That night, as he was finishing his dinner in his tent, he heard a voice he immediately recognized. At first, he smiled. She had the sweetest possible voice in the world – his republican princess did. But then he heard the words. And the smiled evaporated.

“This wretched woman!!” he hissed and made to stand up.

Seeing his master leaving his dinner unfinished, his attendant immediately rushed into action, “Maharaj! Do you want to send someone to the Princess–”

“You really think that will work with this cursed woman?”

“Your dinner, Sir–”

“I have lost my appetite. Come on, get my stole and come with me.”

Two of the body guards rushed to accompany them when they left their tent to go to Chandrika’s.

He waited until he was announced by one of her attendants. The announcement put a stop to her singing. He jerked aside the flap of her tent and strode in.

“You will not do that again,” he barked without waiting for any pleasantries, “You are prohibited from singing your treasonous revolutionary songs. Do you understand me, Devi Chandrika?”

Her calmness infuriated him even further. She took her time in walking closer to him, then greeting him with folded hands. Only after that charade of politeness did she open her mount, “And if I did not heed you, Maharaj?”

Bhumimitra clenched his fist in exasperation. Then he looked pointedly at her companions. Unlike her, they were feeling the full weight of his fury and already looked pale.

“Do you know what the Gurus of princes do in the tyrannical countries where they are not allowed to punish the royals even if they are only tiny boys and have been disobedient? They punish the lower-born friends of theirs.”

To his immense satisfaction, that threat worked. Chandrika looked discomfited and averted her eyes. When she looked back at him, she didn’t look as fierce as earlier.

“You shall not have any reason to complain in future, Maharaj.”

He nodded stiffly and turned away. But at the exit he turned and came back.

“I would like you to sing… something else, for me,” he said. His tone was nothing like what he had used earlier. It was not an order, only a request. He would have gone back, if she had refused. But she didn’t refuse. She did look surprised though.

“Now?” she asked.

“If you don’t mind.”

That unsettled her, but her royal upbringing kicked in and she was calm and graceful again within moments.

“Please, do sit down, Maharaj.” Chandrika gave a silent order to one of her companions, who rushed to bring some refreshments to be served to the king. Having left his dinner unfinished, Bhumimitra gorged on the refreshments as Chandrika sang a heart-rending song about two star-crossed lovers. She was as effective in conveying the longing of separated lovers as she had been in with the defiance of revolutionary temper. Was it just a trick she knew and could employ while singing? Or could she feel both emotions with equal sincerity?

—

He invited her to ride with him again the next morning. She looked around with a frown as the marching orders were being given.

“Maharaj!”

“Devi Chandrika!”

“Are you not sending a part of the army to the north east from here?”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because—oh!”

“Yes?”

“You don’t have the intelligence report from that area? The enemy’s plan is to send a significant chunk of their army through Raigarh-Chandranagar border and encircle us as we march towards the eastern front, cutting us off from our supplies.”

“Maharaj, we have no such intelligence–”

“Now you do, Minister Sindhupati,” Chandrika interrupted the war minister.

He didn’t respond to her directly and continued addressing Bhumimitra, “Pardon me, Maharaj. But in the matters of war, I can’t let the etiquette prevail over practical concerns. Princess—I mean Devi Chandrika here is openly a republican. I have reasons to suspect that she doesn’t want us to succeed.”

“I am a nemesis of monarchy, my lord Minister, you are wise to never doubt that. But my republic is first and foremost for my country and my people. We did hold the government machinery in our hands before you came to destroy it. We did have the intelligence from border areas. And this march of army was going to happen whether or not you were here. Except that from here, we would know better and secure north-eastern frontier as well.”

“With due respect Devi Chandrika,” the minister addressed her directly this time, “Your intelligence seemed to have failed horrendously on the real first attack you had to face, which was from us.”

“We misunderstood Maharaj Bhumimitra’s motivations, I agree.”

“What does that mean?” Bhumimitra frowned.

“Despite the traditional rivalry between our kingdoms, Maharaj, your policy on Chandranagar had never been aggressive. All you want from us was a buffer kingdom between Raigarh and our restless eastern neighbors. A buffer kingdom that was stable internally. You had never shown any inclination towards conquering or annexing Chandranagar, which made sense too. We assumed that you will continue to follow the same policy, especially since you and my father didn’t see eye to eye ever before. We didn’t count on your being so set upon the cause of monarchy and actually invade Chandranagar just to defeat the republic.”

Bhumimitra gave her a long look and then said, “Devi. Please ride with your companions today.”

She was exasperated at being so dismissed, “But at least send a reconnaissance.”

“Devi Chandrika!”

His tone brooked no dissent. She had to withdraw, although she was furious.

Once she was out of earshot, he turned to his war minister, “Send a reconnaissance party.”

“But Maharaj–”

“Do it secretly. The rest of us will march as planned. But only for half a day. After that we will wait for the reconnaissance party to return with their report.”

That precautionary measure was difficult to argue with. The minister did as he was instructed.

—

To be continued