Love and Redemption

Chapter 17

Sitting in front of the holy fire, the responsible queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore was sweating in her heavy maroon dress. It was really hot. The royal priest was chanting mantras in front of the royal idol of Goddess Durga in the ancestral temple of the royal Rathore clan.

It was new for everyone to see the crowned queen doing what the kings used to do but everyone seemed to welcome the change. Aparajita knew some people in her kingdom envied her or judged her capabilities because she was a woman but she knew she was the ruler of Vijaygarh who had to manage her kingdom even when she was about to die.

Closing her eyes and folding her palms in front of the enormous idol of Goddess Durga made up of pure gold after the priest completed the Yajna and she offered the final oblation, the seventeen year old queen prayed to the goddess,

Mother, you are the only one whom I could rely upon. You have seen my days have not been easy. Mother, do you remember how my own uncle opposed me to construct the canal at Surajpur despite how badly those people suffer every year. And how could I forgot how my own father betrayed me for banishing his cunning brother?

Aparajita questioned in her mind trying to reach the goddess through her innate soul trying to suppress her tears while on the other hand, Veerbhadra tried to understand the things that were going in her mind as he glanced towards her worried face amidst the crowd. The locals of the kingdom revered her a lot and hence, were gathered to be a part of the annual ritual in the royal temple.

Maintaining her composure, Aparajita prayed,

Goddess Durga, you are the mother of my life, my journey and my reign in this blessed kingdom of yours. Give me power, give me energy and your blessings to fulfill my duties towards my people and my motherland as the queen. Mother, do bestow my blessings on me so that I could never let you down, let myself down and let the women of Rathore clan down.

Feeling a bit of positivity as the queen prayed, she culminated her prayers by mentally speaking a final word,

Mother, bless me with ability to hold my head high along with the pride of my kingdom, my people and my clan. I wish for the welfare of my kingdom and my people. Protect Vijaygarh with all sorts of jinxes and bad omen, mother. Please take care of your children of Vijaygarh.

Opening her chocolate brown eyes, Aparajita masked her emotions with the authoritative emotionless face of the queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore. Glancing at the royal priest, she stood up as she sang the holy aarti, the devotional ode  in praise of the Goddess Durga with a lighted earthen lamp on her palm similar to the previous kings. The royal priest gulped looking at the holy flames in the queen's hand while the public admired the confident queen. Though the flames came from the earthen lamp but still it was summer season and the lamp would definitely get hot over time as the prayers continued.

The prince of Shivgarh, Veerbhadra Singh Rajput, who was looking at everything disguised as a commoner was for once, amazed at the self-esteem of the queen. For the first time in his life, Veerbhadra admired the strength and perseverance of his opponent sliding away the thoughts of revenge that came in his mind. He admired the spirits of the seventeen year old queen who was battling with the fight of equality in the Rathore clan.

A smile crept on his lips as he saw the flames coming out of the hot earthen lamp on the milky white hands of the seventeen year old beautiful girl. As the thoughts of her disgusting deeds of murdering his grandfather flashed in Veerbhadra's mind, the admiration for the brave queen swept away and the idea of revenge by crumbling the pride of the confident queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore took over in his mind. However, he realized the goldfish was not a fragile one!

After the culmination of the prayers, the royal priest came up with the red colored cloth placed beautifully on a round, golden plate. He said, "Your highness, who will change the flag on the shikhar at the of the temple?"

"Every year, the flag atop this temple is changed by the ruler. This year, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore will culminate this ritual", Aparajita announced in the public and everyone stood wide-eyed.

Glancing at the cone-shaped shikhar of the temple, Veerbhadra was shocked to hear the announcement. He wondered if the queen was for real. He was concerned if the queen was actually planning to climb on the top of the temple via ropes in the heavily embroidered skirt without falling down. He mentally smirked looking at the beautiful architecture of the temple and its giant gopuram, the magnificent enntrance tower of the temple.

With the height of about fifty one feet, the tall gopuram of the temple soar appeared to touch the sky. On the top of the gopuram, the shikhar of the temple had a flag which had to be replaced.

The shouts of joy for the longevity of the queen echoed in the temple. The eyes of the royal priest moistened as he looked towards the queen with admiration handing over the flag.

Praying for the well-being of the queen and the kingdom of Vijaygarh forever, the priest wiped his eyes. Aparajita's father, the old king, Maharaja Vijay Singh Rathore had expected his daughter to ask her bodyguard Avdhesh Singh Ranawat to do the deed owing to her heavy attire but today, he felt proud of his daughter and his decision of giving his kingdom into safe, and strong hands.

Most of the royal ministers admired the strength of their queen while the rest were worried of her safety.
Aparajita glanced towards her mentor, Siddharth Pratap Singh for once who nodded at assurance towards her gesturing the queen to trust her capabilities and proceed. She looked towards her bodyguard, Avdhesh Singh Ranawat who smiled at her praying for the safety of his inspiration in life, his young queen, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore.

The devilish side of Veerbhadra's mind wanted Aparajita to fall down and broke her bones but his angelic side took over. For the first time in his life, today, Veerbhadra Singh Rajput, the guileful prince of Shivgarh prayed to his idol, Lord Shiva for the safety of the queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore who was planning to climb the fifty one feet gopuram in a heavy dress, not because, he developed a soft corner for the queen despite her inhumane deed of killing his grandfather but because, he admired the seventeen year old girl trying to prove herself worthy to be a ruler because she was a girl.

Being a Rajput, Veerbhadra knew that brave princess could become queens but not the rulers in their Kshatriya clan but the young Aparajita was set to break all the norms of the society. He admired that the seventeen year old queen was actually an efficient and deserving woman who had courage to stand the age-old norms that concluded women were subservient to men.

He was anxiously waiting for the courageous beauty, his goldfish to accomplish her goal of changing the flag and prove her worth however, at the same time, he did not digress from his path of crumbling her spirits in near future.

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