Devika - A journey unbound by time

10: Competition

Mina thought for a while before saying, "As a King of Nala Kingdom, he doesn't lack in riches. So why don't you gift him something that would be made by you, specifically for him. It would be something that he will not be able to buy and a one of a kind gift for His Majesty."

Rajni nodded thoughtfully and started thinking of various gifts happily.

"Why don't you cook something for His Majesty?" Mina suggested.

"Cook for His Majesty?" Rajni asked surprised.

"Yes. Miss Rajni might not know this, but His Majesty is a bit of foodie. He likes to try new dishes from different kingdoms all the time. Over the years, we had quite a few chefs from across the land come to the Palace to display their cooking skills. If the dish cooked pleased His Majesty and his courtiers, then the chef would be highly praised and duly rewarded." Mina informed her. Rajni's eyes sparkled at this bit of information.

"If Miss Rajni cooks for His Majesty a delicious dish authentic to Kuru Kingdom, then he would surely be pleased and reward Miss. It will also be a unique and one of a kind gift for His Majesty. What does Miss think?" Mina asked her.

"It is a great idea. However I don't know how to cook complex dishes." Rajni replied, her eyes losing a bit of sparkle.

Rajni hailed from a family of wealthy merchants in Kuru Kingdom. Apart from that their family held a relation with the royal family. As such, Rajni in her lifetime had never lifted a spoon let alone cook something. Her parents had spoiled her when she was young and had  never asked her to learn anything. Her Father knew of her ambition to become a Queen and had bought up his daughter as if she were a Princess.

Mina thought for a while and then said, "This would be the best gift for His Majesty as it displays that you took care to find out about his interest."

"Let me think about it." Rajni replied and gestured Mina to leave. Mina bowed and left the room. Going down a couple of passageways she encountered Rewa. Both of them exchanged a meaningful glance and stepped away from the main passageway for a couple of words.

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"Aunt Gayatri!" Devika exclaimed surprised to see Gayatri on the training ground. Devika and Veer had just finished their strategy lessons and were preparing for their next classes.

"Princess." Both Veer and General Abhay bowed to greet her.

"Please relax. I just wanted to see what kind of training you have scheduled for Little Princess next." Gayatri said, a soft smile graced her lips. "Greetings General and little General." she replied.

Veer looked at the lady in front of him and was shy. Although he had been accompanying his Father to the Palace training grounds for a couple of years, he hadn't really met Gayatri although he had heard of her. When she greeted him with a smile, she looked beautiful and kind and Veer felt a bit shy towards her.

"I plan to start their training in archery. The field was being set up for it and has just completed." Abhay replied.

"Archery..." Gayatri softly whispered, past memories assailing her mind. She remembered the time when she and her elder sister used to train in archery and their silly competitions. She looked around the archery setup. There was a long table with different types of bows and arrows to a side and a place was marked in the centre of field for archers to stand. Cloth of varying colours were tied throughout the right side of the field, which served the purpose of target. A few dummies made of dried grass were propped on the other side. Cloth that moved due to wind were the most difficult to hit accurately.

"You were quite well versed in handling a bow, right?" a voice said. The four of them quickly turned to find King Nanda behind them. "My beloved Queen once told me the stories of how she and her younger sister used to compete in their youth. It was said that in the entire Kuru Kingdom no other person of their age could win against the Princesses in archery." Nanda continued.

"Your Majesty, that was in the past. It has been so many years since I have even held a bow." Gayatri said, her voice low at the end.

"Mother and Aunt used to be champions in archery? I want to see. Please Aunt.. Please... Please show me. I want to see." Devika immediately beseeched her.

"Little Princess..." Gayatri said shaking her head negatively.

"Why don't you try today? Let's have a little competition amongst us, you versus me." Nanda replied. He just wanted to satisfy his daughter's curiosity.

"How about this for the competition? Both of them fire ten shots each and, whoever hits the mark most, wins" Veer proposed.

"A competition is only fun if there are bets placed on it. What are your bets?" General Abhay asked. He wanted to see if the legend in Kuru Kingdom was true.

"If Aunt loses then she will cook a dish of Father's liking and if Father loses then he will take me and Aunt for a family outing in the capital city. How about this?" Devika suggested.

"Sounds like, whoever wins the one who would gain is you Little Princess." General Abhay observed with a wry smile. Devika gave sheepish smile while the rest of them chuckled.

Gayatri finally agreed under the combined persuasion of everyone present. She stepped towards the table holding different types of bows and arrows. After looking at all the types, she selected a bow that was light weighted and had a bend in the middle with the ends tapering off. She likewise selected some arrows and filled a quiver. Mounting the quiver on her back she walked to the shooting area and took up a stance on the place marked for archers.

Nanda also selected a bow of his liking and took up the other place. General Abhay signalled both the archers to take up the stance. He held up a sword in his hand and brought it down swiftly. As his sword struck the ground, arrows from both archers flew and struck the cloth hanging nearest to them. Both the arrows had managed to pin the cloth.

Abhay raised his sword again and both archers prepared their arrows. As General Abhay lowered his sword, the arrows flew again with the same result. The process repeated with no difference until the last arrow. When both of them fires their last arrow, Gayatri's arrow struck the cloth but Nanda's arrow spliced Gayatri's arrow and struck the cloth fluttering in the wind.

Since all ten arrows from each of them had struck the cloth, neither of them lost. As there was no clear winner or loser, Devika just looked up at both of them a bit in awe. She realised that she had a long way to go before becoming strong enough to save her family and her kingdom. Gayatri bowed her head to King Nanda and said, "I accept my defeat, Your Highness. The last arrow of yours showed me that your skill is much higher than mine."

King Nanda laughed and replied, "You are not bad yourself, Princess Gayatri. Since as per the competition rules you have not lost, I will also fulfill the bet take you and Little Princess for an outing."

Devika cheered up at reaping the benefits from their competition. After congratulating both of the competitors, Veer and Abhay left for their home as it was almost evening. Devika headed to her chambers, she had to reevaluate her plan for becoming stronger.