It was noon. Ojaswini was practising with her sword. She was all alone, practising the same moves numerous times. Her garments were drenched in sweat. All of a sudden she took a knife and threw in behind her.

"The knife barely missed me. It could have hurt me," a voice said.

Ojaswini turned around and said, "It was for fun. I know that the crown prince of Matangpur is capable of defending himself in such situations." Pranlekha handed her a piece of cloth. Wiping herself with it, she signaled Pranlekha to leave. Pranlekha bowed before the royals and left.

Rudradev said, "He is returning."

Ojaswini looked at him and said, "It is not unknown to me. He is going to take part in this war."

Rudradev looked into her eyes, as if trying to understand her. But all he got was disappointment. It was impossible to find out what was going on inside her head. He said to her, "Are you not making any preparations? Will you not give your brother a grand welcome?"

Ojaswini whispered, "Half brother, to be more precise. I have made enough preparations for him. He will get the biggest surprise of his life here."

Rudradev sensed that she had a well-knitted plan to handle Vinayak. He said smiling, "Hope so."

Rudradev left the place. Just then, Parnalekha arrived with a jug of water. Ojaswini drank some water and rested herself on the chair. Parnalekha said, "Will you welcome him?"

Ojaswini said, "Why not? After all, he is my dear brother. Besides, he is the only half brother I have. Poor man, my aunt died long ago and he had to become motherless at such a young age."

Parnalekha had many questions in her mind. Why did Ojaswini choose to support her cousin instead of her half-sibling? What does she actually want from Vinayak? There had been many instances when she felt that, Ojaswini had a deep rooted hatred for Vinayak and perhaps she knew something about his mother which no one else did? How did Vinayak's mother die? Why do Vinayak and Ojaswini seem to be foes? However, she decided not to ask Ojaswini about anything. She was a maid. Maids are supposed to follow the orders, not question their masters.

Parnalekha was lost in her thoughts when Ojaswini said, "You need to go to the kingdom of Narendranagar and find Daityari. Hand this bracelet to him and ask him to come to Matangpur. No one should know about his arrival in Matangpur and his departure from Narendranagar. And no one should recognize you. So be careful! "

Parnalekha did not know who Daityari was. So she said to the princess, "But Rajkumari, who is Daityari and where will I find him?"

Ojaswini stood up and said, "You have to search for him. And do not worry. You will recognize him when he comes in front of you."

Parnalekha nodded her head.

The sun had set. Parnalekha had started her journey in the afternoon. By then, she had crossed the boundaries of Matangpur. After travelling for some more time, she spotted a temple. She dismounted her horse and walked inside.

There was a priest. He saw her and said, "Come inside dear, take the blessings of the Lord. He will guide you throughout your journey."

She prayed to the Lord for her safe journey and asked Him to help her in completing her task. She took the 'prasad' and sat on the temple floor. The priest came towards her and said, "Putri, the sun has set. Where will you go now on this dark night? Stay here." Parnalekha nodded her head in affirmation.

She spent the night in the temple. On the next morning, she took a bath and resumed her journey. Narendranagar was far away. She was in the kingdom of Garuda. She had to cross the kingdoms of Garuda and Ajayanagar to reach Narendranagar. It would take her two months to reach there. Ojaswini had given her enough money to last for four months. The princess also had secret allies in all the kingdoms who would help Parnalekha.

The first ally she had to meet was Uttam. He was a fabric seller in the Garuda kingdom. She managed to find his shop. It was a big shop and there were many customers. She said to him, "Show me some pieces of fabric."

Uttam showed her several pieces of fabric - silk ones and cotton ones of various colours. She picked one. Then she went to him and whispered, "Where is my share of fabric?"

Uttam had thought that she was an ordinary customer and said, "Here it is."

Parnalekha said , "And where is the lamb's share?"

He looked at Parnalekha and nodded his head. He whispered, "What do you want?" Parnalekha smiled and said, "I want to know which is the shortest way leading to Ajayanagar."

Uttam rubbed his eyes and looked at others around him. Everyone was busy buying fabric. He opened a box and took out a scroll. He said, "Take this map."

Parnalekha took the map. She paid him ten gold coins for the fabric and left.

After travelling for some time, she found a temple in ruins. It seemed that no one prayed there. She walked inside. Moss had grown on the temple walls. The sculptures were beautiful but she could not find the idol of the temple deity. After wandering inside the temple for a while, she sat down on the floor and decided to have a look at the map.

It was an old map. She said to herself, "So I need to cross this waterfall to reach Ajayanagar. It is going to be a long journey."

She untied her hair. Her eyes went to her feet. They were quite dirty. Then she saw the mole on her left foot. She said to herself, "These feet were destined to travel long distances."

She started thinking about herself while running her fingers through her hair. Her life had always revolved around Ojaswini.

She thought, "Who am I? No one knows anything about my father. My mother came to the palace looking for some work. No one knew who she was. She said that she was a widow. Then she started working as a royal maid. No one bothered to find out anything about her origin. My mother did not leave any inheritance for me, not even a ring. Perhaps she was so poor that she had to sell her ornaments."

She did not know when she had fallen asleep.