Shatru Sesham: Sequel of Baahubali ✔️

Chapter Forty-Eight

The winds and rains had kept lashing furiously for nearly the whole of last night. Mrithyunjay and the other crew members battled and soldiered on against the storm. They kept dredging and draining the excess water with their pails and buckets. Wherever the ship sustained any damage, they repaired and salvaged as much as possible in the existing conditions.

They had no idea how far they had drifted off course or their exact whereabouts at sea. Luckily the ship had held against it but the Matsya Yantra (Mariner's Compass) was broken due to the wind speeds. The weather had quietened down and Mrithyunjay was taking stock of the damage they had sustained, "Inspect and report to me the damage to the ship. I know the Matsya Yantra is damaged but calculate the rough coordinates of the direction we are headed. Let me know as soon as we sight land."

Mrithyunjay heaved a big sigh of relief. The worst had passed. He was terribly exhausted. He temporarily excused himself from his mates and crew members and retired to his cabin in order to have a small power nap. This was the fiercest and severest storm Mrithyunjay had encountered ever since he began sailing on the high seas.

What worried him even more at the moment was the fact that he had been instrumental in persuading Annapoorna to let Aparaajitha come along with them for this mission. Now when all their fates hung in balance, he rued more than ever the fact that she was also traveling with them. He was internally blaming himself for the fact that he had endangered her life.

What had happened to the other ships? Had they survived the storm just like them? Where were they? Would all their grand visions of freedom and emancipation from exile end like this? With all these niggling questions running at the back of his mind, he fell asleep like a log the minute he hit the bed. This ordeal had sapped his entire strength and energy.  He had been so tired that even the slight rap on his cabin door hadn't woken him up.

Aparaajitha walked into the cabin speaking, "Mrithyunjay, I wouldn't have believed it possible...." before her words were cut half way by the adorable sight of the man she loved stretched on the bed like an innocent child in deep sleep. She smiled spontaneously and instinctively before she came up to him and sat beside him admiring his sleeping form. She noticed slight beads of sweat dotting his forehead and wiped them with her scarf.

Aparaajitha noticed that Mrithyunjay's eyes were twitching from time to time due to the bright rays of the morning sun. She tried to draw the curtains aside so that his sleep would not be disturbed. But the brisk morning breeze did not allow the curtains to stay in position. After pondering for a minute, she hesitantly tiptoed and stood in the direction of the sunlight shielding him from the rays of the sun. She stood like that unmindful of time and place stealing glances and drinking him in with her eyes and fixing the form she beheld in the deepest recesses of her heart.

She spoke to him, "You know, Mrithyunjay, life changed drastically for me after my parents's demise. When they were there, I was free to do anything I pleased. I heeded no boundaries or limits. I could be myself. But when they died, I was forced to stop myself and care for all those people who depended on me. I never complained about that. I knew it was my duty. But all the same I felt confined and restricted. I used to feel heavily burdened and crushed beneath the weight of all those expectations. I have never spoken about it to anyone, not even you. But not anymore now. Once again, I feel so free like a bird flying in the high skies. My heart hums a soft symphony of melody. Your love set me free, Mrithyunjay. I will ever be thankful to you for being there in my life."

Her monologue was however abruptly cut short when one of the crew members walked in to wake Mrithyunjay and inform him something. Aparaajitha gestured the man to be silent by holding her finger to her lips, entreating the man not to disturb Mrithyunjay who was sound asleep. She followed the man up to the deck to first listen to what he had to say before deciding whether to wake up Mrithyunjay or not.