Ritha was just metres away from her culprit when she heard Aquila's agonizing scream. The culprit ran away after freeing herself from Aquila's clutches.

She used a sharp pointed object to pierce Aquila's arms. Ritha rushed towards Aquila who was sitting on the floor holding her wounded hand . Before she could collapse, Ritha held her tightly in her embrace. Aquila was so ashamed at herself for letting the culprit go but Ritha consoled her that it was completely fine. Ritha looked around but unfortunately couldn't catch even a glimpse of the lady . What she found was a folded paper lying next to Aquila. She picked up the paper and clenched it in her hands. Anger was dancing in her eyes as she believed in fighting face to face unlike cowards who attack from back and play puzzles.

She supported Aquila to get up and took her in her room. After cleaning Aquila's wound , Ritha asked her, " did you notice anything in particular about her or any sign? "

Aquila lifted her blue eyes which were full of guilt , " your highness! I didn't get the time to see, her face but I noticed one thing , she was an old lady. "

Ritha pondered, 'old lady? That means more than one person is involved in spying because the lady which she saw that day was definitely not old.' She dismissed Aquila and told her to take rest as Aquila didn't want to go against the king's order so she argued to live but one hard glare Ritha gave her the idea to better obey.

After Aquila left, Ritha opened the paper and first thing she saw was a painting of an eagle .

It was a masterpiece to say the least. Each and every feature of the eagle was prominent which screamed that the painter was meticulous about slightest of the things while making this painting . The orange bead, white head portion and the shades which were used to highlight feathers were just marvellous. It was like a real flying eagle who had his eyes set on his target. Below it, 'The Eagles are here' was written in bold letters.

She knew who could help her to come out of this maze, Cato. She folded the paper in same manner like before and went to meet Cato.

Cato had a huge smile playing on his lips after seeing Rithambara after few days. Her little son has surely kept her busy. He admired this girl's courage and maturity. She moulded in the role of a wife and a mother within a short span of time.

Ritha touched Cato's feet and returned his bright smile with her hearty one.

"Your highness, lady Rithambara what brings you to an old man like me? " teased Cato to relieve her from stress which was visible on her face.

Ritha laughed heartily and told him to stop teasing her. Once again, she looked like the Rajkumari who was a warrior and little notorious at times. She was the light of the palace and now he couldn't even imagine the condition of her parents and brothers who loved her dearly. This place definitely changed her a lot. He observed each and everything with his eyes. Be it the coldness of her sister-in-laws or that pathetic prince of Milan's behaviour. He was proud of Ritha for the way she handled the situation without breaking a bit.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Rithambara spoke, " some serious conspiracy is being planned inside this palace which is not good. "

She then told him about the incident whuch happened last night.

Cato gasped and started fretting about Ritha's safety but she calmed him down and told him to relax. She told him the way she answered back by 'eye to eye '.Cato just smiled and took the full credit himself as he was the one who taught her to focus on targets which were far away. Being the captain of the ship , he had to look at all sort of dangers in the sea. Even a little shadow or light couldn't be ignored because the dangers and consequences could be big.

Ritha just shrugged it by saying that she was the better student. After having a good laugh, she conveyed the full matter to Cato who listened to her keenly. He took a good look at the painting and scanned it through his eyes.

Ritha asked, "What is with this symbol ? Who it could be? "

Cato bobbled his head sideways and said, " it is too early to draw a conclusion . It could be an outsider, spy , enemy or even an insider. As far as I've observed , prince Augustus's brothers don't share a cordial bond with him. It is possible it is one out of three brothers because till now attack has happened on both of you. No-one else but don't worry. Be patient and alert. No matter how smart thess eagles are, they would definitely make a mistake at some point. Just keep looking for a hint and keep your eyes on everyone. "

Ritha nodded and said, " no matter who these eagles are, at the end ,it is the lion who rules the jungle and me being a Rajput, they have chosen a wrong opponent to fight with. Eagle eat the prey after the Peru's death while lion hunts his prey and eat. Just one hint, and they will regret their wrong choice. Because of them, my son bled and I'm going to take the revenge for his each drop shed. They have awoken the sleeping lion and they will pay for it. " Cato could hear the determination in her voice. He agreed with her.

On the other side of the palace, after discussing few things with Aurelius about army, Augustus was passing through one of the hallways when he felt a commotion behind him. It was a very faint sound which would have gone unnoticed had he been not alert.

He could make it out that there were four people behind him because he could hear four swords drawing out. Before he could turn around , one of them attacked him...