The news of Rasheed’s attack reached Amar Singh Rawal. He immediately prepared to defend his kingdom though his army was tired due to recent battles. However their motivation wasn’t down. They were always ready to sacrifice their lives for their king and people.
As he prepared for war, he received some news regarding Roopali. He was shocked. The words his trusted spy told rang in his mind-“Queen Gayatri helped her to escape.” He always knew she was insecure about his proximity with Roopali. But he didn’t know that she would go extreme lengths to separate them.
He ordered his spies to continue with the search. He hoped she was fine. He planned to speak to Gayatri after the war. The enemies were a day away from reaching their destination. Rasheed’s soldiers were tired. Unlike their counterparts in Rawalgarh, they wanted to take rest. But their king was in hurry to meet Amar Singh to offer him his precious gift - the head of his lover.
They reached their destination the following night. Ratan Singh watched them put their tents from the large patio of fort/palace. He informed his cousin (Amar Singh) about the same. Amar Singh prepped his army with motivational speech and tightened the security at the gate of his city.
The people except the able men were shifted to safer locations of his friendly neighbors since when he had received the news of this battle. He didn’t want them to face any repercussions of the attack. He didn’t want them to be used by Rasheed against him. In case he was defeated, he didn’t want them to be prisoners of war. He had heard horror stories of Rasheed’s war prisoners. He didn’t want them to face same situation. A messenger was sent by Rasheed to Amar Singh. Amar Singh assumed it must be related to peace and let the messenger in though there was resistance from Ratan Singh. “The king has got some news for you, your highness. It is about Mariam. He said he will give the news only if you bring Vijay Singh to the battleground.”, the messenger said.
The king wondered about the hidden agenda of Rasheed. He was sure there was something wrong. He still hoped Roopali was fine. He agreed to his conditions after discussing with Ratan and other ministers. He also placed his conditions before agreeing- he didn’t want any kind of treachery and if there was any treachery, he would kill Vijay Singh on spot.
(To be continued)
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