Ruthless Rulers of Rakshatra (RRR)

Chapter 8 - Respect

Everyone had their dinner quietly and went to sleep.  Kalindi went towards her chamber and from a distance she could see a girl wearing a dress like that of a courtesan was arguing with the new maid Gopi, who was waiting for her mistress.

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Seeing Kalindi approaching the wing, Gopi immediately came towards her and greeted her.  Kalindi asked, "what is happening here?".  Gopi hesitated but finally said, "Yuvrani, she is one of the courtesans sent by the other kings as a wedding gift for Yuvraj".  Gopi was afraid of hurting Kalindi by her words so she waited for Yuvrani to process the situation before explaining the situation further.  But when she looked at Yuvrani's face, she didn't have any change in expression and was waiting for her to finish with her explanations. 

Then Gopi continued, "And that girl is making a fuss that she is going to spend the night in Yuvraj's chamber, as the wedding night is already over".  Gopi didn't look up this time as she felt pity for her newly wed mistress.  Kalindi glanced at that girl who looked arrogantly at her and then entered Yuvraj's chamber as Gopi was not stopping her anymore.  The guards didn't stop her as courtesans can be called beforehand sometimes to wait for their masters.  Kalindi just said, "Let her be.  We shall get inside. Its already time for sleep". 

Then the maids helped her to remove the jewelleries as they were heavy and then Kalindi changed to a simple saree to sleep.  The maids went out and Kalindi went to sleep while suppressing her anger towards her husband.  The anger, which she herself couldn't justify as she felt she doesn't have any rights to control him.  The night went by quickly.

The next morning, Kalindi woke up and spent sometime in the balcony overlooking the Shastrasala (weapon store) and the dense forest, similar to her own room in Hridaypura.  "I have to be patient before exploring my options to continue my practice", Kalindi thought while looking at the forest.  Then she went to the attached common bathroom to take a bath and there it seemed like, it was already used.  It was only then, she realised that her husband also shares the same bathroom and warned herself mentally to be careful hereafter and not barge in.  Then she asked Rekha to clean the bathroom and prepare the water for her bath. 

After bath, Kalindi got ready and proceeded to move out of the chamber when Gopi also joined her.  Kalindi instructed all three maids, "You people stay here, I am just going to meet Yuvraj".  The maids nodded and then Kalindi went to meet Abhyuday in his chamber.  Seeing that, it's Yuvrani coming to the chamber, Yuvraj's guards didn't stop her.  But Kalindi didn't notice that the guards stationed here last night and the ones present now are different, when the shift is yet to be over.  She went inside Yuvraj Abhyuday's chamber and was standing in the vast hall.  His chamber was triple the size of hers, with a door from the hall which opens to the bedroom from where the common bathroom is connected. From where she is standing in the hall, she could see that there are two more rooms apart from the bedroom, one of them most probably will be a study room as it is common in king's and prince's room.  The other room she doesn't know.

Then She heard some sound coming from that room, so she went near the door and opened it.  There sat her husband in front of the Shivling (Lord Shiva), still some water droplets falling down from his hair on to his bare back, which shows that he is praying right after his bath.  And he is reciting shlokas which is what she heard from outside the room.  She went out of the prayer room not disturbing him and waited outside, in the hall within his chamber.  That's when suddenly, Rekha came in a hurry and greeted her first before telling, "Yuvrani, that girl we saw yesterday, she...she".  Rekha couldn't continue anymore due to her panic and just pointed outside the chamber.  So Kalindi went out with Rekha, only to gasp at the sight.  The courtesan, who she met last night, was dragged by two guards and that's not it, she was fully drenched in blood.