The Ballad Of Nirvana

chapter 17

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Chapter 17

Indriya honestly did not know how to react when she saw the Queen of Bhadra, who was flanked by Mekhala and Lekha. She was in absolute awe to see how the Lady was dressed. She was lean, compact and most of all gracefully strong. She looked like a goddess. She was wearing a beautiful parrot green and maroon saree that complimented her curves and carried a long gold hilted sword, the sword reached Indriya's shoulder.

Indriya didn't bow to the queen, she was regarded as the heir to a kingdom and a soon-to-be queen, so she deemed it would not be right for her to bow to the queen.

Indriya joined her hands near her heart and gave the slightest nod with a graceful, polite smile, the queen returned the gesture and the smile with a slight bob of her head.

Indriya's heart was threatening to tear out of her chest, and her stomach churned like she was on a roller coaster ride for the past two hours, but all those years in dramatics, taught her how to act on a stage with thousands of eyes watching. So she kept on with her world-class performance.

"I am very pleased to be in your presence, Heir of Nirvana, how is my son entertaining you?" The queen said, her voice as calm as the sea before a tsunami.

'My son?'

"Very Well, Your Highness. He is... interesting. I hope your journey was a pleasant one." Indriya lowered her voice into a very quiet one, but it was not like the Queen's; it was like water on simmering coals.

"Oh yes! It was a rather pleasant one, Princess. I am sorry but I am afraid I do not know your name, Child. My son didn't have the time to write me proper messages." She eyed Agni, who slightly stiffened beside Indriya.

"Yes, your Highness, Prince Taamas has been quite occupied with me... training me, these days. So I should be the one to apologise. I am Indriya Vardhi Vatsalya." The Queen now looked at her with feline curiosity and leaned forward in her maroon cushioned armchair.

"Oh! That is why I am here. How is your training going, child?" The queen drawled. "Do you have Dharmavadini's powers or your father's powers?"

Indriya did not like the way the queen took her mother's name, she purred.

"Both I suppose. I am sorry, your highness but are you here only to know how I am honing my skills?" Indriya asked a genuine question.

"Oh, no, Princess, I have come to celebrate Janmashtami with you, my son and his friends." There was no hint of challenge there, but Indriya had her doubts.

The queen was here to spend Janmashtami in her husband's second wife's mansion with her stepson. The Taamas dynasty was complicated enough but Agni's father was the heart of all complications before and after the invasion of Nirvana. The Queen would be a fool if she thought Indriya would even let her guard down even for a second.

"It is a pleasure, Your highness, to celebrate the festival in your presence." Indriya looked at Mekhala and Lekha and then she met the Queen's gaze. Her dark eyes were like that of storm clouds, but her lackadaisical posture made her look harmless, almost like any other woman. But then she looked at Indriya like a Queen would look at another Queen. Respect, Challenge and Pride, were the words that she was an incarnation of.

"Princess, tell me how it was living all your life between those low life mortals?" Mekhala asked, suddenly with mocking politeness in her voice. Indriya smiled in a mocking way, not at Mekhala, but at the Queen who was making her ask the questions. Indriya almost felt Agni begging her to calm down.