Chapter 22
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The clapping of hands rung in the air. 

Her feet touched the floor with ease, a sort of satisfaction within her as she walked. Her strides were slow, graceful, and in every bit commanding. The tulsi green saree swished at her ankles, the gold borders tickling the skin of her feet, sequins studded on her saree sparkling in an array of colors. An elegant peacock. She felt like one too.

"Yes, my queen?" A servant was immediately at her disposal.

"Call the General to the meeting hall immediately and inform the other courtiers to arrive half an hour later."

"Yes, my queen!" the servant uttered the same words, altering the tone, he bowed low and left.

The heavy, but magnificent, doors opened before her as if sensing the presence of its mistress. Bearing an elegant smile on her face, containing a somewhat gleeful grin, she strode in. The wooden doors shut back close after her siblings entered. Dipankar sat in the armchair next to his younger sister while Suruchi stood on the opposite side, by her queen. The Senapati made his arrival shortly.

"Glad you came on time, General. Please, take a seat," Revati spoke, adding a neat motion of the hand to gesture towards the goblet. "What would you like to have, juice?"

"Water, Your Majesty." Without a moment's hesitation, the royal trainer poured it out. He took the metal goblet with a nod, three fingers on the handle, the thumb and forefinger on either side of the cup. He took a sip and looked at the woman sitting right opposite to him. The same woman who ruled this land and its people.

"General, we have something important to tell you. It's a rather... confidential and delicate matter. Shall I go with news straightforward or shall I take it slow?"

"By all means, Your Highness, I can handle it. Please go on, tell it to me directly." He insisted.

She glanced quickly over to her siblings before continuing, "We have found the Vault of Rahasya."

Clang!

The General who was holding the goblet had let go, letting it fall onto the floor, water sloshing at his feet. His eyes were the size of oranges, eyebrows disappearing into his hair and mouth agape. Safe to say, he was shocked. And shocked a tenfold.

"Maybe I should've taken it slow," Revati mumbled under her breath.

"Wh-what? You've f-found the m-mythical vault of Rahasya?" he managed to get out, emphasizing the 'mythical' part. 

Oh he doesn't believe it, does he? He must think I'm going mad.

"Yes, General." She affirmed.

"B-but how? It is-isn't a real thing, is it?"

"It is, General."

He leaned forward with the expression never fading. "M-my queen, do you feel alright? Prince Dipankar, do check. Her Highness must be down with a fever or something. I'll call for the Royal Physici-"

"There is absolutely no need for that, Senapati." She stopped him halfway to the door. "Please take a seat. I am perfectly fine, there's nothing wrong with me," she assured him, her words slow.

The man seemed conflicted. Wanting to believe her but knowing that he would be sane if he didn't. The poor general begrudgingly came back and plopped into the chair. His bewildered state slowly slipped away by their next exchange of words.

"It is a very real thing, not a myth, General Neelkanth. It was made known only to the royal members of this kingdom. But the location was an exception, only the reigning monarch would have knowledge of it."

Neelkanth's head moved up and down hesitantly but accepting the truth more. "How did you find it, my queen?"

"Well," her tongue darted over her lips. "Let's say my father's last words were a clue in deciphering the secret."

"This is wonderful news, Your Highness! Er, did you find what it was supposed to contain..?"

"Oh yes, that and more. And you won't believe what else we discovered," Revati leaned back in her seat, the upward curve of her lips broadening.

* * *

Days later:

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" the voice was grateful as its owner took the weapons in his calloused hands. Those calloused hands that worked had in fields day and night. Revati only beamed at him. She handed them out herself, the weapons, one by one. Suruchi signaled the ladies to stand in line.

The queen's fingers stroked the swords' blades as she selected the perfect sword for each woman's build and height. 

One middle-aged woman clasped her hands roughly. "I apologize for touching you, my queen, but I do not know how else we can thank you. We are all indebted to you for keeping us good and going even through a time like this. We're proud to call you our queen!" she cried, hot tears rolling down her cheeks, a boatload of gratitude in her eyes.

Revati's expression softened and she smiled. "No. I am the one indebted to you all for sacrificing your time away from your responsibilities to be trained. For all your constant support. I have asked you to become something you were not and now you have become warriors of your motherland. And for that, I am proud of us women kind."

"Ayushmati Bhava, Putri!" The woman blessed her and went her way. 

The young queen's heart swelled with pride and joy. Her eyes nearly watered seeing the crowds of people that were gathered there. Each one of the elder women blessed her and went along. Next were the children and the elderly. The first girl came along who touched her queen's feet in reverence and accepted her slingshot along with a pouch of bullets.

"These weapons are for you when the time of war comes. You may use your slingshots to practice, but do not use the bullets. For they are special and dangerous for practice." She warned each child gently. "This goes same for you older kids. Use your bows but not your arrows for practice."

Revati approached the old women and gave them their slingshots. The women were overjoyed when their ruler accepted their blessings and heed their words of wisdom and praises that came along.

After the people went back, Dipankar accompanied his sisters back to the palace. Their youngest sister exhaled. "That was tiring!"

"But a heartfelt thing you did back there, Revati," her elder sister was quick to point out.

"It needed to be done. In this time of difficulty, they need to know that they are not alone, even their ruler stands by them. And besides, I like to see the smiles on their faces." Revati replied cheerfully.

"Now Revati, how about some matters of finance?" Suruchi jested.

"There's still some left? I was looking forward to some sleep!" Revati groaned as her siblings chuckled.

"No, you go catch up on your 'precious' sleep. I was only pulling your leg," she said, her right hand resting on her hip, her eyes brimming with mirth.

Dipankar agreed, his head bobbing slightly. "After all, you have to get the training done. For yourself and for the kingdom."

Revati's lips set back down into a grim line. "Yes. And the day of war is drawing near and only a meager ten nights separate us from it." They stood there for a while, each lost in thought.

Suruchi was the first to snap out of it. "Good night," she wished them and left. This brought them out of their thoughts and reminded them of the present. Each sibling trudged away to their chambers.

* * *

"Is everything ready?" Revati asked, questioning a soldier standing. They stood in the dim hallway of the palace.

"Yes, my queen." He then proceeded to lower his voice to tell her something.

"Ahh... so that's the thing. Don't worry, I have made preparations beforehand." She told him before turning back and walking towards the food granary.

"Abhijna Devi!" she called out. "I trust everything is going along smoothly?"

"Absolutely, your highness!" the middle-aged woman replied cheerfully. "Tomorrow will be a piece of cake with you as our leader!"

These people have so much faith in me. Almost too much. I cannot break it at any cost. She thought grimly.

"I won't fail you, or our country for that matter." She promised the woman, a promise to herself too. The next stop was the armory and weaponry room.

"Bhrathaha, all good?" She popped her head in, gripping the wall.

"Yes, everything is in place. I've spoken to the General, he's gone to collect an update." Dipankar reported. "He'll be back in say... half an hour?"

"That's great, by the by, have you seen Suruchi?"

Dipankar nodded and told her that he had last seen her walking in the garden. Revati immediately knew where she'd be. She lifted her skirts a smidge so that she wouldn't trip over. And she shot off, her toes briefly brushing the refreshing water droplets on the grass giving her a calming feeling. She relished in the coldness of the stone steps and walls as she made her way up. Revati made her way towards the figure, dark in contrast with the bluish-white hue of the moonlight.

"Suruchi?" she hesitantly called out.

"Come, take a seat," her sister's hand patted the place beside her.

The younger one placed herself beside her sister and settled her head on her shoulder. They let out identical sighs. "It's beautiful and-"

"-calm and peaceful."

Revati sat upright. "Well, won't this be shattered by that tyrant?" She scowled into the distance.

"Not if you don't let him. We're going to win tomorrow. I'm sure of it."

Revati crossed her arms, her eyebrows raised in a knowing look. "It looks like you're trying to convince yourself that."

"Yes, maybe I am," Suruchi exhaled. She was surprised, to say the least. Suruchi would never have admitted something like that so quickly, there had to be something wrong.

"Suruchi, are you sure everything is fine? Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not, neither are you. Nobody's been okay ever since he rolled the dice. We've just been fooling ourselves into buying false hopes. It's just- it's just all going so fast, I..." she sighed in defeat. "I've seen battles and wars, death and grief. It is devastating. But I fear this war might surpass all the horrors I've seen. I don't know whether we'll live to see another night." Suruchi's voice was grim, eyes glazed and focused elsewhere.

Revati swallowed, a chill passing up her spine at her last words. "Yes. But we can't show it to our people. We need to remain strong in front of them so they'll be too. Even if on the inside, we're not. If we break, they break. If we stand, they stand. And it's not just one other person, it's hundreds of them."

Suruchi stared at her, pride shining in her eyes. 

Her sister continued, "We have made all preparations, worked so hard. And tomorrow we don't know if it'll be enough. What if they have changed their battle strategy? What if they've increased their numbers? We won't stand a chance."

Suruchi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "As you said: at least we can try. You've given your best, I've given my best, our brother"-Revati smiled at that-"has given his best and so have the people."

"You're right. It's time we rolled out dice too." She agreed.

"'We the grow the plant, god bestows the fruit.'" They synchronized, their eyes black pearls under the moonlight. 

And so, two sisters sat in each other's embrace, in what might be, their last night.

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This I'd thrilling, what might happen next?
Will I go as you assume I will, or will I hit you all with a tragic end?
Well, that's for me to know and you to find out ;)

See ya guys next Sunday!

P.S. a shoutout to Surya85 and TheSimpleSilentMe for voting recently on every chapter of my book!❤️❤️