MAHINA, DURJA
The SuryaKanthi Sabha was in complete thunderstruck by Kumudhavalli's real image behind her sweet and loving demeanour all these years. Murmurs and chatters began to take lead from the queen's palace, slowly it will spread throughout the city and a little beyond the border of Mahina. A juicy topic that will quench the people's thirst for royal gossips but for those living in the palace, nothing will remain the same again. Not for the king nor the young prince and princesses.
Yogathepan sank to the ground broken and distorted. He had not seen his father lament when his mother died but betrayal was more painful than separation of a loved one, he guessed. Parthiban stepped out of the room to give the family some privacy. While Dhruva stayed rooted at the same spot, it was Prithvi who reached out to his father to comfort him.
At the corner of the room, Ramani remained kneeled with her head hung low. Dhruva wiped off his tear-stained face and walked up to her. "Rise," he ordered.
"As for you, your punishment for working with her will be to ...," he paused for a bit, "stay by Nakshathra's side and take care of her until she wakes up. Whether to keep you with or not, she will decide then."
Ramani stared at him, waited for him to say he wasn't serious but when he said nothing else, she asked. "But I have committed a mistake. I have worked with a woman who sabotaged many lives. I don't think it is right for me to take the responsibility of Yuvarani, Your Highness."
"If you were to be punished, Nakshathra would have mentioned your name the day she found out about you long back. That was not what she wanted and so I might have someone watching you constantly but I believe she has her reasons," he said and clasp his hands behind him. "About your father... we will try to extract every possible information from her and retrieve him. Go now." Dhruva dismissed her.
He waited until the door was closed, leaving the three in the chamber. Dhruva fetched a cup of water and brought it to his father. "Appa, here have this." He handed him the cup.
Yogathepan shook his head and pushed the cup. "How I did not know I was being deceived?" he cried, louder.
"Let's us all agree, she was a great actress," Prithvi slumped next to his father and hugged his knees. "She never cared about any of us. All she wanted was revenge and some treasure from Kavish."
The heartbroken Yogathepan and Prithvi vented out their anger and sorrow while Dhruva simply sat with them. listening. To his surprise, Dhruva had nothing to share. Although it twisted his heart to know he had been living with his mother's murderer for so many years, he felt sorry for Kumudhavalli. For being used by Ranganathan and blinded her with only revenge in her mind. She might have loved her children but she cared more for her revenge and greed to worry for them. Her two daughters especially who had left their husbands' house and hasn't return yet, she did not even try to fix their problems.
Parthiban pushed the door open a while later, behind him stood two of his wailing sisters. They ran and fell next to their father, babbling as they cried. Dhruva made out through the gibberish; they have already learnt about their mother's arrest. He read Parthiban's lips from a far, I told them all. Are you alright? Dhruva nodded once.
*-*-*-*-*
Five of them remained in SuryaKanthi for a long while before each one left to retire to their respective chambers. It was only after sunset; he had returned to Utpala.
The guards outside Nakshathra's chamber peep through the ajar door. They were still frightened with Achi and her craft. Dhruva realised they needed exposure to Varmohin communities, he made sure to work on it in the future and sent them to off for the day.
In the chamber, Nakshathra remained bedridden much to his disappointment. She laid in a violet glowing bubble of healing dust. The chamber illuminated in the glow of light. At the bedside, Achi Mangalam was seat on the floor with her legs crossed and eyes closed. The room reverberated in a different kind of energy, a change he noticed for the first time.
Previously, the chamber although large in space with plenty of ventilation, the room suffocated him. In other words, it was depressing and haunting, agonising and anaemic. With Achi's presence it had transformed into a positive ambiance. Dhruva watched Nakshathra breathe. He ached for her, so much that his heart would break into pieces, but could never allow his sadness to reach her. His hope had rose tenfold just by having Achi next to his wife, she would soon be awake.
Dhruva tiptoed to the other end of the room, to his small desk. A small squeak and Achi Mangalam slowly opened her eyes. She turned to him with a solemn look, gestured him to come close and sit with her on the floor. Specks of dust floated around her like fireflies, it tickled him as it touched his skin.
"I believe the lady who harmed my daughter," Achi turned to glace at Nakshathra and back to him, "has been put behind the bars."
"She is..." The clock tower ringed its ninth bell. "The reason behind every Kavishians' plight had been arrested." He inhaled a shaky breath, "but Nakshathra hasn't woken up yet. She is still there unconscious. Achi, she will be fine, right?" Dhruva asked, his voice soft and desperate.
Achi Mangalam held his hand. "Rimyama is a dangerous plant, son, especially if its medicine isn't safely extracted. Nakshathra had consumed water that had the leaves soaked in for hours, the negative effect is five times more potent than if one simply dips it into the water."
With each of her words, Dhruva felt him grow weak from the inside. His confidence crashing into nothing.
"Did your physicians shared any updates on her health?" Achi Mangalam asked.
"Nothing new."
She nodded and grabbed her staff standing on its own next to her. "They might not have noticed it. It's still small." Achi displayed a small sad smile.
Dhruva stared in confusion. The radiance of the violet grew larger.
"Nakshathra is with a child, son."
"What?" He barely whispered. Explosion of emotion coursed through him. He cried, he laughed and cried again. Fingers racked through his hair, he wanted to celebrate and share the news with everyone but neither was Nakshathra in a position to be a part of it nor was the situation in the palace permitted him. Dhruva sunk against the bedside with his face buried in his hands.
"Does she know?" He asked.
"I don't think she knows it. As I see through her with my ability, the child inside her is weak." Achi Mangalam rose on her feet with the help of her staff. "The chances of its survival are slim but nonetheless, you needed to know if she couldn't." Achi laid a hand on his shoulder.
Dhruva sniffled a cry and stood. "Thank you, Achi. Is there a way...?" he asked, citing the chances of survival for his unborn child.
She gave a small smile. "There is but you will need to do something big, a little risky but it will be worthwhile. I'll tell you in detail tomorrow. It's been a long day for you. Take rest, son."
As Achi Mangalam stepped out of the chamber, the glimmering violet bubble engulfing Nakshathra dissipated. Tiny firefly like twinkles followed her way out, leaving them in utter darkness. He hadn't noticed, all the while it was Achi's healing dust that have kept the room brightly illuminated.
Dhruva headed to the nearest lamp with the help of the small lantern that was kept lit and picked up the match box laid on the table next to it. One by one, he lit the room bright. Despite a whole day of facing the bitter truth, he had a small glimmer of hope. A sweet little news to help him forget all of the happenings during the day. He understood, their child might not survive in Nakshathra's battle for life but he prayed they both to win at the end of the fight.
He took her frail hand in his. "I'll do anything to make sure you wake up. You need to wake up for you and for the child growing in you." Dhruva laid another hand on her stomach. His lips trembled. "Hang in there little one. Hang in there."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
An hour before the sunrise, Dhruva received Toisara and his team back at Utpala whom he had left in the mid of their search when he got Nakshathra's news. The team returned with positive news of retrieving everyone from the last dungeon in the direction they had all ventured.
"Everyone is back safe and sound. Worry not, Yuvaraja," Toisara said. "The rest will be catching up with us soon."
Dhruva heaved a sigh of relieve. One by one their problems were resolving and he can shift his entire focus on Nakshathra and local affairs. Dhruva took hold of Toisara's large hands, "thank you, Toisara, for your help. Without you, we would have been still struggling to find the rest," he said with quavering voice.
He let out a goofy laugh. "What's the use of my gift if I don't use it for purpose like this," Toisara said. "Anyway, how is the princess?"
Dhruva enlightened Toisara with the happenings in the palace, Nakshathra's comatose state and the former queen's treachery against the kingdom and harming citizens of neighbouring kingdom.
Learning about Nakshathra, Toisara grew worried. "I should see the princess. Let me help however I can," he offered.
Still holding the Yamilva's hand, Dhruva tapped on his hand twice. "Worry not, my friend. We are fortunate to know someone who possess similar power as you. She is a Varhinsa and have promised to help in any way possible."
Toisara's eye widened, mouth dropped open. "A Varhinsa? Can I meet her?" he asked, anxiously.
"Of course, you can. She will be with Nakshathra shortly." Dhruva finally let go of Toisara's hand and ordered one of the workers to make arrangement for his guests at the guest quarters in Utpala itself. He preferred to have them all in one place instead of putting them in different parts of the palace complex. "Take rest, I'll see you later," he said to Toisara and the rest of his Yujyagana who had returned.
While he gave the time and space for Nakshathra's ladies-in-waiting to wash her up, Dhruva decided to check on his father, his brother and his sisters. The day before had been not so great and had him worried for his father more. But he was greeted with an opposite atmosphere in his father's palace.
Servants were scampering around in hasty, some bringing in new drapes while some carrying out furniture and chest boxes to be thrown out. It was unusual for his father to change things around. Was he trying to fight his heartache by changing his interior?
Dhruva found his father at the dining room with Prithvi and his two sisters although the latter were gloomy one of them slipped a tiny smile—an acknowledgement. Yogathepan's instant change in demeanour troubled him. His father that morning was overly cheerful, chatty, ate way too much for a breakfast, cracked jokes but when he observed closely, his father had simply pulled himself together for them—his children.
Likewise, his siblings too knew enough to understand what their father was trying to do and all played along, hiding their pain behind their smiles. Dhruva sat with them, wondering how things has changed overnight. If only Kumudhavalli was genuine and truthful, none of them would have been hurt not even her two daughters whom she kept close to her.
As he left the main palace back to Utpala, Dhruva reflected on Yogathepan's words which he had shared in private post breakfast.
"How are you keeping up with a smile? It isn't been a day since we found out about her," he had asked Yogathepan.
Yogathepan slumped on the chair next to him and ran his hands over the arms of the chair several times, eyes cast down. Overnight, his father had aged more than he was a day ago. "It hurts me, son. It hurts me like it does to anyone. But I am no ordinary man to sit and cry for my foolishness and stupidity. I am a king and I should put my people and my duty first. It was something I might have neglected from time to time. For that, I think this is my punishment and I accept it." He smiled, a sad one.
A long silence filled the room, the pigeon outside cooed and the leaves rustled in the wind. "I am sorry, son," Yogathepan said. "For everything."
He wished he had consoled his father but something in him stopped him from doing so, perhaps he still had a small burning amber in him. For bringing in someone to replace his mother.
Utpala Sabha came into view as he crossed the bridge, he stopped. A pair of swans danced in the lake, the pair which Nakshathra had insisted to add when she first came to Utpala. For once, he envied the swans. They got to be with each other all the time and he, hardly had spent a full day with his wife. They had one thing or another kept coming up and had pushed them so far that now he was with her yet she wasn't with him.
As he watched the swans, one of it drifted away.
He entered Utpala and waft of flowery fragrance filled the atmosphere, a kind that refreshes the mind. A smell of rejuvenation like a burst of energy. Smoke filled the corridor leading to Nakshathra's room with tiny glowing violet dusts twinkled here and there. Had Achi begun to heal her? He thought and hastened his steps. Inside the chamber, the fragrant smell grew stronger, distinctively lemony and rosy.
Dhruva minced further into the room, Parthiban, Toisara and Achi Mangalam were already present but the atmosphere varied. Toisara and Achi Mangalam appeared teary eyed and Parthiban had a smile lingering at the corner of his mouth as he held Nakshathra's hand in his.
"She is blessing in disguise, you know. I'll forever be grateful to her." He heard Achi voice quivered.
"Is everything alright?" Dhruva asked, stepping into view.
Achi Mangalam sniffled and wiped off her tears, she nodded. "It is, Yuvaraja. It is." She let out a laugh. "I knew you both were special when I read the lines on your palms but I never knew you would bring happiness into everyone's life," she said and exchanged another tearful glance at Toisara.
"I don't understand, Achi."
"Your destiny in this game of alliance had brought many, their lost happiness so, it did mine. You both have been a reason for me to meet my son after many years," Achi said, her hand reached for Toisara's. Toisara stepped closer and engulfed her.
"Had I not met Nakshathra in Gupagam forest, I wouldn't have come here to help you and I would have not met my lost mother, ever. It is strange to see how fate and choices you both made, connected people together."
Dhruva felt happy, extremely happy to have played a part in their little reunion. He would have been even more elated had Nakshathra been with him to witness them coming together.
Achi Mangalam cleared her throat, wiped her face with the end of her saree and marched to the bedside. "Let's concentrate on Nakshathra first," she clapped her hands once and tapped her staff to the ground. It glowed and illuminated the sun lit room to violet. Achi motioned her hand over Nakshathra back and forth, head to toe, a curved line emerged prominently as she continued in the same manner.
Shortly after, Achi Mangalam turned to Dhruva with an earnest look. "Curing Nakshathra is possible... but we cannot do it in the same way we treat wounds," she said.
"Then how will you do it?" Parthiban stood with grim faced.
"We will need the Rekkan fruit and its leaves. You can only find it in Kamakshya."
Dhruva had an inkling earlier, a fear lurked over him when one of the always together pair of swans drifted away. His eyes swept to Nakshathra laid on the bed, I'll do anything for her.
"I could go but given my appearance the people will easily recognise me and will not let me in. Someone who isn't from the country might get a chance to go in and bring the fruit back," Toisara said.
"If that's the case, I'll go," Parthiban volunteered.
"No, I should be the one. Don't trouble yourself, Parthiban. This might take time; you will be needed in Kavish as well."
"Nakul and Nathan can manage. I'll go, you stay here with Nakshathra."
"No, I'll go," Dhruva insisted.
"Listen to me, I'll go."
"Oh, stop it, Rajakumar. Yuvaraja." The aged lady in the chamber, hushed them. "Why don't you both go together? Two is always better than one when you are venturing into a new place," Achi Mangalam suggested.
Dhruva and Parthiban exchanged glances before nodding to each other.
"Is the tree under vigilance?" Parthiban asked.
"Not when we left. Things might be different, now that it has been more than twenty years."
Dhruva dived into a contemplation. Kamakshya, a place further north and it would take them months to reach if they travel horseback. Travelling in ratha vimana would be the best way but..., Dhruva shook his head not to get too ahead.
"Do we have a time limit, Achi?" he asked.
"Leave immediately and return in no longer than five months."
That night, he stayed awake and mentally prepared to leave at sunrise. They had sat together with Toisara and Nortasvan, who had returned as well to learn a little about Kamakshya. Although it sounded risky, both Dhruva and Parthiban were confident to return back as soon as possible.
Achi Mangalam had also warned to not be affected by anything that happens in the land, no matter how disturbing an event may appear. "Never engage or get into any confrontation. Search for the tree with the help of the map, get the fruit and return at once," she had ordered.
The venture to Kamakshya did not seem tough but leaving Nakshathra in such a state was the hardest. He brushed a strand of hair from her face and placed a hand on her stomach. "Hang in there, both of you. I'll be back soon." He planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Five months," he said, "and not a sunrise more."
*-*-*-*-*