A mysterious stranger

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I was ready. With the early sunrise, I walked out of my chambers. I knew what would follow from this moment forth wouldn't be easy but I had to do it. We had Arjun's most trusted charioteer take us to the city limits of Avanti. He looked torn at leaving his master in the hands of fate, but he gave me a curt nod and I understood. He was counting on me to keep Arjun safe. We told him that we would use the secret passage to reach him for anything.

The three of us were standing at the gate. Arjun went up to the guard and tried sweet talking him into letting us in. We were pretending to have come here looking for jobs. While Arjun spoke to the guard he pointed to me and told him that I was a celebrated dancer and had come here looking for a court to dance in. The guard let his eyes rake me. He asked why I had a veil over my face. Arjun had given me strict instructions to not open my mouth in front of any commoner. He replied by saying that it was a custom for women who came from the south.

The uneducated guard believed him and let us in after letting his gaze linger on me. I involuntarily shuddered. I saw Arjun barely keeping a lid on his fury. I took his hand in mine in an effort to not blow our cover. Here I was not a royal who had to be bowed to, I was just another common dancer. He got the message and Uncle Suryakant silently followed us from behind. We soon had to part ways, so Uncle Suryakant reminded us that we had to meet in the secret passageways every night.

Uncle Suryakant and Arjun walked towards the stables to find a job, while I walked further into the castle in hopes, of finding someone I could speak to for my employment. As I walked further into the castle, I was struck by the difference it had undergone. Under my father's reign, the castle was always filled with people, joy, and celebration. Now, it looked lifeless as if, all the joy had been sucked out of it and it wasn't far from the truth. I eventually saw one of the maids in the castle, I asked her who I could talk to for employment.

Her eyes widened and took on a look of sheer horror, she dragged me with her and spoke in low tones, "Now..listen. I think you are new to this place. The previous king was good and took care of his workers but a monster has taken his place. If you value your life, run away...Get out of here." I was shocked, I didn't think that the King of Chetiya would be cruel to the workers as well. Then I remembered he was called 'the merciless one' for a reason.The maid looked absolutely terrified and kept glancing over her shoulder.

Eventually, she saw a man sauntering up to her and her expression became even more horrified and she bowed to the man. She mumbled,"your grace..". The man took one look at her and then glanced at me. I wondered who this man was because he was too young to be the King of Chetiya.

He asked her,"who is she?" while pointing to me.

She shot me an apologetic glance and stuttered,"sh..sh..she..came he...re in search for...emp..emp..employment." He smirked at her terror and studied me carefully.

His eyes took a demonic glint and asked me,"what can you do?" I recognized that glint and was careful with my answer, I bowed my head while gritting my teeth and replied in a sweet voice, "I am a dancer, sir." He smiled as if this was the answer he was looking for.

He told the maid to show me my chambers and whispered something in her ears. She nodded and he sauntered off. She let out a deep sigh and gestured for me to follow her. She took me to a room in the servant quarters. I felt humiliated but my father's lessons in humility came back to me. When I saw the maid was about to leave, I asked her who the man was. She looked furious and gritted her teeth, "he is a cruel man, he derives pleasure from torturing the peasants as he increases taxes, he is the prime minister." She turned around and told me to try my best to stay away from him and walked off.

My mind was in a jumbled mess. Having a prime minister was not unheard of but highly unusual. My father had one because he believed in giving the people a voice and allowed them to elect the prime minister but the King of Chetiya was an absolutist and even if he had a prime minister, there couldn't be much that he could do. Yet, the maid looked absolutely terrified of him. I looked around my room and decided to rest as I had to go to the secret passage at night. All this was one big twisted scenario and I intended to get to the bottom of it.

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I crept in the hallways at night. It was dark but I knew this place inside out even though it no longer bore any resemblance to my childhood home. The lone torchlights here and there cast creepy shadows. The walls were stripped of our tapestries and portraits. They looked bare, haunted and lifeless. I walked out of the kitchen door and looked around for any spies. When I found no one I opened the trapdoor to the passage. I crept inside the passage and saw a light inside. I was on alert, it could just be Uncle Suryakant or Arjun but I had to be careful. I pulled out my dagger from my waist and hid behind a boulder.

I slowly peeked and saw Uncle Suryakant. When I was about to announce my presence, I felt my hands being captured and a knife at my throat. My breath caught in my throat and I heard a deep familiar voice drawl, "what are you doing here?" I couldn't place this voice so I made sure to mask my voice and spoke in a low, scared whisper, "please don't hurt me, this won't happen again." While I was speaking I elbowed my attacker in the abdomen, I took advantage of his momentary shock and had my dagger pointed at him. I was surprised to find that my attacker was none other than Arjun.

He wore an amused expression and had the cheek to say, "for a dancer you sure have a lot of strength, that jab knocked out the air inside me."

I glared at him and said in a low dangerous whisper, "my years of dance lessons have taught me important lessons in balance and precision which you clearly lack." I tightened my dagger at his neck and he put his hands up in surrender.

The noise had alerted Uncle Suryakant who stood ready with a sword. The sight was ridiculous, Uncle Suryakant dressed in the garb of a stable boy holding a long ornate sword. He coughed and looked at us, his eyes were twinkling. It showed that he was finding Arjun's situation hilarious. He spoke, "child you might want to let him go." I gave him a threatening look and put my dagger back in the sheath. All of us took a seat where Uncle Suryakant was previously seated. Arjun was also dressed as a stable boy, but he managed to make even the coarse cloth look like silk robes on himself. Then Arjun asked me the lamest question you can expect anyone to ask in a secret meeting in a ditch.

"Avantika doesn't your veil obstruct your view."

"You know what Arjun, you can find out when I choke you in it if you don't shut up,"I angrily bit out at him.

Uncle Suryakant coughed and sat between us. He said, "our time is limited so we should make the most of it."

I took on a more serious expression as I asked, "did any of you find out anything important?" Both men shook their head in disappointment and looked at me.

"I found out about a prime minister. The people in the castle are terrified of him." Their faces took on a grim look because they also understood the implications of his presence. Arjun spoke next, "Avantika, out of all of us you are the one who is going to be in public. You have to be careful and I am getting a feeling that there is more to this annexation than we know."  

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