Himprayag
Raja Indraditya looked up in surprise, his eyes moving from Rudradev to Mithilesh.
"You wish to travel instead of Rudradev to Vayuprastha? Why?" he asked.
Mithilesh bowed respectfully and replied, "I think that if a member from the royal family went with such an important proposal to another country, the chances of us getting a yes from them would be higher, right? Rudradev has been kind enough to explain the process in detail to me and I feel fairly confident that I can execute it well, procuring a beneficial deal for our country."
The king looked at him and said musingly, "So this is the way that you have chosen. Hmm, not bad. But Vayuprastha may be the easiest of the trio nations to crack. I don't think the other two would agree so quickly for us to establish our financial institutes in their countries. Saptsindhu is known for being suspicious of everyone, even their own shadows. As for Chandragarh, they have a fairly decent system in place, already. Why would they agree to ours? You need to think deeply about these challenges."
Mithilesh understood that his father had approved of his method of showing his suitability for becoming the monarch but also, in the same breath had informed him that he would need to establish the system in all the three big neighbouring countries for it to be counted as a success.
"Your advice is invaluable and I won't disappoint you, father. I will make preparations to travel by the end of this week, itself. I am leaving Rudradev behind because you may need him here as your advisor," he said and bowed again.
He had told the minister to be his eyes and ears to keep him informed of what Ahilya intended to do while he was gone.
Saptsindhu
Shaurya sat across from Ratansingh in one of the rooms in the brothel. It was different from the one where he had been few hours ago. His senior was looking at him with an apologetic expression from across the small table between them.
"I spoke with the err… people on the other side. They are more than willing to welcome you to their corner but require a proof in good faith. So maybe you can share some information which you had hinted at earlier which would make them feel at ease and it would show your sincerity," said Ratansingh in a persuasive tone.
Shaurya remained stoic and replied, "Don't take this the wrong way, senior. But I will give the information directly to the Saptsindhu officials."
Ratansingh frowned and asked him for the reason.
"What if you decide to take the information from me and give it to them to further your career as a defecting spy and treat me like a sacrificial lamb in the process. Sorry, but I am in a precarious situation and this information is my only bargaining chip," he said with an unapologetic shrug.
Ratansingh's expressions twisted and he couldn't help sneering, "For someone who has been thrown out from one country and is begging in another, your attitude doesn't have the right amount of subservience."
Shaurya gave a mirthless laugh, "Coming from the mouth of a traitor, these are some rich words."
Sensing his belligerence, Ratansingh backtracked a little and said, "Let me see what I can do. Till then, stay put here and enjoy. The tab is on me."
Once he had left, Shaurya snickered. He kept his posture straight as he waited for the other guy to return. In his estimation, he would not be here for long. Conscious of the prying eyes through the near invisible peep hole in the door, he didn't do anything out of the ordinary.
The official mole in this brothel whose allegiance had belonged to Chandragarh earlier, was converted and turned against it by the Saptsindhu administration. He was a prostitute with a dodgy past and that's why had been used by Chandragarh in the first place.
Shaurya didn't know whether he had swayed Ratansingh or was it the other way around. It didn't matter though. The older woman whose room Shaurya had been in earlier, was the one who informed Prithvi about the same, sometime back. But no action was taken against either of the turncoats nor was their shift in loyalties informed by Prithvi to the Suraksha Chakra team because he had wanted to see their game plan.
Shaurya had received the orders sometime back. Phase two of the plan was a go.
Vayuprastha
Abhimanyu bowed respectfully as Kritika came back to her luxurious quarters.
"Have you received any update?" she asked him.
He shook his head and said, "Your father seems to be quiet at the moment and doesn't plan to take any action. I have been informed that he is busy with something else right now, something big. But I couldn't find out what it was."
Kritika nodded with visible relief, "It doesn't matter as long as he doesn't intend to attack Vayuprastha. Actually, I was curious about his extent of humiliation by my actions. Would he be willing to spend money, energy and resources in getting his errant daughter back?"
After being quiet for a few seconds, she continued, "I don't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed by his decision. Send a message to Raja Shaligram that I want to get that appraisal of the gems done quickly. I guess he also has been waiting to see my father's reaction before getting further invested in my cause."
Abhimanyu nodded but then hesitated, "Are you sure that you don't want to stop here? This is not a bad way to live."
Kritika raised her eyes to look at him and he could see the burning intensity in there. Without saying anything further, he walked out. She sat down on the creaking wooden swing, overlooking the lotus pond. A pair of swans took flight, causing ripples in the water. She stared at the them, but her thoughts were far far away.