Queen Devayani came to her son's room. She saw prince Ravikirana in deep thought. She hesitatingly said, "Dear Ravi, is this the right time to talk to you"?
"Of course mother! Please tell me what is the matter", said prince Ravikirana.
"As you know, its been nearly ten days since we left Kashi. I received a message from your father yesterday. We should leave to Kashi as early as possible", said the queen.
"I totally understand mother. But the situation here is really bad. Moreover, I feel the princess is missing because of my carelessness. With this guilt in me, I cannot peacefully return to Kashi. I want to be with uncle Dharmasena during this crisis period and do my bit to find Madhavi".
"I agree with you my child. If I had a choice, even I would have been here till we found our dear Madhavi. But my duty towards Kashi is calling me. I must go. I shall explain to your father about your situation. Do your best to find Madhavi. I wish you good luck. God bless you".
Queen Devayani met her brother King Dharmasena and queen Kathyayini and emboldened them to handle the current situation and expressed her helplessness in not being able to be with them during this sensitive period. She told about her son's decision to be with them while she would have to leave to Kashi the next day. Queen Kathyayini hugged Devayani and cried. Both the king and queen took the blessing of Devayani. Queen Devayani left for Kashi the next day blessing her younger brother and sister in law to be able to meet their daughter at the earliest.
Princess Madhavi and Madhusudhana left for his dry fruits shop the next day in Dwarka. He introduced three of the workers in the shop he had employed, to Madhavi. Madhusudhana asked the princess about her education so that he could employ her at the billing and managing accounts, since he will be travelling quite frequently and mostly out of town. The princess thanked Madhusudhana for trusting her and giving her the most responsible job.
"You don't have to be so happy Radha. I put you at the billing counter because you are old and can't do other mechanical jobs which the other three men can handle easily", said Madhusudhana and winked at princess.
Slowly the small smile that appeared on the princess' face disappeared. She replied, "Thanks for reminding me of my age. I'm still grateful to you for employing me. I shall do my best and make you proud".
Its been a week since the princess went missing in Rajkot. The search conducted by the palace security was also not successful. King Dharmasena decided to let the people of Saurashtra know about the missing princess and announced to give a valuable gift to whoever gives any kind of information about her. Soon the news of princess missing spread like wild fire in the regions of Saurashtra and Vidarbha. The information came to Girinagar forest as well. Suruchi heard few people talking about the missing princess and how the security staff were conducting search in every nook and corner of Saurashtra province. Suruchi felt very sad about the news and came to her home. She sat on a chair and started thinking. "I wish I could have gone to the king and told about Nalini's conspiracy. Nalini has disfigured the princess. No matter how much they search it is very likely they fail to find her", thought Suruchi to herself. At the same time, Nalini entered Suruchi's house and noticed her drowned in thought.
"What has caught you up so badly Suruchi? You didn't even notice me"! said Nalini.
"What brings you here Nalini? I'm not in a mood to talk to you".
"Why are you so sad? Let me know who is responsible for your sadness. I will destroy them", said Nalini.
"Are you really concerned about me? Don't try to play me with your words", said Suruchi angrily.
"Believe me Suruchi. Please tell me what's bothering you", requested Nalini.
"Today I heard the news of King Dharmasena sending his troops everywhere in Saurashtra to search for his lost daughter. I'm deeply hurt because my close friend is responsible for this mess", said Suruchi in deep pain.
"Oh now I get it. You are feeling sad for that ungrateful king. If he is suffering for his misdeeds, so be it. He should also know what it means to lose someone very dear to him".
"Your suffering and his suffering is not the same Nalini. He has lost his child. Yours was a one sided love. It had to fail. Your grudge on the king does no good to anybody. Still there is time. Better correct your mistake. The search that is going on is huge. They will surely find the princess. Once they come to know you are behind all this, the king won't spare you". Suruchi warned Nalini.
"How could you take his side Suruchi? You are my friend. Well, I guess you don't know my strength yet. He is searching the princess, isn't it? I think he has too much free time. Let me put him to work", said Nalini angrily and left Suruchi's house.
King Dharmasena was with queen Kathyayini in his room. The queen was very concerned about the princess. She was questioning the king that even after a week of intense search, how could they not find the whereabouts of princess. The king was trying to console her by letting her know that he didn't care about his prestige any more and has made a public announcement of his missing daughter.
Few servants came rushing towards the king's room. Along with them came the minister and said, "We apologize to disturb you at this hour your majesty! We just got the news that many of the cities and villages in the Saurashtra province are damaged by unexpected floods. At the same time, the cities and villages in the Vidarbha region are deeply affected by famine".
"What? How is this possible? That too all of a sudden"? asked the King in shock.
"That's true your majesty. Till yesterday, everything was normal everywhere. Today, the floods have damaged the crops and caused havoc to life and property in the regions of Saurashtra. On the Vidarbha side, Godavari river has dried up suddenly and the green belt has turned into ashes. People are starving due to food shortage. We are not understanding what is going on here".
YOU ARE READING
The Ultimate Victory
FantasiaThis is the story of the life of a King who does anything for the well being of his subject. In the process, his only daughter goes missing. His Kingdom is hit with drought. His land goes barren. People had to starve to death. Could this all be a ga...
