Dëerios

II•III |The Widowed Throne|

Kashi did not know what to do with the tattered clothes. The king had wanted to discard them but she had kept the remainder of their night endeavors. For what, she couldn't decide. Most of them were her tunics and trousers. He had held a special glee in ripping them apart. And Kashi, perhaps, knew that burning them then would have been a way of acceptance of what he did to her when the entire Continent slept.

Burning them now, however, meant leaving him in the past. Where he belonged.

"Sunder?" she called her handmaiden. Sunder came in hurriedly, bowing deep. "Bring a basket, please."

Kashi moved to sort the clothes from the trunk when the gatekeeper announced, "The Royal Advisor, Shrimant Gandhar Gupt."

"Let him in."

The Royal Advisor appeared minutes after, sweat glistening on his scaled skin. Drinking in his hassled semblance, she knew the reason behind his arrival. With a shake of her head, she went back to inspecting the clothes.

When Gandhar began with the assembly this morning, she waved a hand, dismissively and motioned him to sit. He looked exasperated at her casual approach but took a seat by the fire anyhow."It can be potentially dangerous for your nation, Maharani, if you threaten your Ministers in such a manner."

"I never threatened them, Gandhar Ji. I only reminded them of the consequences of treason."

"Are you certain that there is inside work at play?"

Kashi thought back to the war council, when Veer's father was still alive, discussing the change in formation of the guards in the palace in an irregular pattern. The king was often made to change his chambers once every two weeks and the room could be anywhere but the information was only known by the Army General and the Captain of the Guard. Unless...

Unless there were spies or traitors.

"Yes."

He sighed, squeezing the bridge of his beak. "How do you intend to find the traitor?"

"It would all be known in due time."

Gandhar did not respond but she noticed him opening and closing his mouth, hesitating. He sat straighter in his seat, shifting his tail nestled beneath him. After a long moment, he said, "The death of the king has left us in a precarious position, Maharani."

"And?"

"The Throne cannot remain vacant for long."

The unspoken words hung in the air between them- there is no heir. No one to succeed him. 

Kashi swallowed, dreading the place  the conversation was heading towards. "It would not be. I will announce my coronation soon."

A glimmer of sorrow shined in his eyes. He breathed heavily. "The Continent will never accept a woman as its ruler."

Kashi almost snapped the basket in her hand.

"For that very reason, I request you to conduct elections for a new king."

Her heart sank deeper into her chest even as she said, "And watch this nation plummet into ruin? Again?"

"You saw how the Nawabs received you." He shook his head. "This will never work."

Her fists collided with the trunk and Sunder backed away, wide-eyed. "You should have said that to my mother when you came to invite me to this doom!"

"Maharani." He gathered his patience, a result of serving the Throne for decades. "I came to you that night only because I deemed you worthy to be the king's wife. I saw a woman with an exceptional fire. A woman who would anything to protect the honour of her husband should the need arise."