It was almost night when the royal family reached the Palace. They immediately had a light dinner and fell asleep. Everyone accompanying the royal family was also travel worn and they quickly fell asleep.
Next day, Devika was awakened by chirping of birds outside her room. She sat up in her bed and immediately a maid came up to her.
"Princess, would you like to have breakfast at once?" the maid asked.
"No. Prepare a bath for me. I will have breakfast with my family." Devika said. After tidying up, she came downstairs to find her Aunt and her Father outside the dining hall, deep in conversation.
She halted for a minute, to give them time to complete the conversation. She saw her Aunt was laughing at something her Father said. Devika was happy to see her family happy.
'Family...' Devika sighed and thought to herself, 'I wish Mother was here. Father looks better than he did yesterday. He has cleaned up well. Aunt looks relieved as well. I am happy that my family is recovering. Now, I just have to find someone for Father. I also have to ensure that Aunt finds her happiness as well. I don't know how the future will be. Will father remarry? Will my stepmother like me? Will Aunt find her special person? If she finds that special person, Aunt will have to leave us. I have never lived my childhood without her constant presence. How will it be if Aunt leaves us? I wish she never had to leave. If only she could stay with us forever. Wait what if...' A new thought slipped unbidden into her mind. The thought made a smile unfurl on her lips, 'Aunt and Father... What if.. If only.. but will they...' Thoughts were running at a fast pace in her head. But the more Devika thought about it, the more she liked it.
However she soon realised that the two people involved might not even have that kind of feelings for each other. She had to make them grow closer, she decided.
"What are you thinking about?" a voice questioned.
Devika turned to find Veer and General Abhay standing in front of her. Devika glanced again at her Aunt and Father. Their conversation had ended and they were walking towards them.
"Let's talk later." Devika whispered nodding towards her Aunt.
"Abhay and Veer, come let us have breakfast together." Nanda invited them.
"Your Majesty, I fear it will not be appropriate." General Abhay replied.
"Come, Abhay. It will be like old days when we used to have food together after training." Nanda said reminiscing.
The dining room was filled with fun and laughter as General Abhay and King Nanda described their childhood adventures, or as their elders called, their mischievous activities. Nanda was slowly showing improvement. He was more relaxed and happy. Similarly, Gayatri was also happy that her elder sister had received justice.
Devika was staring at them with a smile on her face. 'I hope this happiness and peace lasts forever.' she thought. Soon plans were made to go for an outing at a nearby lake.
There was a beautiful lake near the foot of western hills. It was in the shape of a crescent moon. The scenic view where the nature was untouched was the most pleasant. It was perfect for a family outing or a picnic. There was also boats for hire which one could use to roam the lake. There were little shops surrounding the lake on one side, that sold local wares. It was a perfect tourist attraction. This enabled it to become one of the main source of livelihood of nearby village.
As the royal family was going to visit the lake. The soldiers went early to lake to secure it. They made arrangements to book the entire location for a couple of hours. When the village chieftain heard that a rich person was looking to book the location for a couple of hours and was willing to give pay a huge sum of money for it, he became pleased. He quickly made arrangements for the privacy requested by the soldiers.
The royal family arrived at the lake and everyone was enjoying themselves. The soldiers were also relaxed. General Abhay and Veer were also having fun with the royal family. Devika wanted her Aunt and Father to get married but she realised that they didn't have such feelings for each other. She needed to create special moments for her Aunt and her Father to interact, so that they could cultivate fondness. Hence she proposed a casual walk around the undeveloped side of lake.
Gayatri, Nanda and Devika started walking together while a few soldiers along with Veer and Abhay followed at a distance. There were dense trees and bushes on one side of the path and the beautiful blue waters of the lake on other. In order to give them a bit of privacy, Devika often skipped ahead of the group. Sometimes she even hung back for Veer and Abhay. Gayatri and Nanda were watching her antics fondly.
There was a bend in their path as the lake curved inwards. The path ahead was hidden by tall trees. Walking briskly, Devika almost ran ahead when she saw a beautiful peacock at a certain distance. Mesmerized by his feathers, Devika went near the peacock but as if he sensed her, the peacock walked away. She followed the majestic bird for a while before realising that she had strayed far away from the path. She could however faintly hear her name being called. Assured that she could still return to her family safely, Devika started making her way back. She called out for her Father in intervals.
It didn't take long before she was found. She could even see a couple of soldiers who waved at her, relieved to see her safe. She waved back to them and started moving towards them. However, she only took a couple of steps before the ground gave way. Startled, Devika shrieked loudly as she fell down a tunnel. Thankfully the tunnel was in a slope and it was more of a slid down rather than fall down for her. She slipped quite deep before she landed in a huge cavernous room. There was faint light coming from the top of the room. Devika could barely see her hands, they appeared to be scratched by her fall. She looked around her. A voice called out her name from the top.
"DEVIKA..." King Nanda yelled. He had panicked when Devika strayed away from the path. His fear had barely turned to relief when he saw her fall down. Fear gripped his heart again.
"Devika!" Gayatri screamed as well. She was upset at losing sight of Devika and blamed herself for the incident.
"I AM FINE." Devika yelled back. "There's a cave structure here. Find a rope to pull me back."
When the people above heard her shout, there was a bit of relief in them.
"I will go down." Nanda said.
"Your Majesty, please don't. Wait till we procure a rope. We will send Veer down so that he can grab her and even the combined weight of two children will be easy for us to pull." General Abhay replied. He had already dispatched a soldier to the village chief's home to get a rope.
"I am fine. Stop worrying." A faint voice could be heard from below. It reassured the people above ground just a little bit.