Himprayag
As things stood today, the entire army had thrown its weight behind Ahilya while a large part of the royal court was in favor of the young prince. All the situation needed was a tipping balance which could fall on either of the sides, making that person win.
Mithilesh believed that Rudradev was the catalyst who could turn the tide in his favour. He had the king's ear and also worked with other kingdoms on behalf of Himprayag, making him a worthy partner.
"I am only a small cog in this vast kingdom. I think you have over-estimated my influence or rather the lack of it on such an important decision," he responded humbly.
Mithilesh gave a small smile and said, "Anyone who can make the king change his trade policy with just one suggestion of his, is not a small cog. Nevertheless, I am not asking you to make the King change it, just pledge your loyalty to me. That's all."
Rudradev had deliberately always kept his stance apolitical ever since he took over the position from his father. He was well aware of the animosity between the siblings, like everyone else and had chosen to not join any camps. But it seemed that he wouldn't be able to escape it any longer.
Eastern Zilla
When Ramanujam warned them about lack of sleep and its effects couple of nights ago, Mriga hadn't realised the full import of it or how lethal could the effects be. Now that her face was inches away from dipping into the egg curry in her bowl, thankfully, she snapped out of the zombie state and looked around. The only solace was that she wasn't the only one feeling the symptoms.
Anyone who was a human would feel those and hence the conclusion reached was that the organism sitting in a ramrod position opposite to her chair wasn't a human.
Actually, it was the pressure of his fingers at the right time which had prevented her face going headlong into the food bowl but she only discovered that now and pushed his palm away from her forehead.
"Guys, at this rate, we would be thrown out of the program. Everyone has either failed or performed abysmally at the tasks assigned to us, today. Mriga, had your wayward arrow hit Amrapali guruji by any chance, no one would have been able to save you. How could your target move from North to East in a fraction of a second?" Abhirath sounded stern, and more importantly, awake.
"Do you suffer from insomnia, per chance and hence are unaffected by the situation?" Nirbhay asked him quietly.
Abhirath didn't even bother responding to him and continued to glare at the four of them.
"This is so UNFAIR! How am I expected to function the entire day and night surviving on total three hours of sleep?" Mriga grumbled.
"Two days ago, was the last time that I remember how a bed feels like," Vandit cried.
Abhirath shook his head at their exaggerated behaviour but before he could say anything further, Lata came there.
"It seems that the program is proving to be too strenuous for all of you. So, the chief has allotted the rest of the day off for the five of you. I thought that maybe we could go for some popular sight-seeing and taste the local cuisine of Eastern zilla. What do you all think?" she asked them with a smile.
It was on the tip of Nirbhay's tongue to say something but Abhirath's kick shut him up.
"We are very grateful for the reprieve. Please do convey our thanks to Guruji. And we apologise for causing you extra trouble of taking us around," Abhirath said charmingly.
All four of them felt their eyebrows touch their hairlines. Look who was a pro at being a chameleon. Had they not seen this version of Abhirath with their own eyes, none of them would have believed it. The harsh dictator of few seconds ago had vanished into thin air and replaced by a handsome, smooth talker.
Even Lata seemed affected by the full blast of his charm and coloured a little. Shaking her head, she said that it was no trouble and she would meet them in fifteen minutes at the exit door.
The minute she left their table, both Vandit and Mriga looked at each other as if on a cue and rushed to speak first.
"My stomach…"
"My head…"
"Both of you dare not utter a single syllable. Everyone is going to accompany the senior and make appropriate grateful remarks. Understood?" Abhirath growled under his breath.
"Wow, look at this guy! Where did that soft, cute look go which was on your face a minute ago? You are such a bully!" Nirbhay said.
"Actually, I don't think that the senior would mind if it was only you with her on this dat… ahem, this sightseeing trip. So if you like, we can give it up for you," Chiranjeev said in his usual nonchalant way.
If laser had been discovered in that era, Chiranjeev surely would have been hit by those laser beams shooting out of Abhirath's eyes.
Mriga suddenly perked up at the hint of gossip and looked from one guy to another. Had she missed something? Vandit gave a warning signal to her that she shouldn't even think about opening her mouth in this situation and being his good friend, she understood it loud and clear. If no other learning came out of this internship, at least she would become an expert at reading body language better, or so she consoled herself.
In the end, all of them plastered a wide smile on their faces and dragged their tired bodies towards the exit.