Patrani (The Chief Queen)

Hungry tiger and tigeress

Aaryavati's POV

"Your Majesty, I believe that Veerti ji must be tired. We can have the match tomorrow. Why to hurry? Its just a friendly match." I heard Utsav talking to Aaryaveer as I advanced towards them. However, my husband gave him a deadly look that suggested that Utsav must back off.

"No, we shall have the match. Right here. RIGHT NOW." Said Aaryaveer as he bestowed me with unwavering eye contact.

"As His Majesty wishes" I said silently as I stood in front of him. Earlier, I had guessed that it was his ego, challenging me for the duel. However, I now realized that my Aaryaveer i.e. my Veer had refused to shake off his suspicion that I was his wife, after all he was an honorable man and would never force a woman to reveal her face, even for the sake of fulfilling his mental trauma. Perhaps I could fight with him and defeat him. That would completely erase whatever ideas he had regarding me. Like I had mentioned earlier, winning a simple friendly match would serve the purpose of commanding more respect from him and his men.

Utsav presented a variety of swords to the King as I looked at them.

"Veerti ji, what kind of sword would you like to choose?" asked Aaryaveer as he chose a beautiful but deadly sword encrusted with red and blue stones. It was his favorite and he would use it only on the special occasions, like fighting a formidable enemy. I couldn't resist but internally smiling at that. It MEANT he considered me to be dangerous. Though in the normal circumstances I wouldn't have preferred such an observation but looking at the prevailing circumstances, I was flattered.

"This seems better." I examined all the weapons and finally fell in love with a katar (dagger). It was H shaped, encrusted with green gem stone (my favorite). I could see Aaryaveer looking at me with disbelief while Utsav and Nakul snickering in the background.

"I admire your confidence, Veerti" Said Brahamadutta, who was at the loss of words.

"Thank you." I said and looked towards the sandy ground where I was supposed to fight my husband.

"You seem to underestimate my talent, Veertiji." remarked Aaryaveer, annoyed looking at my dagger.

"Your Majesty, I believe katar is more dangerous than sword. Sometimes we tend to overlook the qualities of things that come small in size... or stature." I remarked and immediately bit my tongue. I should have had let his comment pass. Aaryaveer didn't say anything and we both chose an armor for us.

But whatever I had said was true. We, women lived in times when there were occasional wars or required to travel to unhospitable places. So it was fairly common for us to have daggers, hidden inside our clothing, for the crises.

Soon we were on the ground whilst Utsav announced the commencement of the duel. As soon as the match started, Aaryaveer started attacking me. It was fairly tough to fight with the kind of strength he had. Particularly because he possessed sword and dodging was taking a toll on my energy. I had armor to protect myself but the hit-and-miss was turning to be a deadly affair.

A warrior patiently looks for the opportunities to turn the tide into his favor. And I had finally found mine. The winds had started blowing against my direction and I realized that the sand was getting into my eyes and disturbing my vision. So I turned around and managed to put Aaryaveer in my earlier direction. Now the sand had started getting into his eyes too as the wind blew faster against his direction. Within a few seconds, I kicked his hand and the sword fell from his hand. Before he could do anything, I used my left leg to kick it out of the arena. Now he was left only with his armor.

We both heard the sound of thunder and I realized that it wouldn't take time for downpour to grace us in its abundance.

"Lets finish this soon, Your Majesty." I gave him a wicked smile that reached till my eyes. He didn't say anything.

I started attacking him with my dagger but he started the game of dodging. I never knew that a man with such a powerful built could be so agile. I could literally see his muscles reflex from the back of my eye and a wicked thought of how he moved beneath me, during our lovemaking flashed into my head. I muttered a few curse words to get those thoughts out of my hide.

"Nakul was right. You are sort of a dreamy person, I must say." remarked Aaryaveer, his dimples showing as he dodged yet one of my attack. However my dagger managed to touch his chest and yet to my horror, I could see the blood oozing out. It didn't help my injured heart but I decided to continue anyway.

Suddenly he moved to my side and in a swift action, caught my left hand that held the armor. He snatched it away from me and threw it far from me. During the whole process, I went into defence and accidentally slashed my dagger on his wrist. He yelped in pain and decreased the proximity between us by standing opposite to me. Now he had an armor and I had my dagger.

He looked at each other, like hungry tiger and tigress, ready to pounce at each other. However I realised that my attack on his hand was severe.

Suddenly a thunderbolt decided to peep from the sky, marking its impressive presence. The downpour began and despite of the rain, the blood continued to ooze from Aaryaveer's hand. I felt bad for him.

"Your Majesty, you are hurt. Let's stop the match." I was worried.

"No. A warrior never gives up!" He looked at me challengingly.

"Aaryaveer! I command you to stop the battle! NOW."

We heard the sound of Aaryaveer's Guru, Harisenji. He had fallen asleep in his tent and therefore hadn't come to see the friendly match. However I reckoned that he must have heard the sound of thunder and have peeped out to know the weather.

"But Guruji! I am perfectly capable of fighting." Aaryaveer folded his hands and requested.

"No. We don't want you to get tired, injured and exhausted even before the commencement of the battle. Look at your hand! Go and get some ointment. And everyone, from now, I don't want any friendly matches. We have to prepare for the battle!" He ordered.

"Before you all leave, we shall draw our battle plan tomorrow morning. Even Veerti needs to know what we have planned." Said Harisenji as we parted.

We all bowed to him and everyone started returning to their tents. The downpour had increased its momentum and the idea of getting sick was unappealing. Besides, my drenched opaque clothes kind of stuck to my body, highlighting my figure. So I wanted to rush to my tent as soon as possible.

"Veertiji, you are a great fighter. I give you full credit for that." Smiled Aaryaveer as we both walked towards our tent.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" I smiled as I struggled to keep my face cover intact.

We wished each other good night and parted to our respective directions. I hoped that now all his suspicions had vanished. Little did I know what was stored for me.