All the four princesses ran to their mother's, who were in the royal kitchen of the palace.
"Maa... We are back"- little Shrutkirti shouted happily while running to Sunaina and Chandrabhaga. And by following Shrutkirti, Mandvi and Urmila also ran behind her to hug their mothers.
Their mothers immediately hugged them back. But something was off today, which Sita senced. She couldn't see the excitements of both the queens, which she usually saw everyday whenever they see their beloved daughters.
" Now let me feed you all quickly... Then you have to go for your weapon lessons."- Chandrabhaga started putting foods in four golden plates while Sunaina was instructing some maids about crushing spices in a specific way. Till now Urmila and Mandvi also understood that the mood of their mothers are not quite right today. Their smile was missing. So they were just staring cluelessly at the queens.
By seeing Sita standing at a distance from her plate, Chandrabhaga said- " Come here Sita. Why are standing there? Sit here with your sisters"
Sita slowly walked towards the plates full of varieties of delicious foods and holded Chandrabhaga's hands. " What happened kaki maa (aunty) ? Why do you and maa look so sad today? Have we done some mistakes"? Sita's polite questions made Chandrabhaga tear up. But she tried her best to hide them and replied- "no my child. We are totally fine. Please sit and have your meal. "
Urmila stood up from her place and went near sita. " No kaki maa... You both are sad. Please tell us the reason. If it's because of us then we are ready for any punishment you will give. But please don't be sad. "
By seeing her mother's silence after Urmila's question, Mandvi ran to Sunaina who was trying her best to avoid the conversation between Chandrabhaga and the princesses. " Badi maa (elder mother) what's the matter? Why maa isn't answering anything? You should tell us. Please..."
Sunaina slowly turned towards the curious Mandvi and gently touched her hairs with anxiety in her eyes. Then she looked at Chandrabhaga who was silently sobbing and said- " I think we should tell them now. They have grown up. We can't hide a situation like this from them."
Sita came to the front with sky reaching confidence in her eyes. " What situation maa? Tell us. We will try more than our best to help. And whenever we do things together, we make it happen anyway."
Chandrabhaga answered by wiping her tears- " i know putri (daughter). But you can't do anything in this situation. "
Sunaina added- " yes Sita. It's not a problem of our household or family. It's a problem for our kingdom. "
Mandvi- "a problem of Kingdom? What do you mean?" Sunaina answered with a sigh - " A war is going to happen "
All the princesses asked together in a shocked tone - " WHAT??? "
_______
At the court room of Mithila...
King Janak was sitting on his throne and the other members were sitting right infront of him. Chakrabahu, the prime minister of Mithila was explaining the tactics which they were going to use in the war.
Shatanand- " your plans are really great Prime minister Chakrabahu. But do you think they will be unable to decode our plan ? "
Many other members also asked the similar kind of question to Chakrabahu. And in the answer her looked at their king and humbly requested- "Maharaj, this plan can never fail. But to make it happen successfully we have to let someone extremely great and talented warrior lead our army. And it's upto you my lord, who do you think can do this thing? "
Janak thought for a moment and then said- " All the warriors of my kingdom are great. They have exceptional tallent. But to do this work, i would select someone whome i deeply trust and consider as the best candidate for the task. And it's none other than my younger brother Kushadhwaj. "
All the other members of the court welcomed this descision of their king. Because everybody had witnessed the bravery and courage of Kushadhwaj in many privious wars and conflicts. So all of them agreed immediately. Kushadhwaj stood up from his seat to express his gratitude - " I'm blessed that you choose me for this greatest work Maharaj. I promise, you will never be disappointed."
Shatanand also stood up from his seat with excitement - " we all believe you. You have this potential to lead the army for this war. You will always find me beside you. We all together will teach that ungrateful Sudhanma some good lessons. "
Other members also stood up one by one to cheer and show their support to Kushadhwaj. All were ready show Sudhanma his right place. Finally the king stood up and went near his younger brother. - " My blessings are always with you my brother. I'm sure that the crown of victory will be on your head only. May Lord Shiva bless you. "
Kushadhwaj touched the feet of Janak and said- " Thank you so much Maharaj. According to our plan I, Shatanand, Chakrabahu and some others will leave palace in the evening. Our soldiers at the boarder are ready. Before Sudhanma and his forces could touch Mithila we will destroy them. This is my promise to you in the name of Shree Hari."
Everybody praised the courage and confidence of Kushadhwaj.
______
Before the dusk...
Kushadhwaj and the army were getting ready for the departure. The whole palace was silent as if the sky was filled with dark caligo. Chandrabhaga's anxiety was on the pick and Sunaina was trying to calm her down by reminding what a warrior her husband is.
In the shastra shala (chamber of weapons) Kushadhwaj was finding the best swords for his team. Suddenly he heard the sound of payal (anklets) and looked at the door. Couple of seconds later the 10 years old little Urmila came through the door by dressing as a warrior. The sword she got as gift from Kushadhwaj in her recent birthday was in her waist. With a bright smile on her lips she went and stood infront of her uncle just like a brave warrior.
Kushadhwaj immediately understood that why she is here. So by sitting on his knees (so that he could come to the same level of Urmila's height) he said with a grin- " so my little warrior princess is ready to go to the war with me ?"
Urmila- " yes kaka shree (uncle). I'll fight with you."
Kushadhwaj looked carefully at her. There were still some jewelleries on her body, even she was dressed as a female warrior.
- " but daughter, why are you still wearing these jewelries with warrior attire? "
Urmila- "You know how much I love jewelleries kaka shree. They don't just make me beautiful but give me confidence and strength as well. "
Kushadhwaj- " but daughter, don't you think it would be difficult for a warrior to fight while wearing jewelleries "
Urmila sniled - " no kaka shree... My skills are in my mind and heart. Some jewelleries can never oppose the skills of a true warrior."
Kushadhwaj felt proud by the answer of little Urmila. Then she said again- " Evey warrior prays to Mata Durga bhavani (Goddess Durga) before going to the war. Because she is strongest and most fierce warrior in the universe. But she also had her ornaments on when she was killing the hideous monster Mahishasur. Her jewelleries never created trouble for her. Because she had trust on her skills and weapons. So nothing could have create trouble for her."
Kushadhwaj was stunned and speechless by the answer of Urmila. No doubt she was still a kid who didn't understand war situations yet and had immense love for ornaments and shringar. But whatever she said had strong point. So Kushadhwaj proudly hugged Urmila and said- " you are so brave and intelligent my child. You will definitely become a fierce fighter like maa Durga and the best warrior of Mithila. But now you are too small for this war. You need more training and skills to fight such war. So....."
Before Kushadhwaj could finish his sentence urmia started requesting. - "please kaka shree. Pitashree says that a warrior's true home is the war ground. How can you not let me go there if I'm a true warrior.. how can you keep me away from such great opportunity ?"
Another girly voice interrupted the conversation of Kushadhwaj and Urmila from their back - " Nobody is keeping you away from this great opportunity Urmila. Indeed you are a true warrior and protector of Mithila. But you are too young to go with kaka shree..."
Urmila had known who it could be. So she impatiently turned back and said stubbornly- " But Sita didi, I want to see it atleast. I want to learn more fight skills. So that in future i could protect Mithila like kaka shree. I want to be in the battle ground."
Sita- " Ofcourse you will be in the battle ground Urmi. But you won't go with kaka shree. "
Both Kushadhwaj and Urmila looked at sita with a confused expression.
" If you look carefully, every place is a battle field in our lives. Pitashree is also not going with kaka shree. Maa, kaki maa, mandvi, Shrutkirti and I are also not going with kaka shree. Does that mean we are not taking part in the war ??..... No urmi.... We all are taking part in this war. Every single soul of Mithila is taking part in this war. You also. But the difference is in the battle field....
The ground where the war is going to happen is not the only battle field. Our own palace is also a battle field today. Our gardens, forests, mountains, temples... All are battle fields today. The soldiers are going there to fight and to protect us. And we have to stay here and fight to protect ourselves and our places. This is how we are taking part in the war and helping kaka shree. " - Sita's sayings were making fully sence to Urmila. Kushadhwaj took a breath of relief after hearing the convincing speech of sita. Now he knew that Urmila will not force anybody to go to the battle ground.
Urmila took a pause of a minute and then looked proudly at her elder sister. Only Sita is the one who can convince the stubborn urmila to do anything. She hugged her and said- " yes Sita didi. You are right. I will stay here and take care of everyone. This is my Dharma. Because I'm a true warrior."