Aryavarta Gets Its Chakravarthini

Chapter 2

I asked all the villagers to have a seat but they seemed a little impatient. One of them came running in my direction, his hands folded, tears rolling down his cheeks, his clothes were all torn, he seemed helpless. But before he could reach me, the guards put two spears in the way to stop him. He fell on his knees in that weak condition.

" Maharaja.... Please help me.. Please save my son. Please...", he hung his head low crying helplessly while letting out these words. I ordered my guards to let him speak and put their spears back. He came running down to me and laid down just in front of me folding his hands.

" You don't need to fold your hands, sir. You can speak about your problem without any fear. I'll definitely help you.", I held his hands making him relax a bit.

" There's a ghost in the Soma Van. Every night, we hear the sounds of ghunghroo. We believe it's a lady's ghost who sings and dances at night. A few of our people go missing in the morning. Last night I closed my doors for security and we heard the faint noise of the ghungroos again but we decided to ignore it as usual. The next morning when I woke up, my son...... My son wasn't there. We can't dare to step in the Soma Van. Please help us Maharaja.", the old man was shivering with the mention of the ghost.

" What is your son's age?", I inquired.

" He is seventeen, Maharaja. He is very young.", I wiped his tears and promised to bring back all the people who went missing. Then I gathered up my ministers in the Royal Court to discuss the problem.

" Maharaja, we don't know what resides in the jungle. It's been a long time since anybody stepped into the Soma Vana. We need to be careful. If it's a ghost like the villagers say, we might not be able to fight it. We must look for a priest who could change mantras for the moksha of the ghost's soul.", mahamantri suggested after measuring all the pros and cons of the situation.

" Maharaja, I don't think it could be a ghost. This sounds absurd. Maybe this is a trick of our enemy kingdom to scare the people away, to make them believe that Samrat of Aryavarta is incapable of advancing security to his people. I believe we should go into the jungle and look into this matter on our own first.", Advaita's suggestion seemed quite convincing. I cannot believe in the ghost theory myself. There is definitely something cooking up in the jungle and it would be the best if I handle this matter as soon as possible.

" Alright, so I've decided that tomorrow morning, me and Yuvraj Vikramadhiraj will go to the Soma Vana to look into this matter.", I voiced out my decision.

" And yeah, a few soldiers too, whoever is ready to volunteer for the same can let Yuvraj Vikramadhiraj know."

We decided that a total of a hundred and a fifty soldiers were more than enough to accompany us. If a situation like war arises, the army would be ready in the Kingdom to attack any time. I looked into the political matters with Advaita and inquired Vikram about the preparations for the morning. Advaita requested to join us both but one of us needed to be present in the Mahal if any emergency situation arises in the future.

It was about five in the morning when we departed towards the Soma Vana to solve the mystery of the ghost woman. I was feeling restless as the distance was decreasing. I had a rough feeling in my heart, that there was something waiting for me in the Soma Vana. I ordered my soldiers to increase their speed and we finally entered the woods. We kept strolling around the jungle until we reached the centre.

I could hear faint noises of bangles so I followed the direction of that sound and fastened the speed of my horse. My horse stopped a few metres away from the riverside. I walked a bit closer until I saw a lady in the river with a bare back. I quickly turned my head and covered my eyes with my hands to hide the embarrassment walking back towards my horse. But I halted in my steps as soon as I heard the voice of the lady singing a melody while bathing. Her voice was beautiful, enchanting, I must say. I could feel the calmness, the sweetness, the magic in her voice. It felt as if an angel from Heaven stepped on the Earth to bless my ears, my soul with her voice. I was melting in her presence so I rubbed my hands over my chest and walked back towards my horse. I stopped when I saw one of my soldiers, Jaydut, son of Mahamantri dragging a woman by her hair. She was shouting helplessly trying to hit his hands that were fisting her hair. My eyes were turning red from anger. He threw her on the ground in front of me and stepped on her saree. Before he could raise his hand over her, I threw my knife and cut one of his arms that dragged her. He shouted in pain.