Mahina, Durja
When Prithvi joined his brother outside the arogyalaya after briefly speaking to her guards, Dhruva asked nothing to him. He remained quiet for the most part of the day despite Prithvi's non-stop blabbering. Among those chatters, he attempted to put some sense into Dhruva to accept the princess's proposal and at a point it became unbearable.
"I can't believe you luring me into agreeing to do this." Dhruva fumed, at last in the privacy of his bedchamber.
"Lure? Is that the best you can say? I helped you, not convinced but sort your thoughts for you. Clearly you already made a choice," Prithvi retorted, playfully.
What Prithvi said might be true but Dhruva turn adamantly concerned over Nakshathra's safety. "Oh right, you sorted my thoughts. And what was it?" He stood by the window and glance over his shoulder. "Retrieve the trapped Kavishians and second, marry the woman I love and protect her with my life." Dhruva recited Prithvi's statement from earlier that day.
He would undoubtedly die protecting her but why put her in the fire when they could avoid it? Dhruva contemplated at the grey horizon. Confusion circled his conscience denying everything he confessed to Prithvi few weeks back. "At this point I am not even sure what my feelings is for her."
"You literally gave your mother's dagger to her, Dhruva," exasperated Prithvi with a shake of his head.
Dhruva sensed Prithvi's annoyance on him and truthfully, he was on himself too.
"That... that was a..."
"What a mistake?" The young brother marched and pulled Dhruva to face him. "Dhruva, right now you just being annoying. If you don't love her then just help her out as a friend. Honestly, we both know the reason you are hesitating is because you are scared but why?"
"Why wouldn't I? We are not just talking about rescuing the people but encountering a lady with grudge, who also happen to have or might have a number of people to fight merely for what she pays them. At worst Nakshathra could lose her life," Dhruva asserted.
"But she had made the choice to play the vital part here, Dhruva. Your work is to support her. I know you want to do that but your fear is what stopping you." Prithvi let out a frustrated sigh. "Let's put it this way. What if everything ends up the way we want it? Safely retrieve the people and no one dies."
Although Dhruva's mind was yet to dissolve in accordance with Prithvi, his recollection of Nakshathra's teary eyes, pleading him for help finally did its work. He has to do it for her, no, for him at least or his conscience will kill him in the long run.
The next morning when the sun was seven fingers from the horizon, he jumped on his horse and galloped to Arana Square. He wanted her to know his decision before she leaves for Kavish but when he got there it was a tad bit late. Nakshathra had left the guesthouse at dawn without a word and that pushed Dhruva to take the next step to make way to achieve their goal.
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"That's like my brother," beamed Prithvi as he shook Dhruva's shoulders in excitement.
The young prince was all bright and smile as if the brother had said yes to him and that led them to the king's office room. Behind the velvet curtain sat the king at the desk with the queen seated on the lounge along with her daughters and on the table before the queen set two fresh sets of cups ready for the brothers.
"My boys," the king exuberantly cheered. His arms spread wide and gestured both of them to take the seat in front of the desk.
The brothers exchanged glances and accepted the tea served by their sisters. In the history of the family, this had to be first ever gathering involving all the family members. It was nerve-wracking, to sit with his family and to discuss on the one thing he never imagined to do. Prithvi gave Dhruva's sweaty palms an assuring squeeze. His brother's backing gave him some strength to begin.
"Your Majesty, I have a proposal," he began.
"A proposal?" The king looked quizzical and angled an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"I have chosen a potential bride who will not only be my support, also be the rope to bind two kingdoms together."
"A bride?" The king thought for a second and smiled, a hand on the armrest and another on his knee. "Of course, it's just about time to welcome a new member into the family. What do you think of Dhruva's proposal, Maharani?"
All eyes swept to the queen; her hand circled the rim on the cup as she gave each one her attention. Placing the cup on its source on the table, she leaned forward. "Who is the bride you have chosen, Yuvaraja?" Kumudhavalli's warm smile, radiated welcomeness.
Will the welcomeness remain as solid as she had displayed after he reveals the bride's identity? He will know soon.
He straightened his back and cleared his already cleared throat. "It Princess of Kavish, Rajakumari Nakshathra Heramba." There he had said it, dropped the invisible weight he carried since he entered the chamber.
"Who?" A unanimous cry came from all four members in the room.
Dhruva startled despite anticipating their reaction. His palms sweated more and his heart beat faster than it did in the start of the conversation. Keeping all his anxiousness at the back of his mind, Dhruva forced himself to look calm.
"The princess of Kavish. The youngest daughter of King Bavaneswaran." His voice shook a little.
The silence in the room was a thick as the grey clouds threatening for a heavy shower. Both Dhruva and Prithvi finally slouched on the back of the seat for a moment. They waited patiently for someone to resume the talk.
"Why? Why Kavish?" The king asked, his face lost a few shades of glow.
"To make peace and to renew the ties we once had with the kingdom. Everyone knows we had a terrible past and the one who we assumed to be responsible too have passed on. Not to mention the country had its fair share of loss and grief, don't you think it's time we forget and move on?" Dhruva said, all that he had in his heart. "Generation to come will laugh at us for holding a grudge on a kingdom who had already gone through phases of punishments."
"What about the pain the queen had gone through, son?"
Dhruva turned to the queen. She remained neutral neither angry nor acceptance.
"I have long given up on the idea of revenge, maharaja. I no longer hold grudge against the kingdom responsible for my father's death. I have forgotten and moved on." The queen rose from the seat with poise.
As she lifted a gaze to the king, her eyes shone with an emotion Dhruva failed to interpret.
"My king, I given my full consent and blessings to Dhruva to wed the daughter of Kavish. It will not only bring the two kingdoms together but the union will give us economic stability as well," the queen minced to the side of the king and gave him a gentle shoulder pat.
"How about you take a day to reconsider?" He asked the queen.
In response, she simply squeezed his shoulder with a nod.
"Well, if the queen is happy with Dhruva's proposal to marry the princess of Kavish, I see no reason to delay." The king tapped the armrest and stood, taking the queen's hand in his. Yogathepan expressed genuine happiness, an expression Dhruva rarely sees but was equally delightful to witness this side of him. "Son, sit me later along with the ministers and we shall announce it to all of them. Perhaps write a proposal to the king of Kavish requesting his daughter's hand for the crown prince of Durja on my behalf."
"I have another request, Your Highness. Can we release all the Kavishians we have kept imprisoned?"
The king raised an eyebrow, he fell into a deep contemplation and finally agreed. "If we are to fix things then it should be in the right way."
For some reason, Dhruva smiled big beyond explanation, despite having a thought on the instant agreement. All the while ignoring the queen's piercing gaze on him.
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Sikva, Kavish
Certainly, the annual celebration was all they needed to level up the emotional health of their people, despite the disappearance everyone seemed happy and light. And unlike the happenings outside in the city it was unusually dull in the palace. It was only on the exterior, the royal family appeared exuberant with the Viokaar Panaya event but inside they were all worried and broken. Eventually retired from the celebration to resume their work for the day.
The Heramba brothers had an unusual habit of holding meetings in various places in the palace among themselves. They say, 'change of environment is a need to think different.' For the same reason, they opt to finish up their work in their late grandfather's office room, away from the celebrational sound. One of the quietest rooms in the palace would soon go under a makeover. The brothers wanted to make use of it one last time before everything in it was taken away forever.
Out of all five of them, Nakul was the closest and dearest to his grandfather. An advantage for being the oldest of all, he would tease at times when they were kids. Despite countless sweet memories, his grandfather's last few months of his life was the ones etched vividly in him. It all began from the faithful day seventeen years ago.
How could they blame me when the blade was faulty? It was an accident.
The late king repeated over and over again until he falls asleep on the floor of his chamber. With the battle broke out between the two kingdoms there weren't many to tend to the king, Nakul was still a young boy and he wasn't allowed to fight yet and so he spent his time with his grandfather. Nagendran would repeat the same and nothing else. The king eventually died of heartbreak.
Being in his grandfather's office room after many years had brought the memories awake. He sighed, if only his grandfather stayed stronger emotionally, they could have resolved everything; people wouldn't have been taken away from their families, they wouldn't have had short of soldiers to fight and his sister wouldn't have put her life in jeopardy to bring them back.
Nakul stood by the open window as he watched the flocks of birds flew on a bright morning. Outside the office he heard his brothers' chatters out loud, he shook his head. "They can never be quiet," he muttered.
"What a lovely morning in a dull palace?" Nathan may sound chirpy but his tone was rather dispirited as he pushed the door open.
Parthiban entered after him with an even more depressed expression, Nakul almost regretted to have call them for a meeting. He left them to settle down while he watched the sky. The number of ratha vimanas in the air have increased in the last couple of months, he observed.
"Have you noticed the sky is getting busy these days." Nakul turned to find Nathan flipping through some of manuscripts while Parthiban sat in front of the large desk.
Nathan took a peek at the window and hummed in respond while Parthiban merely nodded. It was obvious they were all worried for their sister who hasn't returned yet after more than two weeks since she left to Durja but Nakul also knew they can't detach themselves from their duties.
"Sit down, Nathu." Nakul pushed his little brother to a vacant chair. "What's the security update in the city and other part of the country?"
"Apart from crimes like theft, loan shark issues and other local related problem, we don't have any concerning matters going on, the nagarapalas will take care most of it," Parthiban reported, nonchalantly. "There isn't any missing complains from the last one month," he added.
"The sea is calm, regular merchants come and go. Nothing serious in the water."
"Alright, looks like we need someone to be in charge for the air security. People are opting for a lot ratha vimana these days."
Parthiban nodded and headed to check the state of the sky from the open window. Different sizes of vimanas were seen flying in and out of the city. He scratched his chin and turned to his brothers. "Don't you think it's simply because its Viokaar day that we have traffic in the air?" he asked.
"Possible but why to wait until we realise it has become a preferred mode of transport for the people," Nakul said.
"That's right. We need to increase the number of guards at the checkpoint and perhaps set some rules and scout for a good chief for air security," added Nathan while his eyes roamed the empty desk with intricate motifs carved on it.
The desk was a large one, unusually thick than most of the desk he had seen. While he ran his hand over the motifs, he felt a straight line among the curling lines, forming a narrow rectangle on the upper corner of the table. Nathan ignored his brothers' discussion and leaned closer to the table to examine the line. A line that can be missed on plain sight. "Can't be a part of the carving," he mumbled as he dropped on his knees to check on the underside of the table and along the edge of breadth and width.
"What are you doing?" Parthiban asked giving way for his brother going around the desk running his hand through the edge.
"Give me a minute, I'll tell you." The young prince replied.
As he ran his finger on the side edge of the desk, he felt an extra piece of square wood protruding out in not too obvious fashion. On a first glance not a single pair of eyes can find the square but after a thorough check, Nathan found it. In his mind, he already knew what to expect from the desk however, he put a word on his puzzled brothers to keep an eye on the top of the table as he pressed the jutting wood.
The rectangle line he found earlier sprung out like a vertical drawer. Nathan smiled at his finding. "I was looking for you." He gushed and tapped the square button before gesturing his hand to the compartment.
"Tada," he said before digging its content.
Both Nakul and Parthiban were completely dumbfounded at Nathan's discovery as they kept their eyes locked to the vertical drawer. They did not come to their grandfather's office to find for hidden details but that did not stop Nathan from looking at small details either. Nakul prayed, whatever they were about to discover shouldn't shake their emotional or country's foundation.
"We have got a few bunches of manuscripts and envelopes." He took each one of them out on the table. "I am going to look into what's in here. Any objection?" he asked as he held one of the manuscripts.
"Go ahead, let's see what tata have kept hidden in this compartment," said Parthiban and took one of the envelopes.
It was a long excruciating silent as each one rummaged through their grandfather's past. From the look of each one it was clear, what they found wasn't something to be proud of nor to be shared to the mass. Nathan kept shaking his head as he flipped page after page eventually dropping it on the table with a thud and picked up another.
"This man is one shrewd king," Nathan commented with gritted teeth. "How could he come up with such a devious plan simply to avoid the fight among brothers for the throne even when there was no sign of it? Tata had teamed up with the ministers to deceive Ranganathan perriappa promising the throne only to snatch it back from him. He could have just announced the throne was for father and no one would have had a problem with it, at least there won't be any deceiving plans." He flipped through the manuscript before shutting it back. "No wonder he died the way he did."
"Nathu," Nakul warned. "He might be wrong but respect the deceased."
"If, only if he hadn't done anything like this and had I not find this dark secret of his, I would have, anna." He picked up the manuscript. "This is his journal hidden out of sight, tells how he schemed to betray a young man that led him to run away leaving his mother behind." Nathan emphasized as he showed the journals to his brother.
Meanwhile, Parthiban took his time to read each and every letter including the manuscripts to get a clarity on the situation Nathan had briefed and the reason it was hidden in the compartment. He found out that his grandfather had involved in various other scheming too but the one Nathan mentioned seemed to be a big one.
"Nathan is right," Parthiban concurred. "I am aware that Ranganathan is father's step cousin but it didn't give tata the liberty to play with his emotions. Anyone will be happy to learn they are given a chance to rule but if you are not giving them than don't give them hope. Tata was wrong here."
Nakul nodded in assimilation. He couldn't deny the reality of his grandfather's doings especially when it was all recorded by himself. "What do we do now?"
"Find him. Find Ranganathan and atone for the wrong done to him. That's all, we are at wrong here—" Parthiban was interrupted by vigorous knock on the door.
A kshetrapala sprinted in with a message from the king demanding their presence to his office chamber immediately.
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