In the whirlwind world of Indian cinema, where dreams collide and hearts entwine, two souls from opposite ends of the country find themselves entangled in a love story destined to defy all odds.
Meet Dhruv Kapoor, the charismatic heartthrob of Bolly...
"The rumors are true. I am the king's new concubine. However, I'm not truly interested in Maharaj Vidhurak. It's an act." Yashasvini revealed.
Maharani Avantika's face got serious.
"What?" She asked.
"The previous concubine, Anagha, is my sister. She sent me a message saying that she needed help. I found out how Vidhurak took her away from studying and brought to the palace for his entertainment. I was heartbroken to see her in such a condition when I came here. I'm acting to like Maharaj Vidhurak because I want to save my sister. Please, help me." Yashasvini pleaded.
Sympathy flowed over Avantika for Yashasvini. She knew how it felt to be the king's puppet. She realised that someone like Yashasvini would never actually like an old man like Vidhurak.
"But how can I trust you? What's the guarantee that you're telling the truth?" Avantika asked.
"I really don't have any guarantee card or something, but I desperately need to save my sister. She's my life. I can't let her suffer like this. I just want to get her out safely. After that, I'll never come to Satavahana ever again." Yashasvini said.
She went on her knees, her head down, and begged the queen to help her.
"Do you really think I would put my self dignity in danger for nothing?" Yashasvini asked, now her eyes on the verge of crying.
"I never said it was for nothing. I don't care even if you try to attack Satavahana anyways." Avantika said.
It was quite unlike Avantika to say so. Yashasvini wondered why the queen didn't care about her own kingdom.
Meanwhile, Ram explained all his plans and strategies.
"Vidhurak is a foolish king. He's not very observant too. Still, we need to be careful with executing our plan." Dhrithiman said.
"We should bring our spies inside the secret tunnel. But before that, we need to know where it leads to and most importantly, we have to protect Yashasvini and Anagha. We need to make sure they reach safely first."
"Then?"
"Then, we have to wait till she comes to plan further."
Soon enough, Yashasvini came back to the house.
"Did she say anything?" Ram asked.
"Not much. I couldn't finish our conversation. But I did find out one thing. The queen is kind of strange." Yashasvini said.
"What do you mean?" Ram asked.
"Anways, the point is, I think we can bring Maharani Avantika to our side easily. She seemed to hate Vidhurak." Yashasvini said.
"Okay then." Dhrithiman said.
"Shall I tag along with you the next time you meet Maharani Avantika?" Ram asked.
"Sure, but why?" Yashasvini asked.
"Well, if she gets on our side and if we find a way to open the tunnel, we can finish off the work quicker. What if it requires two people?" Ram suggested.
"Okay" Yashasvini shrugged.
"But wouldn't we need to get Vidhurak outside for that? He always stays at his room, rarely coming out to talk about the country's well being." Dhrithiman said.
"Yeah, and moreover even the new female maids are hired so I don't think he'll go out anytime soon." Yashasvini agreed.
"Then we'll have to bring him out. I'll take care of that part." Ram said.
Dhrithiman and Yashasvini nodded.
The next morning, when Vidhurak woke up and walked out of his bed, an arrow hit a pillar opposing his bed. Vidhurak flinched as he missed the arrow by a very close call. The arrow almost shot at Vidhurak.
It had a message tied around. Vidhurak looked outside the window the arrow came from and saw no one. He opened and read the message.
"Aaj raath Nidhivan mein mujhe milo. Tumhari sabse badi rahasya ko main jantha hoon." (Meet me at Nidhivan tonight. I know your biggest secret.)
Sweat flowed down like a river when Vidhurak read this. Panic built inside him rapidly. Was it that secret? Vidhurak wasn't sure.
But he wanted to know who it was. To know that, he had to go to the forest.
"I'll rip him apart when I find him." Vidhurak mumbled.
Later that evening, Vidhurak left for Nidhivan early and alone. It was a quite a distance to travel there, even with a horse.
"Seems like it worked." Ram said when he saw Vidhurak leaving the palace. Ram, Dhrithiman and Yashasvini sneaked inside the palace.
That morning, Yashasvini had sent a letter to the queen to meet her at the backside of the garden because of the less security.
When the three reached the backside of the garden, Avantika was already waiting for them.
When Ram and Avantika saw each other, they paused abruptly for a moment.
Both of them recognized each other now. Ram had met her a few years back at a celebration. She had spoken to him pretty well, though Ram didn't realize till now that she was the queen of Satavahana.
Avantika was almost about to say "Yuvraj Ramachandra" but Ram signaled her not to. The queen understood his signal and stayed silent. She seemed to be very happy to see Ram. She had a good opinion about him.
"Maharaniji, Pranam. Yeh hamare sahayogi hain." (Greetings, my queen. These are my companions.)
Ram and Dhrithiman greeted the queen.
"I agreed to help because you desperately needed to save your sister. What is it that you want to know?" The queen asked.
"The tunnel in the king's room. How do we open it and where does it lead to?" Ram asked before Yashasvini could.
"For that, you'll need to know a very important incident that took place in Satavahana centuries ago.
Several generations back, when the king's acenstors ruled over this kingdom, Rishi Durvasa once visited Satavahana. He was highly impressed by the king's politeness and hospitality. He blessed the king with a secret tunnel in his room.
Women were of no importance back then. To display the significance of a feminine energy, the esteemed sage said that the tunnel could only be opened by both energies, male and female by performing a tandav."
Ram and Yashasvini looked at each other. Her guess was right afterall.
"But where does it lead to?" Ram asked.
"A magical chamber."
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To be continued... ------------------------- Hope you guys liked this chapter. Thank you for reading!
