Announcement

Rishi and Raj started their journey off as the warmth of the rising sun welcomed them home. Raj declined Rishi's offer to take the carriage ride, saying he's fine. When the sun reached almost above the heads, they settled by a lake, under a tree for some rest.

"Raj.. Will you forgive me ?" Rishi asked suddenly.

"What are you talking about ?" Raj asked back.

"It was my fault not warning you how dangerous those witches can be. I read many books about them but was not sure how much they are. So.. " Rishi said, looking into his eyes.

"Come on, Rishi. I was not sure about them either. I know you didn't do anything on purpose. So there's nothing to blame yourself for," Raj said.

"Then Raj.. You too don't need to blame yourself," Rishi replied.

Raj looked at Rishi with shock and said, "What? I didn't blame myself.."

"Really? They why, even in that pitiful humour you tried to pull off yesterday night, your eyes talked otherwise..?" Rishi asked.

"Huh..? That's.. That's because of dust. Yes there was a lot of dust in the room.." Raj tried a lie.

"Yeah right..? I forgot.. that stupid dust.. But again, don't blame yourself for the things which are not in your control." Rishi said with a slight smile to which Raj nodded.

"Ok.. Shall we go?" Rishi asked and stood up.

"Yeah, here.. Give me a hand," Raj said.

Both of them went towards their horses and before they hovered, Raj stopped Rishi and hugged him suddenly.

"Thanks Rishi. But trust me my man, I would never have forgiven myself if anything had happened to you," Raj's eyes soaked with tears within no time.

Rishi smiled and patted his back gently trying to comfort him. After that they continued their journey and reached the palace.

At the king's court, everyone was waiting for the prince's arrival and as expected the guard announced his arrival.

Rishi and Raj entered the court one after the other and greeted the King and the Queen before taking their seats.

"Your Majesty. Please allow me to explain the situation in the neeru town and our findings," Raj asked politely.

"Go ahead, Minister Raj" King gave permission.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. There was a rumour about a witch roaming in the town which is dealt safely and the heads got punished. We have the witch imprisoned in our Prison headquarters," Raj explained.

After listening about the witch everyone started murmuring and the court became noisy.

"Silence!" the King ordered.

"Good job. Let further investigation be proceeded," King said.

"As you command, Your Majesty," he replied.

Raj turned to the court and announced, "Now, regarding poisoning the King, we got the witness. From the information we gathered, it is clear that.."

Everyone is eager to know the truth.

"Our Ex Minister Sumanth is the culprit," Raj said.

"What? How is that possible?"

"So he is the snake in disguise who bit the hands that fed him?"

"Don't come to a conclusion yet. Where is the proof?"

"We don't need any proof. If it is resolved by the Prince then it is absolutely correct."

All kinds of gossip are heard in the hall. Rishi raised his hand making everyone quiet.

"There is an eye witness and we will present them here in the next meeting in the presence of our Ex Minister Sumanth," Raj continued.

"That is it, Your Majesty." Raj concluded his speech and bowed to the King.

"Ok Minister Raj. Call the next meeting tomorrow morning," the King said and left the court.

Rishi went to his room to take some rest. He got freshened up and laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Vimal, Come Out," Rishi said.

"Greetings Your Highness" Vimal greeted. Vimal is the most trusted spy of Rishi and he is a well versed fighter.

"Tell me. What do you have?" Rishi asked. He sent Vimal to gather the information about the incidents in Lotus Kingdom and as a secret guard to Ashmita.

"Your Highness. It is now clear that Lotus Kingdom is preparing for war." Vimal said.

'As expected, the rumours are true.' Rishi thought to himself and asked, "Against?"

"Rose Kingdom, Highness," Vimal said.

"What??" Rishi exclaimed. 'Why are they going to war on Rose Kingdom?"

"Yes Your Highness. Rose kingdom also seems to be preparing for this war." Vimal stated.

'This is bad'

"And I heard a few other things about.." Vimal stopped and looked at the prince for his approval to continue.

"Yes?" Rishi asked.

"Your Highness. Princess Maira and Ashmita are the daughters of Queen Aaradhya who is the only rightful heir of Lotus Kingdom." Vimal started explaining.

'Aaradhya?? I heard this name before..?' Rishi murmured to himself.

"Aaradhya was the queen of Jasmine Kingdom. The birth parents of Princesses are King Shivraj and Queen Aaradhya" Vimal said.

"What?? So this can be the reason for the war. But why now?" Rishi asked.

"The reason is, the twin sisters kept a key member of Rose Kingdom as their hostage," Vimal informed.

"Ah.. these sisters love troubles. No wonder they are the daughters of the Great King Shivraj' Rishi thought to himself and smiled.

"More interesting point is, the princesses were separated when they were just born. Princess Maira came to the kingdom only recently," Vimal said.

'Oh.. That explains why Ashmita said that she brought her sister on that trip, to show her around the first time..' Rishi remembered the trip where both sisters enjoyed the whole trip together.

"Princess Maira seems to be calm and collected. She has some magical powers and few other techniques which are very unique and not known to anybody," he continued.

"Magic ?!!" Raj exclaimed.

"Yes, Your Highness. There's more. Princess Ashmita leads the Devil's Team which is a well known fighters' team in the other kingdoms also and Princess Ashmita is known as Devil Beauty herself," Vimal said.

"Umm.. Your Highness, you really don't know about the Devil Beauty??" Vimal asked suddenly.

"You know about her??" Rishi asked while folding his hands in front of his chest in a domineering manner.

"Yes. Yes Your Highness. She is my goddess!" Vimal said with sparks in his eyes.

Suddenly Vimal felt a cold chill down his spine and looked at the Prince.