Brihannala shrunk her brows...she keenly observed the strange footsteps...it was awkward and audible more than necessary...
She kept the garland in the bamboo basket... ....keeping the flowers aside, she stood up hurriedly...she ran her eyesight to the nook and corner of the quadrangle..
" Who is there...? "
As no one appeared in the quadrangle, her intuition alarmed her...
Take care of Suman until I return...
Vijaya Simhan's words echoed in her ear...
" Anybody there...? Guards....!!!"
She called for help...hearing Brihannala's tension built shout, samrutha came out of the chamber...
"What happened Brihannala...?"
"I heard some strange sounds...."
Saying so, she cautiously stepped forward...
Just then,
He walked in...
With his strange gait and the crutches he had, Brihannala and samrutha understood the reason for unusual tapping noise...
Samrutha huffed annoyed and went inside...
Brihannala raised her voice...
" Hey ugly...!!!!who are you...? why did you come here?"
Her voice danced equally with sarcasm and wry...
He didn't mind her query and forwarded towards suman's chamber...
" It's none of your business...I was told to meet only the Empress not the scraps like you..."
His bold stance stunned her...
Puffing and panting, she ran behind him....
At the entrance , samrutha stood closing the way...
She raised her brows..and gestured him to stop...
He gave a Ring to her...by seeing the ring, samrutha's eyes widen in surprise...
It was marthanda varma's Royal insignia ...a pearl studded golden Ring...
She respectfully held the ring and eyed him suspicious....
Because, those kind of Royal insignia was very limited and was handled by the higher order people like ministers that too,at emergency situations where the King is not available in person at the very situation..
Undoubtedly , the King had given him the ring in person...but..why?
Samrutha gestured Brihannala to go... Brihannala curled her lips at one side and went out...
samrutha clearly understood that this man was sent by marthanda varma... what if, he had some secret message or plan to escape Suman!!!..she didn't like Brihannala at all ... moreover, she wanted suman to go back as soon as possible and definitely , Brihannala will be a detrimental ....
Samrutha lead him inside..
" The Empress is in temple..."
She said and showed him the way...
Unlike the princess fort,the river palace was surrounded by the ocean at one side and all the other sides were covered with river... The palace was like an island...
When suman's efforts to get out of the palace were vain, she had no other choices but to wait for shravan...
So, most of the time she stayed at the temple which was her only solace...
Samrutha neared her and called her softly...
" Sorry to disturb you my Lady...!!! there's a messenger from the king"
Suman was leaning on a carved stone..she didn't averted her gaze that was fixed at the lotus pond...
"Call him..."
Her voice was feeble and lifeless...
Samrutha gestured him to get in...he stepped in and saw sumam leaning at the stone...
The very next second, he forgot to wink..his mouth opened wide at the miraculously breathtaking beauty of The Empress.... his senses numbed to witness the astonishing elegance of the Lady...
Lost, he took a step and missed his balance...one of his crutches slipped down and at last moment,he managed to stand...
He bowed to Suman...
" Why don't you walk carefully..
You would have fallen now..."
Suman asked concerned...
"Already I have fallen..." He murmured...
" What did you say?" Suman squinted her eyes....
" Mmm.......Devi....!!!! please accept my apologies... I have heard about your beauty...now...to witness directly, I was taken aback with the elegance of you...I thought you were a carved statue and forgot to wink even.. amazed at your beauty, I missed the crutches and balance..... that's the reason and you are the one who has to be accused for the incident..."
While samrutha was warning him for his irreverence, Suman laughed.
"I like your boldness...by the way..who are you?and why you are here?"
"I was neither a great fighter not a great organiser ...short , plump with soft hands ...I am just an ordinary man.. just like vegetable vendor , the bullock cart man , peddler in the market, or even the washerman ."
"I do not have a steely glare and arching brows... I do not have a high cheekbones or a cleft chin... I am an ordinary man... I never had large ambitions ...I looked after my farm on the banks of the river which had some pepper Vines a few coconut palms and two cows.... I was happy with my family..I am a nobody..."
Samrutha was irritated with his long lecture...
" Mister nobody....shall we tell the poets to spread your folklore through out the country...? "
Her glare made Mister nobody to be quite....
"Samrutha...leave him... at least let him be happy..."
Suman stopped samrutha and turned to him..
" Now... don't you have a name?"
He smiled..
" Why don't...?!?!I had another name in my life...but now I am known only as Malla...."
" Malla..?!?!"
Suman viewed him top to toe...
He was short in weak frame...his wrinkled muscles estimated him to be a fifty year old man...his dark tone and a scar from the left cheek to the right eye almost spoilt his face...on top of this, his one foot was shorter than the other... without the crutches he wouldn't move an inch....
Suman launched into fresh gales of laughter...until tearing...
" Malla...do you know the meaning of your name...? "
Malla shook his head no...
" I don't know it's fortunate or misfortunate...you carry half of his name..."
Malla and samrutha were listening to Suman...
" Shiv Pandav vikramadhitya... The people fondly called him 'Thri bhuvana malla' that means -ruler of the three worlds..."
Her laugh metamorphed into cry...tears dripped down her cheeks...
Quickly wiping the tears, she asked...
" What's the important message...?"
Malla simply shrugged his shoulders...
"Nothing important... The King requested me to be with you... like a shadow..."
Disappointed, Suman huffed....she left to her chamber ...
Samrutha was already annoyed with his non-stop talks and she was displeased with his appearance ..now, he didn't carry any notable message too...it was an uphill battle for her to handle Malla...
He isn't a warrior... probably,not an intelligent too... then,why did the King send him to stay here..?is there any part I am missing in his case..?
Samrutha couldn't conclude anything and she tolerated him only because of the king....
Later...the autumn sunset began...birds were flying to their nests and the sky hued yellow...
The Riverside palace was lit up with lights... Suman engaged herself to the pooja rituals as usual...
Although, she was offering the flowers to Lord Shiva, her mind repeatedly rolled his name like a hymn...
Shravan ...shravan...shravan...
Her whole senses froze in joy to hear the sound at front yard....
Neela....?!?!
Her heart thudded as she felt the pages of love that transcended the laws of time and space...
At once...she ran to the front yard ....
Suman's joy dropped at the very next second to see a woman with Neela...
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Hello friends..
The next update....
Read it and tell me how is it...
Now...
How this Mister no body gonna change the play...?
Who's the woman with Neela...?
In that case, where's Shravan...?
Guess...guess... Guess...
Please drop your comments (genuine) which will help me to write better... your comments are the driving force actually...
Thanks for reading and commenting...
Love
Arulpirai...