Ruthless Rulers of Rakshatra (RRR)

Chapter 9 - Power

Parth saw the book in his hand and sighed heavily while murmuring, "Then what about ordering the new guards to not interrupt Yuvrani whenever she comes to your chamber?  He says that it is out of respect and all that, but it is just the budding phase of love".  Parth went away to complete his work.

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Back in Kalindi's chamber, Rekha and Lekha were discussing about Yuvraj's harsh behaviour for such a minor issue, when Gopi chuckled and said, "This is nothing new for the people of Rakshatra.  There had already been some courtesans gifted by various people and those girls will disappear within a week.  Before you assume, no, they are not killed.  They voluntarily went away with Yuvraj's permission.  I'm sure, this week as well, the other two courtesans will leave the palace, after looking at their partner's condition today".  

Kalindi heard her words and realised the problem.  Just then one of the other maids asked for permission to enter and on acceptance, the maid said, "Yuvrani, the head maid of the Queen is here to meet you". Kalindi nodded at her to get the maid inside.  Then that head maid said, "Greetings Yuvrani!  Queen has asked for your presence in the Kitchen".  Then Kalindi went to the kitchen with her three maids.  "Greetings Queen", Kalindi greeted her mother-in-law Oormila.  Then Oormila looked at her and said, "Hope Yuvrani had a good night.  Since this is your first day here, let's start with the Food preparation.  As such you don't need to cook everyday but just for the ritual, you should cook today.  And if you wish, you can cook whenever you want. Ok?". 

Kalindi nodded and then got the menu for the breakfast as well as lunch, which was very long.  And before leaving the kitchen, Oormila said, "Yuvrani, Royal family will have their lunch together always but breakfast and dinner time may vary for everyone.  So let's do one thing, after you are done with the breakfast, let me know.  So that we shall take the food to the Shastrashala, where Yuvraj will be practicing with the other soldiers as well as train them. Oh, if we are to take it to shastrashala then the other Soldiers will also be there and it wouldn't look good if we simply give food to one person right. So prepare the breakfast for them as well.  Ok, And before I forget, complete the breakfast preparation within two hours as we have the morning prayer arranged for you.  Let's meet in the temple for prayer".  Saying so, Queen Oormila went away.

Rekha and Lekha looked at each other warily and felt nervous about the future of their princess, as it was obvious that the Queen was using sugar coated words to make Kalindi work hard.  Anyone will naturally think that why would the soldiers feel bad if their Yuvrani brings food exclusively for their Yuvraj?  So it seems like a dumb reason to make Kalindi prepare large amount of food of so many varieties within a short period of time. Seeing that Kalindi was not reacting to it, both the maids got into work alongside Kalindi.  All the while Gopi was silently observing the situation and started helping them. 

In the middle of the work, Gopi went to Kalindi and said, "Yuvrani, actually I want to tell you something".  Seeing her nervous face, Kalindi said, "Yeah tell me Gopi".  Then Gopi said with hesitation, "Actually, Queen had asked you to take food to Yuvraj and the other training soldiers right. But, Yuvraj would have already went away from there, by the time we finish and reach there, that too after the prayer".  Kalindi was a little bit surprised as she thought that her mother-in-law's plan was to make her work hard but now it seems there is more to that.  Kalindi asked Gopi, "How do you know that?".  To which Gopi replied, "Actually Yuvrani, it's Yuvraj's regular schedule that he goes around the kingdom after the practice and most of the time have breakfast in any one of the high class hotels in the market". 

Kalindi nodded at her explanation and went on to continue with her work. Gopi too continued her work and finally they finished it on time. Kalindi didn't have much time to get ready, so she simply readjusted her dress and then went for puja (Prayer). After the puja, Oormila checked the food items and nodded appreciatively.  Then she pretended to forgetting about Yuvraj's absence and said, "I'm really sorry, Yuvrani Kalindi.  I didn't remember about his schedule. Please don't mistake me", when Kalindi nodded at her with the usual clipped smile, she continued, "Okay let's do one thing, I will ask the servants to distribute the food among the soldiers in training and also among themselves".  Then Oormila went away.