KRISHAVYAYAM

47. To The King's Defence

She dipped the paint brush in the vibrant paints sitting on the wooden palettes, beaming at the idol which was a couple of handspans taller than her. The dark god of Ksheera Saagara stood in all his glory, upright and radiating a serene and powerful aura, but colour was shedded off him like the parched leaves of fall. The statue was made of marble and stones of lapis lazuli and rubies, an exquisite piece of art representing the rich culture of VishnuPuri.

Convincing Matamaha was a hard job, but she had managed to start working on the pact made with the king of heavens. However, another pact had to be signed. A deal with Raksh that she would listen to the trade offers and amiable relations with states of Vidarbha and Chedi - the kings would be arriving subsequently in order to participate in the yagya which was going to be conducted under the guidance of Maharshi Durvasa. She had agreed grudgingly, though sniggering inwardly. Loopholes were fun.

Was her husband rubbing off on her? Yes.

Was she flattered with herself? Also yes.

"You wanted to meet me, Laado?" The smooth baritone of Raksh ruptured through the peaceful hush of her ginormous chambers augmenting with fresh blooms of lotuses (the flowers she was absolutely obsessed with) and fragrant mogras paired with jasmines. Kamalnayani spun around with a genuine smile latched to her lips and strode towards him. Raksh beamed at her before taking a seat on her bed, adoring how much of a change she had gone through from the time she had first stepped in. He appreciated the cracks filled with gold in their relationship, Kokila and Kamalnayani were starting to mend their broken bond once again and that was a positive change. Though brisk at times, Kokila was a perfect matriarch and Kamalnayani was almost a spitting image of her mother in regards to her duties. It was safe to say, his kingdom was in the perfect pair of hands.

Kamalnayani clasped her grandfather's wrinkled palms in her mildly rough ones, taking a seat near his feet as he was shook to reality. She flopped the bowl of medicine away which he bought when the signs of assaults on her throat made him forgot how to breathe, looking intently in his eyes with a grave look while Raksh did everything to avoid her gaze.

"Tell me, Matamaha. How is it that you detest my aaradhya, my love and claim me as your darling? Am I any different from my loved ones?"

Raksh's eyes flared up as he let out a shaky breath, closely noticing how her voice box bobbed up and down in stifled hesitance. How the once damsel who played around with him had grown so distant from him, speaking harsh words to and avoiding him like a plague. "Laado," he spoke as she hummed, craning her neck to the side with her gaze slightly wavering from his eyes to his cheeks, and then to his nose and ears. The tension was suffocating for him and gagged her altogether. Kamalnayani prayed that her wild heartbeats won't be audible to Raksh who wordlessly peered over her. "Have you known what it is like losing the love of your life?"

For the first time, he had been so quiet. A look of complete resignation crossed over his features and stance as neither of them mind the slight sweat forming in their clasped palms. He was doleful and aloof, and Kamalnayani knew that feeling. She recognised it too, so when he was hard towards her, she didn't retort. She let him speak to her then, she would let him speak to her now. And stand as the ear she needed in that very phase of her life, everything was the same except for the part where she was successful in distancing herself. She won't let him do the same.

"Almost," Kamalnayani huffed out, eyes pooling with unshed tears at the memory. She wasn't aware if she should wear her heart upon her sleeves at this moment but she was cognizant that avoiding couldn't work in a relationship. Communication was the key. Their brittle relationship had to work, not only for the state but for themselves. They had to mend it all, because a life without love and loved ones was meaningless, she had always known.