Parth saw the book in his hand and sighed heavily while murmuring, "Then what about ordering the new guards to not interrupt Yuvrani whenever she comes to your chamber?  He says that it is out of respect and all that, but it is just the budding phase of love".  Parth went away to complete his work.

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Back in Kalindi's chamber, Rekha and Lekha were discussing about Yuvraj's harsh behaviour for such a minor issue, when Gopi chuckled and said, "This is nothing new for the people of Rakshatra.  There had already been some courtesans gifted by various people and those girls will disappear within a week.  Before you assume, no, they are not killed.  They voluntarily went away with Yuvraj's permission.  I'm sure, this week as well, the other two courtesans will leave the palace, after looking at their partner's condition today".  

Kalindi heard her words and realised the problem.  Just then one of the other maids asked for permission to enter and on acceptance, the maid said, "Yuvrani, the head maid of the Queen is here to meet you". Kalindi nodded at her to get the maid inside.  Then that head maid said, "Greetings Yuvrani!  Queen has asked for your presence in the Kitchen".  Then Kalindi went to the kitchen with her three maids.  "Greetings Queen", Kalindi greeted her mother-in-law Oormila.  Then Oormila looked at her and said, "Hope Yuvrani had a good night.  Since this is your first day here, let's start with the Food preparation.  As such you don't need to cook everyday but just for the ritual, you should cook today.  And if you wish, you can cook whenever you want. Ok?". 

Kalindi nodded and then got the menu for the breakfast as well as lunch, which was very long.  And before leaving the kitchen, Oormila said, "Yuvrani, Royal family will have their lunch together always but breakfast and dinner time may vary for everyone.  So let's do one thing, after you are done with the breakfast, let me know.  So that we shall take the food to the Shastrashala, where Yuvraj will be practicing with the other soldiers as well as train them. Oh, if we are to take it to shastrashala then the other Soldiers will also be there and it wouldn't look good if we simply give food to one person right. So prepare the breakfast for them as well.  Ok, And before I forget, complete the breakfast preparation within two hours as we have the morning prayer arranged for you.  Let's meet in the temple for prayer".  Saying so, Queen Oormila went away.

Rekha and Lekha looked at each other warily and felt nervous about the future of their princess, as it was obvious that the Queen was using sugar coated words to make Kalindi work hard.  Anyone will naturally think that why would the soldiers feel bad if their Yuvrani brings food exclusively for their Yuvraj?  So it seems like a dumb reason to make Kalindi prepare large amount of food of so many varieties within a short period of time. Seeing that Kalindi was not reacting to it, both the maids got into work alongside Kalindi.  All the while Gopi was silently observing the situation and started helping them. 

In the middle of the work, Gopi went to Kalindi and said, "Yuvrani, actually I want to tell you something".  Seeing her nervous face, Kalindi said, "Yeah tell me Gopi".  Then Gopi said with hesitation, "Actually, Queen had asked you to take food to Yuvraj and the other training soldiers right. But, Yuvraj would have already went away from there, by the time we finish and reach there, that too after the prayer".  Kalindi was a little bit surprised as she thought that her mother-in-law's plan was to make her work hard but now it seems there is more to that.  Kalindi asked Gopi, "How do you know that?".  To which Gopi replied, "Actually Yuvrani, it's Yuvraj's regular schedule that he goes around the kingdom after the practice and most of the time have breakfast in any one of the high class hotels in the market". 

Kalindi nodded at her explanation and went on to continue with her work. Gopi too continued her work and finally they finished it on time. Kalindi didn't have much time to get ready, so she simply readjusted her dress and then went for puja (Prayer). After the puja, Oormila checked the food items and nodded appreciatively.  Then she pretended to forgetting about Yuvraj's absence and said, "I'm really sorry, Yuvrani Kalindi.  I didn't remember about his schedule. Please don't mistake me", when Kalindi nodded at her with the usual clipped smile, she continued, "Okay let's do one thing, I will ask the servants to distribute the food among the soldiers in training and also among themselves".  Then Oormila went away.

Then Kalindi went to her chamber along with the maids and closed the door of her bedroom so that others don't disturb her.  Gopi was also allowed inside the room because she proved to be loyal to Kalindi when she disclosed that Yuvraj will not be available.  But still Kalindi kept certain things secret as Gopi is appointed by Yuvraj and her ultimate loyalty lies towards him.  That is the reason why Kalindi didn't express her anger openly, like she usually does infront of Rekha or Lekha.  Seeing Kalindi standing in the balcony without saying a word, Gopi felt too bad for her Yuvrani.  This is her first day but she had to face such hardships and indirect insults. 

On the other hand, Kalindi was not at all distressed about the incident as this was nothing out of ordinary that she expected from her stepmother-in-law, after seeing the abnormal relationship of Yuvraj Abhyuday and the Queen.  The only thing that is running in her mind right now is, what will be the next step of the Queen?  Or is this the only incident, just to intimidate her? And  Kalindi hated to be clueless as she had always been able to predict and control the events in Hridaypura, be it within the palace or outside the palace. 

Kalindi murmured frustratedly, "Not sure, to what extent the lady will go?  Her motives doesn't seem to end with showing her authority or intimidating me to stay out of her way. There is something more to it, which might have something to do with Yuvraj".  After finishing her analysis, Kalindi went to the garden as she didn't get time since morning.  

Days went on and now, it has been four days since the cooking incident.  The remaining days after that were also not so peaceful for Kalindi. Oormila kept giving her such menial tasks which would either try to degrade her position or exhaust her physically, like asking Kalindi to keep full day fast for spiritual reasons, asking her to bring food to the Queen's chamber and then making her run back and forth to the kitchen for some thing or the other and so on. 

And Kalindi kept doing all these works with the same neutral face and formal smile because these were already expected by her but that does not mean she is a saint to not get angry.  It's just that her breaking point of anger is not reached, YET.  And in these four days, Abhyuday never visited her, even at nights.  Kalindi didn't see him much as well and she has more important things to deal with, than checking upon him.  It was another day and Queen Oormila had already sent a message to Kalindi, asking her to join in a casual walk around the palace gardens and other places.

Kalindi got ready and went to meet Oormila, who was already dressed for the day.  Then both of them went to the garden with their respective maids following behind them.  The sun has just risen and all the servants were actively carrying out their activities.  They looked at the flowers and plants in the garden and Oormila took interest to ask Kalindi about her different type of Gardening.  Then one of the maids reminded about their breakfast, so they decided to return back to the palace.  Before going, Oormila said, "Yuvrani Kalindi, we have come this far.  Let's go and see Shastrashala once, as you might not get a chance to see in near future.  What do you think?".  Kalindi agreed to her and went with her along with both their maids. 
​​

They entered the shastrasala and everyone left their training to greet the Queen and Yuvrani.  After that the training resumed while Oormila and Kalindi looked at the weapons and different types of training methods.  Kalindi was fascinated with the kind of training given here as it is very much different from Hridaypura.  Just then she heard a shriek from Oormila and cursed herself for her  lack of attendiveness for a moment.  She turned only to see that Oormila was standing by the support of a pillar nearby, only on one leg, as if she was about to loose balance. 

Before Kalindi could comprehend her move, Oormila called out, "Yuvrani, what are you doing, standing over there.  Please come here and take my chappal (footwear) from there.  Please help me wear it, I can't stand on one leg for too long".  Kalindi was stunned at this open attack on her.  This was not expected by her.  Kalindi thought that all these games will be behind closed doors and also subtle but Oormila proved her wrong. This woman is ready to openly insult her infront of all the training soldiers, who were also shocked by this kind of request from their Queen towards their Yuvrani. 

Then only Kalindi realized that this woman is too much evil to even deflect their maids, while going in and out of various restricted rooms with multiple exits, and compel her to do the work without asking the maids. Oormila called out again, "Yuvrani, please think of it as a help to your mother-in-law and please don't take it as an insult. I apologise to you".   "This old witch is trying to create sympathy infront of the soldiers, as if I'm the one who is not treating her well.  But how did her chappal got stuck with the clay but she safely came aside near the pillar", thinking all this

Kalindi didn't make a move to help her so-called mother-in-law. Seeing Kalindi standing on her place without making a move, Oormila once again called out frustratedly, as she can't stall the maids for long, "Yuvrani, it's not a big task.  Just pull my footwear out of the clay and place it near my leg. That's it. Nothing big". 

Suddenly everyone heard a voice, "Oormila!".  And Oormila's breath got stuck, as there is only one person in the whole of Rakshatra who will call her by her name.

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Hi guys,

Guess who was that?

Do vote and comment if you like the chapter.

Thanks,
SM.