minutes.

"Your dresses? Your blanket?"

"Obviously, they were in the tent and we took everything in them."

"You sure you didn't leave a dagger or sword lying around in the woods?"

"No! I didn't, will you stop check listing everything? I'm sixteen now and I am responsible and sensible, thank you." She groaned.

Charu pursed her lips, looking ahead as they approached the saddled horses. "Well if you were sensible, you wouldn't have lead the dacoit into the forest all alone, would you?

Surya's jaw dropped. "That was the most sensible thing to do back then!"

"Risking your life? Especially when the elders forbade you from it? Oh sure, now that's sensible." Charu rolled her eyes.

"Ugh-I-no-I wasn't- ugh! I just killed a really big bad villain and all you do is scold me that I'm immature? If I ran towards you, you would be exposed!"

"That's exactly what an immature person would say," the older woman retorted. "Besides, no woman would use the words 'big bad villain' to describe a ruthless, dangerous dacoit. A little girl would, like you." She flipped her braid over her shoulder turning away as she loaded the luggage on her horse.

"Urgh, Charu I-"

"What's that ruckus there at the back? Keep quiet ladies!" A senior Bhagini's distant voice sounded from ahead the rows of horses and carts.

Surya smirked. "See? She called me a lady!"

"Oh, and you too Chhaya, not just the other women." The voice came back leaving Surya grumbling and Charu grinning.

"Hop on," Charu extended a hand.

Suryakanti completely ignored it, seating herself onto her own horse. "I have my own horse, thank you not so much."

Charu looked away from her friend's sour face in a failed attempt to suppress her giggles.

The familiar loud, booming, conch-like sound caught their attention. Ah, checking time...

"Alright. One!" Bahula called out, trotting on her horse and she moved towards the back of the group.

After a short blast of the shrill pocket-whistle, she called out the next numbers, finally landing on the last two. Two sharp blasts were thrown from the back, one after another, one whistle purposefully sounding forced and shorter than the rest. Surya turned up her chin and clenched her teeth slightly behind her lips.

The horn told them that they would be leaving at the next call. As soon as it was blown, Surya grabbed the reins of Vayasya, trying to move forward and away from Charu. But alas, the trail was far too small and she didn't want to start away, get a scolding, and prove her friend's point.

So she reluctantly stayed back, pretending to be deeply focused on the sighs of the wind, the rustle of dry leaves, whispers of the branches, chirps of the night crickets, and the flicker of fireflies. But when Charulatha did not speak to her for a while, she gave up and turned to throw sharp glares at her instead.

Surya couldn't hold back her question anymore after a while. "What happened later on?" she blurted out.

Charu raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. "Well," she began, "We hid behind the tent, Uma Bhagini, Bahula Bhagini, and I,"

The dacoits pulled open the flap of the tent, letting the faint glow of light flood in, and marched in like they owned the place. One man studied the two dark figures fast asleep on the floor. He smirked, gesturing to the other man to capture them from the other side. They peeled open the covers to reveal... clothes? 

Their eyes widened in alarm. 

It was a distraction. 

One opened his mouth to shout out and alert the other men but was swiftly pulled into the back of the tent, hands of fabric clamping on his throat, choking him down.

The others too suffered the same fate - mouths were stuffed with the tent fabric, stifling their screams, as swords were driven into their guts.

The women moved on to the other tents and when they saw shadows approach them, they did the same. Unfortunately, one man managed to let out a loud shout, grabbing the attention of his fellow mates.

Few women made annoyed faces as they huddled up behind another tent. When the rest three men rushed into the tent, they cornered them and within moments, they lay dead.

"Impressive," Surya commented, as her eyebrows shot up.

Charu nodded. "It is Bahula Bhagini's tactics we follow, after all."

The younger woman scowled. "It's her idea?"

"What do you have against her? I mean, she's a little strict But-"

A scoff interrupted Charu's flow, "More like what she has against me. A little strict? She scolds me all the time, she picks every chance to rebuke me as she can. She treats me like a naughty five-year-old."

"Well... I'm not sure I disagree with her on the last part." She laughed.

Surya glared at her until she sobered up. "But I guess you're right. She is harder on you than anyone else."

"Wait," Charu stopped her. "But how did you know that dacoits were coming?"

"Well, I was not sure if they were coming at first, but I knew it was their territory. I thought a metal badge of some sort was a rock. Since I saw the weird, demon symbol carved into it, I instantly knew this was a dacoits' gang's territory. And then to confirm my suspicions, I heard hoofbeats and what seemed like voices."

"It's good that you have fast legs, else they would've caught up to you there."

Surya nodded and let out a yawn. "I guess we better go to sleep?"

Charu agreed, "Yes. It's been a long time since we kept watch. I'll wake the other Bhaginyaha, you get in the cart to sleep. I'll join you shortly."

"Mhmm," Surya muttered in a daze. She stared at the bright shining moon in a sea of darkness. She could make out tiny twinkles of stars and a few bright ones too. On either side of her were dark-colored trees, bushy and all in a row.

The background soon faded as her thoughts took over the reins of her mind. 

My origin lies... elsewhere.

I'm not a from Vaishya clan or a Brahmana clan. I... I'm a Kshatriya. None of the Veer Naaris are. I'm a princess, that should make me feel happy. Elated. But why do I not?

Surya wondered for some time. Why? Why did she not feel satisfied by discovering who her parents are? Well, part of her curiosity on who they were was put to rest, but why she was still not satisfied with it, she didn't know.

Shouldn't I actually be excited? I discovered that I'm a princess and not an ordinary Vaishya, so why sho-

"Chhaya!" Charu's face appeared in front of her. She frowned. "I've called your name five times, now. Which world did you lose yourself in? Come on, let's get in. We'll talk tomorrow, right now we need some sleep."

Surya's head enthusiastically bobbed up and down to the last word as she hurried to the carriage, banishing all thoughts of her origin for later.

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How was the chapter?

Hope you all had a nice festival weekend! Sorry for the late update, I was busy with festivities, traveling, and other stuff. I got carried away with it, and almost forgot to update. Almost.

Have a great day/night!

-Chinmayi, 14.