CHAPTER 25 - Montra.

1538, Machilipatnam, Dharanikota Kingdom.

Inside a mansion in the port town of Machilipatnam, In a room with a large window facing the sea, Rudra was sitting in a chair and waiting. The meeting time with his possible new Trade Advisor has not started yet, so that person has yet to arrive.

"What do you guys think of this woman?" Rudra asked his two guards who were in the Room. Both Bhairava and Bashir were at the door and the window respectively, guarding Rudra from any possible threats.

"From the information we have collected so far, she seems very opportunistic, Your Majesty," Bhairava replied. Most of the time, Bhairava managed the Royal guards, but now that they were out of the capital city, he took on a more personal role.

"I am looking for a Trade Advisor, Bhairava. We need someone who is opportunistic. Being a merchant means being opportunistic." Rudra answered back to the guard. " What do you think, Bashir?" 

"'I say we trust her. She did provide rice during the last famine to poor people.'" Bashir signed using his hands. 

" You and your big heart Bashir. We are looking for a good trader. Not a charity operator. When comparing something, always try to do it with as little bias as possible." Rudra advised the big man. 

"'As you say, boss.'" Bashir Shrugged, and turned away. The big man was always an introvert, and saying something drains his already low social battery.

"The Target is in the building boss," Bhairava informed after he received the news from his subordinates.

"Well, action stations then. Remember, act big and intimidating. Just your usual." Rudra instructed them, as he sat into his seat. There was a table in front of him, filled with papers and some biscuits, something he taught the chefs how to do. It's a pity there was no chocolate yet, however.

'Knock, Knock.'

"Please come, in" Rudra answered the polite knock, and waited for them to come in.

The door opened and in walked a woman, around 30 years of age. Her features were that of a Southeast Asian, and her dress expressed that. She walked in with grace, displaying confidence in both her ability and her beauty.

"Your Majesty." the woman bowed to Rudra, expressing her respect for his position.

"Please have a seat, Lady Montra," Rudra said and instructed her to have a seat on the chair opposite to him.

"Thank you, your majesty." She said as she took her seat. Her eyes began carefully studying the room and Rudra, while he did the same to her.

'She is Vigilant but is good at hiding it. She is analyzing me and the room. Well, I did try to make the room as welcoming as possible. ' Rudra observed her as both waited for the other to initiate the conversation.

Maybe Rudra won, or maybe she conceded out of respect for Rudra's position, he will never know, but she was the one to ask the first question, " I heard from Selva that you have a position for me in your government, your majesty?"

'Cutting straight to the point, I like it.' Rudra thought as he added another point to the woman's profile.

"Indeed. What is said to you by Selvappan is correct. Let me first thank you for waiting for the meeting. We initially planned it for a few days ago, but something else came up." Rudra didn't arrange the meeting after the meeting with Selvappan but waited for a few days.

This was for the express purpose of collecting more information, about his prospective advisor. What his men found out about her, had impressed Rudra very much.

"Ah, don't worry, Your Majesty. I didn't have to wait for long. I hope the information you gathered about me satisfied you?" The woman asked, while slightly surprised Rudra of the fact that his men had been found out.

He looked at Bhairava, who handled the information gathering with a raised eyebrow. What kind of gathering did they do? Did they ask the lady directly, about it?

"Very satisfied, Lady Montra. But I am surprised, how did my men get caught?" Rudra asked, genuinely wanting to know how his men screwed up.

"Oh, it's simple really. I pay my people enough that, they will tell me who is asking around about me." the woman laughed a little while answering. 

"But not enough to not tell anything?" Rudra asked, hoping to know more. 

"Why waste my money? People who have the motivation will use any means to find out. This way, my workers will get a nice little pay." Lady Montra answered as if saying something obvious. 

Rudra turned to look at Bhairava, who was sweating at this point. Not from the fact, that a woman outsmarted him, but fearing consequences from Rudra. It was less than a month ago that the king ordered the eradication of thousands of people.

It was the fault of Rudra. He knew spies existed, but didn't expect to encounter counterintelligence tactics. He needed to get around to properly building that spy organization he wanted. 

'One step at a time Rudra. First the Advisor Council. Then everything else.' He thought to himself.

"I am impressed, Lady Montra. Both by what my men learned about you, and the clever counterintelligence you employed." Rudra praised the woman, being genuine about it.

"Thank you, your majesty." The woman replied, with a bow. She showed a happy expression, showing appreciation for the praise, but it might also be a cleverly hidden mask.

"Now then, Lady Montra, tell me more about yourself. Although I think they are just as capable, it is unusual for a woman such as yourself to get into trading. Why do this?" The king asked bluntly. He did believe what he said to the woman.

"Thank you, your majesty. Not many of your stature would be able to accept praising a woman such as myself. As for the trading, it was my husband's family business. Any possible inheritors, including my beloved son and my husband, passed away in a smallpox epidemic that occurred four years ago. I.. I did not want my husband's legacy to go to waste, and I was educated in matters related to trade and commerce since childhood. So I took it up myself." Lady Montra said, and slight cracks in her well-maintained emotional shield became briefly visible.

"I am sorry, lady Montra. I did not know that. Keeping the family legacy alive is something I am deeply familiar with." Rudra said to the woman sitting in front of him.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. But, I have had enough time to grieve. And although it will always hurt, I strongly believe that they have moved on to their next phase of life, and I need to move on with mine." she said, quite confidently.

"It is a very positive outlook on life, Miss Montra. I hope more people have that kind of view on life. Now onto the next question. You trade the textiles and dyes produced here to kingdoms in Southeast Asia and more. You also trade in rice exports, both from Bengal and here. But the last time when there was a famine here you distributed the rice here without any additional charges as traders usually do. Why?" it was an important question, as this will give a good read on her character.

"I am no saint, Your Majesty. Sure I lost out on some profits, but deeds such as it will make my name known to many. I need all the reputation I can get to overcome the inherent disadvantage of my gender. Besides, I didn't trade them at a loss, but just enough to break even. If I had not done such things, I would not be important enough for people such as you to notice." She concluded.

What she said was another good point. Rudra would not have considered her for the role, even if Selvappan had recommended her if not for her impressive resume. It was not like there were no traders who were from Dharanikota.

However, the problem with local merchants was that they were either taken care of in the last purge or were not good enough to qualify. Rudra did consider the people who had supported his rise to the throne but, they had supported him even while thinking they were dead.

It was not a quality he expected from the Merchant class, as it was quite stupid to support him when the news that he was dead, became public. Yes, he did survive, but they did not know that. He needed loyal and capable followers, not blind followers.

"Your work is significant enough to be noticed now, Miss Montra. I believe you have all the skills I am looking for in a trade advisor. I am hoping that you will accept the position." Rudra finally said, giving the invitation for her to finally join the Royal Advisory Council. 

"I would be honored, Your Majesty," Lady Montra calmly said, as if she had expected the outcome from the start. 

The next hour was spent discussing the current trade situation in the world and the things that are expected from a trade advisor. Conflicts of interest that may occur were also resolved. Finally, Lady Montra had departed, satisfied with all the answers she received. 

'One more task completed.' Rudra thought as he relaxed into his chair. The sooner the formation of Royal advisors is complete, the sooner he could move on to other tasks. He was quite tired of all the administrative work that he had to do, which would have been usually taken care of by the royal court.

While Rudra was relaxing, he looked around the room to see that, Bhairava still had a complicated expression. 'Is he still worried about the intelligence failure?' he guessed.

"Drop that expression off your face Bhairava. If you have anything to say just say it," he instructed the guard as he leaned back onto the chair with his eyes closed.

"I am sorry Your Majesty. It was about that woman from earlier. I still don't understand the reason why she was so cautious about spies." Bhairava expressed his doubts about the whole situation.

"Ah, about that. Your men have indeed failed at that task. Letting the other party know who your spies are is a big mistake. As for why she was so cautious? It probably has something to do with her now-dead family." Rudra said, still leaning back in the chair.

"You see Bhairava, the full name of my new advisor is Montra Buddhakura Suphannaphum. She is from Ayutthaya and there is only one family who is allowed to have such a name. If our advisor, is not straight-up lying, she belongs to the Royal family of Ayutthaya." Rudra concluded.

It was also one of the main reasons he got interested in meeting Montra. He didn't know how deep the connection between her and the Royal family is, but it was there.

"Will that not cause any future problems? I am responsible for the overall safety of the King Your Majesty. If there is any threat you know of, I implore you to inform me in advance." Bhairava answered back, worried about Rudra's safety again.

"I wanted to confirm it myself Bhairava. Besides, I got two people in the room to protect me," he said while signing the same to Bashir. 

"Also, will this not cause any problems with the others in the court? I am not sure they will accept a foreigner and a woman as an equal to them. Not everyone is as open to such 'unique' ideas, Your Majesty." Bhairava asked again.

"' It's simple. The people who want to oppose the king have to face me first if they are not directly put on a chopping block.'" Surprisingly it was Bashir who answered it. 

"What the big man said is true. Social change is a gradual process and it has to be done step by step. If they can't even accept a woman as their equal, I just have to show them that, all genders are equal when it comes to dying." Rudra answered the question, and the room fell silent after that.