Ruthless Rulers of Rakshatra (RRR)

Chapter 22 - Memories

Kalindi was walking through the chamber while looking at the pictures on both sides of her.  Suddenly she saw that one position on the kings side was empty and after that empty place was the current kings portrait.  "So that means Yuvraj's grandfather's picture should be here but why it is not here?", Kalindi stopped at that place and thought about it.

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Not wanting for Kalindi to think more, Gopi distracted her by saying, "Yuvrani, see there".  She pointed towards the left turn which seems to be a room and then said, "Since today is the memorial day of our late Maharani, her portrait is lifted from here and placed in there so that people could pay their respects.  Yuvraj comes here only by the night after he completes his Puja".  Then they moved to that room and Kalindi saw a woman's smiling face which was simply genuine and innocent.  Nothing cunning or scheming.  By her look, Kalindi could say that she would have been a Kind Queen, nothing like her ever so serious son, Yuvraj Abhyuday.   Going near the picture she saw that the portrait was already decorated with flower garland and a basket of flower petals were kept nearby for others to use.  So Kalindi took some petals with both her hands and threw it over the portrait and joined her hands as a form of respect.  Then she looked at the diya (Lamp) lit infront of the portrait and prayed for a moment.  All the while she was doing this, another person was in the same room sitting on a side to meditate for sometime and relish the good old memories with the deceased woman smiling in the portrait. 

Kalindi prayed to her mother-in-law, "Maharani, I don't know what happened all those years ago.  But all I can say is that, your son has been deeply affected by it.  I just want you to be there for him always and guide him on the right path".  Once Kalindi was done with her prayers, she was about to turn around when she saw the man sitting on the corner.  By looking at his outfit, he seemed like an important official of the court and she does remember him from the sessions she had attended in the Court.  But the question was why didn't he leave after paying his respect?  Seeing her frown, Gopi whispered to her, "Yuvrani, this is our army General".   Kalindi nodded at the new information and when she was about to leave, the General called out, "Yuvrani !".  Then he stood up and went towards her and then bowed to her in greeting.  He said, "I don't know whether you have heard of our late Maharani Chandria.  But I want to let you know that she was eagerly waiting for the day you get married to her son.  She already had plans to spend time with you.  And today I feel she would finally be happy that you are here infront of her as her daughter-in-law".  Kalindi looked at him blankly as she didn't know whether he is a trustworthy person or not as sometimes people speak to you emotionally only to trap you.  On the other hand, her mind was raising a lot of questions as in, if his words were true, then  how come this person know about all these? 

The General chuckled at her scrutinizing eyes and said, "You are a perfect match for our Yuvraj.  Just like my son had told me".  Kalindi frowned at the information and he continued, "Maharani Chandria is my sister although we don't share same blood.  The bond was not something I expected but it just happened.  Just like my son treats you like his sister".  Then it clicked Kalindi, the person infront of her is the General who is the father of the next-in-line and the Young General Parth, her husband's one and only friend.  She is not good at identifying facial similarities so it took such a long time.  Kalindi smiled at him and bent down to touch his feet and take his blessings.  He tried to avoid it but she took his blessings anyways and said, "As you said, Parth Bhai is treating me as his sister.  So in that case, you will be in the position of my father right".  He nodded at her with a smile and then looked at Maharani Chandria's photo once and said, "I wished things were different and we met in better circumstances.  Till now I'm the one who was doing the flower decorations for the portrait.  Hope hereafter, you will be there to do it even before me".  She nodded at him and then asked, "I thought the Royal family will come here together and then they will pay their respects but it is already noon but no one is here. May I know the reason, Chacha ji (Father's younger brother)?"

The General smiled at her for addressing him as her Chacha and then sighed before telling, "Everyone from the Royal family is forbidden from mourning for our Late Maharani, especially the King.  This is an order from Yuvraj Abhyuday after his return from Gurukul".  Kalindi asked, "And the King accepted the order of Yuvraj?  The King could have refuted this right?".  The General replied, "Not when this is the only way to keep his son nearby him.  Only after the King accepted this condition, Yuvraj decided to stay in the Palace.  Otherwise he wanted to live in the small mansion nearby our General mansion which his mother bought for him".  Kalindi immediately asked, "But Why Yuvraj ordered as such?".  The General simply said with a sad smile, "It's not my place to say that, Yuvrani".  Kalindi sighed and then said, "Please call me Kalindi, Chacha ji".  With that both of them left the place.

Kalindi came back to her chamber and asked her maids to leave her alone.  Once left alone, she tried to simply lay down and rest but her heart was still restless.  So she decided to check upon him once and went to the puja room.  As she neared the room, she could hear the sound of gunghroo (broad anklet like ornament which will have small bells).  She slightly opened the loosely closed door and then her breath hitched in amazement and astonishment.  Abhyuday was performing Shiv tandav with so much angst that any one who sees his dance can say that he is in the peak of his anger.  Kalindi could feel that he is reliving his loss once again today.   Kalindi was also afraid of his state right now and then silently walked out of his chamber.   On her way, she thought about her husband and his behaviour with the King from the day she first met him.  She concluded him to be a  heartless son who didn't even care about his father.  But now looking at the situation, she could figure out that there might have been some horrible thing happened with his mother which involved the King and the current Queen.  And he may not really be heartless but rather his heart is open to only those, he chooses to show and it is completely closed off for whomever he thinks as undeserving.  She reached the place and got immersed in the work.

It was dinner time when Abhyuday came out of the Puja room and entered his bedroom.  As soon as he saw Kalindi, he was surprised that she came back again and waiting for him.  But he couldn't feel anything pleasant as the entire day was spent by mourning which made him emotionally tired.  Kalindi stood up when she saw him and saw that he was going to the bathroom.  Abhyuday entered the pool in the bathroom which was filled with cold water and simply leaned his head against the pool walls.  He heard her enter the bathroom as well but didn't say anything.  After a few minutes when he knew that she is not going away, he came out of the water and took the fresh dhoti (lower clothes) which Kalindi has brought for him.  He proceeded to change and looked at her who immediately turned her back to him and closed her eyes.  He changed and went back to his room.  She followed him after a few seconds.  When he sat on the bed, he saw the plate full of different food items kept on the side table and looked up at her, who was standing nearby.  He told her, "I don't want to eat anything now.  You go and sleep after eating your dinner".   Kalindi came and sat on the bed near him and took the plate in her hands.  Then she took a morsel and forwarded it near his mouth.  He looked at her for sometime and gave a tired smile but shook his head in no.  She said, "This food is cooked by me and I have presented it infront of our late Maharani.  Now will you accept the food presented to her?".  He looked at her for a minute and leaned towards her,  kissed her lips softly which even surprised her as this was totally different from their other kisses which were with passion or tease.  After the kiss he took the morsel from her hands.  And She continued to feed him the entire plate of food.  Then both of them slept together in their usual position, this time in his chamber.

Glossary:
Maharaj - King
Maharani - Queen
Yuvraj - Crown Prince
Yuvrani - Crown Princess
Bhai - Brother
Bhabhi - sister-in-law
Chacha - Father's younger brother
Shastrasala - Godown of weapons with practice arena
Gurudev - Teacher

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Thanks,
SM.