Chapter 26

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Aparajita reached the royal palace of Vijaygarh but she could not enter from the main gates due to the presence of the royal guards. After all, she was carrying the unconscious prince of Shivgarh with her.

Veerbhadra who was holding the small waist of his goldfish tightly realized that the princess was not comfortable taking him inside the palace. After all, he was a muscular man sitting on the same horse with the princess and this scene was enough to transpire rumors in the royal palace and then among the public crumbling her dignity. As of now, he too did not want that.

Veerbhadra felt anxious. He wondered where his goldfish was taking him. Getting prepared to face the worst, he sighed as he clutched her tightly.

“Prince”, Aparajita mumbled getting uncomfortable in his grip. Veerbhadra slumped his body on her tender shoulders and she sighed.

Taking a deep breath, Aparajita patted the mane of her horse and pulled the harness as she turned towards the city of Vijaygarh. She rode straight to the house of her mentor, Siddharth Pratap Singh. She knew her mentor must be pacing continuously on the terrace of his house. After all, her Siddharth uncle knew she was going to the forest tonight and he must be worried of her, Aparajita realized as she got down from her horse gesturing the prince to follow her suit. Supporting the limping prince of Shivgarh in her strong feminine arms, she knocked at the house of her Siddharth uncle.

Siddharth’s wife got uneasy at the sudden arrival of the guest at night. She was sleeping peacefully in her room while her husband was on the terrace worried for the seventeen year old young queen.

Praying for the well-being of the kingdom and her husband, the middle-aged lady opened the door and was perplexed to see the queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore standing on her doorstep with a man. She sighed visibly terrified at the sight in front of her as she questioned, “Your highness! Are you okay?”

Aparajita had always liked the innocent Yashodha aunt, wife of her Siddharth uncle since childhood. The selfless lady never complained about anything, even when Siddharth Pratap Singh went away on wars. Aparajita admired Yashodha aunt for being courageous enough to manage the kids all alone when Siddharth uncle was not there.

“Aunt, I need to meet uncle”, Aparajita said immediately as she entered the humble house of Siddharth Pratap Singh with the injured Prince of Shivgarh.

Nodding her head, Yashodha called her husband downstairs and offered the queen, some water. Gulping down the glass of water, Aparajita for once slumped on the couch making the prince lie down on the single bed lying in the room.

As Siddharth Pratap Singh came downstairs with confusion written all over his face, Aparajita narrated the whole ordeal giving the details of the way she killed each and every dacoit to her mentor who smiled at her innocence and capability to manage everything at such a young age.

Gesturing towards the injured royal who was listening carefully, Aparajita said, “Uncle, this royal of Shivgarh is none other than the prince”.

“What?”, Siddharth questioned with an incomprehensible expression on his face.

“Uncle, I am Kshatriya. We are taught to protect the ones who take our shelter. The helpless prince was in my territory. It is my duty to protect him. Moreover, he is a neighbor.” Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore said with authority.

Siddharth for once admired the courage of the young queen who followed the path of brotherhood instead of revenge. Being her mentor and guide, Siddharth knew the queen was broken after the death of her brother and mother but as a queen, she did not hate the prince of Shivgarh rather protected him. Siddharth Pratap Singh was delighted at the mature viewpoints of the queen.

On the other hand, for once, the guileful prince of Shivgarh, Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput realized the queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore was indeed, a beautiful girl with a generous heart. For once, he regretted being hateful towards her, her kingdom and her people but then the dead body of his revered grandfather, the late king Mahendra Singh Rajput flashed in front of his eyes along with the eight courageous commanding officers of Rajputana army who had lost their lives. Mentally making a note of giving justice to the ones who lost their lives for taking revenge on Vijaygarh, he strengthened his resolve to defeat Aparajita.

“Your highness! Now what?”, Siddharth Pratap Singh questioned waiting for the next orders.

Aparajita sighed as she said, “Uncle, I will send the royal physician here to examine the prince. Once he is alright, we will send him back home along with the presents as a symbol of brotherhood between the two neighbors. I will come and meet him personally when he gets well.”

Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput realized the queen propagated friendship between the two neighbors, while everyone in Shivgarh considered Vijaygarh as their rival kingdom. Though his instincts, his upbringing and his values told him to leave the idea of revenge yet he resolved to crumble the pride of the good queen after all, he had promised in the royal court of Shivgarh to ascend the throne only when Vijaygarh is ruined forever. Being a Rajput, he could not break his promise and he began formulating the new plan after his old plan got backfired moments ago.

Having said that, Aparajita left for the royal palace. The sun was about to rise and the blue sky was filled with the hues of light yellow and orange. The birds were chirping as they flew in the sky. On the empty roads, Aparajita could make out few men going to the temple early in the morning as she rode towards the royal palace on her pet horse, Shera.

Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore was warmly welcomed in the palace with shower of rose petals as the people were gleefully celebrating the deaths of the dacoits. The responsible officers of the royal kingdom were making arrangements to hang the dead bodies at the clock tower of the prosperous kingdom of Vijaygarh while the drummers were informed to sing the odes of the killings of dacoits by the queen singlehandedly in every town and village of Vijaygarh.

Aparajita sent the royal physician on his duty explaining him everything to keep the entire ordeal a secret. After taking a warm relaxing bath, the tired queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore was ready for a new hectic day at the court.

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Hi everyone
I am anxiously waiting for the next waiting wherein we will see the woman-to-man talk 😉. All I mean, is in the coming chapter, Veerbhadra and Aparajita shall have their first proper conversation....♥️
I will be updating soon.... 💖
Till then shower the love on the story with your valuable votes and lovely comments on the chapter....💞
I will be delighted to hear you all. 😍
Love you all
💜

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