The anonymous attacker

That very evening I waited for Machua Kishan Ji in the guest gathering area. The sun had dived deep in and it was dark already. His absence made me feel uncomfortable. Something felt strange, soon I sent a guard to check on him. A few moments later, a crashing sound from the corner of the room echoed, the wooden frames of the window were on the ground. The curtain blew slowly with the wind. "Someone broke in. Call the guards." I whispered to Tathi and a few guards rushed in. "I have sent for Prince Kundh. He'll be here soon" said one of them. There wasn't any moment until 3 men came out one by one. "Greetings little Princess." said one of them. All of them wore dark clothing and covered their faces. "Who are you?" I asked. "Well, I am a friend of your brother. Here to give him a gift." he pulled his sword slowly. "You can give it to me. I can pass him the message.", "Aren't you too young for it, Raja Kumari?" I could hear him smile. "A princess is never too old or young. She is prepared for everything" I said grabbing one of the swords. They laughed. To be honest, I was scared too, I had never used a sword before. My internal fear called out, but I kept motivating myself. "Should we wait for your brother or should we start?" the same guy said and stepped forward. Did I want to cry? Hell Yeah! He strikes and One of the soldiers stopped it with his sword. "Raja Kumari. You better go from here." he said covering me. "But I can't" I cried. I was scared. Soon the room was filled with sounds of swords and calls before attacking. I started looking for Tathi, she was nowhere to be seen. I stood in the corner beside the door. One by one they started killing all of our guards. While the other one of them walked towards me, trying to corner me. "I am going to die," I said to myself. Suddenly a sword pierced through his stomach. He screamed in pain and fell. The same boy from before stood behind him. He looked at me, came forward and kept his hand on my shoulder, and said something. He held my hand and we started running. Though I had lived in the palace for the past 12 years, I seemed to forget where we were supposed to go. We stood blankly. Then he initiated the run and we hid below a table near his room. "Shhhh," he said keeping a finger on his mouth. I nodded. After a while, we heard footsteps. I was about to rush outside thinking it was Kundh Bhaiyya. But he stopped me and covered my mouth. The footsteps came forward and it wasn't Kundh Bhaiyya. It was one of the three guys. Blood dripped as he walked. He must have been wounded badly. The boy signed me to run. Without even waiting for another word, I ran. The sound of my anklets alerted him. I looked back as I ran. Just before he could make a run towards me, a crashing sound behind him distracted him. The stranger was trying to help me flee the scene. But that is not what royal blood does. We fought with great courage and strength and wouldn't give up till the last breath, that is what Kundh Bhaiyya had taught me. Though I was scared and I was concerned for his life too. I stopped, he was trying to pull him out but he couldn't reach him.He then kicked the table until it broke and pulled the boy out. I had to do something. A decorative piece on the wall caught my attention. It was two swords kept together by one shield. I tried my best to reach it. I grabbed a table, got upon it, and grabbed both of them. I either had to hit him with the shield or slash him with the sword. I didn't want to kill him but I had to save the boy's life, he was our guest after all and we risk everything to keep our guests safe. I took one of the swords and strikes at him, the sharp blade of the sword cut deeply on his back. Blood oozed and he cried loudly in pain yet he didn't let go of the boy. I then banged the shield on his head. I took the boy's hand and started running. Yes, the scene had scared me but I didn't have any other option. This time I initiated the run and we ran towards Kundh Bhaiyyas room. Even before we reached his room, we met him mid-way. "KUNDH BHAIYYA!" I screamed from afar. "Samu!" he said. He ran towards us. Seeing the blood all over us, he looked for wounds on our bodies. "We aren't hurt. But the guy in the hallway is." I said gasping for air. "What happened Samu?", "Well, I was waiting for Machua Kishan Ji. The guard who accompanied this boy said that Machua Kishan Ji knew their language." I pointed to the boy. "Samu, Machua Kishan Ji hasn't returned from his voyage yet, " Bhaiyya said. "But Bhaiyya, the guard who accompanied him did tell so." I was confused. "Samu, stay with me. Okay?". I nodded. As we walked to the room, we saw many dead bodies. I confirmed that the three intruders were dead. altogether that night I had witnessed much death and we lost 13 of our soldiers.

The next day, everyone was getting interrogated. They were trying their best to find the guy who had accompanied the little guy. After very long hours of looking for that particular man, he was nowhere to be found. "This is strange," said Kundh Bhaiyya. "Are you sure what you saw Samu?" he asked. "I am, in fact, Tathi saw him too. But, where is Tathi?" She hadn't returned since last night after she disappeared into thin air. "What do you mean by where is she?" he asked. "Well, yesterday night when the three intruders broke in, she was with me. In fact, she was the one who went out to call for the guards. But she didn't come back, nor did I see her after that". "Okay. We'll send someone for her" he walks out of the chamber speaking to a new guy at the door. Soon Tathi was getting replaced and I knew it. Something about her was now fishy. I didn't want any new chambermaid and I had petitioned so to Baba and it was accepted by him very soon. After the attack, very soon the people from the East decided to leave the very next day. Without any further reasoning they left, which was pretty much strange. I couldn't even go to see them off, when asked why, Baba said "They seemed to be a bit petrified, maybe the attack has to do something with it"

It had been a few years now, and everything went back to normal. But our mind never drifted away from the incident. We still had messengers and detectives searching for the people behind the attack. Nothing came to us and eventually everything clamed down. Slowly, Baba made me practice art of war, the art of navigating ships, business, trade and many such things along with other royal children of my age. I was now 16 and I enjoyed having my sword with me most of the time or being in the ocean salty water for some time. One full moon night, after my dinner, I decided to stroll around in the garden to take my mind off my hectic schedule. Every time I closed my eyes for peace, the initial incident of the minister's death would flash in front of my own eyes and yes, it did traumatize me, but I didn't know how I overcame it to attack the intruder. I sighed. As I hindered by the pond, I heard two voices speaking, it was rather dim I say. I couldn't make out from which direction it was being heard. The first thing I did was, took my anklets off and slowly headed towards a bush. Trying to find where the sound was coming from, I ruffled the bush and on the other side, on the far end, I saw two men. one wearing similar clothes like the intruder who had attacked us many years ago and his face was covered and the other had his back facing me and a yellow silk shawl covered his head. They quarreled about something in the dim-lit place, and the first guy could make out my presence. He looked at the buses and took a step forward. I started running back, on my way I picked my anklets and got into my chamber. "That was a close one," I said to myself and sat down on my bed. But who were they? I had to tell this to Kundh Bhaiyya and as it was late I decided to meet him the next day.

Early morning, when I went to his chamber, "He is at the practice with Subhedhar Dipanker Ji" said his chambermaid. "Why aren't you with him?" I asked. "He told us not to accompany him for the practice Rajakumari", "Has he taken any guards with him?" I asked. "We don't know..", "Why are you even here? You are his chambermaid, you don't even know if he has taken guards with him, you didn't accompany him too!" and all of them looked a bit surprised. I had never behaved so till the date and maybe I vented all of my frustration on them. "Do you at least know where they are?", "At the practice grounds near Keshaw Wada.", "But Keshav Wada has been closed for few years, why are they practicing there?", "I am not aware of that, Raja Kumari", "What kind of weaponry has he taken along for the practice?" I asked knowing that she would tell that she didn't know. "I am not aware of that, Raja..", "Well, then why don't you quit the job. You are here the whole while and you didn't notice what he took with him!" I grew into a rage with every answer of hers. I marched out in anger and walked to the horse stable. My mind battled to decide if I have to go find Kundh Bhaiyya or I have to wait for him at the palace. "Samudhra? What are you doing?" asked Devanghad Bhaiyya. "Nothing Bhaiyya, I dropped by to see the horses." I smiled. "You realize the fact that that you're standing near a cowshed. The horse stable is on the other end?", and yes he was right. "Yeah, I came here to see Gowri.", "Gowri isn't here, they are out in the pastures grazing." he smiled. "Fine. I came here for so other reason. I want to go find Kundh Bhaiyya.", "Why? What's wrong?" he asked taking his house out of its stable. "Well, I had to tell him something", "Okay then. I am going to the forest areas to get some herbs for medications, Keshaw Wada is on my way so, I'll give your message to him" he hopped on his horse. "It's about yesterday night, I had my dinner and..." I stopped. How did he know that Kundha Bhaiyya was at Keshaw Wada? "Nevermind Bhaiyya. I'll wait for him" I said and walked in. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed him look at me till I walked in and he gave me some strange vibes. I waited until he left, and sneaked out with a horse by myself. Yes, I was too young for horse riding but I did use some help from horsemen in the stable. I wasn't aware of the road to Keshav Wada but I had been there a few times. I asked for direction from the subjects and after some time, I reached Keshav Wada. None of them were there on the grounds. It was an old abandoned Wada or a place where people used to live as a community. It was quite huge and broken. I walked around the Wada, and suddenly I see, Kundh Bhaiyyas mare tied to a tree nearby. I started running towards the mare when I tripped and fell down on the grass which seemed to have marks of dragging someone away. It continued for a long way. I followed it until I saw someone fallen to the ground. His hands were tied and he kind of looked familiar from afar. I walked closer to see find out, it was Kundh(Bhaiyya*). his hands and legs were tied and he probably was unconscious. Blood dripping from his head and nose. "Kundh Bhaiyya!" I called out for him. He only moaned out of pain.

(Further, I will be referring to Kundh Bhaiyya as Kundh*, *= Bhaiyya)

Kundh* was resting in his chamber. Baba had sent his maid for me. He wanted to talk about what had happened earlier. Cause all of us knew that it was next to impossible to get Kundh* into this situation, but someone had still managed to do so and we knew it was someone whom we knew very well. After I entered Kundh's chamber, I saw Baba sit beside him. He cherished Kundh* a lot and loved him more than anyone else among the seven of us. But he never showed less love to us. "Baba?" I said standing beside him. He stroked Kundh's forehead, it was wrapped with a bandage and a few more bandages on his body. He had black and blue wounds all over his body. I called Baba for the second time and "What happened Samudhra?" he asked with a stern voice. "I don't know, Baba. This morning when I went to visit him in his room, his chambermaid told me that he was out for the practice sessions with Subhedar Ji. She told me to find them at the Keshaw Wada but when I reached there, I found none of them in the ground instead I found Kundh tied up.", "Which Subhedar was it?" he turned towards me. "Subhedar Deepankar Ji, I suppose." There was an awkward silence and then, "I'll have to examine once again." announced Devangadh* suddenly. "But the doctor just examined him a while ago," Baba said. "Baba, I myself am a doctor and learning medicine. What if the doctor tries to drug him or something. We cannot risk Kundh Bhaiyyas's life. He is the heir to the throne and his safety comes first." he said making way towards Kundh*. Baba nodded. What happened earlier still didn't make sense to me. And at this point, I was petrified to trust him. "Can you guys give us some time?" he asked. Baba nodded, "I'll stay here," I said. "But Samu I have to check his wounds, you won't be able to see it," he said. "It's okay. I'll manage." I stood hard on my decision. "Samu are you scared that I will try to kill Kundh Bhaiyya?" he laughed. "You just said, we can't trust anyone. And maybe that is why I am standing here." I said. He smiled nervously. "Samudhra! Behave yourself. Don't speak to your brother in that tone" Baba scolded me. "It's okay Baba. She is a child," he said and sat down beside Kundh. Fifteen minutes pass, he still couldn't work properly. Every now and then he would look at me from the corner of his eyes and finally, it felt like he gave up on the idea that I'll leave him alone with Kundh*. "Okay, he seems to recover well. He just needs external and internal help. These are some herbs. Please ask his chambermaid to make some tea out of it and make him drink it twice a day." he smiled and I grabbed the box from him"What will it do to him?", "It will boost his immunity and give him the strength to recover faster", "Can we consume it too?", "No!" he exclaimed. "Why? Doesn't it help with immunity? And I guess all of us can consume it as long as it only helps with immunity and doesn't do anything else", "Well, that the last batch I have. And it's quite expensive too." he said scratching his forehead. "Thank you, Dev!" Baba patted his back and he left.

"Why did you behave so rudely to him? And what's with the sudden change towards Devangadh? He is your brother and he will only wish for the best for Kundh.", "There are a few things which personally noticed Baba." I said bowing my head down as a gesture of apology towards him. "Do you care to explain?" he said. "baba, I think it would be foolishness to come to a conclusion at this point. but there are chances what I am assuming might be true. I want some more time and proof to confirm a few things, till then please let me take care of Kundh Bhaiyya. I don't want to risk his life." He sighed and put his hand on my shoulder. "Samudhra, you are way too young to get into these politics of the royals. But at the same time, you're smart enough to deal with it. You and Kundh are the future of this Kingdom and maybe that is what concerns me the most. Don't do anything that will end up badly. I trust you with this. I don't know what you're thinking about Dev, but I trust you my child." he kissed my forehead and left.

My next concern was the TEA!