Neela with a Lady...!!!!?!?!
Suman stood still , knitting her brows in suspicion....
She fondly raffled neela's neck... Neela reciprocated her love by snuggling her cheeks with suman's...
"Neela... where's he? How could you leave him alone..?you promised me that you will be with him ever...now... you're here... where's he..?"
She whispered to her eyes... beyond her control, tears coursed down her cheeks....
Neela's eyes shone at suman...it seemed that she wanted to say something...
Cleverly concealing her tears,
Suman stepped back..
" Long live the Empress...my name is Kayal...I am the gardener here from today... while I am on the way to palace, I saw this horse wandering in the street.. I thought to gift it to you..."
The Lady spoke for the first time...
Suman didn't mind her as she was losing her hopes day by day...she was worried about Shravan... untill now,she had no informations about him...all of a sudden he had disappeared...This killed her very soul..
" Samrutha...make Neela comfortable at the stable...she won't allow anybody near her... I will take care of her..."
Saying so, she walked to her chamber...
She couldn't control her tears anymore...she knelt in front of the pooja alter...she sobbed as much as she could when courage deserted her...
I am struggling with the pain of love and same will happen with Shravan....ma.. Devi... render him with all the courage and prowess to overcome the pain.. wherever he is, he has to be safe...
Her mind pleaded God...
Neela...I have to feed her...she would be hungry...
Sudden thought flashed and suman moved towards the stable...
She stood shocked to see Malla taking care of Neela....
How could this happen...? Neela never allowed any strangers to touch her ...that too... Malla..how did he manage to touch her..?
With swirling doubts, Suman called Malla...
"Malla...how did you manage her?she will be adamant that only her Master
Would feed her...and.."
She didn't complete.. Malla interrupted her...
"Devi... They are like human beings...they need pure love and they will love us back... that's it..."
Conversing casually, he looked her up...
"Devi.... did you cry...?"
He inquired and stepped ahead Suman... for no reason his eyes were smeared with layer of tear...
For a moment, his facial muscles twitched and a lone tear drop threatened to fall... his hands rose to touch her cheeks...
Suman was got carried away with his eyes strangely...she could read something at his eyes...it seemed that those eyes weren't new to her....
It would have taken less than a minute for Malla to touch Suman's cheeks unless Neela neigh ....her notable cry brought him here and now...
He bit his tongue and turned to the other side swiftly....
In a wink, he gained back the consciousness...
" Devi.... what's it which made you to cry...?"
His tone was softer...
Suman who was still in the reverie , struggled to get back...
"Devi...I asked you a question...why did you cry? Did anybody hurt you?"
He asked in to her eyes...
Why did I feel so....those eyes were not strange...and his tears...what does it mean? Why I was drawn to his eyes?
Loaded with emotions, she quickly moved away...
" Devi...!!! Listen to me..."
She threw a determined look at him...
"Why would I listen to you?"
"Because....I can drive your worries away..."
There was an awkward silence for a moment...
Suman arched her brows thoughtfully...
Using her hesitation, Malla arranged a wooden log to sit down..
Ensuring her comfort, he sat on the floor...folding his knees together... Neela lied near him seeking the warmth....
" Devi.... once there was a King who ruled a vast land, that included lots of tiny kingdoms... The King ruled his dynasty well as per good will and Dharma..he had a beautiful daughter... she was pretty like a devine goddess..she was kind to everyone and was brave enough to battle... So, the people loved her"
Ardently, Malla began to narrate the story with theatrical actions...
Beyond all doubts, Malla was a great narrator...she continued to listen him...
" Due to unavoidable circumstances, the King decided her wedding with a prince who was bad . To avoid the wedding, she went to the princess fort and stayed there...then...."
He paused and looked at her face intensively....
" Then...?"
She asked intrigued..
her eyes were dreamy and she was at princess fort by mind...it was the time when she began to listen her own story like someone's...
" Then what..!!!he came...he..!!!..the prince!!!"
He said as though he was not at all interested in the story...but,his eyes were fixed at suman's face that slowly adorned with slight pink hue...she was blushing and her lips curved into a cheerful smile...
Malla let out a fake sigh...he averted his face away from Suman aslike he was not liking her reactions...
"Devi...the price was deeply wounded when the princess saw him...though everyone denied to help him, our kind princess saved him... As a graditude, what the prince should have done...? He should have thanked her kindness and generosity...but...the prince couraged to barge in her brindavan and recited love poems..."
While Malla was explaining, suman's thoughts went back to the forest and then to the princess Fort....shravan's smile and love spreaded over her like the first glimmer of dawn... a new energy infused into her veins...she felt like all the bad things had gone away.....
" The twist in the story lies here...The princess fell in love with the prince unknown to his true identity... The prince was one of their rivals...now, tell me Devi... whether the princess should accept his love?"
Suman acted as if she's thinking...
" What's the big deal...she has to marry him...pure love is beyond the time and space..and it gives the true essence of life..."
Malla smiled satisfactorily....
" You're right.... true love is beyond the time and space...it gives all the prowess to struggle anything..."
He rephrased her words, pressing the meaning of Love.... Suman understood what he really wanted to say... now, her face was glistening as she was regained her mental strength...
" Nothing more.... it's too late now...go to sleep..."
He smiled ...
She got up...her eyes looked him thankfully...
She started to walk ...doubt soared high in her and questions arose... then, reasonable assumptions made those questions meaningless...
How did he know our story...?
The folklore about the fall of jayasimhan added our love story too..may be he would have heard one...
Neela is close to him...how..?
..he already experienced in handling cattle..so...
Everything is okay...but...how did he know the brindavan and our conversation...?
Must be he would have heard from someone..
She was walking thinking all these... samrutha came at halfway...They both stepped towards the quadrangle... and stopped as Malla called Suman...
"Devi..... Don't wait at the window ledge until the moon goes high...have a sound sleep..."
He said casually and went to carry on with his work...
Nodded , Suman walked and stood froze....
Late night!!! window ledge!!!!moon light...!!!
The time we spent together....
How did he know...no one knew about that...
Something is amiss...!!!
Suman determined to inquire Malla the next morning as samrutha was with her....
The destiny does not play fairly always... The next morning had brought a different day for suman that created a never-ending hatred and disgust over Malla...
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