Mahina, Durja
Everything around her went perfectly still. The drizzle had seized. The wind had stopped. Above her, on the bridge, movements stilled. Not a soul spoke, not a rumble from the sky. It was as if the time had drawn to a halt to allow her to digest the fact, she actually know the man standing as still as rock before her. And that he wasn't the man he had said he was when they first met each other.
"Dhruva?" His name came out as a whisper.
He looked as shocked as she was
Her brain tried to unsee what she had seen but the truth stood tall, he was him. There can be no other reason for Dhruva, the traveller from Haridra to be at a place where the crown prince of Durja should have been. He was him. The clouds broke into a heavy shower and before she had a chance to be drenched completely, she was pulled to take shelter under the bridge.
It happened too quick; it took a while for Nakshathra to come into sense on how close she was with him. His hand wrapped around her wrist, hers on his chest, each were too dumbstruck to break their eye contact however, the thunder resolved it for them. Nakshathra immediately pulled away and turned her back to him, the lantern she had brought laid on the wet ground, long forgotten. Like the fire in the lantern fizzed out, her thought too tried to vanish but she caught hold onto them. It pained her to know that the man she had been told to consider in marriage in order to reconcile the two kingdoms was someone she knew and the one who had even stayed in Kavish.
Should I be angry on him for deceiving me? But it was also him who brought the fugitives back to Kavish... The anger in her dissipated and she froze as she mindlessly watched the rain. Moments long pass but Nakshathra made no sound nor movement. Her mind began to find a bearing for her shaken heart.
She tried to understand because that was all she could do. Behind her stood Dhruva. So, why did he disguise himself as a traveller?
He was the crown prince and of course, he can't just walk through their gate without being question for the reason of his visit. Likewise, she too did the same to get into Durja. Nakshathra tried to understand not for him but for herself. She needed his help more than anything especially after she had received the note from Alli. She can't turn away from the reality now, not anymore.
"You wanted to see me?" Dhruva finally broke the tensed silence.
Nakshathra stiffened with his presence behind her, she clasped her hand tight. Unsure if it was a positive or a negative reaction. Was she partially happy to see him after a long while, because she felt her heart's rapid beating against her chest.
"Yes," she mustered a reply as she turned to face him.
"But before that, I have something to say."
Her brows snapped together.
"I'm sorry. I... should have not kept my identity a secret it—"
"No wait." She stopped him, formulating her own phrase in her mind. "You didn't do it on purpose, you had a reason and I think I now know why. I don't blame you either. We could have considered you planting spies instead of bringing our stranded people back. I could have thought much worst about you back then." She averted her gaze and bit her lip, the thought to imprison him surfaced as she thought of what she would have done if she had known.
"I could have told you. I had the chance..."
"It's fine." Nakshathra zoned out for a bit, back to Koshilkoot before bringing her focus to the present. She had more pressing matters to discuss. "I... I wanted to meet you, the crown prince for a reason."
"What is it?"
"A favour... a military favour," she murmured.
"Military favour? Why?" He asked.
"You know my people are disappearing and those who you have brought back said they were kept in captive here. I had to come here to find the rest, I went to about five dungeons and caves only to find it empty with only traces of their presences. I wanted you to help me find them with your military influence." She swallowed, flustered to what she was about to share. "But something else came yesterday morning and made me re-evaluate my choice." Nakshathra leaned against the pier where the torch stood. The warmth from the fire helped her beat the chilly air.
"What was it... on the note?"
She handed him the note from a pouch tucked in her waist band safely unaffected from the rain.
Want you people safely sent home? Be the bride to the crown prince.
Dhruva skimmed through the two-line note over and over again until he dropped his hands to his sides. "No," that was all he said and the silence filled in along with the heavy pouring rain.
"Why... why not?" she asked at last unable to process his simple curt reply. "We have to do this or I'll never get to bring them back to their families."
"I can't because I will deliberately be putting your life in danger. What could it mean by this." He flashed the note in front of her.
"It's just one life in return for thousands of other innocents. We have no choice, Dhruva."
"We don't?" He asked, eyes burning in anger and in fear. "Why do you think I ended things between us in Koshilkoot even before we had a chance? Because I fear the worst. Had things been good between our kingdoms I would have asked your hand in marriage long ago. I don't want to agree to this deal just to make your life miserable."
Life had been quite unfair, Nakshathra thought to herself. She had always wanted to live long with someone she chooses for herself but never once she imagined it would come to a point where she tries to strike a deal with the man of her choice for an unpredictable life ahead.
"Then forget about the miserable part, let's just do it. That woman has the lock and this marriage is the key, Dhruva." Part of her couldn't believe she had to plead but does she have any other choice? If there was, Nakshathra waited to hear it.
"This is wrong, it's not fair to put you through this," he argued, fingers racked through his wet hair.
"It's not fair for the thousands of people too...," she debated. "I think I am ready to sacrifice myself for my people. They have given up their sixteen years of life to let me grow as to who I am today, its time I pay them back. If not, I'll continue to live in guilt till, I die."
"We will find another way, Nakshathra. I am sure this isn't the only option we are left with. I'll find a way both you and your people will not be harmed anymore," he argued and held her hand in his in attempt to buy more time.
While the prince of west and the princess of east engrossed in their argument over Nakshathra's bargain. Not so far from the bridge behind a large old tree stood Alli in her cloak and a man with his hands tied in a chain, other end of the metal links was secure in Alli's hand.
"If you do this, you and your friends get to earn a day's full meal for your families or else you will never see them again," Alli said as she tucked the chain.
The man with hollowed eyes, skinny hunched body she had tied in chains nodded. Alli had made a deal with the man she had found long back, one from the mystical land who said to have powers of the lightning. Follow my instruction and I'll keep you family safe.
When she learnt the crown prince and Nakshathra were to meet, Alli had convinced herself, she to use her captive from the mystical land to inflict a little pain for the princess and thus there they were, hidden in the dark. She gave him orders to begin.
The man grunted and spread his legs to balance his position. He then rubbed his palms together until a ball of brilliant blue glowed between his hands. As he moved his hands away from each other, the glow grew bigger, illuminating their hideout.
Alli watched it in awe, her eyes glimmered in blue. Within the glowing ball, Alli spotted tiny lightning strokes filled in it. A snickering smile played on her lips hidden behind her mask.
"How bad will this be?" she asked with curiosity.
"Like that of a person who gets strike by the lightning itself," the man said with determination as he whipped the blue glow in Nakshathra's direction.
They waited with batted breath as they watch the energized glow hit Nakshathra. It hit in seconds and threw her in a fit of seizure. Her body bent backward; she convulsed like she was possessed of sort before Dhruva rushed to her side holding her as they dropped to the ground.
Alli laughed hysterically and patted the man's back, satisfied with the show she had anticipated. "Good! That was a good one. As promised, your families will get their reward," she said as they both left leaving Nakshathra in a despair state and disappeared behind the shadow.
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Time passed like that of a snail. It neither stopped nor sped, it moved slow enough to etch the incident seconds by seconds deep inside his subconscious. The vivid moment left him living through it, scared and helpless as he watched her fight for her life.
Nakshathra laid on a wooden bed, unconscious for a long time. From the time he had rushed her to an arogyalaya, he left her not a single minute. He stayed and observed every procedure the physician did on Nakshathra and made sure she was taken good care. When he brought her in, her pulse rate was low almost unreadable. The physician's subtle warn to brace himself only sent him into deeper fear of losing her.
Day turned night, day after day, he waited with nothing in mind but prayer to have her regain her conscious and after the fourth morning, her eyes fluttered open. At first, he dismissed her action as his imagination but soon her coarse voice called for attention. Dhruva rushed to her side with a smile of relief and took her hand in his as her eyes scouted the room and landed on a calendar hung on the wall.
Although they exchanged no words, Dhruva guessed what was going on in her mind. The hours, the number of days that had passed since they met, disturbed her. When he noticed Nakshathra struggled to speak, Dhruva called for the physician and slid to the corner of the room while the physician did a few general tests on Nakshathra.
"Yuvaraja." The physician called soon after checking on her state. "She is perfectly fine. I did some general inspection of her health, all good and surprisingly she doesn't have any sign of being struck by lightning. It's quite miraculous to have her survive but even more with no scars," the physician said occasionally glancing at Nakshathra and added. "I guess there is a lot more for me to learn in this field." The flabbergasted physician laughed as he shook his head. "We will have her rest for another night here before she can leave."
A few hours after leaving her in the care of a junior physician and guarded by one of his Yujyagana, Dhruva returned from a short trip to the palace. He sensed her agitation as soon as she regained her conscious, the talk disrupted by a sudden unseen attack was yet to continue. Dhruva had no intention to put her into such a danger although he knew the chances of retrieving the Kavishians were high. He had no heart to agree. He believed there were to be more ways than marriage to rescue them and with the same thought he entered the room.
Nakshathra sat upright with the support of the wall behind her, diligently she took the decoction from the physician and gulp it at once. Her face scrunched at its taste. Involuntarily the corners of his lips curled up, relieved to see her alive. That day he feared of losing her forever as he held her convulsing body under the bridge. No amount of tight hold stopped her from shaking until it subsided on its own.
When he reflected back on the incident countless times, he knew it wasn't natural. There was no lightning strike or evidence of the event and they were no way out in the open to be struck by it too. Dhruva couldn't help but to relate to a similar incident took place in Sikva on Nakshathra, where she was caught on fire abruptly without any traces of flame nearby. At first, Dhruva believed the fire was caused by Gamshoni under someone's instruction but the recent event had him change his mind.
There had been magical tales from the land of Kamakshya told to him by his mother when his was a little boy and he had continued to read them long after she had passed on. The tales he heard from his mother had later been proved to be true with Achi Mangalam's power exhibit to heal him from the very fire Nakshathra was caught on. Today he believed the situation might be created by the someone who has the talent and that they weren't Gamshoni but Dyumanthi, one who possess the power to create fire from nothing and form bolt of lightning. An almost extinct community among the Varmohin, but how did they end up in Durja?
"Yuvaraja."
The thought dissipated. Dhruva looked up to see a young physician with a tray of empty bowls in her hand.
The arogyalaya was half full with patients from across Durja receiving treatment for various illness. Somewhere among the patient words regarding him spread in the centre. Some said he was receiving treatment for a serious sickness while some murmured him to have found someone he likes among the young lady physicians yet a few denied both. No matter how well one treats his people, he was sure to be a subject to talk about when they see him at an unexpected place for an unexpectedly long time. All he knew was, his citizens will be up for more talks in the future if he accepts Nakshathra's proposal.
The young physician made her way out of the room. Inside the room, Nakshathra had her arms crossed across her chest, eyes glued to him with a deadpan face. She exhibited neither anger nor desperation but her calm face told him the conversation hasn't over yet.
"How you feeling?" he asked as he took a seat next to her bed.
"Better."
Dhruva nodded, straightening his back. Her voice had returned to its normal sweet tone. "It's a relief to see you unscathed," he said.
"What happened? I remember talking to you before a sharp pricky thing pierced my back."
"To be exact on that day I had no idea what happened to you but you were convulsing like you had a fit of seizure. At first, I thought you were sick but then you had bruises all over your body."
"Bruises?" She asked and checked her arms for any traces of wounds.
"It has gone now, miraculously. Those were like the pattern of a lightning. It ran from your back to your arms up till your neck but again, all of it magically faded as days passed by."
She dwelled in the information before reaching for a cup of water from the side table. "It sounds like before. After the fire incident, when I woke up, Arunya told me the same. My scars disappeared before I was back to conscious. Same as to the Gupagam forest incident, the stab scar was gone and now this. Toisara must be right, it's truly running in my veins," Nakshathra murmured softly as she brought the cup up to her mouth and sipped little of the drink.
But Dhruva caught on to a few of her words, instantly appalled him. He grabbed her hand and demanded an answer. "What happened to you in the forest? And what's running in your body?"
Instead of answering him, she asked him another question. "Do you believe in magic?" Her eyes fell on the cup in her hands. "Especially the tales from Kamakshya?" She asked.
He nodded with a smile. "I do. My mother used to read them for me when I was young."
For the first time, she broke into a small smile and warmth spread over his body.
"I learnt it when I got treated by a Yamilva in the Gupagam forest. He is half Yamilva and half Varhinsa. When he tried to treat me, he traced large amount of healing energy stored in me and said the energy will keep me healing me until it's worn out." Nakshathra returned the cup to the side table.
"I think it's one of them. The cause of the fire in Sikva and the lightning." She squeezed her eyes tight as if in pain and shot open a while after. "But I got no time for them. What have you decided?" Her brows drew together, ready for a counter respond.
"I told you I am not getting into this," he retorted as his hands curled into a fist.
"Do you think I am getting worked up over a small piece of note instructing me what to do?" Nakshathra pushed herself up from the bed, glaring straight into his eyes. "I received a message a few hours after the first. She is giving me a time limit and its by end of this month."
His eyes landed on the calendar hung on the wall. If Alli's threat was real they had less than sixteen days to seal the deal. And she had started harming Nakshathra even before they could come with a solution but his heart refused to agree, he fears for the aftermath.
"There is no other way and no time to find one. If we do as she says we will know who she is." Nakshathra dropped her gaze, uncertain of her words then shook her head.
Dhruva knew she was right but he wasn't ready to give the proposal a yes. He held his hands tight together and released a shaky breath. Repetitively denying to join hands with her was making him paint himself as a coward. On the other hand, it breaks him into pieces to open the door Nakshathra has been looking for all these while only to put her through hell.
Someone knocked on the door and invited themselves into the room. "I think the princess is right." Dhruva knew the voice. Prithvi walked in and stop by the end of the bed and curtsey to Nakshathra. "Good day, Your Highness. I am Prithvi Vinayakam, the brother to the crown prince." Prithvi smiled radiantly as he pointed to him.
Before he shot a question on his presence at the arogyalaya, Nakshathra greeted him with surprise yet entranced look.
"Oh, how do you know about me?" Her voice carried a dip of alarm at Prithvi's knowledge on her.
Prithvi with his compelling smile gestured back to Dhruva. "He spoke to me about you and I also happened to help him bring you here a few nights ago."
Nakshathra relaxed and exhaled. "That made me owe you... and I am sorry our first meet was in such a condition."
Prithvi simply waft his hand in the air and went on to enquire on her health while Dhruva remained quiet. Nakshathra's proposal was enough to keep him occupied, he had no interest in conversing with them. His mind drifted to the night under bridge again. How did the person know she was there, a place where no one moves about. Is someone following her? Does that mean Alli is keeping a tab on Nakshathra? If yes, who?
Amidst his pondering, somehow their talk led them back to the proposal.
"Hold on." Dhruva held his hand up, a sign to stop. "I think someone is tailing you." His eyes fell on Nakshathra, whose gaze appeared calm.
"I have the same doubt." She pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she contemplated within.
Prithvi with rapt attention now stood next to him. "You do?" He asked.
"I solidified my doubt the day before I came to meet you. It was a mere coincident, I saw her receiving a message in purple script and minutes later I found the same-coloured script pushed into my room." Nakshathra made no eye contact with him nor Prithvi.
It made sense to him, she wished not to reveal the identity but if she shares, they can reach Alli without compromising Nakshathra's safety. But the solid clue they have is the purple script, a coloured script available only in the royal offices.
"Did you confront the person?" Prithvi asked, his voice sounded firmer.
"No. I was in no state to do so. It only struck me a while ago when he was away."
"You know we can find out about Alli through her?" Dhruva said with his steel eyes boring into.
Nakshathra's silence was deafening. She intent not to catch the informer but to follow Alli's instruction but why?
"I am not telling you about the person. Now stop diverting and tell me, will you help or not."
"No," he blurted. "Not this way." He wished he had other option to offer her but he had none, for the moment. Dhruva left without a parting word as he glanced Nakshathra's glazy eyes.
Prithvi's faint words fell upon his ears. "Need worry not, Your Highness. Both my brother and I will help you get back your people. I'll convince him." A moment of silence later, he spoke again. "I suggest you to leave for your country. You have been here far too long. I have acquainted with one of your guards, any news will be shared through him."
Dhruva heaved a sigh, allowing his tensed muscles to relax. Prithvi had made it easy for him but things may get tough from now on but first he needed to find Alli's informer.
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