Yatee : Rise of an Empress

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Soon, by late morning, Yatee along with Sripad and her kids reached Giripur. It had been years since she had visited the land where she grew up. Her sight blurred due to tears building in her eyes. The once prosperous land was ruined up now due to the floods. She reached her maternal home, where her dear Grandfather Manibhadra Appa lived. He was still, a strong person, a capable leader of Giripur. She hugged him and shed few tears in his embrace. Then she handed him the most precious thing she owned - her kids. The old man was overjoyed to hold his great-grandchildren. He was playing with them in Yatee's old room.

Yatee and Sripad along with few soldiers took a look around the land and she ordered to shift the people into the refugee camp, built on the border of Chandanpur and Giripur. The people thanked her, not knowing she was the same girl whom they mocked up every now and then. They moved everyone by afternoon.

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"राणीसाहेब, एक विचारू ?
(Your Highness, can I ask you something?)"
Sripad asked her as she served him the lunch.

"Sure Bhauji. And no need to address me as a queen when not in the court. You are like my brother." She said as she sat infront of him.

"Why are you being so kind to people who were once insulting you ?" He asked.

"I am not being kind because I am a queen. I'm helping them as I am the granddaughter of their head. This is a responsibility of myself to take care of them in his absence." She said as a smile played on her lips.

"No one can decipher your thoughts. Where our brains stop thinking, your brain starts there. That's why you are the Queen and I'm just a mere soldier, serving the holy Bhagwa (the holy flag of Ajinkyapur)" Sripad said as he bowed to her.

"Stop all this. Like you, even I am a soldier of our Kingdom. I believe no one is superior and no one is inferior. We all are same under our flag. Now finish your lunch. We need to take care of the leftover work before it...." Yatee's sentence was broken by a huge thunderbolt sound that echoed in the empty surroundings.

"....it rains." She sighed after hearing the roar of the nature.

"It's good we have sent Manibhadra Appa and kids back to Chandanpur. Otherwise they would have caught cold." Sripad said as he finished his lunch and washed his plate.

"Yeah. Now I guess the only people left here are we both and few soldiers, right ?" Yatee asked him as they both exited the mansion.

"Yes. Not few, but about hundred soldiers." Sripad said as he motioned Yatee towards the place where the soldiers had arrived from Chandanpur.

The sounds of thunderbolt echoed again but this time, it was accompanied with some foreign sounds from the dense forests.

"Be careful." Saying so, Yatee left the area.

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In Chandanpur, Chandrashekhar was in tension. He was still thinking why did Yatee sent Manibhadra Appa and kids back to palace... Maybe she will return soon, or maybe there is a problem ? His mind was in a constant battle of thoughts. He even cancelled his work in the court. Ramchandra observed his situation and went to meet him.

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"What happened Chandrashekhar ? You are upset since the time Rani Saheb and Sripad left for Giripur. We got the news na that they will return by late afternoon. Then why so tensed ?" Ramchandra asked as he handed Chandrashekhar a glass of water.

"It's about the time for Sandhya Pujan. Still they haven't returned. I'm getting more and more..." His talk was interrupted by an arrow which stuck on the painting of Yatee, hanged on the wall opposite to the window of their room.