Princess Anara immediately lost the bearing which she had been proud of, a few seconds ago.
Sure, she was the one who was enamoured with him first. But after telling him about her preference for him above all others as her marriage partner, he should have shown supreme excitement and joy or at the very least, gratefulness.
After all, he was the one gaining a lot by forming a connection with the royal family. She was the favourite daughter of the emperor while he was simply the second son of a mere general.
Her status was far nobler, far superior!
"Do you have anything else to say, Princess? I suggest you say everything in one go. I am not a very patient person," Dushyant said rudely after turning around.
He threw a brief look at the maid who was standing on the side, trying to pretend that she was invisible. He was also aware of the two men who were close enough to see and hear what was happening here.
In the past few minutes, he had understood the entire plot.
It seemed that the empress and her maternal family thought that under the current circumstances, it was better to fortify Prince Anirudh's position in the run-up to the throne than to sacrifice the remaining unmarried daughter for a diplomatic relation with another country.
Hence, they wanted the biggest army in Mandhaar to be tied down to them! Ha… bold!
Dushyant was well aware that Raja Indraneel could not be in favour of this alliance. Then, why hadn't he stopped the move from the opponent?
Was the summoning of General Chandraveer to Dima related to this?
"I have already told you that I have chosen you as my intended groom. You should know what to do henceforth," Princess Anara's voice trembled with suppressed indignation as she threw the words at him.
In the end, she was still a seventeen year old girl in the throes of her first infatuation!
"Princess, I suggest that you change your choice as quickly as you can because I would rather be a monk than marry you," with those ruthlessly decisive words, Dushyant moved his gaze away.
"Soldiers, escort the lady and her maid back to the main office. They have finished their errand here," he ordered the two men who were waiting nearby.
The cause of redness on Princess Anara's face alternated between embarrassment and anger.
Even though it had just been a momentary attraction towards this guy since she first saw him a few hours ago, Princess Anara had decided that it was better to marry someone who was pleasing to her eye and valiant than the boring, ordinary-looking, General Agastya, whom she saw in the main army office.
The cold and indifferent demeanor of Dushyant was far more attractive to her than his elder brother.
Anyways, it was the same family… once she married Dushyant, obviously the post of head of the Northern army would belong to him.
Considering what she knew of her mother, Maharani Vaijayanti, her future had already been sealed. Despite all her bluster and bravado, she knew that it was the empress whose word eventually mattered.
Hence, all Princess Anara wanted now was to try and allow a small leeway for herself by choosing the guy that she liked versus the one designated for her.
But the object of her 'recently discovered affection' turned out to be a heartless piece of scum.
How dare he reject her! Who did he think he was?
Inside the main office, a pensive looking man was sitting on one of the few chairs in the simple room. This cabin belonged to his father, General Chandraveer, but in his absence, Agastya was the one presiding over it.
Agastya didn't know what to feel holding the small, oval shaped wooden frame in his hand.
Few hours ago
Agastya had been away with his father for the past many weeks on a survey of the surrounding area.
On their way back to the camp, halfway through, General Chandraveer left for the capital, while Agastya returned to the camp.
During this period, a lot of correspondence had accumulated at the main office.
Since Agastya was the commanding officer of the army when General Chandraveer wasn't present, he had a lot of workload on his head the minute he came back.
Sifting through the various documents, Agastya came across a portrait, vividly painted on a small piece of rosewood. The portrait belonged to Princess Anara and an invitation to participate in her swayamvar had been sent along with.
The invitation was addressed to himself!
Before he could properly digest this information, there was a disturbance taking place outside his office. In irritation, Agastya got up and stepped out, only to see the painting in his hand come alive!
This was Princess Anara? Why was she here?
Even though he had received the summons to participate in the swayamvar, not for a moment did he consider himself to be an actual potential contender as the princess's groom.
But looking at the girl in front of him now, Agastya suddenly had an inexplicable guess in his heart but he dared not speculate on it further due to the terrifying implications of the same.
As a descendant of long-standing military lineage, Agastya had always remained far from the political hum-drum of the capital. And he didn't wish to be drawn into it, now either.
Present Time
"General, permission to enter?" a lieutenant asked, standing outside the heavy drape which acted as the partition between the foyer and the office.
"Enter!" came the brusque reply.
"Reporting to General. The two women who had requested to visit the terrain have finished their task and have left the premises. As per your instructions, they have been escorted down to the village," the stone-faced subordinate informed Agastya.
"She left already?" Agastya nearly got up from his seat.
Recovering quickly, he adjusted his expression back to neutral.
"When the soldiers assigned to escort them return, have them report to me directly," he dismissed the underling.
Agastya stood up and walked upto the window, overlooking the high, snow laden peaks. His gaze was distant and thoughts were misty, just like the fog covering those mountain tops.