Ruthless Rulers of Rakshatra (RRR)

Chapter 30 - The Past 1

Then Kalindi asked, "Grandmother!  Could you please explain the reason behind Yuvraj's hatred towards his own family members.  I could have waited for him to tell but since you were talking about it, I couldn't control myself from asking you".

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Grandmother let out a sad chuckle and said, "I don't mind answering your question.  It's just that it will bring back all those memories which we have suppressed till now".  There was silence for a few moments and then Grandmother started to say, "When Chandria had married into Rakshatra, her life was smooth with King Virendra for the first few years and Abhyuday was also born.  But the tragedy came when Chandria got to know that one of her personal maids is pregnant and that too with the child of her own husband.  Although Chandria was skilled in politics and other things, she was too kind for her own good that she made some random woman who was picked from the streets, to be her personal maid.  And above all, the thing that her husband had slept with her maid and hid it from her for months, had taken an emotional toll on her.  Abhyuday was just a small boy back then but he was able to sense the differences between his parents.  And I think by now you would have understood who that maid was, didn't you?".

Kalindi nodded and said, "Maharani Oormila".  Grandmother chuckled and said in affirmation, "Oormila.  I don't know whether you know this or not but Abhyuday still calls her by her name.  No title.  No Relations. Nothing.  Only her name.  And the reason is that he got habituated to calling her name when she was a maid to his mother.  And that is the reason why Oormila stays away from him so that she could save her own respect".  Kalindi processed the information given to her which kind of shook her to the core as she had never thought of Oormila to be a maid, especially with that attitude of hers.  After a brief silence, Grandmother continued, "You know, even after all these happenings, Chandria didn't fight against the King.  If she had been angry then she would have fought.  But she was simply hurt.  And when the King announced his second marriage to Oormila infront of the court without even consulting Chandria, she was shattered.  She was not against him marrying anyone but the way every incident was taking place, she felt that her marital relationship has changed forever.   And it did change".

Flashback

Abhyuday was only 5 years old and Oormila was 8 months pregnant.  Chandria has already come out of her own bubble that the people surrounding her are good.  Now she had already faced many of Oormila's cunning moves that she will kill her if given a chance.  The most fatal blow was when Oormila stopped Maharaj Virendra from attending the puja (Prayer) arranged for Abhyuday's birthday.  That was the day Chandria decided that she is the only one, her son could rely upon.  Moreover, she feared about her son's position once Oormila birthed a son.  The next day of the birthday, Maharaj came to the chamber to see that Chandria was sleeping while hugging Abhyuday in her embrace as if to hide him from any harm.  He sat on the other side of the bed, and touched his son's forehead.  Immediately Chandria woke up with a jerk and calmed down seeing that it's just him.

Maharaj Virendra felt her coldness towards him for the first time that day.  Even when he made certain decisions against her wishes, she would always be courteous to him while hurting inside.  But today it was different, her look and actions seem different.  No explanations could make her change her view about him, even the reason that Oormila felt pain in her womb throughout the night yesterday and he couldn't leave her.  That was a moment of realisation for Maharaj Virendra and thereafter he tried to be conscious about being neutral between his two wives.

After a month, Oormila gave birth to a son, who was named Kaushal.  And contrary to Chandria's fear, Virendra never let Abhyuday feel left out or ignored.  This made her feel at ease.  Years passed away in a much smoother manner as Oormila totally concentrated on her son, so as to make Virendra choose him as Crown prince later on.  Now, Abhyuday is 10 years old and Kaushal was 5 years, while the relationship between the two princes was neither warm nor cold .  Virendra's efforts to mend his relationship with Chandria bore some fruit as Chandria got pregnant again.  This made Oormila go mad, as she had deliberately aborted two pregnancies of herself fearing the labor pain.  Now that Chandria got pregnant, she got afraid that the former will have another son.  So she waited for a month before subtly feeding Chandria, the abortion medicine.  Later Chandria had a miscarriage and it took an emotional toll on her.  King Virendra tried to be there for her but his official duties didn't permit him. 

Slowly Chandria was drowning into depression which made Abhyuday lonely as neither his father nor his mother could be there for him.  But even at such a young age, he understood his mother's pain and looked after her as an obedient son.   Chandria composed herself and tried to forget her grief only for her son and it took almost a year for her to become her old self.  By now Oormila gave birth to a girl child, which disappointed her. 

Flashback end. (Every thing was not known to Grandma so this is just for the readers and what Grandma said is a third person's point of view only)

As Grandmother told the story, Kalindi listened her words carefully and felt bad for Chandria as well as Abhyuday.  But at the same time, she didn't blame King Virendra for what he did because that was her perception of men from the very start.  So there was no surprise.  And now, she can clearly understand why Abhyuday calls his stepmother by her name and not by any title.  Also, on the day when that old lady tried to humiliate her by asking to remove the shoes, Kalindi should have guessed that such cheap tricks could only be from a cheap person.  While Kalindi was inferring certain things from the story, Grandmother continued, "You know when Chandria died right?".

Kalindi replied, "Yes Grandmother, it was when Yuvraj was 12 years old".  Nodding, She continued, "You are right.  So the very next year of the supposed miscarriage, Chandria got pregnant again and both Abhyuday and Chandria were eager to meet the child.  Abhi was so eager that he even brought toys for his sibling.  But my daughter didn't have the right to be happy, it seems".  Grandmother suddenly started crying and Kalindi rubbed her back in a way to console her and gave her some water.  Then Kalindi said, "Grandma, You can take rest and we can continue this some other day".  But Grandmother shook her head and said, "No, I want to let it out once and for all.  So don't stop me".  Then she took some breathe and then continued, "When Chandria was pregnant again, she was careful in every way to not miscarry again.  Only then did she know that it was not an accidental miscarriage but a pre-planned one by Oormila".  Grandma gritted out the name and Kalindi could recognise the hatred the old lady had for the said woman.  But Kalindi also noticed that the hatred the old lady has in her heart is nowhere near to what Yuvraj Abhyuday has in his heart.

Grandmother continued, "When Chandria got to know all of this, she immediately conveyed the same to Maharaj Virendra.  But his response was not something that she had expected.  He simply brushed away the matter saying, Chandria had been paranoid about the miscarriage and unnecessary blaming his second wife.  And this made Chandria mad and she went on to fight with Virendra regarding his negligence on her children.  And all along, Abhyuday was a spectator for all of this.  While their fight prolonged for months, Chandria's due date also came near".  Grandmother wiped her own tears and said, "When her last month of pregnancy was going on, Maharaj Virendra had to leave for the borders since there were some disturbances in the border villages and he had to go there for peace talks.  He thought that he could come back before the end of the month as that the date said by the midwife for the delivery.  But unexpectedly the very next day, Chandria had gone into labor.  I was actually on my way to Rakshatra since I wanted to take care of my daughter during her second child as well.  But by the time I reached there, I was only able to see the cold dead body of my daughter". 

Grandma was sobbing and Kalindi didn't know how to console someone who cries, so she once again gave some water and kept silence as she thought it was over.  But after a few moments, Grandmother continued, "You know what is the strange thing?  The day of her death, I saw that Abhyuday was crying and even became so much violent towards that Oormila but the very next day, he was so calm.  Very calm that I was afraid that he will have some health issues.  Since his father was not there, he had to do the final rituals for his mother as well as unborn sister and it had traumatized him a lot.  And when his father came back, Abhyuday immediately demanded that he was sent to Gurukul".  Kalindi frowned at that new information and felt herself being hurt for what he had to go through at such a young age.  "May be that's why he is so scared about having a child?", Kalindi wondered in her mind.

Glossary:

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

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Hi guys,

Do vote and comment if you like the chapter. 

Still somethings are pending, so wait for 'The Past 2' which may not be in the next chapter as it is known only to Abhyuday.

Thanks,
SM.