Part 3 Chevalier

Khushi found herself in a forest-like area. She amazed. That meant Delhi was a forest in the Ashoka period. She felt a chilling breeze caressing her face. It was definitely a WOW moment of her life because she had never experienced such a nice climate before. She ran her eyes in the surroundings. Variety of sky-high trees, colorful plants, its pleasant smell, everything bewitched her mind.

"Was Delhi so beautiful and captivating in the Ashoka period?" Khushi was baffled.

She heard a different sound... DOP... DOP.

"What sound is that? From where it comes?" She sharpened her ears and walked in the direction.

When she closed up to the place, a strong smell of mango hit her nose. She stood thunder-stuck, seeing the ground covered with mangoes. It was a mango-bosk. Having no one to relish them, the mangoes were rotting, falling on the ground. It looked a like a mango carpet. A few squirrels were eating them cutely. That brought a smile to her face.

A mango fell on her feet. Taking it, she ate it. It tasted damn sweet.

"God... what will I do? If the Maaza, Frooti, and Slice companies see this, they would surely fight with one another to get the right of these mangoes" she laughed.

Taking her mobile out, she captured a selfie with the mango carpet. Taking a few mangoes for herself, she walked ahead in the forest cautiously.

After a few minutes of walking, she heard the same DOP sound again. She became curious and headed to the place. There, she saw the LEMON carpet. The lemon smell dominated the area completely. Taking a few lemons, she kept them with the mangoes. She felt her Maurya Empire visit was worth it. She moved happily, humming her favorite song.

After a few minutes, her eyes caught hold of the greenish field. She didn't know whether it was a paddy or wheat. It started after a hundred meters from the place she was standing.

"If there is a field, a village must also be near the field..." She guessed it.

A curiosity about meeting ancient people was raised in her mind. She increased her walking speed. After a few steppes, she put a break to her legs as she heard a shout of a girl... no it was not just a shout but also a whimper.

"Please leave me... I beg you... please don't spoil my life"

Khushi was taken aback. What the hell was that? She ran to the spot, guessing the direction of the voice. She saw a man trying to take a girl on his horse. The girl was giving him a tough time while pleading with him.

"What the... no matter whether it's BC or AD, harassing girls won't change" murmuring that, Khushi rushed to them.

Before the man composed himself, she punched him. Not only the man but also the girl looked at her weirdly who was wearing jeans pants and a T-shirt. They never had seen such an outfit in their life.

"Who is he? Why is he misbehaving with you?" Khushi asked in Hindi as usual, keeping an eye on the man.

"I can't understand what you are asking" the girl spoke in Prakrit language, weeping.

That was when Khushi got her sense. She asked the same question in the Prakrit language.

"He is trying to take me forcefully" the girl cried.

The man removed a spear from the saddle of his horse and aimed it at Khushi. Taking a very few seconds, Khushi kicked his hand. The spear fell ten feet away from him. Using a strong KATA from karate, she knocked him down within a few seconds. The man jumped on the horse and fled away from the place.

Khushi looked at the girl who was looking at her without blinking.

"Are you all right?" Khushi asked her.

The girl nodded yes and was about to say something, she stopped hearing the horse's hoof sound. Two Chevaliers came there on the horses. One among them gestured to another one and he followed the spearman who fought with Khushi. The second one jumped off the horse.

Khushi lost herself, seeing the man. She had never seen such a sculptured face in her life. The way he stood next to the horse looked Martial. Though he was wearing a simple dress he looked Majestic. There was a long sword tied to his hip belt.

The way she studied him made him embarrassed.

"What happening here?" the man asked.

His question brought Khushi back to the sense. She looked at the girl who was hesitating to speak. Khushi was about to say something to the man, the girl pressed her hand and nodded no. That amazed Khushi.

"Nothing... nothing happened..." the girl stammered.

Khushi looked that her disappointedly. Why this girl didn't say anything to the man? What could be the reason? Who was this man? Something was absolutely wrong with this man. Khushi supposed.

But both the girls didn't know the man was keenly observing their expressions and gestures.

"May I know who are you? You are not looking like a Mauryan" the man asked Khushi who was wearing a different attire.

Khushi's mind worked fast. She understood why he asked this question. Anyone could easily understand she didn't belong to the country. What would she say? Was she a Time Traveler? Who would believe her? Would it be that easy to explain the time travel concept to these ancient people? She made up herself.

"I am a foreigner"

"But you talk Prakrit language fluently..."

"There is a Prakrit teacher in our country. I learned it from him"

"Why did you come here?"

"I have heard many things about this country. So, I came to visit it."

"Which country do you belong to?"

Khushi got stuck. Which county?

"I am from Chhattisgarh..." she said, as Chhattisgarh state was recently added into India.

"Chhattisgarh? Where is that located? I have not heard the name ever before..."

"It's next to the Himalayas..."

"Himalayas? You mean the mountain with snow carpet?" there was an eagerness in his eyes.

"Exactly..."

"How did you cross the mountain?"

"I came through Khyber Pass"

"With whom did you come?"

"I came alone"

"Alone?" he lifted his brows.

She nodded yes.

"Did you come to our country crossing the Himalayas all alone?"

"Yes..."

The man looked at her unbelievably.

"By the way, may I know who are you? Because you are asking me a lot of questions" Khushi asked him.

"He looks like a Warrior"

The girl who was listening to them whispered to Khushi.

Khushi looked at her excitedly.

"That means he could reach your government authorities, right?"

The girl nodded yes hesitatingly.

"Then why did you stop me from telling about the man to him?"

The girl dragged Khushi behind a big tree, a little away from the man.

"Please don't talk anything about him" she pleaded.

"But why?"

"The man who tried to abduct me is, the commander's man," she said in a feeble tone fearfully.

"Whaaaat?" Khushi was shocked.

"Please don't tell them anything. It will lead us into trouble"

"Are you going to tolerate his tantrums?"

"We have no choice"

"But why?"

"The commander is none other than the brother of our queen"

"You mean Emperor Ashoka's wife?"

"No... We do not belong to Ashoka Empire"

"What are you saying? Is this not Ashoka Empire?"

"The answer can be yes or no"

"I didn't get you"

"This is an alliance country of Maurya, one of its under Kingdom. We come under the Maurya dynasty but we have freedom"

"Why so?"

"Our king Chaitanya's father helped Chandragupta Maurya to get his country back. Since that time, they are maintaining a good friendship. Mauryas would not interfere in any of our country's problems. We are independent. Yet, we belong to Maurya Empire"

"Ohhh..."

"Our king Chaitanya is a gem of a person"

"Then you can let him know what is happening in his country..."

"We can't reach our king easily. We have to cross Himadri before reaching the king"

"Who is Hemadri?"

"The commander in chief."

"By the way why did he try to abduct you?"

"He is a lecher. This is not the first time. He is so foxy. He knew we won't go to the capital crossing hundreds of furlongs to complaint about him"

"What will happen if you go?"

"We will lose our livelihood because we don't know what action the king will take on him. What if the king didn't believe us? We need witnesses"

Khushi became thoughtful.

"You said you came crossing the Himalayas. Could you meet our king and tell him about Hemadri?" The girl asked with pleading eyes.

Khushi felt bad for her. She knew she could not change anything. She didn't want to disappoint the girl.

"Okay, if I get a chance to meet your king I will definitely tell him about Hemadri"

"If you could not meet our king try to meet our Prince, Aparajit"

"Aparajith?"

"Yes, he is undefeated. He is our hope. He is so brilliant and skilled after Ashoka"

"Is it?"

"Yes, he completed his Gurukul education two years ago. After that, he participated in many wars with Ashoka. But we don't know why Ashoka didn't take him to the Kalinga war"

"Is he here only?"

"Yes... you can't find him even if he comes in front of you"

"Why?"

"Because he is master in disguise... he is skilled in many events. Disguise is one among them"

Khushi saw the girl's eyes sparkle with happiness when she talked about Aparajit.

"By the way why he wears a disguise?"

"To get to know about public problems"

Khushi's curiosity touched its peak. She wanted to meet an interesting character called Aparajit.

"Okay I will keep it in my mind," Khushi said and came to the Chevalier.

The man looked at her with a penetrating gaze. The other chevalier who followed the spearman came back.

"What happened Viraj? where is he?"

"I'm sorry. He got vanished" Virat said disappointedly.

"You haven't answered my question," Khushi said.

"What's your question?" The chevalier asked.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the commander of a sub-division. Friend of Prince Aparajit... My name is Arnav" He said.

To be continued...