Shaurya’s past

Mriga looked at Yash in mute apology.

His eyes darting from one to the other, Yash struggled to understand the equation between Mriga and the guy. He was itching to remove the stranger's hand which currently rested proprietarily on her shoulder. But there was something in the person's demeanour which stopped Yash from doing so.

"It seems that you are busy. I will come see you another time," Yash said pointedly before leaving.

Mriga nodded enthusiastically and waved till he turned around the corner and went out of her sight.

Removing his hand from her shoulder, Shaurya also made a move to walk in the opposite direction.

"Oh Shit! He is mad at me for not being ready. He is not going to take me with him tonight," she immediately grabbed Shaurya's arm hard, without thinking twice.

He turned around in surprise and looked at her hand holding onto his, tightly.

"I am really sorry about the delay. Please don't leave me out of tonight's plan," she spoke tearfully.

"I had come early to ask you if you wanted to grab a bite before we leave because we may not have time for dinner post tonight's err, event. Since you aren't ready yet, I thought I would get something packed and we could eat on the way," he spoke, shrugging his shoulders and slowly extracting his hand out of hers.

Mriga nearly sagged against him in relief.

"Ah... sure, sounds like the perfect plan. I will be ready by the time you return," she said and ran inside the shop.

Shaurya left from there in deep thought. He was a rational guy, one not prone to emotional outbursts unlike most people. Being born to a single mother, he had experienced enough hardships and disappointments to make him wary of human relations.

He had never met his father and his mother didn't like to speak about it. She had been a serving girl at one of the taverns. It had been tough, humiliating work and she had lived only long enough to see Shaurya's sixth birthday.

The country's social service program for orphans had seen a radical restructuring since the current queen had taken over the reign. Maybe because she had been an orphan herself, she knew what the lacuna in the system, was. As a result, not only did Shaurya but many others like him found a definitive direction to their lives while living in the orphanage.

A group of women ran the orphanage. This group was screened rigorously through a barrage of checks, regularly. Also, constant feedback was taken from the children in the orphanage about these "mother supervisors". The only qualification which these women needed was high emotional quotient. They needed to be strong on empathy and possess patience to deal with the emotionally scarred and lonely children.

Food, shelter, and education were not the most important requirement for these kids. What they needed was comfort and warmth. The queen had mandated that the day would start with a human touch for everyone who was a part of the orphanage.

Every morning, a different child would be assigned to stand outside the canteen. The child would greet his fellow residents with an option to hold hands or hug.

Shaurya had found himself in the tough spot enough number of times early on where he had to endure hugs from other kids. His mother hadn't been around him in his early formative years and he had accepted loneliness as a steady companion. The sudden onslaught of physical contact, that too with strangers had unnerved him early on. But the warmth of these hugs had eventually thawed the ice around his grieving heart and prevented him from turning into a cold, unfeeling person.

He realized this when he had eventually started attending Gurukul at the age of nine. Every vacation when he went back to the orphanage, he found himself hoping that he would be picked to do the morning greeting duty.

As the years passed, he grew into a confident guy with a sharp, dry sense of humor. Girls found themselves attracted to not only his dark, brooding looks but also his quiet intelligence and wit. A tall guy, he had a lean physique and shaggy hair falling onto his eyes, perpetually. Though the face was angular with a sharp jawline, the curling eyelashes shielding jet back eyes, added to the contrast and the charm, making him, nearly irresistible.

And then, it happened. At the age of fourteen, he fell in love for the first and the only time. The girl, Tarangini, was blindingly beautiful. She was the daughter of the local magistrate. Gentle and kind, she was admired by most of the boys in her class and seniors liked her as well. But her smiles were reserved only for Shaurya. By the time, they were fifteen and fourteen years old respectively, they were officially dating.

Four years ago

Since he had grown up in the orphanage, he was more exposed to the outside world than the other children of his age. He was one of the few rare students who was recruited by the Admin team rather than seeking an admission there. It seemed that the Admin team always kept an eye out for potential trainees at places like the orphanage and brothels.

Passing through the initial tests, he was soon assigned tasks outside the boundary of the Gurukul. The entire city was familiar enough for Shaurya to carry out these tasks given by his mentors. Due to his superlative performance, he was officially inducted into the spy network team within two years' time, and was assigned duties under the supervision of a senior. He was rapidly advancing in the Spy world.