Dark and thick rain clouds were covering the sky and the slow thunders were becoming more intense. Icy cold wind were almost freezing everything and one by one some small rain drops started falling on the earth.
But Urmila's feet didn't stop from reaching at Lakshman. As usual he sensed her presence by the enchanting sound of her anklets. It slowed his pace for a moment but he didn't stop waving his long, sharp sword in that chilling air.
"Pranam...."- Urmila said while standing some distance away from him. Again his movements slowed for a moment but then fastened as before.
"If you are here to stop me... then it will be a waste of time. "- He said in a cold voice and without stopping his practice.
Urmila just stood silently there. Once again she was startled by Lakshman's behaviour and could not find a word to say next.
Couple of minutes passed and Urmila was still standing there like a statue and he was agressively moving that sword. Now the rain drops started falling a bit more with lightning and thunders. All the other people of the ashram started rushing inside the houses. Except Lakshman and Urmila.
"If you just want stand and see, then you can do it from some distance also. It's going to rain. Please go under the roof."- Lakshman pointed at the nearby room, where the swords and shields for practice were kept.
Urmila looked in that direction and a sword in bright blue scabbard caught her attention which was kept on the varanda. All the other swords were kept on the racks and none of them had covers. But that one perticular sword on varanda was looking very much unique and gorgeous. The blue scabbard had many gems attached on it's shiny surface, which was making it look royal. So it didn't take any extra second for Urmila to realise that it must be Lakshman's own sword.
"Yes.. it's going to be raining. You should go under a roof as well..."- Urmila said in a slower voice, as if she had made herself ready for the firey yet cold replies of Lakshman which will pierce through her heart every time.
He immediately replied without looking at her- "I don't care about rain, thunders and lightning.... as i said, don't try to stop me. It will be waste of time."
She had no idea when her tears had jumped the boundaries of her eyes and nature imitated her again by increasing the pace of the slow drizzle. She asked again in her hoarse voice- "Why are you doing this to me ? Why are you being so harsh ? "
"I have told you before... this is what I am... i was never a soft loving guy. I was always harsh and tough like this..."- Lakshman replied with same cold way.
Urmila shaked her head from side to side in disbelief - " I don't know about others... but it's not true in my case... I have seen your soft loving corner..."
Suddenly his hands started moving more fast and furiously. Urmila startled but didn't flinch from her place. - " I'm not in the mood to talk about the thing that never existed... I'm repeating again rajkumari, you are wasting your time with me. Go under a roof before the heavy rain starts..."
Urmila started sobbing loudly.
"I'm not going anywhere... you have to answer me today? Why are you ignoring me ? Why are acting exactly opposite to your feelings?"
-"What do you mean...?"
-"You know what I mean..."
His orotund way of asking was making her heart ache even more. Her patience was slowly slipping away and she was on the verge to scream her lungs out...
His mouth fell silent but moves fastened even more. Now he was literally waving his sword like the speed of light.
"Go under the roof Urmila... I don't have the patience to argue"
"I also don't have the patience to ask you the same question again and again rajkumar..."- in the middle of the sobbing her voice became a little stronger and loud.
Lakshman- " You are asking such a useless question... and I don't have the answer"
Urmila aggressively wipped her tears and came to his front- " Lies don't suit a Raghuvanshi like you... "
- "don't come near me... i don't want to hurt you"
"You are hurting me... you are hurting my soul, Rajkumar Lakshman... and you know that.."- Urmila shouted at him.
The rain started falling in more speed with strong wind and ear blasting thunders.
"And I'm not going anywhere until I get my answers... so I'm asking again, why are you behaving so strange? Why ain't you taking care of yourself ? Why are you always in a worse mood ? Why are you.........."
"THIS IS WHAT I AM URMILA... "- Lakshman also shouted back without letting her complete the last question.
" Everybody knows that it's a lie. You are hurting me... as well as yourself also.. for God sake stop doing it... just stop..."
Lakshman ignored her again.
"I won't... and thank you so much but you don't need to think about me".
Urmila smiled sarcastically while some more tears escaped from her red eyes.
"I wish I could do that Rajkumar Lakshman... but I can't. I can't stop thinking about you..."
"Then try it... force it.... but stop thinking about me..."- Lakshman replied loudly. But his voice got cracked in the middle, as if his soul was pulling his tongue back from saying what just he said to Urmila.
"I can't..."- Urmila's voice became windshield and he started walking towards Lakshman.
"You have to..."- Lakshman replied with rage.
- "I can't..."
- "You have to...."
- "I won't "
- "You will...."
- "You can't force me....."
- "You don't have any other option..."
- " Still I can't do it, why don't you understand..."- Urmila again shouted and got more closer to him. Lakshman became frustrated by seeing her walking closer and closer. So he also shouted back- "BUT WHY YOU........"
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU.... I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH YOU RAJKUMAR LAKSHMAN..."-Urmila replied in raucous voice, while she reached so near him and his sword was just an inch away from her neck. Lakshman statued at his place with wide open eyes.
The sword, which he was moving ferociously just fell down on the ground from his hand.
With strident thunders and lightning, the dark clouds started bursting upon earth with extremely heavy rain.
Both the prince and princess were standing like a rock in the rain. Their eyes clashed. Even the heavy pourings couldn't hide the tears and limerance in Lakshman's eyes. While her eyes were tired of tearing.
Both of them got lost inside eachother for a moment but then Lakshman suddenly turned his face away in some other direction. - " Don't come near me Rajkumari, my presence will hurt you..."
Urmila- "You are already hurting me Dashrath nandan.... by ignoring me like this, by acting strange like this, by not accepting your feelings like this.... "
"Stop it... please. Don't make me lose my patience"- Now Lakshman's voice became windshield. He tried to wipe his tears but it had no point... because the rain was washing it off already.
"For God's sake... please open up, atleast once.. please don't run away from me"- Urmila cried.
Lakshman turned back to Urmila. - " Go under the roof... please... it's raining hard"
"Why are you concerned now ? Do you care ? "- Urmila asked boldly.
" I do Urmila... this is why I want you to go under the roof... and let me practice... "- Lakshman's words were triggering her anger so again with a sarcastic smile she said- " If you do then why are you running away from me?? Why are you hiding your feelings from me..?"
Lakshman shouted frustratedly- "Because I'm not the one for you Urmila.... you will never be happy with me...."
Urmila looked at him with a confused expression and Lakshman had no other option left rather than explaining what's hidden in his mind....
- " Believe it or not.... I'm not the perfect man for you. My life is going to be full of challanges and obstacles. I'm a prince, but still I'm committed to serve my elder brother for the rest of my life. He will always be my very first priority. I'll never be able to shower love upon my wife like other husbands. On top of everything, I have serious anger issues. Nobody except Ram bhaiya can handle me. I'll never be able to treat a woman with compassion and delight. I'm also a warrior, I spend most of my times with the commanders, soldiers and weapons. So I'll never be able to provide enough time to my wife. I'm not so loving and caring like my brothers as well. I'm born as a stubborn spirit and die like that also. Except my devotion to Ram bhaiya I can't see anything else in this world. I won't be able to fulfill her very small wishes also. She will regret marrying me in every moment of her life..."
Then his gaze softened and he took a step closer to Urmila. He gently grabbed her arms and pulled her a little close to him. Then with a soft voice he added- " But you deserve every happiness in the world. You deserved to be loved immensely.... You need someone who will look at you, as if you are the only visible thing in the world. You deserve a husband, whose attention will always be upon you... who will nurture you... and love you more than anything in this world. I won't be able to give you all these Urmila... I can't be your ideal husband. With me you will only face loneliness. On every turn of life, you have to sacrifice your own happiness for others. I'll never be able to give you that care and affection which a wife deserves from his husband. I'm just a servant Urmila.... but you deserve to be a queen. A soft, delicate soul like you needs to be pampered by the most loving husband in the world. I won't be able to see you facing downhearted situations for me.
so..... you have to move on from me..." - Some more tears sputtered from his eyes.
Urmila again looked at him with disbelief and asked in a low voice while frowning at him- "what did you say ?? What am I?"
Lakshman- "I ........"
Urmila spoke with a little louder voice by not letting him finish his sentence.- "Soft and delicate princess ??? Somebody told you these about me or you just assumed by yourself.?"
Lakshman- "No.. i mean....."
Urmila pushed his hands away from her shoulders and exclaimed in a modulated voice- "LIFT YOUR SWORD RAJKUMAR LAKSHMAN..... LET ME SHOW YOU HOW DELICATE I AM....."
Lakshman- "You are misunderstanding Urmila. I just said that you won't be able to live a satisfying life with me. And you need to be with........."
"I need to be with someone who will nurture me... who will cherish me... who will make me walk on flowers only.... who will feed me by his own hands. Because I'm a princess.... with delicate soul ? Right rajkumar?"- Urmila's question made Lakshman's mouth shut. So she added again- " I didn't expect this from you Rajkumar Lakshman... it could be better if you would have chopped my head off couple of minutes ago..... seriously?? You have understood me only these much? You think I will look more happy with these meaningless luxury and not with the man I love??? You think I'm that much weak mentally? "
Lakshman took a step closer- " Try to understand Urmila... Life with me won't be easy.... "
Urmila took a step back- "Lift your sword, Prince of Raghukul... and fight with me."
" I can't raise my sword against a woman...."- Lakshman said slowly. But Urmila replied with same rage- " A warrior is only a warrior. It doesn't matter if it's a man or a woman. Also we are not opponents in a war. It's just a normal practice..."
Lakshman- "But....."
"If you defeat me, then I'll never come to you again... and do whatever you want..."- She put the condition forward. And this is somehow convinced him for the fight. So he just nodded without saying anything.
Then Urmila went to the nearby varanda and grabbed that beautiful sword in blue scabbard. Lakshman wasn't expecting her to pick his own sword.
Lakshman- "this sword........"
" I'm sorry for taking your sword without your permission.... but I'd love to defeat you with your own sword..." - Urmila again interrupted him inbetween and effortlessly pulled it out of the scabbard.
Lakshman's eyes blazed in shock by seeing Urmila with his 'special' sword....
Urmila looked at the sword carefully. Even in that heavy rain she could clearly see Lakshman's name carved on the blade. -"Perfect..."
"Are you ready for it rajkumar Lakshman?"- she asked with confident voice and he nodded in a yes..
Finally the two swords clashed by sprutting fires from it's touching points. Urmila was in her as usual heavy jewelleries and silky attires... which had became more heavy by getting wet in the rain. But still her perfect posture and body language impressed Lakshman. She was perfectly opposing every strike of his without losing balance and control upon that sword in her hand, which was extra long and heavy for her... because it was specifically designed for Lakshman only.
" We can continue this fight on some other day rajkumari.... with a perfect sword for you. Your clothes and ornaments are also blocking your movements. And on top of everything, it's raining.... "- Lakshman said in a concerned tone but Urmila had no intention to do so.
With defending, she was also showing countermoves which were getting defended by Lakshman. - " You don't have to think about me.... and the fight won't stop until someone gets defeated.
It was becoming more and more intense with every skirmish of their swords. "You will catch cold Urmila... let's stop..."- He angin showed his concern.
"I said no... "- Urmila announced while striking furiously at Lakshman. Her movement made Lakshman flinch. He didn't expect her to be that good with swords... especially with his own sword, which was about to cut his skin by Urmila.
"I'm telling you for the last time... go under the roof... or else I'll defeat you brutally."- Lakshman announced.
"THEN DO IT RAJKUMAR... WHAT IS STOPPING YOU ?? "- Urmila waved her sword like fire which clashed with Lakshman's sword, just near his chest. He had also never seen this aggressiveness of Urmila. So to tame her down he had to counterstrike. But Urmila defended effortlessly once again...
- "Let me tell you, great Raghuvanshi Prince.... I am also a warrior like you."
Firey clash of two swords... then Urmila stroke twice at one go which made Lakshman take one step back.
- " i might be fond of jewelleries... which may appear just normal metals in different shapes to you... But let me enlighten you.... but among all those metals, my favourite type are those, which are shaped as the sharp blade of swords. "
(Lakshman tried to attack on the bottom part of the sword which will lead Urmila to lose control upon her own wrist and the sword will fall down from her hands... But again to his surprise she opposed his attack and stick back by taking a turn, on his wrist instead... and his sword was about to fell down but he somehow controlled it again...
- "I am not someone who wants to get nourished by the man I love... I'm someone who can happily dedicate her life to nourish the man I love and his whole family..."
Swords clashed like lightning again
- " I never want my husband to shower all of his love and attention on me.... I'd be blessed if he will be a man with high values.... who will keep his duty and loyalty above me.
Lakshman slowed down a little but Urmila kept attacking
- "Along with my man, I'll dedicate my life to his lord as well... It will be my great fortune if I'll ever get a chance to do something for his lord on his behalf. It wouldn't matter if I'm sacrificing my happiness or life.."
Lakshman's entire focus went on whatever Urmila was saying with those agression filled eyes and love filled heart. While she attacked again without letting him think of defence or counter attack.
- " Not being with the man is not what loneliness looks to me... for me it's only a state when the man I love ignores me. The physical distance are not hurtful things for me Rajkumar... what hurts me is the mental distance."
He forgot to strike after listening to his beloved. But Urmila's teary eyes were saying that she isn't going to stop until defeating Lakshman. So she got ready to strike her final attack.
- "Lastly.... it doesn't matter if he will never feed me by his own hand or sprinkle flower on my path. But what matters is what he thinks about me. If he thinks that I'm too delicate to live in hazardous situations with him, then It will be hurtful to me.... because I'm not weak.... I'm the warrior Princess of Mithila.."
With the last sentence, Urmila made her final strike and just like a flash of blaze he cut Lakshman's sword off into two pieces as if it was just a paper.
He remain astonished, breathless, shocked and everything..
Both of them looked in eachother's teary eyes again. Urmila started sobbing again and Lakshman extended his hands to touch her cheeks but she again stepped back.
The rain slowed down. Urmila again put the sword back in it's blue scabbard and handed over to Lakshman. Then she wiped her tears and said slowly- " If I love the man, then I'll happily starve for the rest of life and happily walk on thrones without any pain. But except the man I love, every luxury will appear poison to me..... "
" Urmila... listen to me..."- Lakshman said with cracked voice.
" Don't worry... I'm not going to force myself upon you. If you have decided that you won't accept me... then I'll respect your descision.
She turned back and slowly walked away from him while crying her heart out. And Lakshman held her wrist gently again... But before he could say anything Urmila did free her hands and said boldly - " I'm leaving Rajkumar Lakshman.... You won't have to face me from now on.."
And she walked away by wiping her tears while he just stoned at his place with dripping hair and tear flooded eyes.
______
Writer's note
MY HEART IS BURNING 😭
I'm horrible at writing fighting scenes. I'm really sorry for that.
And this part is big. I just wanted to end this part as soon as possible. Because before writing I visualise things.... and it hurts 😢