Royal Palace, Chandragarh
Even though Indrani wanted to ask her about her worries, she held herself back. When the queen was ready, she would come and share it with her. Till then, she just needed to take care of her the best that she could!
"The milk is just at the perfect temperature at this moment, almost begging to be consumed right now. And the gardener assured me that the grapes are especially sweet this time round. He was so confident that I ended up making a bet with him that if they don't turn out to be sweet, he would have to cover the entire length of the royal garden by walking in squats. That forty-year-old idiot agreed to it. I am keeping my fingers crossed that you are going to find the grapes extremely sour so that I can enjoy seeing him die squatting across that long ground," Indrani sounded like a twelve-year-old wicked girl instead of the poised personal assistant to the queen.
Rani Samyukta's lips compressed as she tried to hold in the laugh at the image of the poor gardener. He had had the misfortune of expressing his liking for Indrani long ago. When Indrani got to know about it, she felt really indignant and ensure that she made his life miserable every single time since then. Had he ever looked at himself in the mirror?? Hmph!
"Why do I feel that my taste buds are under immense pressure right now? Thankfully, I don't feel like eating grapes today. Maybe a glass of milk and an apple, hmm?" Rani Samyukta said serenely but her eyes twinkled with mirth.
Indrani, who had concocted the whole story just to see her friend smile, felt that it was worth coming up with such childish nonsense once in a while.
The things one has to do for the boss, sigh!
Showing a disappointed face, Indrani replied, "As you wish, your majesty. Here are the selected answers from the exam held yesterday. It was ensured that the people checking the results were not aware of the candidates' names whose papers they were marking. But now, the names have been attached by your internal team to their answer sheets. Also, once you finish grading these, the combined results will be announced day after tomorrow."
Rani Samyukta nodded to show that she understood and got up from her chair to pick one of the rolled sheets. Indrani bit back another sigh which was going to escape her lips. She would have infinitely preferred had the queen walked to the next table which held the food. Honestly, how could this woman put work ahead of food?
Before the queen could open the scroll in her hand, the warm milk cup was thrust in her other hand. She smiled at the militant expression on Indrani's face and swallowed the words back in about having it later.
"At this rate, I will have to inform my parents that I can't show my filial piety to them even after I am relieved of my duties in the royal palace. All because of the fact that the child that I have been living with, refuses to grow up and take care of herself," Indrani lodged her complaint and then excused herself quoting that she had a lot of pending work to do as well.
Rani Samyukta smiled guiltily at her friend's biting remark but then as soon as the door shut behind her, she put the glass down and opened the scroll. She had specially cleared the first half of her day for this task and didn't want to waste any minute.
She unfolded the first scroll which held the answer to the question - "The most dangerous liars…"
Rani Samyukta had seen the four questions in a passing glance when Prithvi had sent them to her for approval much earlier on. Now, she was eager to see the answers which the contestants had come up with.
The student, Vindhya wrote, "For a country, there are three most dangerous liars. First, a guru who is dishonest in his teachings and pollutes the mind of the future generation. Second, a sycophant royal minister whose unwillingness to show the mirror to the wrongful actions of the ruler, can be really detrimental to the people of the country. Last, the ruler herself. An incapable and ignorant monarch who can't be honest about her/his shortcomings will sure take the country to its decline."
Rani Samyukta was impressed with the student's viewpoint and agreed with it wholeheartedly. She raised her eyes to take note of the name of the contestant. Ah, the daughter of the Western zilla head, Vasudev. Samyukta smiled to herself and thought that she would have expected nothing less than this from the daughter of one of the most respected and high performing zilla chiefs. She promptly put the scroll on the list of approved answers. This one was definitely worthy of going to the next round.
Next was the question which even she had wondered about when she first read it.
"In this world, who are the real travellers…"
Rani Samyukta looked at the answer sheet of a girl named Yuvati who had neatly written, "As known to the entire human race, Sun and Moon are the only ones who keep travelling perpetually, rising and setting every day, without fail. They are the real travellers."
The queen smiled as she folded the scroll back. She liked the girl's reply more so because she had used a universal truth to give her answer, making it irrefutable. The queen was beginning to appreciate Prithvi's insistence on including this category in the written process stage. It did give an indication of how a person thought.
The next few scrolls held some good answers but they were sub-par to the two which she had read early on.
Next up, she read the question which hadn't been answered satisfactorily in the previous attempts.
"What is heavier than Earth, higher than heavens, and faster than the wind?"
The answer had been attempted by someone called Vaishali and her bold writing stood out on that parchment, "A mother's forbearance is heavier than Earth, a father's sacrifice is higher than the heavens, and a mind along with its thoughts is faster than the wind."
For an unknown reason, Samyukta's heartstrings were pulled by this answer. She looked up the information on the girl who had written the answer and her lips curved up in a rueful smile. Only an orphan would think of her parents to be larger than life and see them in every sphere of her life, even during an examination paper.
Sometime later, the queen had made her way through the entire pile barring one. She picked up the last sheet with an absentminded demeanour and glanced at the answer. Her eyes widened at the words written there and a burst of laughter escaped her lips unknowingly.
The questions asked was–
"The most stubborn of all are..."
Answer by the candidate was, "Our nails and hair. We keep cutting them and they continue to grow from the time that we are born till our last breath. Really stubborn!"