Sudeshna Sut Pranayani

The taint on celebration

Shvet sat on a low wooden stool and Vedangi sat on a little higher one, the priest initiated the havan, the God's room was filled with fragrance of  camphor. All close family that had came other , prayed for good health of the child and parents. Shankh lowered his gaze as he saw Lakshmana and Sambh catching glimpses or each other and smiling shyly. After the pooja was done Uttara and lakshmana took Vedangi to her chamber to get ready. She was dressed in a orange lehenga and Shvet was dressed in Sky blue Angavastra.

She was then taken to the hall, where the main celebration would take place. The fragrance of sonchampa flowers, filled the hall. Men of both the families were to witness the ceremony from a balcony overlooking the hall. Women from many royal and noble families were invited for the ceremony. They showered Vedangi with precious gifts and blessings. "May your child be valiant", "May your child be as pretty as you", "May he achieve great heights of success", "If she is a girl, I would make her my Putravadhu", Vedangi's heart was full by the blessings her child was receiving even before his/her birth.

Occasionally she glanced at Shvet, who was smiling at her. The ceremony continued for few hours and Vedangi was tired, her cheeks hurt by smiling too much. She gulped down the glass of water, Lakshmana brought for her and glanced at the balcony to catch a glimpse of Shvet. But to her astonishment, only Dvipat,Yaudheya, Lakshman and Vrishketu were present there, other members of the family were no where to be seen.

She glanced around but Sudeshna, Uma and Vrushali were also not present. The ceremony was almost over and all the royal guests had moved to the other hall, where food was being served. "Utti, where is everyone? Nath, matashree, Pitashree,Baba, maa?" Vedangi asked Uttara who glanced at Supriya. "Putri, Rajkumar Uttar! He.. he fainted due to weakness. Everyone is there, don't worry" Supriya answered with a smile. Vedangi glanced at the balcony again, "Sure priyaai? It's the only matter? Everything else is fine na?" Vedangi asked again.

Before Supriya could answer anything, the Yuvrani of Kuntala came with gifts and Vedangi turned her attention. Supriya exchanged assuring glance with Lakshmana and Uttara, instructing them to stay by Vedangi's side. She glanced at the almost empty balcony, wiped the sweat on her forehead and uttered a silent prayer to Shankar.
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It was almost evening, when the celebration got over, Lakshmana freed Vedangi's hair from the intricate hairstyle and Maitreyi helped her with heavy jwellery. Bhanumati was giving her some pregnancy tips, while occasionally glancing at the door. "Go putri, now change this heavy dress and wear something light" bhanumati instructed her and maitreyi went with her to help her. "Yuvrani, is everything fine? Mata and kakishree haven't returned yet" Uttara asked Bhanumati with concern in her eyes.

"Don't worry putri. They all are together and discussing something important, they would have left for Chandrapur by now" Bhanumati assured Uttara and lakshmana kept her palm on her shoulder. "Chandrapur? The frontier village of Matsya?" Vedangi asked as she stepped out from changing chamber. "Chandrapur? No.... No.. we were talking about the Chandrahaar that queen of Vanga gifted you putri" Bhanumati answered with a smile. "Oh.. Okay. I would go and meet Uttar for once, just concerned about his health" Vedangi answered and turned towards the door of the chamber, Uttara, maitreyi and lakshmana exchanged concerned glances. "Putravadhu, what's the need? Uttar is fully fine. He fainted because he haven't ate anything since morning, but now he is fine" Uma answered entering the chamber.

Uma asked Uttara and lakshmana, Vedangi to have dinner in Vedangi's chamber, while close family had dinner together. When Vedangi expressed her wish to meet Shvet, Uttara replied that like yesterday everyone is together, looking for potential bride's of Shankh and hence no one is letting go of Shvet. Though a bit disappointed, Vedangi smiled and lost herself in slumber, as she was hell tired.
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Shvet pulled the reins of his horse and jumped down, as he saw the board 'Chandrapur'. Shankh, Sambh, Vrishsen, Chitrasen, Shvetketu and Shon followed him. He breathed a sigh of relief, the loss was not as severe as they had expected. A small group of soldiers had already arrived and helping the villagers to extinguish the fire, first aid of the injured, providing food and water to the injured etc. Shankh's eyes blurred by seeing the condition of the village, he had spend three months here and was emotionally attached to this place.

The village chief was brought, he had huge bruise on his left arm and his one cheek was burn. "They were not ordinary goons Yuvraj, they went around burning every house of the village and destroying property" the village chief narrated. "What were they wearing, any armour? " Shvet asked, "Yes, they were around 2000 of them and they all were carrying weapons and armour" the chief answered. The chief was then taken to makeshift resthouse, while the rescue mission continued. "Shubhr, they weren't goons, they were soldiers of some kingdom. And they have took advantage that a celebration was going on in the capital" Shvetketu said and everyone else agreed.

While the celebration was going on, a spy had arrived with the message that Chandrapur, one of the frontier village of Matsya had been attacked and set on fire. It was almost night when rescue team and Royal family had reached the village. "We need to help the rescue team first and then search cues about who were the attackers" Shankh suggested and everyone joined the rescue mission.

Events of the whole day replayed in Shvet's mind, he felt guilty for leaving Vedangi alone on the day of her Godh bharai, when he was expected to be by her side always. But deep in his heart he knew, she would understand him. Shrugging off his thoughts, he entered a house,to check for survivors, but the house was empty. He was about to leave the house, when a fallen flag caught his attention and his eyes widened in shock.
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Hey,my lovely readers, the next chapter is here.
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