TARA : Beyond The Time ( Under Editing)

chapter-2

"Hello," I said, my voice slightly shaky from the disorientation I felt. The woman before me, dressed in a simple red and gold lehenga that rustled softly as she moved, looked at me as if an alien had just materialized in front of her.

"What did you say?" she asked after what felt like an eternity, her expression a mixture of bewilderment and caution. The simple yet elegant lehenga she wore, coupled with the intricately designed silver jewelry adorning her wrists and neck, suggested she was from a nearby village.  Her demeanor and the way she struggled with my greeting made me suspect she might be illiterate, which could explain her lack of understanding.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. The unfamiliar surroundings - the ornate tapestries on the walls, the scent of incense in the air, and the soft glow of oil lamps - only added to my confusion. "Nothing, um..." I stammered, then decided to press on with the questions burning in my mind. "Anyway, who are you? How did I get here? Where's my uncle? And where is this place?" The words tumbled out in a rush, my voice rising with each question as panic threatened to overwhelm me.

My barrage of inquiries earned me another perplexed look from the woman. She blinked several times, as if trying to process the rapid-fire questions. After a moment of hesitation, during which I could almost see the wheels turning in her mind, she finally spoke.

"I am a vaidya ( female doctor)," she said, her voice gentle but firm. Noting my blank expression, she added, "Her majesty sent me here to treat you." She paused, her brow furrowing slightly as she continued, "I do not know anything about your uncle, I'm afraid."

I listened to her carefully, my mind struggling to process her words. The term 'vaidhya' sounded vaguely familiar, perhaps from a history book or a documentary, but I couldn't quite place it. It took a moment for my mind to latch onto the phrase "her majesty." A chill ran down my spine as I considered the implications.

"Her majesty? Who?" I asked, unable to keep the confusion and a hint of fear out of my voice. My hands gripped the edge of the bed. I was sitting on, the soft fabric of the sheets a stark contrast to the roughness of my emotions.

The woman's expression softened slightly, perhaps sensing my distress. "Her majesty, the queen mother of Vijaygarh," she replied, her tone suggesting that this should be common knowledge. As she spoke, she began to prepare some kind of herbal paste in a small stone mortar, the pungent aroma filling the air.

My mind was racing, thoughts colliding like particles in an accelerator. Vijaygarh? The queen mother? Vaidhya? What the hell was going on? I felt like I had stepped into a historical drama, but the aches in my body and the vivid details around me were far too real to be a dream or a film set.

A sudden, chilling realization hit me like a bucket of ice water. Without thinking, I jumped out of bed, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through my body. My bare feet hit the cool stone floor as I stumbled towards what I hoped was an exit.

"Wait!" the vaidya called out, but her voice seemed distant, drowned out by the pounding of my heart in my ears.

I burst out, my eyes widening as I took in the scene before me. The view outside filled me with a mixture of awe, fear, and a deep, gnawing sense of displacement. Soldiers in gleaming armor stood at attention, their swords hanging at their sides. Their clothes were strange and old-fashioned, like something out of a historical reenactment. Men and women hurried about in colorful, flowing garments that belonged to a time long past. The architecture, the smells, the sounds - nothing looked familiar.

As the full impact of my situation hit me, my legs gave way. I collapsed to my knees, the rough ground scraping my skin, but I barely noticed. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably as the impossible truth sank in. Somehow, against all logic and reason, I had traveled through time.