✓ Fearless - Book 1 of The Rajkumari Trilogy

Chapter 10

Chapter 10
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She was momentarily distracted by the cold wind that blew at her out of nowhere and her feet accidentally slipped into a dark puddle. She let out a sharp yelp. "Is this water or frozen ice?" she murmured, tugging on her skirts, pulling them away from the puddle, and squeezed herself into a congested street. 

She stopped in front of a house, swung open the rickety old wooden door, and stepped inside the cold, rundown house. The children rushed to greet her.

Revati was bombarded with questions the moment she turned around to face them. She simply chuckled. "Slow down children, I'll tell you what the surprise is about in a minute."

She set down the vessels she was carrying and began to light up some deepas. She poured the hot sambar into bowls and handed it to the children. They huddled together sipping the soupy dish quietly. "The surprise is that you won't be living here from tomorrow onwards," she stated, quite blandly for a supposed surprise.

"Why? You want us to go to the old orphan home?" the tiny girl asked, her eyes wide with hurt.

"No, no. Nothing of that sort. Tomorrow morning you will be taken to the palace, there are vacant quarters where you can stay until your father gets a holiday." Now, this was conveyed grandly.

Their eyes gleamed with excitement as they practically jumped on her, keeping the bowl aside, of course. She hugged them back and placed them one by one on the bed. "I know, very exciting! But if you don't have a good night's sleep, you won't have any energy left in the morning. We don't want that do we?"

"No Princess Bhagini, thank you for..." one child murmured as he trailed off to sleep. Her heart swelled with a warm sort of feeling. A small, cramped house with only a single lantern illuminating the surroundings in a dull, flickering glow. But three tiny, innocent toddlers huddled together asleep, made all the difference.

She draped the blankets over them and packed up her things. She stepped back outside, closing the door behind her softly.

Revati sighed in content. It feels good to help people. Especially tiny, cute adorable little people.

"That's quite enough playing the mother for today, don't you think?" a voice sounded behind her, sounding suspiciously like her best friend's. It was her. She was leaning against the side of the wall of a house, arms crossed in a relaxed manner. "We have an important matter at hand."

"Let's go somewhere else," Revati said, her gaze flitting upon the rows of houses, as she tugged the hood of the thin cloak further down her head. She followed her until they reached the edge of the woodland, more like a thicket, but it did lead on to a forest. Houses were far behind them, the scattered trees beside the rock hill greeting them instead. Revati cocked her head to the side and sent Suruchi a look. Here? Why?

"Tunnels," she answered, pointing to a dark patch of hanging vines at the base of the boulder.

The princess trudged further in the dark, parting the vines to the side, and stepped into the dark hollow to be met with-

"The same passageways leading to the same places. You don't always have to disguise yourself to sneak through the palace gates," Suruchi spoke as she entered the passage after the princess. A dull flicker of light came along with the maid's torch.

"Handy, but it is quite far," she commented, looking around.

"Better than going through the risk of being discovered. You know how the King abhors you walking- sneaking out at night."

"Yes, he may station a whole troop of guards if he ever got a whiff of it." A small smile played on her face. When her eyes landed on Suruchi, her expression turned serious. "Now, what was the important matter?"