Raja Indraneel had not been in line to inherit the throne ever since he was born. The main reason was due to his humble, powerless origins and second, more importantly due to the fact that the empress at the time, Maharani Gayatri, had three sons who were born out of her womb. All of them were eligible to inherit the throne after their father and were trained since birth for it.
At the time, Prince Indraneel was nothing more than a younger son born out of a pretty, timid woman with no backing in the royal harem. He was grateful for the fact that despite his mother's early death, the empress, Maharani Gayatri had not made his life difficult. In return, he had vowed to live the life of a rich scholar with no ambitions.
It was a weird twist of fate that made him sit on the throne eventually!
"Over the years, my body's constitution has become much stronger. I can beat you hollow if there were to be a drinking contest now!" Raja Indraneel thumped his chest and proclaimed loudly.
General Chandraveer raised a disbelieving eyebrow but didn't say anything.
Fifteen minutes later
Both middle-aged men were sipping hot tea quietly and elegantly from beautifully engraved silver cups. Their eyes were downcast and the emperor even had a petulant frown hovering around his mouth.
"I say, Uncle Vallabh, this is daytime robbery. How can you threaten the nation's ruler like this? If it was known to the royal ministers, they will call for your beheading," Raja Indraneel said sulkily.
Standing on the side, Vallabh was in the middle of inhaling the intoxicating smell of the alcohol after removing the lid of the pot.
"The imperial physicians have declared that even a drop of alcohol is akin to poison for you. Don't tell me that you are looking for an early death and want all your hard work over the years to land in the hands of the enemy! If that's your intention then go ahead. Why go after my little head," saying so, he extended the bottle towards his nephew boldly.
"And you, General Chandraveer… as someone known for his wisdom, loyalty and vision, how can you place a stupid promise made in your foolish youth ahead of your emperor's health? Has old age hit you hard?" Gone was the mild and polite Vallabh, the attendant.
This was the fire-breathing asur* standing in front of both of them.
Seeing both men look sufficiently chagrined, Vallabh said in a fake, polite manner, "The freshly roasted peanuts and salted pistachio will not taste good when cold. Please have some!"
The two friends had black lines emerge on their foreheads because of this chameleon-like appearance of the crooked, old man in front of them. Neither could they say anything nor could they swallow this humiliation easily.
After all, when did either of them last hear someone daring to berate them like this?
The general was feared not just by his own army but also by the enemy. And the emperor? Who would be courageous enough to talk to him like this!
"Nevermind! Ignore him. He is just a pathetic old man with no wealth or status. Moreover, he isn't even married. If venting like this makes him feel better, think of it as one of the many noble deeds that one does," said the emperor, trying to sound magnanimous.
The general thought that this was a good way to save face and agreed heartily. "Yeah… poor old man! No family, no successors!"
Vallabh looked at the two of them in front of him and hid his snicker.
Juvenile brats! What did they know about the benefits of a single man!! Ask the beauties in and around the palace. They were all under his charm.
Once the empty tea cups and snack bowls were cleared away by Vallabh, he decisively shut the door behind him and gestured to the emperor's personal secret guards hidden around the place. No one, including them, was allowed to come within 100mts of the room.
Bali Mansion
The entire house was buzzing with excitement. Decorators had already parked themselves in the front yard since the previous evening.
With only two days to go, there were simply too many things to be completed. Jayantdev had decided to not go to work during the next two days to oversee everything. After all, it was a big event after many years in the house.
Since Rudradev couldn't excuse himself from the daily royal court appearance, he wasn't around to help with the last-minute arrangements which was unfortunate because since this morning multiple arguments had broken out between the eldest madam, Lilavati and the third madam, Subhadra over the final menu and decor.
The core problem was that neither of them had been involved at the initial planning stage or even during the time of finalising everything. With her limited experience, Dharitri had taken every decision to the best of her ability since no one else had stepped up to take charge during all this while.
In all honesty, there was no real problem with either the dishes or the mansion's decoration. It was just the case of one upmanship which was being played by the two women vying for the upper hand.
One was trying to find faults while the other was busy defending her daughter's choice.
All in all, it had been a counter-productive morning!
*Asur - Demon