The palace was extremely calm except the agonizing cries resonating the entire palace. The cries were that of Saudamini who went into labour in the early hours of the day. Daima was helping her inside her chamber along with Meenavathi and Ranisa while Ranasa and yuvraj were waiting outside the chamber.

Sunaina, Anamika's mother was with Anamika in her chamber as Anamika was in complete rest due to her terrible morning sickness which makes her very tired. Anamika is in her fifth month of pregnancy and all the members of their family is taking care of her very attentively especially after yuvraj's warning about the attack.

After keeping watch over Saudamini's close maids, Yuvraj still is not able to catch the culprit. So now he is waiting for the attacker to take the next step to catch him red-handed. But to be on the safer side, yuvraj has increased the security of Anamika so that no one can enter within the chamber surpassing the guards outside her chamber. And only Sunaina, Anamika's mother and Kamala, her head maid were allowed to stay within the chamber all the time.

After few hours, cries of Saudamini were subdued by a loud cry of the baby. Everybody heaved a sigh of relief and then Daima came out of the chamber with the baby wrapped in a silk cloth. She handed over the baby to Yuvraj and told him, "Congratulations Yuvraj! We have a princess once again". Though She tried to tone down her disappointment for not having a heir for the kingdom, it was evident in her voice.

Nobody said anything to correct her as they wanted to let them think whatever they want to. Yuvraj was very much happy which reflected on his face and was playing with the baby. But there was one another person who was very disappointed and fumed in anger.

It was Meenavathi, Saudamini's mother who wanted a male heir at any cost even if the cost is her daughter herself. During the last delivery of Saudamini, Daima had warned her that if Saudamini goes for another child, she may even lose her life along with the child. Even then she didn't tell anyone about that and urged Saudamini to have another child which she hoped would be a boy.

Meenavathi's anger is directed towards Anamika since she is the potential opponent for Saudamini as she is also pregnant and may get a baby boy who will go on to become a heir to the throne. Even if Saudamini have another child, Anamika's son will the eldest and rightful heir. Her thoughts were broken by Daima who came inside the chamber after giving the baby to yuvraj. Yuvraj will not be allowed in the chamber till the naming ceremony which is to be held in fifteen days, giving Saudamini time to recover. Daima stared at Meenavathi and said, "Sorry for disturbing you Ranisa. But it is important."

Meenavathi nodded at her to continue and Daima said, "I have already told you about choti bahuranisa's condition and you didn't allow me to tell this to anyone. But now the condition has worsened and even if she gets pregnant next time, the baby won't last long and she will have a miscarriage. Basically she wouldn't be able to have any other child."

"What was choti bahuranisa's condition last time, Daima? ", Ranisa asked them both startling them. "Ranisa. You.. you here. When did you come? ", Meenavathi stammered. Ranisa turned to Daima waiting for her answer. Daima looked down and said, "Ranisa, Previous delivery was very critical for choti bahuranisa and I said that if she went for another child then she might even lose her life along with the baby."

Listening this, Ranisa looked at Meenavathi with anger and before Meenavathi could speak, Ranisa slapped her hard. Daima left from there silently. Ranisa said, "I never expected this from you Meenavathi. I know you are selfish. Selfish enough to snatch another girl's life and give it to your daughter. But didn't know that you are selfish enough to put your own daughter's life at risk. For what? A heir? Being her mother-in-law, even I wouldn't do that. Yes, I'm greedy to have a heir but not by risking the girl's life. I don't even know whether I know the person standing in front of me whom I thought to be my best friend."

Ranisa went away leaving Meenavathi to her thoughts. The day went away quickly and it was already night. Everybody retired to their room while yuvraj checked the guards outside all the chambers and went to his chamber.

When he was about to remove his clothes to get on the bed, he saw some movements near the pool area attached to his room. He quietly blew off all the lamps and took his sword and moved towards the pool and waited for the intruder.

When the intruder saw that the lamps were off, he signalled his counterparts to move inside the room and get ready for attack. When all of them came inside the room and started moving towards the bed, yuvraj tapped them from behind and with one slash cut off their throats except one. He signalled for the one who is trembling with fear and asked him to tell who is behind the attack. But he didn't say anything instead cut his throat himself.

Yuvraj closed his eyes in frustration but went inside the pool to check how they got inside when so many guards are guarding outside. He saw that the door to the secret pathway of the royals is open. Apart from the tunnels that connect various countries to help the spies, the secret tunnel connects all the chambers in the palace to the forest. So that the royal family can escape when some unannounced attacks happen inside the palace and take shelter in the forest and can reclaim their kingdom later on. Also the main palace was built keeping in mind that there will be only one queen or at the most two wives for a king. If the king has more than two wives then they have to be in the nearby small palace which is only for women. And this small palace doesn't have any tunnels connecting it. Right now it is used to accommodate the guests.

Suddenly something clicked in Yuvraj's mind. The secret tunnel connects all the chambers of the palace from the inside pools. That means he may not be the only target of the attackers. He has to immediately alert others and save both his wives and children as well. The children will be in Saudamini's wing but not the same room so he has to catch the intruders before they spread from the chamber. So yuvraj immediately hit the alarm gong which resonates through the Palace walls indicating there is an attack inside the palace.

On the other hand, Anamika was sleeping peacefully along with her mother. She is usually a light sleeper but due to pregnancy she gets sleep very rarely, so she was in deep sleep until the sound of the gong is heard. She opened her eyes swiftly and looked wide eyed at the person holding a sword ready to kill her.

What will happen next?

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Thanks,

SM.