The Bygone Empress

Chapter 15 - New Wife

Note: Ravan had thousands of wives. However, two were main namely Mandodari and Dhanyamalini. I will be highlighting a few more wives of Ravan who are completely fictitious to add a little more depth to the book. I don't intend to harm any religious sentiments here nor I intend to claim that this is real history.

The dark sky of Lanka was illuminated with bursting crackers making Lanka's gold shine a little more. The diyas and beautiful lamps adding to the glow. The shine could easily blind any person or even the devtas residing in the magical Amravati. The entire island of Lanka screamed magnificence and celebration. The kitchen furnaces blazed as the royal chefs prepared finest of the meat and other delicacies. The royal hall smelled of finest of liquor brought from all around the world. The nymphs and royal dancers swayed graciously on the music. The men drank and danced with stumbling around.

"Congratulations on your victory and wedding Dashanan." Kaikesi's father wished his grandson who nodded and hugged him. They both cheered as they drew their attention back to the dancer who grooved along the music.

The new Queen's chamber was buzzing with women. The wives of other royals and other women were sitting with the new bride, introducing themselves excitedly. They too enjoyed the music played by the royal artists from behind a thin sheath of translucent curtain. The scented air in the room had begun to create a seductive aura for the newly weds as the women were busy teasing the new bride. Her face was illuminated by the bridal glow and cheeks painted in hues of pink. She looked ethereal, like a woman crafted by lord brahma himself. She was dressed in finest of embroidered silk and pristine jewelry. The ladies gushed over her beautiful look, nothing unusual for the wife of triloki.

"You are really lucky, your highness." One lady spoke.

"Indeed she is. You must be really special that the winner of the three worlds chose you as his wife." Another one added to which the new bride smiled with pride.

"True. Not every woman he brings get this opportunity." However wrong this sounded, the new queen found it to be a a great praise.

The entire room was alerted as the guards announced the arrival of the queen of Lanka. The room felt silent and everyone stood up. The artists too stopped and stood silently with their heads bowed in respect. The new addition to the palace was slightly taken aback to see the submission. The shocking fact wasn't this but the respect and admiration that was clear from everyone's body language unlike with Dashanan. Everyone feared him but the same couldn't be said for his better half.

Her eyes soon diverted to the woman entering her chamber. The heavy sound of trinklets grew louder as she approached. She saw the most beautiful woman she has ever seen with her eyes. She has only heard of such beauty and magnificence in poems and songs. Mandodari entered clad in a bright green hand embroidered silk saree. Her voluptuous curves were wrapped perfectly with a blood red translucent odhni. She wore gold from top to bottom, not more, not less. Neither did she look overdressed nor under dressed. She looked like a goddess descending from her abode to bless the commoners. Her hair reaching her hips which swayed perfectly as she reached the new wife of her husband. She could now underatand why was this woman so special to Dashanan. She screamed royalty as well as kindness. Her aura was dominating yet welcoming. Mandodari smiled at everyone while everyone greeted her silently.

Her attention then diverted to the woman whose footsteps brought her nothing but misery. She smiled kindly at her hiding all the pain behind her smile.

"What's your name?" Mandodari's soft yet authoritative voice brought her out of her trance as whe blinked in confusion, dazed by the wife of her husband. Mandodari raised one of her eyebrow in a questioning way as the princess blinked at her in nervousness. She could now see why Dashanan was dazzled by the beauty.

"Ch- Chaithwika" she uttered.

With one wave of her hand, a small army of servants followed Mandodari carrying big plates covered by bright red clothes. The servants revealed the contents of the plate as everyone shared a look with each other.

"These are for you Chaithwika. Welcome to Lanka. Consider this a small welcome gift for you." Mandodari motioned towards the large plates containing finest gold and silver jewelry, handwoven silks and heavily embroidered clothes along with pearls and bottles of itra.

"There was no need of all this Maharani." Chaithwika said eyeing the plates. Mandodari smiled at her and added.

"Get used to it Chaithwika. Now you are mighty Lankesh's wife. Learn to carry yourself like one." Chaithwika couldn't decipher what was it? Was the queen mocking her? Was it a challenge? Was it something else? She could just smile nervously in return. Wishing her a happy married life, Mandodari turned to walk away from the heavily decorated chamber. On her way back, she eyes the entire room which smelled seductive, covered in fresh flowers and was perfectly lit by candles. Her insides could just laugh mockingly at her as it reminded her of her own wedding night.

Gulping her tears, she walked away with her head held high from the room where her husband would be making love to his new bride.

It was late at night when the celebrations came to a halt and Ravan decided to retire for the night. He made his way towards his new wife's room. His eyes and head were slightly heavy as a consequence of overdose of alcohol however his body was on fire due to the same. The soldiers bowed to him as he passed by the golden corridors. However, even on his wedding night he was greatly upset that his beloved wife did not even come to welcome him or showed no excitement of his arrival after so long. He had expected her to excitedly wait for him in the balcony but he was greatly disappointed as he found no one. After that he expected her to come to the celebration hall or just send him a message that she would be waiting for him in his chamber but was again disappointed.

"Did the queen come to meet the princess?" Ravan asked the guard in front of Chaithwika's room. She heard his voice and smiled excitedly, bracing herself for his welcome, running a hand over her bridal saree.

"Yes maharaj. She did come and welcomed new Lankeshwari with gifts."

Like a queen should

Ravan thought and smiled inwardly.

"Did she leave any message for me?" He asked hoping this time his love wouldn't disappoint her.

"No maharaj she didn't." Ravan now was raging with anger. He breathed fire as he was now beyond disappointed. He fisted his hand tightly and with one flick of his hand wrapped the angvastra around his hand.

"Tell Rani Chaithwika to sleep. I won't be joining her." He turned to get answers to his questions but stopped and turned to the guard again.

"And Lankeshwari is just one. No one else." The guard nodded as Ravan left leaving Chaithwika fuming in anger as she overheard the entire conversation.

Hey folks, did you liked the chapter?

Which one was your favorite moment?

Comment down your views.

Don't forget to vote.

Sorry for the extreme late update. Would try my best to be regular.

Until next time, stay safe and keep smiling!