The herb mixtures and other medicinal powders' delivery was carried out through the age-old, meticulous and expansive delivery system of Mrigtrishna, the music hall. This delivery system had been put in place when Kadambari, Katyayani's mother, had first started selling the musical instruments. From the courier carriers to the receivers, every single person had been vetted and hired diligently.
That's because Kadambari hadn't simply been transporting musical instruments at that time!
Coming back to these medicines, till halfway to the intended destination, these packages contained a different address.
After reaching a neutral city, the top layer on the consignments was torn off and the actual intended address was visible. These consignments were then dropped off at the local 'Courier and Carriage' shops which did the needful.
All of this was done to avoid the detection of the original dispatching destination, covering their tracks thoroughly.
"A coded message has come from the outskirts of Sarvaan city along with the herbs requisition," Chatvari frowned and announced in the room.
Unless extremely urgent, the exchange between Chatvari and the medicine shops was restricted purely to the receiving and delivering of herbs. The usual information dispatch was directed straight to the Dharamshala.
An urgent message usually was classified as information related to a royal issue irrespective of the kingdom, or some news particularly regarding Katyayani's maternal family.
Katyayani straightened up and asked her. "What does it say?"
"Apparently, it has been noticed that a royal princess was travelling incognito, and was headed towards the Nildiri Hills a couple of days ago. The person doesn't know which princess it was or her purpose. But there wasn't a cavalry following her," Chatvari replied.
Katyayani's eyebrow quirked up and she tried to search her mind for the suitable candidate out of the few royal princesses who could be going all the way to the Nildiri hills, the base of the famous Northern Army.
It turned out that she wasn't the only one pondering over this issue!
Royal chambers of the emperor
The lamps were full ablaze even though the sun was yet to sink into the earth. Multiple fireplaces were burning through the passage leading upto the inner chambers of Raja Indraneel.
There weren't many people who were allowed into this inner sanctum of the emperor.
One side of the room was decorated with artifacts collected from across the continent.
Two adjoining walls, forming a L, were covered with thick books, some leather bound, some wrapped in oilskin covers while many were simply bound by thick silken threads. The roof had an intricate paisley pattern running all through, painted in gold giving a dazzling contrast against the white walls.
The high ceilinged the room was adorned with a massive chandelier adorned with many precious stones. More than a hundred small candles were burning in that chandelier, and the multicolored stones reflected the light of the candles, throwing colored rays across the room.
A tall vase with stalks of white lily occupied one corner of the chamber, in the line of sight from the emperor's massive working desk. Irrespective of the season, these flowers needed to be replaced every morning in the emperor's chamber and the royal gardens had one piece of land solely dedicated to growing them.
This inner chamber was the place where Raja Indraneel met with his most trusted advisors. There weren't many attendants allowed in this area except for the emperor's closest serving people.
None of the queens could enter this place, not even the empress or the empress dowager!
As General Chandraveer walked through the passage following the old, stooping man, he took in the surroundings.
"Not much has changed since I last visited this place many years ago, Vallabh Ji*. Everything looks just the same," General Chandraveer remarked.
Vallabh paused in his steps and said, "You are well aware that there aren't many things which the emperor is fond of. This place holds a lot of cherished memories and unfulfilled promises. Cough… cough…"
General Chandraveer walked up to him in hurried, concerned steps and thumped his back without any hesitation.
Vallabh's identity was slightly special and awkward in this palace full of blue-blooded nobles!
He was the older cousin of Raja Indraneel's birth mother but due to the lack of a powerful or wealthy status, he could only remain close to the emperor by being an attendant.
Having promised his genteel, beautiful sister before her death to take care of her only son, Indraneel, Vallabh had remained next to Raja Indraneel faithfully ever since she passed away when Indraneel was only seven years old.
His sister had been a genteel scholarly woman who had caught the eye of the old emperor on one of his trips across the kingdom. Impressed with the girl's intelligence and wisdom, he had brought her into his harem as one of the queens. Despite her unassuming background or lack of startling looks, the old emperor had loved engaging with her in many discussions and debates.
Raja Indraneel had inherited his intellect from this mother of his despite their short-lived relation. Since Vallabh was the only link that the current emperor had to his deceased mother, he had kept this older uncle close to himself and trusted him implicitly.
"Why don't you go back and rest a little? I know the way to the chamber and can go there on my own," General Chandraveer coaxed the old man.
Waving his hands in the air, Vallabh struggled to rein in the coughing bout. "It is an affliction of old age and not an illness. Don't worry, General. This is a part of my duty!"
"Then, let's walk slowly," said General Chandraveer in a persuasive voice.
Before they could walk any further, a set of flurried steps came and stopped besides them.
Both Vallabh and General Chandraveer went down on their knees to show respect to the person in front of them who was dressed in crimson red.
*Ji - A suffix which indicates giving respect to the person being addressed