Page 107 of Sumanika

"Well, we can surely find out, but for that, Mehrangarh needs to open his mouth wide," I said, and he nodded.

"And we can’t just wage war based solely on what we know about Mehrangarh; we don’t know how many kingdoms have already been sold. These people look sharp; they're not coming through the door directly; they’re brainwashing our people against us. We can stop Mehrangarh, but what if they have another kingdom as backup?" he said, and my head started to ache.

It was too much for one day.

"I’m getting it," I managed to say.

"I think we should alert the other kings, too," Abhinandan said, and I looked up at him, joggling my head.

"You just said we don’t know which kings are already compromised, and now you want to tell them about it? Don’t you think spreading the word will draw Mehrangarh's attention? I’m not informing my Bhabhisa yet because we need a plan for execution that doesn’t put any lives at risk," I said, and he inhaled deeply, intertwining his fingers in his lap.

"Lives are already at risk whether they know or not, Kunwar Agastya. “ His words made me lower my gaze. I said, "I know," before adding, "By the way, when are you leaving?"

He furrowed his brows a little. "Today," he said, and I pressed my lips together.

"Let me set up a quick meeting between us. At least Pratapgarh, Mahabaleshgarh, and Suryagarh should stay ahead in the plan," I proposed, and he nodded in agreement.

"Yes," he muttered.

I rose from my seat. "Alright, I’ll send someone to bring you to the meeting hall, King Abhinandan," I said, joining my hands. He stood up as well.

"Ji," he muttered with a weak smile.

From there, I walked to Ranvijay Bhaisa's chamber.

"Agastya," Bhaisa said, noticing me in the meeting area. "What happened? Everything okay?" He asked, taking the seat beside me and placing his arm around my shoulders.

"Yes, everything’s fine," I tried to assure him as I looked at Aishwarya Bhabhisa approaching us.

"Pranam, Bhabhisa," I said with a smile, and she joined her hands, placing the breakfast plate on the table before sitting on the couch across from us.

"Pranam, Devarsa, how are you? Where did you go after the ceremony?" she asked, furrowing her brows with a smile, and I chuckled.

"Nowhere, you know me," I replied, and she laughed.

"Of course, of course, but you know your fiancé was here; you should have been with him," she said, and I smiled, trying to blush a little.

"Ji, Bhabhisa," I said, unable to come up with anything else to say.

Suddenly, I felt Bhaisa's hand on my shoulder, and I looked at him.

He smiled suddenly, looking at me, and said, "Aishwarya, I think I left my books open; would you check?"

"Ji, Hukum," Bhabhisa smiled and walked away.

"What’s going on?" he asked, looking at me, and I said, "It's getting serious."

He gulped, understanding what I meant. "How serious?" he asked, already knowing where I had been lately.

"Very serious. They have cannons, and they’re planning to use them against us. Abhinandan mentioned that more kingdoms could be involved in this too," I explained, and he inhaled deeply.

"Maybe," I nodded, listening to him, and he asked, "What's a cannon?"

I inhaled sharply and briefly explained everything I had seen, causing him to lower his gaze for a moment.

"I believe it's time to take this matter to Bhaisa," he said, and I nodded.

"Yes, it's time."

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