THE CONQUEROR'S CAPTIVE

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Surabhi's POV

As soon as his eyes landed on me, Maharaj stood up in a swift motion startling the kids and ran towards me. "Save me, Pranahita", he said bringing a weird feeling in my insides when he called me by my name. "Huh?", I was confused. "You were appointed by Guruji to protect me. Save me from them", he said and stood behind me as if he was using me as a human shield. I looked back at him and gave him an are-you-serious look making him look away but he did not move one inch. I looked back at the kids, put the sword back in it's cover and my eyes landed on Sourabh who stared at me as if he was figuring out something. 

"Who are you, lady?", he asked making me suck in a breath. "I am your aunt, you little pumpkin, who you got all that sass from", I wanted to say these words out loud but controlled myself and walked closer to the bed. "Is something wrong, Rajkumar Sourabh?", I asked making him nod. He walked up to me, arms crossed like a little soldier. "Yes. Pwrincess Radhika here thinks her bwrother is better and stronger than my father and my Adi mama", he said, nose crinkling.

I squatted down to be at their eye level. "That's a serious accusation", I said with mock gravity. "What do you think we should do about it?"

"Prove it!", he said immediately, puffing out his chest. "Let the kings have a fight!"

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Maharaj, who was now clearly lost in this chaos. "A fight between two kings? That would turn into a kingdom-wide disaster", I said with wide eyes. Sourabh mimicked my actions and placed his palms on his mouth and turned to look at Radhika in shock. He looked so much like Adi Bhaiyya when he did that. 

Radhika giggled, tugging at my sleeve. "No, no! Not real fighting, Hita. Just who is taller and who runs faster and who is more brave!"

Sourabh added, "Who has more muscles, who can lift more books and who can eat more"

"Ah, all important qualities of great kings", I nodded. "But being brave isn't just about muscles and running speed. Sometimes, it's about how you treat others. About how kind you are". I tried. I saw Maharaj nod behind me from the corner of my eye.

Sourabh tilted his head. "But my father is kind and strong!"

"And my brother is kind and wise", Radhika defended, placing her hands on her tiny hip. They both stared at each other and started debating suddenly. Both of them were talking at the same time making me cover my ears in annoyance. Radhika was pointing fingers at him and Sourabh wrapped his fingers around it and tugged on it making her whine and argue at the same time. 

Maharaj clapped his hands once, loudly. "Settle down, both of you. All this discussion is hurting my brain".

I rolled my eyes. "You're literally a king. This", I pointed to the kids, "is hurting your brain? Really?"

He whispered, "I have been stuck with them for so long, you have no idea".

Sourabh spoke suddenly, "None of you can convince me that my father and mama are weaker than him", he pointed at Maharaj.

I replied, "Well you are right, Rajkumar. Maharaj Vallabh and Maharaj Aditya are indeed stronger than our Maharaj here". Suddenly, Maharaj pulled on my elbow and made me turn toward himself. "What? What did you just say? You are supposed to take my side. Not theirs", he protested. 

"The truth, Maharaj. Both the king of Vajrasiri and the king of Ratnagarbha are kshatriyas. They include meat in their diets to stay strong. But you, on the other hand, are a brahmin and do not eat meat making you weaker than them in some points", he looked shocked as his full lips parted slowly and he shook his head before he started, "We do not need to eat meat to stay muscular. The mightiest one in the whole world, Lord Hanuman ate no meat. Did he not lift the Sanjeevini mountain? If I want to I can grow bigger muscles too. I'm just not prioritizing it right now".