Royals

3 - New Chief

A/n : My ranking just went down from 29 to 48 in mystery😶😩😩😩

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Third Person's POV

The next day went quite smooth for Maisha. She was freed from the prison and given one of the chambers near those of the king. It would be an understatement if she said that the women in palace were fuming with jealousy and anger. Was the king that popular among his mistresses? She thought.

The entire palace seemed tensed up. She had an idea why that might be but she wasn't sure. The real reason of the tension was the fact that Dev Pratap Singh ( The Army Chief) had given up his post with ease and amiable honour without any rebellion and the fact that his army, which was more loyal to him than the King himself had happily accepted a village woman, who was an orphan with no parents to teach her mannerisms and no formal education, as their master, atleast in name. They couldn't believe that he let a woman stay in the West wing of the chambers, where usually the King himself and his ministers stayed. She was a Chief after all but the people did not accept her, nor did the palace.

Vikramaditya did not care. He never did. He knew what was best for the masses and his notions did challenge their conjectures but he knew subconsciously that it would be for the better of the kingdom. He had denounced Maisha from the title of the queen a month after a tireless search for her. But she was still his wife. Although the ministers didn't know that still, they were bound to surrender and even though Dev wanted to skin her alive he only stopped on vehement objection of the King.

Maisha was currently checking out the training grounds of the soldiers when she saw the Aditya himself having a duel with Dev. She quietly sat on a bench beside the training pit. Both men were shirtless and showed off their toned and muscular chests. No wonder the women of the east side were jealous. She was pleased with the sight in front of her. Happy shivers ran her spine as she saw Aditya's flexible body dunk and dodge each and every blow thrown at his way by the opponent. She could stare at this body whole day.  She couldn't believe she was married to this guy!? Totally ignoring the fact that he was a bastard.

She observed their techniques, the amount of strength they had and their endurance. She tried on an armour herself and felt she could fall down just by the weight of that thing. They needed something stronger and lighter.

She picked up a sword and challenged a soldier who snickered a laugh and bowed sarcastically accepting the invitation. They entered the pit and she could feel all eyes on her. The duel between Aditya and Dev was over now. She regretted that she had missed the ending. However, she lifted up a sword and decided to defend. From the corner of her eye she could see a small crowd building up near the benches. Women from the east wing, servants, ministers and almost every passerby stood there with curiosity dripping from their eyes.

Maisha struggled a bit under the weight of the armour and the sword. But she was sharp and agile. She felt the soldier's movements getting cocky with each blow she defended. It was just what she wanted. From cautious and slick attacks, he straightaway played the offense, with no strategy and no technique. Maisha took her que and attacked him for the first and the last time in the two minute battle. She unarmed him with a single blow earning some gasps from the audience.

The soldier accepted his defeat and bowed respectfully to the new Chief. She could sense his embarrassment and shame so she gave him a reassuring smile. He had a newfound respect for his new boss and was ready to surrender his life for her.

"He's just a soldier and it took you two whole minutes to unarm him. Unarm our General Dev Pratap Singh first, then you are worthy of this title," came a voice of a woman from behind. All the heads snapped in her direction as she stood with her head high, hand clutching Aditya's arm.