Late Night, Prithvi's House
Suryakant had been hired by his bosses after a long time, specifically for this mission, simply because Charulata had come into the field, again.
He had done meticulous planning and taken his time to approach her at the right moment. All this while, he had thought that he was in full control of all factors but it seemed that he had underestimated her terribly...
First, he had not anticipated her bringing him to this place and assumed it to be her folly. Even though his people were aware of this being Prithvi's lair, no-one had managed to step-in ever. Since Charulata brought him in an hour ago, he had only been fantasising about how to capture Prithvi, once she was dead from the poison.
In fact, he had been working on his knots surreptitiously since she had tied him up. Capturing the chief of Suraksha Chakra would have brought his unparalleled glory and restored his lost esteem. Unfortunately, it seemed now that his dream wasn't going to come true in this lifetime.
Bela chugged down the foul smelling concoction and drank a full pitcher of water, right after.
She told Prithvi, "I intend to leave from this place as soon as dawn breaks which is a couple of hours away. Just arrange for around seven to eight litres of drinking water for me. Also, can you bring someone over to take care of this guy's interrogation. I am bored playing with him now."
Listening to her cold-blooded statement, both men reacted differently. One was full of awe, the other, filled with terror and misery.
"Have I told you, didi, that you are still as awesome as earlier," Prithvi suddenly sounded like his eighteen year old self for that brief moment.
Bela gave him a look and replied, "We are wasting time. Have you managed to investigate the breach yet?"
Prithvi reverted to his sombre self as he followed Bela out of the place, leaving the tightly bound man, feeling abandoned and worried sh*t. Moreover, he was completely baffled!!! Wasn't the woman supposed to be obsessed with vengeance against him? Then, why did the plot turn out so different?
Dawn, Prithvi's house
"You know that a couple of more hours won't make much of a difference now. I have already informed Shauryaveer to be extra vigilant for now. I think that he can hold the fort for another day. It's not like we are going to war tomorrow," Prithvi cajoled.
He was worried about Bela. She had administered the ancient yoga practice of Shankaprakashalan (Intestinal Cleansing) to take care of all the toxins and poisons in her inner body. After puking her gut out many times over, fatigue and paleness was clearly visible on her face.
But Bela shook her head and assured him, "I will hire a carriage instead of riding the horse this time round. I am going to feel terrible for the next few hours, anyways. Might as well spend that time constructively. Help me with some effective disguise so that I can slip out of your house undetected."
He shook his head at her doggedness and gave up. After a moment, he asked, "What do you want me to do with him?"
Bela threw an indifferent glance in the direction of the shed and replied, "You can put him in a big container of oil, seasoned with salt and turmeric. Once the marination is complete, he can be served as pickle to his people. Or just use his skin to make some shoes and bags. Don't really care. Mind you, he is an old player and I don't think you will be able to get much out of him in terms of information."
Prithvi grinned at the viciousness of his guru and wanted to show off a little to impress her. "I will do the needful. And, you don't need to worry about going out of here. I will take you through the tunnel which connects my house to the Gurukul. It's a design which I engineered and executed myself."
Looking at him quietly gloating, Bela hid her smile and said in all seriousness, "I can't wait to see it."
Prithvi seemed to have forgotten about Bela's 'personal little hill' in Northern zilla at this moment. After twenty minutes of being under his care, Bela was transformed into a woman, who was not a day younger than sixty. She patted his back as an acknowledgement to his skill. Suddenly, there was a little noise at the wooden window.
Ramanujam's eagle had arrived!
Few kilometres away, Royal Palace
Rani Samyukta was awake as usual at dawn and had just finished a mock fight with her trainer. Clad in a pale lavender muslin dress, few hair tendrils stuck to her sweat laden face. She had a busy day ahead today. The final round of the QIT competition was about to kick off in another few hours and she had to be present for it till the event lasted.
"Your humble servant, Indrani seeks the permission to enter," the door to the practice arena was pushed opened.
Rani Samyukta smiled and quipped, "I see that you have come back, full of etiquette from your home. I think you should visit them more… oh, are you sick?"
Indrani had received the news about her father being extremely unwell couple of days ago and had rushed to meet them. The queen had immediately assembled and sent a team of best medical practitioners along with her. She had personally kept track of the news on her father and was informed that he was improving since then. Which is why it was a shock to see Indrani look so terrible right now.
It seemed that she had aged a lot in the past few days. Her eyes were sunk and she had definitely lost some weight. Rani Samkyukta covered the distance between them and grabbed her best friend by her forearms.
Indrani shook her head and replied, "I am fine. I guess the tension in the past few days has taken its toll on me. I didn't mean to worry you. And thank you for sending the Vaidya team over. My family and I... we are immensely grateful."