Many millenniums ago, the holy land of Bharatvarsh was a habitat for many tribes. Lord Vishnu along with Lord Manu, united these tribes under a single flag and named it 'Swarglok', a land that resembles heaven. Countless centuries passed by, rulers changed, but the flag remained intact. Lord Indra, descendant of the first king of Swarglok, now bore the weight of the kingdom on his capable shoulders.

  But today, Indra was looking more tense than usual, only few close courtiers knew the actual reason. Today's court meeting was thus dismissed early, to accommodate for the secret meeting of trustworthy and loyal ones in Indra's private office. Reason for this distress was also a fitting one, the princess of Swarglok, Devsena, was abducted a few weeks ago; 2 weeks and 4 days ago as Indra recollects it. One may ask how can someone as important as princess, the sole heir to the throne, can be abducted from the heart of the kingdom? It was a ploy planned for years without anyone noticing it, or rather ignoring it. The charioteer of princess, hand picked by Lord himself, abducted the princess. The police investigation later revealed that the charioteer was a Asur. To worsen the situation, a message was received by Indra from royal Asur messenger.

  Lord Ravan, current ruler of Asuras, demanded an amount so large it can financially destabilize the kingdom. Thus making Swarglok weaker and easier target. Ravan always eyed the throne of Swarglok, just like his ancestors.

  A few centuries after 'Swarglok' was established, two brothers, two higher ranked courtiers of first Indra, named Jay and Vijay, rebelled against the throne. By starting a civil war to abate the chaos, they demanded the first Lord Indra to surrender the Swarglok. Lord Vishnu, who recommended Jay and Vijay to the Indra in first place, ran to help Indra with all his might. Defeated and injured, two brothers crossed the Dandak forest along with their followers and reached southern side of the plateau. The following dawn gave birth to a new kingdom called 'Asur lok'.

  The secret meeting was being carried out in Indra's personal office rather than commonly used court room. Even though it was late night, the room was well lit by arrays of torches and lamps. A beautiful chandelier hanged from the roof, giving the office a unique glitter and glow. Indra was sitting in his chair behind his work desk. Indra's station was guarded by his body guards, cladded with armor. The courtiers were seated on sofas and chairs, some younger noblemen had to leave their seats for elders.

  The private meeting was interrupted by an old royal guard, announcing his permission to enter the office.

  "What is this nonsense? I ordered no disturbance until this meeting is concluded", roared Indra.

  "Sorry, my lord, but we have a prisoner", said the guard, trying to justify his presence.

  "Then take him to the dungeon, I don't have time for this random low life", gnarled frustrated Indra.

  "She was carrying this emblem, my lord, I thought it may interest you", guard was now trembling with fear but gathered enough courage to hand the emblem to Indra and rushed out of the room.

  Indra observed the emblem in his hand with wide eyes, a shade of fear lurking in it. The high nobility requested to take a look as well but soon a shiver of fear ran down their spine as they looked at the emblem carved in obsidian, a crescent moon with a human skull in the middle. Indra ordered the guard to present the prisoner in question. As the guard left room to get the prisoner, the nobility drew their swords and daggers, ready to attack whatever may come.

  The guard entered the room first, the prisoner followed a few moments later, her hands were tied behind her in cuffs. Indra gasped, not in terror but in surprise, what he was expecting was a ruthless rogue who can break any limits to achieve the goal, but what he was seeing resembled a nymph more than a rogue. A fair skinned lady walked into the room, wearing a dirty cape, as black as soot. Cape was attached with a hood. Her cape was covering a stained and dirty uniform. But all this poverty still failed to hide her beauty. Her silky hairs, which were up to a shoulder length, were flickering with each step. Her stature was like something carved from the stone with utmost precision. Her emerald eyes surveyed the room and the occupants alike.

  'No, she cannot be someone from the league', Indra thought as he glanced at the nobles.

  They too were stunned by the beauty. Indra let out a disappointed sigh and cleared his throat, which startled the nobility. Indra dismissed the guard.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  "State your name and purpose and if I find it unsatisfactory to halt this rather important meeting, I will banish you to dungeons for lifetime", ordered Indra.

  "Sorry to interrupt my lord, I am Yakshini, and I know the exact location of princess. To my knowledge, several attempts made by majesty were failed. I came here today to offer my assistance", said the prisoner, peering into Indra's eyes without any fear.

  As she stated her reason, whole room gasped in unison, making Yakshini giggle a little.

  "And why should we believe you?", questioned Indra.

  'But how does she know, the abduction is secret of highest order, not even my courtiers knew till few days ago', doubted inner voice of Indra.

  "Well, you can ignore my information and do it in your insufficient way--", before she can complete her say, a fist slammed into her face.

  "Watch your tone, lady", gnarled the bodyguard of Indra. Yakshini gave him an offended look as he retreated to his position.

  "Your clothes and this emblem clearly states that you are from the league, so why should I trust you", questioned Indra again.

  "Majesty, I parted my ways with the league, now as you can see, I'm flat broke and in dire need of money. I haven't eaten anything since last few days. I will do the job for price as low as 5000 gold coins and a year's supply of rations", explained Yakshini.

  For a moment or two, Indra could see a plea in her eyes.

  "It is impossible for someone to know the location of princess, your majesty, even our finest spies and informants couldn't figure it out yet, she is clearly bluffing", said a nobleman.

  "The League have their eyes and ears everywhere, your majesty", said Yakshini calmly, maintaining her composure, her gaze still fixed on Indra.

  "So you are still with the league, then", said the same nobleman. An inaudible murmur started in room.

  Yakshini looked at the nobleman with a mixed look of anger and irritation, her emerald eyes flickered for a moment. He was the oldest nobleman in the room, looking at her with sly smirk.

  "Yes, I was with the league when we got the news but after a moral dispute, I left", Yakshini said, to the older man.

  "Strange to hear about moralities from an outlaw, isn't it?", mocked the nobleman as his companions burst out laughing.

  "Enough, both of you", Interjected Indra.

  "It was bold of you to walk into the palace like this. Even if you have the information, which I am still not convinced that you have, I can extract it from you and send my own troops to rescue my beloved. Why should I 'hire' you?", questioned Indra again with more serious tone.

  "Your troops failed to even cross the border of Asurlok, so I doubt they can do any significant work even if I give away the location", said Yakshini as she watched the bodyguard walking towards her with clenched fist. This time he punched Yakshini in the guts, uniting all his power in single blow. A heinous shriek echoed the chamber. Guard retreated to his place once again.

  Yakshini, weakened by hunger, dropped on her knees. Gasping for air she said,

  "You people already know who I am and I am more than capable of pulling off something like this, and even if I fail in this mission, you can just deny the acknowledgement of my activities, majesty will lose nothing"

  "But how can we get assured that you are no longer working with the league. How will you assure that you will not betray the majesty and take the princess to the league", demanded a courtier. Others soon started to support his argument.

  Still on her knees, Yakshini's eyes flooded with tears of guilt as she realized it was a mistake to come here, days of hunger and helplessness made her desperate to take this step, which alas resulted to be unfruitful. Now that she is in custody of the king, he can order her execution, as she was member of 'The League', an outlaw, or worse, he can banish her to eternal darkness of the dungeon.

  "I need some time to think this out, for now, I declare this meeting as concluded. I thank every noblemen in this room to accept my request and attend this meeting, I wish everyone a very good night. You may leave", said Indra after a long pause.

  All noblemen bowed to the king in unison and started to leave the room, some throwing a pitiful glance at the prisoner, still on her knees, looking at the floor. Her hair curtained the face while tears fell from the tip of her nose on the floor.

  Indra clapped twice to summon the guard and ordered him to wait outside with prisoner until further orders.

  For more than an hour, Yakshini was standing in the corridor of office along with the guard. Tears were dried out now, leaving her eyes little swollen.

  "You must be hungry", asked the guard.

  Yakshini nodded in response, looking down to the floor.

  "Here, take this almonds, don't worry I have plenty in my bag", said the guard as he took out handful of almonds from pocket attached to his belt.

  Yakshini looked up in surprise, kindness was the least of her expectations. The guard was an old man, well, as old as a guard can get. His beard was as white as snow and early wrinkles covered his face. He stretched his almond filled hand towards her, smiling a little.

  A heartfelt "Thank you" escaped Yakshini's lips as she accepted the almonds. Before she can eat it though,

  "HELP!!!!", a cry filled with fear reached both Yakshini and Guard.

  Both looked at each other with surprise, The guard instinctively ran towards the office drawing his sword, Yakshini followed.