The Haunted Fortress of Bhangarh: Book 1

65. Four centuries

The morning after Bhairon Singh's execution brought saddening news for Chitralekha and her mother. The girl's maternal grandmother living in the kingdom of Kesroli had taken ill and was on her deathbed, requesting to see her daughter and grandchildren. Chitralekha, along with her mother and brother, left for Kesroli, and though she tried to meet the prince before commencing the journey, she was unable to do so because he was in a meeting with the spymasters and army commanders.

She didn't consider it to be of much concern since she was going to return in a few days, and she purposed to inform her mother and brother about Surya's fondness for her so that the impending wedding with the other man could effectively be canceled. Despondent she was after reaching Kesroli since her grandmother had indeed passed away, and the next few days were a flurry of rituals and events to honor the deceased's soul.

The return of the family to Bhangarh was uneventful as the bullock cart meandered via the narrow and muddy paths of the gradients and hills. Though moroseness ruled the hearts of the three, they reminisced about the departed soul with a fond smile on their lips. However, the more they neared the fortifications of Bhangarh, the more the sinking feeling amplified in the pits of their stomachs. Even from a distance, they could see the giant wooden entrance broken and blown into splinters. No soldiers or guards were present anywhere in the vicinity while an obsidian-hued flag fluttered atop the tallest watch tower.

They clambered down the cart while a stark fear gripped their heart. The war had broken out in their absence, and they could deduce it all too well because of the way dried blood was splattered on the mossy ground and stone walls. With much angst and anxiety, they stepped foot inside only to find the roofless ruins of the shops lining the main winding street. The roofs had collapsed inward, crushing the products and racks inside the shops into crumbles. The nebulousness in the air engulfed them, and the chill rushing down their spines expounded that the town had witnessed death. Far too many deaths for the silence to be resounding.

Muddled, they ambled down the street and found a man huddled in a corner near a shop, weeping and wailing.

Chitralekha gulped and wiped the sheen of perspiration on her chin before gathering enough courage to articulate. "What happened here, Kaka?"

The man looked up upon hearing the trembling voice of a woman. Discerning that the family of three was clueless, he let out a sob. "Ruined. Everything. The war... broke out... Early morning ambush. Defeated... We were defeated. Army... army annihilated."

Chitralekha gasped and took a step back.

"Royal family captivated..."

Tears cascaded down her cheeks while she was faintly aware of her brother asking the man if their father was well and alive to which the answer was a resonant negative. Chitralekha's mother collapsed on her knees and cried her heart out while Ram Singh was busy processing the news.

Chitralekha's ragged breathing echoed inside her heart, rumbled in her soul. "Prince... Prince... What happened to the... the royal fa-family."

The old man sniveled and wiped his nose with the sleeve of his frayed kurta. "His Highness, the king, was decapitated. The queens were chained, and the young princes were blinded. Prince Surya was still in the prison, alive and breathing. And when the princesses were on the verge of committing Jauhar, Princess Kalavati arrived at a peace treaty with the enemies."

Chitralekha breathed a sigh of relief.

"But then..." The man's pupils dilated and more tears spilled out. "But then the full moon came up in the night sky, and people started dropping dead one by one. The roofs of houses and even the palace collapsed on their own. People were scrambling for their lives. A shadow... a shadow was chasing everyone down, sucking the life out of them. Perhaps it was too painful as the shrieks of agony reverberated off the walls. They bled from their eyes and nose before they could take their last breaths. People were running hither and thither to get out of the fort as the forests, despite being full of wild animals, seemed safer than whatever inexplicable events were transpiring inside. The few like me saved ourselves, but the rest who stayed... All of them are dead. No one survived the night. No one did. Not even our pets and cattle." The man paused to take a breath. "The survivors returned the following morning to arrange for the funeral of those whom we could find. We cremated thousands, and now that there is nothing left for us, we are moving out, leaving our homes behind. Even the enemy has fled and abandoned the city."