SAMRADITYA SAGA Part 2 - TANGLES OF HATRED

Feelings of the heart

Kusumavali reached the palace, touched her mother’s feet and said, “Mother, I have come. I am quite tired, so I’ll go to my palace and rest.”
She went to her palace named Dantavalabhika. Priyankara and other two friends also went to the palace with her. She preferred to stay alone that day.
She said to her friends, "You all leave for your home. I will also be resting now.”
Her friends left. In the meantime, the parrot and myna tweeted loudly in the cage which was kept in the window. Because whenever she would come back to palace, she would go straight to her adored parrot and myna. She would affectionately caress them, talk and play with them. But today, she didn’t even look at them. Today, she didn’t like the chirping of the parrot and the myna.
She rubbed her eyes and said, “Be quite today, I will neither come to you nor play with you. I need rest, understood?”
She started breathing deeply and got lost in the streets of Sinhakumar’s imagination. Thoughts and fantasies only about the prince, as if the world of her thoughts was solely limited to Sinhakumar!
The maid came and said, "Mother is calling you for dinner.”
"No, I am not hungry. I won’t eat today. Inform mother.”
She said this without looking into the maid’s eyes; she was gazing at the roof. The maid went from there.
Kusumavali neither took a bath nor had her food. She didn’t even change her clothes or go to the swans which were swimming in the lake near the palace. The veena was also lying in one corner. Her colours, paintbrushes, and drawings were all untouched today.
In shadow of sadness, Kusumavali was switching sides on the bed. Kusum was restless like a fish without water. She hold no peace at all. An endless chain of thoughts had descended in her mind.
Kusumavali was thinking, 'Just like I am restless after meeting the prince, I am not at all at peace, thoughts of meeting him are troubling me. Likewise, does the prince also miss me? Does his heart crave for me? Yes, the words that he had expressed in the pavilion while looking at me with loving eyes, says it all. Those eyes had affection for me!"
But he is the son of the great king. What if he’s engaged to some other princess? It would have been better if I had asked Priyankara. And even if he is not engaged, will he be ready to marry me? Indeed, his father and my father are close friends but not equal kings. My father is under the administration of his father. Hence, the prince’s father will choose a girl equal to his level, won’t he? If that is going to happen, then what is the point of my life? There won’t be any other option for me except death.
Oh God! What did you do? It would have been good if I had not gone to the park today! Atleast this fire of affection wouldn’t burn my heart! I am unable to understand what has happened to me! What magic spell did the prince cast on my heart? Did he do some black magic on me because of which I have gone crazy behind his charm? He has such an attractive personality. No flaw is seen in him!
Even he was staring at me! I was in such a condition that I was dying in shame. My body was trembling. Had Priyankara not accompanied me, I would neither be able to sit nor stand. I would run away, hide behind a tree and keep looking at him secretly. Maybe he’d come running behind me!’
Kusum couldn’t think further!
Kusumavali had neither taken a bath nor eaten. She was just lying on her bed alone in the room. This entire incident could not be hidden from the sharp eyes of her nursemaid. She called her daughter Madanrekha. Madanrekha was very close to Kusumavali. She was closer than Priyanakara. Though Madanrekha was the nursemaid’s daughter, yet Queen Muktavali loved Madanrekha as much as she loved her own daughter Kusumavali.
Madanrekha’s mother said to her, "What are you doing? Where are you roaming?"
"Mother, I was in the palace only! I was doing some work of the queen."
“It’s necessary for you to be with Kusumavali now. Since the time she has returned from the park, she is very disturbed. She has not even taken her bath or had her food. She has even forgotten gossiping with her friends. She is just lying down. God knows what has happened to her! You go, sit with her and find out what is in her mind. What’s the matter after all?
Madanrekha went to the entrance of Kusumavali’s bedroom and asked, “Kusum, may I come in?”
"Come in," Kusumavali said.
Madanrekha entered the room. She sat near the princess’ bed and caressed Kusum’s head. Kusumavali was quite. She didn’t even utter a word. Her eyes were shut.
After remaining silent for a few moments, Madanrekha asked, "Kusum why does your face look so restless and tired?"
Silence.
"Are the elders of the family not content with you?"
Silence.
"Did any maid or servant disrespect you?"
Silence.
"Is any of your friend upset with you?”
Silence.
“Is any of your wish not fulfilled? Atleast tell me! Kusum, this restlessness and pain of yours is unbearable for me!
Share your feelings. Tell me what’s going on your mind?” Madanrekha voice was filled with affection.
Kusumavali immediately sat up on the bed. Arranging her hair with both hands and trying to smile, she said, “What will I hide from you? There can be no such matter which I cannot tell you.”
Still she was not able to speak out her feelings. So she made an excuse, "I walked in a garden today and plucked fruits. So I was feeling little exhausted. My body feels feverish. There is no other reason for my restlessness.”
"Oh, that’s it! I’ll make paan for you. Keep it in your mouth and then go to sleep. I’ll wave the fan for you, your illness will go away.”
Kusumavali said, "Hey you crazy! How will your paan vanish such illness of mine? Do one thing, go to the banana orchard. It will be cool there. Prepare a flower-bed for me, I will come and rest there."
Madanrekha said, “I will prepare it right away.”
Madanrekha quickly went to the backyard of the palace. She prepared a bed of lotus leaves under the shade of banana trees. Kusumavali came and lied on the bed. Madanrekha inserted a paan in her mouth.
Holding both her hands with hers, Madanrekha said, "Kusum I want to share a secret with you."
“Say, whom other than me will your share your feelings with?”
“But you won’t get angry, will you? Because till now, I had hidden this from you.”
“Oh! I will not only get angry but also pinch your cheeks!”
“Okay, do whatever you want. But I have to speak my heart out to you. My heart can’t bear this burden alone now.”
“Then speak it up without fooling around!”
"Have you seen Minister Subuddhi’s son? I guess you haven’t! His name is Anant. We both are in love with each other! We both are in love with each other! We cannot stay without each other. We want to get married, but is it possible?”
"Oh Madan! What did you do? What if the minister comes to know? Firstly, he will remove you and your mother from this palace. Anant will also get into trouble. You should have thought before taking this decision. What you have done isn’t good!"
“But what can we do now? Give some solution!”
"Not now. Right now, I myself am a bit restless. Let me be fine, then I will think about you. I will think of a solution for my dear friend!”
“Okay, but tell me one thing. Today you went to the park, did you see anything new there? Anything surprising or special?”
Kusumavali looked in Madanrekha’s eyes. She sat on the flower bed, hugged Madanrekha and said, "Madan, today in the garden, I saw Cupid in his bachelors!
I saw young and unmarried Indra!”
"Who was he?” Madanrekha couldn’t suppress her curiosity.
“He was Sinhakumar, the son of King Purushdutt. He was young and handsome. This was the marvel that I saw in the park today.”
“Oh so this is the matter. And that marvel left my friend in this condition, isn’t it? The prince has taken over your mind, am I right?”
“Yes you are. I’ve given all of mine to him in my mind.”
“Kusum, your choice must be appreciated. If he is Kamdev, then you are no less than Rati. If he is Indra, then you are no less than Indrani!
You are higher than him in appearance, beauty and grace! Truly, you’ve been attached to a worthy person. I have seen that prince many times and also heard many stories about his valor.
Kusum, have patience. You have worshipped God with a pure heart. He will certainly fulfill your wishes. Shall I say something? Sinhakumar saw you for the first time today, isn’t it? He also definitely might’ve gotten attracted towards you. Affection might have sprouted in the soil of his heart. And if he wishes to marry you, then he will surely talk to his mother.”
"Really?"
“Yes, boys don’t feel shy talking on this matter with their parents. We girls die out of shyness discussing this topic with parents.”
"You are right. I thought of telling mother that I want to marry Sinhakumar. But my lips won’t open to share this. Neither can I share this with mother nor with father.”
“But you shared it with me, didn’t you? Now no need to worry. I will try my best for this and also find out more about the prince.”
“Will you even do something or just talk?”
"Firstly, we need to know what is going in the prince’s mind. If he wishes, then it will surely get fulfilled. And it will get fulfilled very easily.”
“How?”
“You don’t know, King Purushdutt and Queen Shrikanta fulfill each and every wish of Sinhakumar. They never make him upset.”
“How do you know so much about him? And when did you come to know all this?”
"Your nursemaid, means my mother and the prince’s nursemaid are bestfriends. Both of them meet and talk. If I sit near them, I get to hear their conversations. Nursemaids know every little detail about the palace, nothing can be hidden from them!”
“So Madan, will you do one thing? Let this matter reach your mother’s ears. And then she’ll share it with the prince’s nursemaid, is this possible?”
“Huh! You are in such a hurry! Seems like you want to ring the wedding bells today itself and depart with the prince tomorrow! But crazy woman, plums don’t ripen in haste. You need to have some patience. Yes, if you wish to send some message to the prince, then I will surely do that. If there’s any gift you want to send him, I’ll get that done.”
“Really? Will you deliver my message to him?”
“Yes, I promise you. And this will remain a secret. You can trust me.”
“I trust you. Perhaps, you’re my only true friend in this palace. A friend with whom I can share my heartfelt feelings and thoughts of the mind. I have complete trust on you.”
“So tell me, what message do you want to send? Your message will reach him!”
“Then will you bring his message too, won’t you?”
“If he gives any reply, then I will surely get it!”
Kusumavali started thinking, ‘What message should I send? He won’t make fun listening to my message, will he? No, he won’t.’
She said to Madanrekha, “Tell the prince that since the time I saw him in the park, my mind has been with him. He has stolen my heart. Now my body, I myself wish to meet him!”
“Oh wow! You are sending such a lovely message. Should I also tell him that you are desperately lying on this bed of flowers like a fish without water.”
Showing false anger, Kusumavali threw a lotus at Madanrekha and ran away from there.
***
Madanrekha contacted her close friend who worked as a maid in King Purushdutt’s palace. She took information about Sinhakumar's routine from her.
Sinhakumar’s maid asked Madanrekha, "Do you want to meet the prince? What if I make you you meet?”
“But I want to meet him tomorrow itself!”
"That’s not a big deal. If you want, then I’ll make you meet him tomorrow itself! Do one thing, come tomorrow in the  afternoon. After lunch, the prince goes down for a walk in the garden for half an hour or so. At that time, I'll take you to him, introduce you and then return from there."
Everything was fixed.
Madanrekha went to the palace at the pre-decided time. She met Vasanta there. Vasanta signaled her that everything was going as per the plan.
As per his daily routine, Sinhakumar had completed his lunch and came for a walk in the garden on the eastern side of the palace.
Vasanta along with Madanrekha reached at that place. Seeing them, Sinhakumar stopped.
Both of them greeted Sinhakumar.
Vasanta said to him, "She is Madanrekha, a close friend of Princess Kusumavali, the daughter of King Laxmikant. She wanted to meet you,” saying this, Vasanta left from there.
Madanrekha greeted the king once again and said, “Prince, you have stolen my friend, Kusumavali’s heart. Now, she is lost in your thoughts. She adores you the way Earth wishes for water. She is desperately craving for you. This is the message I have come to give you.”
The prince said, "Madanrekha, my condition is similar to hers. Tell her that I also adore her with all my heart. I will be meeting her in a few days. Ask her to show me her paintings at that time.”
The prince removed a precious necklace from his neck and gifted it to Madanrekha.
Madanrekha’s heart was brimming with joy. She returned to the palace quickly as she was very excited to share the good news with Kusumavali.