Shatru Sesham: Sequel of Baahubali ✔️

Chapter Sixty-One (Part 2)

A Military Warehouse in the Outskirts of Peepli,
Aparaajitha had woken up from the stupor induced by the drug with which she and Malli were being sedated much earlier than her gaolers were expecting. All those years when she had spent fighting off the effects of Indraneeli from overpowering one's physical and mental faculties from the Raktabijas came in handy. This drug used on both of them was pretty mild in comparison.

Looking at the still recumbent form of her friend Malli, she momentarily cursed her lapse in judgement. Her disappearance must have driven Mrithyunjay literally mad by now. His world revolved round her. She had no idea how he would be dealing with the situation in the capital of Mahishmati. She prayed to Lord Shiva, "Parameshwara, please give him the strength and fortitude to take the right decisions for all of us."

The last thing she remembered was the menacing voice of a mountain of a man lurking in the dark shadows. He spoke, "I intend you and your friend no harm. Your current presence in Mahishmati will complicate matters. Your father, Ranadeep, the King of Suvarnadweepam is shortly expected to arrive at Mahishmati. Everything I have done to sabotage the diplomatic and matrimonial alliance between Mahishmati and Suvarnadweepam will go in vain. I hope you too realize that it is best that you stay out of sight when 'your father' arrives, Princess Suvarnamekhala."

This speech jolted her to the realization that somebody in the upper echelons of power in Mahishmati had realized that she was an imposter and masquerading as the Princess of Suvarnadweepam. Shatadru and Simhamukha were secretly aiding him. This person was doing everything in his power to undermine the influence of Subahu. He was strong and influential enough to sabotage state diplomatic and matrimonial alliances and sneak away a royal guest right beneath everyone's noses. He could be a very useful ally in her game of politics if rightly used.

The most pressing need at the present moment however was to simply escape from captivity. Aparaajitha gingerly got up flexing the muscles of her hands and legs. They were acting pretty weird and weren't as flexible as they used to be. This sudden weakness and lethargy only meant that several days must have elapsed in captivity.

They looked like in the midst of nowhere. Aparaajitha hadn't spent much of her life in Mahishmati though she had spent a great deal of her growing years dreaming and visualizing it. She had to put to test all those years of learning and grooming she had spent with her aunt and foster mother, Shodasi Devi learning about the history and geography of the kingdom, and its people to extricate herself and her friend, Malli from this situation. She despaired if she could ever do it. Everything seemed to have changed. Nothing seemed alike to what she had seen or learned about the kingdom.

Her gaolers seemed to be pretty lackadaisical in their approach. They weren't expecting two young women to escape from the midst of nowhere. She had to take advantage of this very attitude. First and foremost, she had to smuggle in some essentials and supplies so that both of she and Malli would be able to survive in the wilderness for some days at least. Next, she had to somehow procure a means of transport that would take both of them to a place of apparent safety and security.

She decided to carefully observe everything before making her move. Both of them were in some sort of military warehouse. There was a check post just outside. Several loaded knapsacks with supplies were lying in the corner. She pocketed a couple of them and strapped it around herself and the still unconscious Malli. There was a chance that they could get separated from each other during the escape attempt. She wanted to make sure that Malli had adequate supplies on her person to make it out on her own in that eventuality.

A caravan of fully covered bullock carts was approaching. One of the gaolers gave a cursory glance towards the stuff on the carts before he signed an approval document granting the caravan of bullock carts free passage. He also loaded several knapsacks with supplies like the one she had seen in the warehouse into those bullock carts. The leader of the caravan gave their gaoler a toothless grin before he gave orders to the caravan to proceed. He seemed to be a tobacco addict and most of his teeth seemed to have eroded as a result of that.