SAMRADITYA SAGA Part 2 - TANGLES OF HATRED

Prince in king's hands

The smart plan of Minister Sumtisagar was successful and Kusumavali’s wish was fulfilled. But after this, Kusumavali became very upset. She burst into tears and shook the entire palace.
She said to the minister, “Take me to the king.”
“Queen, the doctor is now healing the king’s wounds. I will take you to him after an hour. Trust me, the king is alive.”
After one hour, the minister took Kusumavali to the king’s bedroom. The king’s eyes were open. Kusumavali greeted him. The king replied by signalling through his eyes. The minister indicated Kusumavali to move out. Both the queen and the minister came out.
The minister said to the queen, “I want to talk something personal.”
“Come to my room,” the queen moved forward with speed. She sent all her maidservants and friends out. The minister entered. The queen gave offered him a seat. She herself sat on another seat.
“Queen, now it’s important to think about what to do at the time of birth.”
“You are right. The time of delivery is approaching!”
“You want to give up your son, right?”
“Absolutely!”
“Then you won’t be sad, will you?”
“Not at all! If I wanted such a harmful son, I wouldn’t have tried so hard to have an abortion! But now when I will have to give birth, I still don’t want to keep him with me even for a moment!”
“Is this your final decision?”
“Yes. This is my final decision.”
“Then you will have to keep one thing in mind. After the birth of the child, I should get the news first, not the king! I’ll do what I feel appropriate when I get the news! The child won’t be with you.”
“Great! I don’t even want to see the face of that sinful being.”
“Queen, all we have to do is try and make efforts, whatever the result may be.”
“But we will have to inform the king, isn’t it?”
“Yes we have to. But the child was born dead – such news should be given.”
“I also had the same thought.”
“But the responsibility of carrying the new-born child out of the secret passage should be given to a clever and reliable maidservant. And  she should not be too familiar in the palace!”
Kusumavali thought about all her maids one after the other. For this task, she found Madhvika the most suitable.
“There is such a maid who will do this work. But to whom and where will she hand over that child?”
“There is a huge banyan tree on the right side outside the palace. A woman dressed in red will be standing under it. She has hand over the child to her and leave. Then ask her not to return to the palace but directly go to her house and stay there till evening.”
“I will explain her everything as per the plan,” the minister greeted the queen and left.
The queen felt satisfied. She was elated seeing the minister’s devotion towards his duty.
The time of delivery was approaching. Kusumavali explained the plan made by the minister to Madanrekha.
Madanrekha called Madhvika and told her, “Look Madhvika, you have to complete this task very sharply! This is the test of your cleverness. I will wrap a child in cloth and give it to you. You quietly get out of the palace soon and hand over the child to a woman dressed in red, standing under the banyan tree. Do not speak at all, don’t even open your mouth. No need to look at that woman either! Go straight back to your home! No need to come back to the palace till evening!"
Madhvika carefully understood the whole plan.
Madanrekha whispered in her ear, “If the work is done properly, then know that you will become rich. You will become the queen’s personal maidservant, understood?”
A smile appeared on Madhvika’s face.
***
The time of delivery approached.
Kusumavali’s spacious bedroom was well arranged. The nursemaid Pushpalata and Madanrekha took all the responsibility of the delivery. Not a single maid of the king was allowed to come around the queen’s bedroom. There was only one hour left for delivery.
Madhvika suddenly slid towards Madanrekha and whispered, “You didn’t tell me the secret way to go outside the palace from here!”
Madanrekha got irritated but she kept herself calm and told about the secret route. Anyway, she had to pass through the main door! Here, Madanrekha was explaining Madhvika when she heard the queen scream in pain. Asking Madhvika to wait outside, she hurriedly ran inside the room to go to the queen. Pushpalata had started the treatment from her end. The queen was in severe labour pain for an hour. She gave birth to a son. Immediately after cleaning the newborn baby, she wrapped him in a thick soft cloth, and handed it over to Madhvika. She gestured her to move away from there.
***
The queen looked at Madanrekha.
Madanrekha softly said in the queen’s  ear, “The job is done!”
Satisfaction emerged on the queen’s face. Her weary eyes closed and she fell asleep.
Madanrekha looked at Pushpalata.
“Hope Madhvika completes the work properly! Then the minister will take care of everything. The queen will be freed from severe mental stress.”
***
“Stop, Madhvika!”
The king suddenly stopped her at the door of the palace! Poor Madhvika started sweating. The king naturally asked her.
“Nothing! I was going home.”
“Okay go, but atleast tell me how is the queen’s health?”
The king was completing his sentence when the newborn baby wrapped in cloth, suddenly started crying. The king was shocked hearing the cry. Madhvika started trembling like a leaf in the wind. Due to fear, she lost her senses. Shadows of panic descended in her eyes.
The king roared, “Tell me the truth, whose child is this? Where are you going with this child?”
Madhvika felt as if the ground was moving. She started crying. The king went ahead and took the newborn baby in his hands. He removed the cloth wrapped around the child and saw him.
Holding the child in his hand, the king said, “Walk ahead of me, let’s go to my cabinet!”
Madhvika dragged her heavy steps forward. The king followed. After entering the cabinet, the king handed over the child to his chief hostess, Lalita. The king sat on the throne. Madhvika stood with her head down.
“Tell me, what’s the matter? With whose order were you taking this child out?”
Madhvika was anyway very nervous. She narrated the whole story as it was. The king forgave her and sent her away.
The king called Lalita. Lalita was a woman of mature age. She was also a trusted companion of the king.
The king told her, “Lalita, you have to become the prince’s nursemaid. You have to take complete responsibility of him. Keep one thing in mind – the child should neither be handed over to the queen nor the minister! No matter how much greed or fear they show you, but you do not have to get tempted or panic! And if the child goes out of your hands, then this sword and your neck, understood?”
“Yes!” Lalita accepted to become the child’s nursemaid.
“Accommodation will be arranged for you in the palace near Neelmani Prasad. I will also make all the necessary security arrangements!”
***
A storm of thoughts flooded the king’s mind.
‘What if I had not met Madhvika at the door of the palace? The prince would have surely been thrown away in some old ruins or a well! He would have been killed! How did the minister get involved in this conspiracy? Kusumavali wanted to kill the child in the womb itself. It was because of this pregnancy that hatred and contempt aroused in her heart for me. Moreover, she had a terrible desire of eating my intestines. I know she has intense affection for me. And her dislike for the harmful son is also reasonable! But how can someone commit such a heinous sin of handing over a newborn child to death? Well, who can change fate? Who knows what the future holds? But now I will not allow the prince to be taken away by them under any circumstances.
As soon as Madhvika came to her senses, she first informed the minister about this incident. Later, she narrated the whole story to Madanrekha.
Madanrekha was astounded for a moment but she controlled herself instantly. Even the minister was associated with this incident. So there was no need to panic.
She thought, ‘The queen should not be informed about this incident today. For her, this incident will prove to be an accident. Whatever decision is to be taken, will be done only after meeting the minister. But I shall tell everything to Pushpalata.’
She spoke to Pushpalata.
Pushpalata said, “Madanrekha, this is called – ‘Nature’s hands are big.’ The saviour is more alert than the murderer! Whatever we did, was done in accordance with the orders of the queen. It is not our fault at all. We don’t need to burden ourselves with guilt.”
Here the minister had understood the situation. He was far-sighted. Before the king would call and interrogate him, he himself went to the king. There were lines of anxiety on the king’s face. The minister bowed and sat down. The king looked at him.
“Your Majesty, the work that I was supposed to do, you picked it up midway?”
“What work, minister?”
“The prince’s upbringing.”
“What do you mean?”
“To convince the queen’s heart and keep the prince safe, I had made a plan. Once the child would come in my hands, I was going to talk to you. If I had not planned to get the child by winning the trust of the queen, perhaps he would have been thrown in the gutter behind the palace by now!”
“Oh, is it so! You have done well by saving the prince. Now I have planned proper arrangements for his upbringing. You don’t have to do anything about it now.”
"As the king wishes!” the minister said.
“I should get the greetings for the prince’s birth in the assembly. Then we also have to celebrate the prince’s birth!”
“Your majesty, you yourself know very well that the queen will not like all this at all. The prince whom you want, is intolerable for the queen. She doesn’t even like to see his face!  Then celebrating the birth of the prince will be meaningless and make the queen upset. This is my opinion. Then as you wish!”
“I will persuade the queen. She will agree!”
“Then I have no issues.”
After sending off the minister, the king went to Kusumavali.
He asked Madanrekha, “If Devi is fine now, then I have something important to talk to her.”
Madanrekha asked Kusumavali.
Kusumavali’s mind was calm now. She was fine since she had gotten rid of the sinful being. That is why, there were no ill-feelings for the king now!
The king entered the bedroom. Madanrekha brought a seat near the queen’s bed. The king asked the queen about her well-being. The queen replied in a soft voice. There was silence for a few moments.
Then, the king said to the queen in an emotional voice, “Devi, you may not know, but our newborn baby has arrived safely in my hands.”
The queen was shocked hearing this! Anger, displeasure and anxiety began to emerge in her eyes.
“How did that newborn come to you!”
“I forcefully snatched it from Madhvika!”
“Well, keep it with you! Don’t ever bring him in front of me! If your enemy is dear to you, then what can I do?” The queen gasped as she spoke.
“Devi, relax! I’ll keep him in a separate palace. He won’t come to you. Then you won’t mind, will you?”
“I won’t mind now. But when he grows up, there will be objections.”
“We will think of that later.”
“Then what is to be done now?”
“The tradition of the palace has to be followed, right? I should receive greetings for the prince’s birth in the assembly. Then the celebration of his birth shall be held. Even if you do not like it, the rules of the royal family will have to be followed!”
“What do I have to do in that?”
“Just give your consent and don’t be angry with me!”
“King, the reason that caused hatred towards you, has gone away according to me. Now there will never be any hatred or disinterest for you in my heart. You will just have to accept one thing of mine.”
“Yes, say.”
“Don’t discuss anything about the prince in front of me. Well, he is your enemy. He might not have enmity towards me. But I don’t like the child who is an enemy of his own father. I am not even ready to see his face. That’s why, never talk about him in front of me.”
“Okay. I’ll take this precaution!”
“Then Priyankara will come to greet you in the assembly!”
“Alright,” the king agreed.
The king left.
Kusumavali kept admiring the king while he was leaving. Sighing heavily, she thought, ‘Oh, by loving his enemy, this simple father will become a victim for his son one day! His son will only take his life!” Her eyes became moist.
Madanrekha wiped the queen’s eyes with a clean cloth.
***
Priyankara went in the assembly and gave the news of the newborn prince. The king gifted gold ornaments to Priyankara.
The birth of the prince was celebrated in the city.
In the city and the palace, the sounds of trumpets were echoing. Meanwhile, Kusumavali’s heart was breaking into pieces with the imagination of a sorrowful future.
The entire palace was twinkling with light. On the other hand, the queen’s heart was filling with pitch darkness of disappointment.