Ruthless Rulers of Rakshatra (RRR)

Chapter 14 - Visit

Kalindi sighed, "I don't know Rekha, we need to find a good place which will be well hidden from others and easy to reach from the chamber itself".  Suddenly Lekha said, "Yuvrani, I think you should talk to Yuvraj regarding this.  I feel Yuvraj is very caring towards you as he helped you against the Maharani and personally advised you as well".

-----------------------------------------------------------

Kalindi thought about her words and found it sensible but still not confident on this matter.  So she replied, "Let me talk to him when we find time".  Both the maids smiled as they want their Yuvrani, who is also their friend, to lead a normal and happy family life.  "Now why are you two grinning from ear to ear?", Kalindi asked the two.  To which Lekha replied, "Nothing Yuvrani".  Kalindi looked at them suspiciously and said, "You both are behaving different sometimes.  I think I should look for suitable grooms for you two".  As soon as Kalindi said it, both Rekha and Lekha were horrified and then Rekha said, "Please No, Yuvrani.  You know right, we have decided to marry only another twin men.  And moreover, we don't want to leave you immediately especially when we are new to this place and people".  Kalindi laughed lightly and assured them that even after their marriage they will be able to keep their jobs.  Then Gopi brought the dinner and the maids retired after the nightly routine. 

At the same time, in Yuvraj's study room, Abhyuday was writing something when a figure, with the face covered except for the eyes and full black clothing, came out of the dark corner of the vast room.  Abhyuday asked while still writing, "Any news, Laksh?".  "No Yuvraj", Laksh answered with his head bowed.  Abhyuday stopped writing and the room fell into silence for sometime.  Then Laksh informed, "Yuvraj, Our people have successfully penetrated by last week.  And they have also found a way to communicate with us without being found".  Abhyuday nodded and then said, "Now we need to wait for their next step as the previous traces are cleared off".  Then Abhyuday signalled him to leave, following which he retreated back to the corner and went away.  Abhyuday couldn't concentrate for sometime so he left the work to take a refreshing bath.  Before he could enter the bathroom, he waited to check if any noise coming out of the bathroom and then went in.  It's the new routine to avoid another disastrous and embarrassing meeting with his wife.  After taking a relaxed bath, he changed his clothes and slept.

Two more days went by with the same routine and then the day of receiving the guests came.   All the Royal family members except Oormila, stood by the palace entrance to welcome the guests.  Soon the King of Khuram, vidyapal and his Queen, Maithili and daughter Rupika, arrived at the palace.  Kalindi as the main female member of the Royal family, in the absence of Oormila, took their aarti (a plate with a small lamp of holy fire) and then welcomed inside.  Everyone went to the inner hall and relaxed after a long journey.  Kalindi came and sat beside Abhyuday as it was a double seater sofa.   After the talk between the two kings were over, everyone proceeded to have a grand lunch together. 

Abhyuday sat on his usual seat on the right of King Virendra and across him, to the left of King Virendra, sat King of Khuram.  Beside vidyapal, his wife and daughter sat next to each other.  Then Kalindi came and sat beside Abhyuday, which made someone move their gaze away from the seat and also the man beside that seat.  Kaushal and Niyati also joined the meal and the dishes were served.  After taking a few bites, Vidyapal said, "King Virendra, I didn't expect to get the same dishes as my Kingdom but your people have outdone the original dish itself.  I could never forget the taste".  King Virendra smiled and said, "All the arrangements are done by my daughter-in-law Kalindi, our Yuvrani".  Kalindi smiled and said, "You are exaggerating it, Father.  It is the Royal cook and the new cook hired for the guests.  All the credit goes to them".   Virendra denied and praised her work for choosing everything and everyone carefully for each work.  Then everyone finished their meal and men went away to get on with their respective works.  Kalindi accompanied Maithili and her daughter, Rupika to the Queen's chamber.  Both of them greeted Oormila and discussed about her health condition.

Later Oormila asked Maithili, "I don't know how come such a beautiful girl is not betrothed yet.  Is there any potential groom in your mind, for Princess Rupika?".   Maithili replied, "We had asked King Virendra for Yuvraj Abhyuday but for some reasons he refused and as a compensation and retain goodwill, he invited us here".  Oormila made a surprised face as if she didn't know about this incident and said, "Sorry Maharani.  Sorry Princess.  I didn't mean to hurt your feelings".  Rupika smiled disdainfully and kept her head down.  Her mother kept her hand on hers as a gesture to comfort her.  Kalindi didn't say anything all this time as if they are not talking about her husband.  Seeing Kalindi's nonchalant attitude, Oormila was angry that she didn't get the desired reaction from this Yuvrani. So she prodded, "Kalindi, what do you think about Rupika being your co-sister?".  Kalindi replied, "I don't dare to comment on something that the King himself rejected".

Her answered shocked the other three Royal ladies as well as the maids present over there.  Lekha and Rekha didn't knew anything about the proposal and rejection so they were quite uncomfortable with the fact that their Yuvrani's marriage life could have been crumpled before even getting started.  On the other hand, Gopi and the other maids of Queen, were shocked with the single and seemingly unharmful reply of their Yuvrani which even shut up the Queen.  After the King was mentioned, no body could refute and say that it was wrong, otherwise it would be refusing the King's decision and implying that he is incapable.  Then Kalindi excused herself that she has to look after her garden and went away with her maids.  After she went away, the Queen's chamber was silent for a few moments, as both the parties contemplated on how to approach the other for help without offending the other.

Suddenly someone sniffed and Oormila looked up to see who was crying, and found it to be Princess Rupika.  Oormila asked, "Princess, don't feel bad.  I apologise on behalf of Yuvrani".  Maithili said, "You don't need to apologise Maharani.  Its just that she is unable to hide her feelings for Yuvraj, especially after seeing him face to face today.  It's her bad luck that Yuvraj refused for the marriage alliance".  Oormila nodded her head sadly showing fake sympathy and said, "Frankly speaking, I would not find a better girl than Princess Rupika for Yuvraj as his second wife".  Oormila finished her speech with a sad expression.  Seeing Oormila's fondness towards her daughter, Maithili said hesitantly, "Maharani, as you think well about our Rupika, could you please talk to Maharaj (King) and Yuvraj again?".  Rupika also looked at her with hopeful eyes.

Oormila showed a surprised expression on her face while she was feeling happy inside that she didn't need to influence them much as these people have hidden agenda of their own during this visit.  And then she said, "I couldn't assure you of the results but I would surely try".  Oormila knew that her husband will not defy Yuvraj's decisions especially if it is his personal matters but still the fools sitting infront of her don't know about this.  So she gave empty promises and then they chatted for sometime and went away. Later by noon, Kaushal was called by Oormila and she said about the latest improvement in her plan and said, "I thought of using a worm to catch fish.  But I got a small fish so as to catch the big fish".  Kaushal sighed at his mother's words which made little sense to him but he understood that his mother is trying to mess up Abhyuday's personal affairs.  So he asked, "Mother, when we talked last time, You didn't want Abhyuday to have a child.  But now you want to send another woman to him.  Wouldn't that increase the issue of having more children?". Oormila said, "After another woman enters the wing, Yuvraj's headache will increase, especially with an attention seeking girl like Princess Rupika.  Then continuous fights, misunderstandings and everything else will follow that will make the couple more distant.  And it will be easy for us to blame any one of the two wives in case of the other's miscarriage".  Kaushal finally understood what his mother was implying and laughed lightly.

On the other hand, Abhyuday got the weekly report from Gopi who mentioned about the latest changes in Kalindi's interaction with the Queen. 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Hi guys ,

Do vote and comment if you like the chapter.

Thanks,
SM.