Chiranjeev took the package from Mrignayani's hand and brought out her gift. Everyone's mouths fell open.
He held a set of white clothes which looked worn and were muddy and crumpled. He was confused about the reason why the teacher would give her something which seemed like an insult rather than a compliment. Abhirath stared at the garment as well, perplexed. Vandit looked upset on her behalf. It was only Nirbhay who noted the smile spreading on her face and the look of gratitude which she directed towards the teacher.
She grabbed the clothes back from Chiranjeev's hand and stuffed them unceremoniously inside the bag. She looked at Shaurya first and then at the small shop where she had metamorphosed into a better version of herself.
Shaurya had already started to walk away. He asked them to pick their bags and follow him. It was time to report back to Gurukul. Mriga didn't pay much attention to the conversation around her. She was lost in her thoughts enough not to notice the journey back to the school. So it was a complete surprise when she realised that they had arrived at the entrance gate already. She held back, waiting for everyone to finish their farewells with Shaurya.
"I will wait for you inside the gate. Let's go in together," Vandit said to her, softly.
She smiled and said, "I will take some time. Please go ahead. Will see you at the Admin department in a bit."
Shaurya had finished speaking with everyone else and was waiting for her by the time she came up to him.
"Are you alright? You have been extremely quiet since the last evening," he finally let his concern speak through his words.
"I wasn't feeling well up until sometime ago," she said cryptically.
She looked at him with utmost respect and spoke humbly, "thank you for the gift. I have also prepared something for you."
He looked at her empty hands and then raised an eyebrow in enquiry.
"It's a bunch of promises. I promise to not ask frivolous questions ever again. I promise to follow your teachings to the best of my ability, henceforth. I also promise to wait for you to seek me out for the next assignment, whenever that you think that I am ready and worthy," she said huskily.
It was Shaurya's turn to look at her in amazement. He could hardly recognise this poised, mature girl in front of him. Before he could think of a suitable reply, she bowed deeply to him and went inside the gate.
Mriga suddenly felt embarrassed after uttering those impassioned words to Shaurya and quickly turned away after bidding him farewell. He could only stare at her retreating back till she didn't disappear from his line of vision.
She hurried back to the hostel to keep her bag in the room before rushing towards the Admin building.
Saraswati was there in her usual spot. It seemed Mriga had been the first one to arrive there.
"Oh! The boys left before me. Haven't they reached here yet?" she wondered in surprise.
"The four of them have gone to the sports ground with Ramanujam. You need to go inside. Prithvi sir is waiting for you," Saraswati answered her unspoken question without any inflection in her voice.
Mrignayani's heart started hammering suddenly. Was he going to ask her to leave the team? She entered the now familiar, musty room with trepidation. She walked towards Prithvi who was sitting on a chair, scanning through some papers. She bent down to touch his feet in respect.
"Bless you, my child. Come take a seat," he indicated towards the chair kept opposite him.
A wooden walking stick was resting next to him. Mriga recalled that he always walked, leaning on it though nothing seemed wrong with his leg on the surface.
"Why am I thinking about such irrelevant, inconsequential thing at the moment?" she mentally rolled her eyes, chiding herself.
Then she wiped her clammy hands surreptitiously on her dress and took a deep calming breath.
"I am sure that you have wondered enough number of times in the past few weeks about the fact that you were trained differently from the other team members. I am here to tell you the reason for it, today. I think by now you have at least figured out the fact that the main purpose of this department is not running a courier service for the Gurukul," he stopped to wait for her reaction.
She nodded her head vigorously and he took it as his cue to continue talking, "for now, all you need to know is that this is a secret organization working towards the protection of Chandragarh. A team so low-key that even the people officially guarding the country don't know about it. And we work very hard to keep it that way."
Mrignayani tried to keep her features impassive. She had suspected something similar but had not expected to be told about it in so many words.
"On the basis of the observation and evaluation of your tasks, I have decided to give you a chance at training for what is probably the biggest honour one can hope for in a lifetime – to serve one's country, unselfishly. But let me warn you - if you are looking for your moment of fame, this is not the place for you. Nobody from this team has ever received a reward or recognition, publicly. In fact, most of our teammates also don't know about each other's individual accomplishments. We do our work purely for the love of Chandragarh's glory and safety. Now, what I want to know if you have it in you to carry this weight on your shoulders," Prithvi looked at her with quiet intensity.