Love and Redemption

Chapter 50

Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore got up lazily early in the morning when her royal attendee nudged her to wake up. Notably the queen had instructed her royal maids to wake her up early in the morning last night before sleeping after all, she had an urgent work to do. She smiled as she stretched her arms welcoming the new day as the queen prayed Goddess Durga, “Mother, please show me the right way. I don’t know who attacked my mother but if it is not the Rajputana army, I need to avenge my mother’s death”.

The faint sunlight that was falling on the opulent study table near the luxurious bed of the queen from the window sill, reminded Aparajita about the journals she had found in the royal library.

Instructing the maids to give her privacy, Aparajita finished her morning chores and began reading the books early in the morning. She dipped the quill in the red ink as she began marking the important lines she would prefer referring into in future. If not Rajputana army than who did the brutality of killing her mother and the most valiant queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Manjughosha Devi, she wondered as she began to dig in the mystery of her royal clan.

After reading the account of the war, she realized that the rival ruler, Maharaja Mahendra Singh Rajput was a greedy man for power and position who wanted to rule Vijaygarh. He was jealous of Vijaygarh’s prosperity and opulence. Apart from the valor of Rathore clan and their soldiers, the battle account just contained the details of the peace treaty and nature of the Rajput ruler. The battle journal typically sang odes about the bravery of her brother, Yuvraj Virendra Singh Rathore and sacrifice of her mother, Maharani Manjughosha Devi.

Aparajita was disappointed as she realized, she could not fetch anything that could blame or protect Rajputana army. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember the ominous victory especially when she had rushed to protect her mother but unfortunately, the faces of the barbaric plunderers were hidden behind their protective armors. Those hooligans had worn black colored combat dress which was covered by the steel armors so it was really difficult to differentiate them from the soldiers of Rajputana army.

The queen, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore wiped a tear from the corner of her eye as her mother’s dead body flashed in front of her eyes along with her traumatic screams that rang in Aparajita’s ear. She stood up and gulped a glass of water as she calmed herself.

Disappointed at the lack of information, she began reading the small booklet titled as ‘Lessons from Shivgarh’. She was hoping to find something about the Rajputana army of Shivgarh as she began reading the old book with blurry letters. The queen was grateful that despite the writing seemed indistinct yet it was legible after straining the eyes.

The little journal was written by the envoy of Vijaygarh, Pandit Rudransh Vashistha who was sent to the neighboring kingdom of Shivgarh by her grandfather, the great king, Maharaja Ranvijay Singh Rathore.

The journal had the information about the thriving trade preferences between Vijaygarh and Shivgarh that prevailed in ancient times in the first few pages which frustrated Aparajita even more. The journal told the saga of the valiant battles Shivgarh had fought during the reign of the then ruler, Maharaja Digambar Singh Rajput.

She sighed as she realized she won’t find anything except prosperous living standards of the people of Shivgarh and effective tax policies of the neighboring kingdom but her eyes twinkled when she reached the last few pages of the book which contained the information about Rajputana army.

The courageous Rajputana army is indeed, an epitome of rectitude and decency. During my stay, I found that all the soldiers of Rajputana army had appreciable ethics. Recently, the kingdom of Shivgarh defeated their neighbor Suryagarh. The royal men and soldiers were captured but women were treated with decency. It is commendable to take in account that the integrity of royal women of the Suryagarh palace, and dignity of innocent people of the kingdom was respected by the army with high morals. Notably, the army protected the weak natives of the lost kingdom. The Rajputana army performed their duties like a true Rajput ethically.

Reading the short account about the Rajputana army of Shivgarh, Aparajita was shocked. The words of the prince, Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput, rang in her ears making sense and for once, she thought if her father actually made some mistake in holding Rajputana army responsible for her mother’s death.

Since Vijaygarh and Shivgarh were at war and destruction on both the sides was terrible, it was simply assumed that soldiers of Rajputana army acted like barbarians who attacked the palace and tried to plunder the royal treasure. Aparajita’s mother tried to save the palace and her people ultimately sacrificing her life but the identity of those barbaric hooligans remained unidentified since last five years.

The queen Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore sighed determinedly as she made plans to find the real culprit who killed her mother. Enraged at the turn of events, she decided to punish the culprit. The queen was indeed, ashamed for not being able to punish the murderers who killed her mother brutally.

With newly found determination and goal, the queen, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore got ready for her day as she instructed the royal guard to summon the commander-in-chief of the royal army, Avdhesh Singh Ranawat in the meeting chambers of the royal palace.

After taking a relaxing bath, the queen was sitting in front of the large mirror in her bed chambers. A smile played on her lips as her portrait flashed in front of her eyes. For the first time after becoming the queen, Aparajita admired her gorgeous reflection in the mirror. Bordered by golden frame bearing intricate carvings, the reflection of the gorgeous queen clad in mauve colored silk blouse and a matching skirt with floral patterns embellished with exquisite gemstones stitched in golden thread, indeed, looked enthralling.

A royal maid was braiding the queen’s ebony black hair while the other one was tying the opulent golden necklace around her neck when the queen was startled by the little bird that cooed while sitting on the window sill.

Aparajita recognized the trained pigeon, Dharmadoot and gestured the adamant bird to wait for her. Once she was ready for the day, the queen instructed the maids to leave her alone in the royal chambers.

A smile crept on the plump lips of the queen, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore as the little bird fluttered its wings and handled the letter from its master to the queen. Wondering what the prince of Shivgarh, Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput had in store for her, the queen smiled as she opened the letter encased in the metallic scroll. However, her eyes widened reading the contents of the letter.

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