"Please come inside." Agastya said to Ankush while stepping inside his house and gesturing Ankush to enter as well.
Ankush stepped inside the house, observing the house from inside. His eyes travelling all over the walls and decoration that made it look lively. The stuffs that decorates house, the flowers in flower pot on the table infront of sofa with clean sheets. Clean floor and well organised room.
'I don't think he can manage his house so well by himself. Does he have a family? or Is he married?' While thinking about Agastya's well decorated and managed house, Ankush's eyes fell on the beads and colourfull threads with other stuffs of making house decor items. And that was enough for him to conclude that there is a woman in this house.
'Do I have to live with a woman?!' He thought in worry. He never spent time with any woman. He can't even talk to them properly because of shyness but now, he have to live with one for whole one week.
"Please sit down." Agastya said and gestured Ankush to sit on the couch.
Hearing his voice, Ankush snapped out of his thoughts and smiled at Agastya. "Yes, thank you."
"Be comfortable. Sir Cabail is my senior and his guest is my guest." Agastya said.
"Thank you so much." Ankush replied.
Agastya then turned his head towards the door connected to the other room "Mukta, our guest is here. Bring some water for him."
Now Ankush was sure that he is doomed for a week or may be worse than that.
'Why did i came here to struggle like this? First, become a servant and now, live with a woman in same house for a week. And if I don't get the job of servent in palace, I have to live here throughout the mission. And even if I get the job, do I have to live here with her?' Panic was growing in his heart. He just wanted to run away from there instead of facing a woman.
Such a strong and brave spy is scared of facing a woman is indeed a shameful thing. But he can't help it. He don't talk with anyone except for his family members or close relatives. But whenever he talks to them, he tries his best not to make eye contact with them and always bows his head down.
Soon enough, he heard a sound of anklets coming from the next room to towards them. A woman dressed in light orange dress came out of the room. She was holding a tray of glass of water and looked at Agastya before walking towards Ankush with a bright smile.
Ankush's heart beat was racing right now. He was feeling a bit awkward and uneasy after seeing the woman walking towards him with a smile. He don't know how to respond but he know that smile is always a good answer and a good response in this kind of situation.
He smiled awkwardly at her and she passed the glass of water to Ankush. He took the glass carefully not to touch her fingers. After giving the glass of water, she stepped back and stood beside Agastya.
Ankush drank the water quickly as his throat was already dry because of nervousness. He then placed the glass on table and looked at Agastya and Mukta standing together and smiling at him.
He felt a bit uncomfortable with their smile and upon that he don't know who is this woman infront of him.
He looked at them and asked hesitantly "W-Who is she? Her name?"
Agastya realised that he didn't introduced them to eachother and replied "Oh, sorry I forgot to introduce you to eachother. She is my wife, Mukta. And Mukta, as you know, he is our guest Mr. Ankush from Jwalana."
Ankush's eyes widened when he heard Agastya's words. He wasn't so shocked to hear that Agastya have a wife but he was shocked to hear how easily Agastya told Ankush's identity to Mukta. He can't tell anyone about him and his background like this easily. What's the point of him being a spy if he can't keep a secret to himself.
"Hey! How can you tell her everything about me so easily? It's a confidential matter. We can't tell my identity to anyone." He stood up and asked displeased and a bit angry.
Agastya smiled and gestured Ankush to sit down "Don't worry, she will not tell anyone. She know about this mission since the beginning."
"How can you trust her so much? I mean, yes she is your wife you can trust her but not for this mission. How can you be so sure that she will not tell anyone?"
Before Agastya can answer, Mukta stepped forward and said "Don't worry Mister. I will not tell anyone about this mission. You can trust me. My husband has been working for Jwalana since long time and I have met sir Cabail as well. But still, both of their identity haven't been revealed yet."
Ankush don't know what to say. First of all, he don't know how to talk with a woman and secondly, she said she have meet sir Cabail and know his identity. And if sir Cabail trust her, he should not doubt her. May be he can trust her.
Agastya walked forward and held Mukta's hand "Mr. Ankush, my wife know everything about this mission. We are married for last five years and still, no one know my true identity. My wife is the only person I can trust blindly. You may not trust me but my wife was a trainee to become a spy. But because her family didn't supported her, she had to give up her dream of becoming a spy. I was in love with her." He chuckled shyly and looked at Mukta who was already smiling, knowing what he is going to say next.
"And after knowing that she wanted to become a spy, it became so easy to peruse her to marry me. I worked in palace so her parents didn't had any objection for our marriage. And after our marriage, my life is like a open book for her. She can read any or every chapter of my life without any hesitation. Including my past and my true identity."
Ankush sighed heavily and looked away, thinking what more he have to face, when suddenly, something clicked in his mind. He looked at Mukta and asked hesitantly "D-Don't you have any objection of him being a spy of Jwalana. He is spying on your Kingdom and your king since last few years, don't you feel it's wrong to marry him?"
Mukta chuckled and held Agastya's arm "No, i don't have any objection. Because I know the relationship between Aaro and Jwalana. As my husband told you, I was a trainee to become a spy. So I had every information about Aaro and Jwalana's relationship. I knew both kingdoms want peace and alliance from eachother, so I didn't had to think twice before marrying him."
Ankush didn't had anything more doubt or question. Everything is clear now.
He looked at Mukta and quickly shifted his gaze towards Agastya "Ok, let's discuss the plan then."
Agastya nod in agreement and sat down beside Ankush. Mukta went inside the kitchen to bring something for Ankush to eat. He tried to deny but failed because of his shyness.
"This one is good. What do you think?" Abel asked to Pavan while passing the card to him.
Pavan took the card from his father and looked at it observantly.
"Hm, it's good. Let's go with this." He replied and passed the card to Abel.
Abel passed the card to the person standing infront of him 'The writer of Bayar palace' and ordered "Make two hundred copies of this card and send it to all the kingdoms."
"Only two hundred?" Pavan asked disappointed "Father, it's my coronation. We should invite at least four hundred guests. I am the only hier of Bakhshi family, my coronation should be grand!" He complained.
Abel chuckled on his son's silly question "I know you are the only hier of the Bakhshi family. I am your father. And I know what to do and what not. Think carefully, if we invite so many people, it won't be a royal celebration. So many people will only make it look crowdy and no one will be interested in it. If we only invite the people who we want to attend our celebration, it will be classy and they will feel special. This will help improve our reputation. And most importantly, this is a part of our plan. We have to focus on our plan first." he patted Pavan's shoulder "I know you want a grand coronation, but we have to do it like this. Your small sacrifice will give more than enough profit. Trust me."
Understanding his father's motive, Pavan smiled and nod "Ok, I can understand. We will have alot to celebrate after this. Both Jwalana and Aaro will be mine and Ira....she will be mine too and will help me achieve everything I want. I will be the only love of her life and will not let her go out of my grip."
"In Aaro palace, the people who will trouble you the most are those twin brother and sister. They don't only look alike, but they also have same personality. Both of them are so disrespectful, evil and annoying." Agastya instructed Ankush "I am working in palace from last six years and I have seen them growing. Not only their height and age but their evilness and disrespectful behaviour have also grown towards everyone. Especially servants."