Chapter Seven: Esteem and Acceptance
Moora was giving the Shrinjara which comprises of clothes, jewelry, bangles, etc to her daughters-in-law, "Durdhara here is yours. Helena this is yours. Since Nandini said she would not keep the fast, I am not giving..."
Even before she could complete her sentence, Nandini said, "Main Vrat rakrahi hoon, Maaji. Maine apna man badal liya hai!"(I am keeping the fast, Maaji. I have changed my mind)
Moora held out Nandini's Shrinjara to her while giving an approving look at this point, "Achchi baat hai! (Very good)This will send all the right signals to everyone around you about where your loyalties lie! Now you will have a chance of earning everyone's respect!"
Then she introduced three ladies to her daughters-in-law explaining to them, "These ladies belong to a family which is famed throughout Magadh and Piplivan for the excellent and exquisite mehendi designs they make. Since all three of you are Chandragupt's wives, I thought that you deserved the very best. (Turning to the three ladies, Moora said) Make such intricate designs that none of them will be able to find it."
Durdhara smiled shyly and coyly at this, Nandini was noncommittal, while Helena looked completely clueless. Helena was trying her best to learn the things, the language and customs, and adapt herself to the new lifestyle. But the encouragement from others was not very forthcoming. Moora missed no opportunity to put her down for any faux pas she made, while Durdhara who seemed a more promising subject, unluckily stood in such awe of her that she did not interact properly with her. As regards Nandini, she, Helena would never prefer cultivating that lost friendship ever again after its sorry demise, thanks to the efforts of one Malayketu.
All the three ladies started making the designs on the beautiful and delicate hands of the three Ranis. They were very adept in this trade and were done within a quarter of an hour. One of the ladies after completing said, "Patrani ji hogaya! Ab dhundlijiye!" (Chief Queen Consort ji, it's over. You can search now)
Helena looked at her hand and said, "Bahut khoobsurat! (Very beautiful) There are some flowers here, some leaves there, some straddling creepers here...Very good work!" Helena gestured her maid cum interpreter to give some reward to the lady for her hardwork
Moora gave a cutting and hopeless nod at this, "Kuch nahin hosakta iska! (One cannot make much of her) I will turn my remaining black hairs also grey teaching this one Indian traditions and customs!"
Helena understood by this time that she was missing something in this ritual. Durdhara explained to her, "Helena, our husband's name has been written on our palms along with the rest of the mehendi design. We are supposed to find it out."
Helena became very excited by this time. She was loving this whole ritual, "Kis bhasha main likha hai? Persian, Greece ..."(In what language is it written?)
The lady wore a sheepish look and said, "Mujhe maaf kijiye Patrani ji! Mujhe aathi nahin hai Persian aur Yavani Bhasha! Hindustani Bhasha main likha hai!"(Please forgive me Patrani ji. I don't know to write in Persian or Greek language. It is written in the Hindustani tongue)
Helena summoned her interpreter and asked her how Chandragupt's name is written in Hindustani Bhasha. The interpreter took a plate full of Haldi and wrote it down on it. Helena, her mind full of enthusiasm and childish curiosity began looking at the shape of the letters and her hands. Finally she was able to piece out Chandragupt's name in her palms. This discovery filled her face with such exquisite joy that she asked her maid to give the necklace she was wearing to the lady who had done the mehendi design.
Durdhara also discovered Chandragupt's name on her palms. Now it was Nandini's turn. She was looking at her palms with all the faculties and attention at her disposal but was unable to make out where the 'Gupt' of Chandragupt's name was hidden in her palms. She was carefully looking, "Here is 'Ch'...and here we have 'an'...and there we have 'dra'...'Gupt' kahan hai!"
Moora by now was at her wit's end, "Such unique and sample pieces I have for my Bahus! Find it at your leisure Nandini. All of you will have to keep the mehendi for three to four hours at least for it to ripen. It is believed the husband of a woman loves her as much as the ripeness of her mehendi. So all of you will be careful with your mehendi. Later on, all three of you will get ready for going to the Gowri Mandir with Chandra. I will ask him to keep himself free for that. All three of you are newly married and need the blessings of the Goddess for a fruitful and successful marriage."
Nandini was in her room. She had spent nearly three hours looking at her palms and trying to figure out where 'Gupt' was but in vain. She was so preoccupied that she did not notice that her maids had left to comply with the Rajmata's orders to help in the kitchen in making 'Ghevar' (A traditional sweet made during the festival of Theej) in large scale quantities as a preparatory for the evening uthsav. Similarly, she hadn't noticed or observed the announcement of Chandragupt's arrival in her chamber in her preoccupation.
She said, "Jaldhi seh yahan aao aur dekho mere hath!" (Come soon and look at my hands)
Chandragupt for a moment was stunned and did not understand what the benighted girl wanted him to do. But if she was telling something, he perhaps had to give it a try. It was something important maybe! Maybe she had some strange weapon or poison in her hands which she wanted to show him.
He hesitantly took her hands in his and observed. The tingling sensation and touch told her that it wasn't her maid. Nandini was for a moment shocked that she had been talking to him all this while but felt that it would be too rude to jerk her hand out of his solid grasp. So she let it remain where it was. The feeling of her hands in his wasn't so unpleasant to her either. It was warm, comfortable and soothing.
He quizzically asked her, "Yeh visheela hai kya? Aur usme kya doondhrahi ho?" (Is it poisonous? What are you searching in it?)
She burst out into peels of laughter at this. Chandra was for a moment lost in her blissful laughter. Her vivacious and infectious laughter seemed to rub on to him for an instant. In between her laughs, she explained, "Vish nahin hai! Main kya Vish ki Dukkan hoon ki hamesha Vish lekar ghoomungi?" (There is no poison. Am I a poison shop that I will always roam around taking poison with me?)
Chandra a bit confused, "How will I know? You poisoned that Haldi. So I thought, maybe you poisoned this mehendi as well, you know!"
Nandini now cutely pouting her lips said, "Yes! But that was a while ago. A lot happened after that. Why do you think I am still the same?"
Chandra still a bit cautiously, "If you say so, I will believe you! By the way, what were you looking in this Mehendi for?"
Nandini looked a bit exasperated at this remark but let it go as she held the mehendi before him again and said, "Your name. It is etched somewhere in my palms. I figured out till 'Chandra'. I am not getting where 'Gupt' is."
By now, even Chandra was warming up to this task. He was carefully looking at her delicate and beautiful palms, their silky and velvety smoothness as they seemed to merge into his own. The lines on her palms interspersed with beautiful floral and leafy patterns, entangled and knotted vines, the whitish pink hues of her hand contrasted with the dark greenish caked up and occasionally wet patches of mehendi.
He moved closer and was looking very carefully at the designs when she too moved a bit closer. The mild and slightly intoxicating scent she wore wafted up his nostrils until it reached his head which felt slightly bewitched and at the same time wary of all this proximity. He suddenly got up and hastily said, "'Gupt' yahan hai! Get ready soon. All of us have to go to the Mandir in a short while from now."
Nandini rose up and nodded her head. A strand of her cockscrew curls suddenly became unentangled from her hair. She tried to push it back shaking her head and with her mehendi laden hands but in vain. She gave Chandra a pleading gesture as though asking him to do it for her. He unwillingly turned, summoning all the self control at his disposal, and pushed the naughty curl and carefully tucked it behind her ear. He was about to leave when she gestured towards her nose and he irritatedly said, "Ab kya?" (What now?)
She pointed towards her nose. Chandra asked, "Naak khatna hai? Maaf karo. Main streeyon ke naak nahin khattha! Kisi aur ko bhejdetha hoon!" (Should I cut your nose? Please forgive me. I don't cut the noses of ladies. I will send someone else.)
Nandini said, "Hamesha naak khatna, sir khatna; kuch aur bhi hosakta hai na? My nose is itching. Since nobody else is available...so will Maharaj please...scratch my nose...(Always cutting the nose, cutting the head; it could be something else as well)
Chandragupt started laughing in a full throated, manly manner at the apparent ridiculousness and novelty of the whole situation. Nandini too started laughing. They continued like this for some time before Chandra excused himself from there asking Nandini to get ready for the Mandir.
At the Gowri Mandir,
After some time, Chandra and his three queens had arrived at the Gowri Mandir to offer their obeisance to the goddess and seek her blessings. Being the day of Theej, the temple was heavily crowded. The soldiers hastily pushed everyone aside in their alacrity and to ensure security, asking the people to make way for their Maharaj and his queens.
Chandragupt on observing what they were doing, stopped them and said, "Everyone is equal before Mata Gowri. I and my queens will wait for our turn for our Darshan and Puja. Nobody will be pushed or jostled aside for our sake. Since it is your duty to ensure providing security to us, you can do so wherever we are standing without causing inconvenience to the rest of the devotees."
Helena stared on in perfect disbelief. She had been looking forward to showing off her Patrani status and expecting special Royal treatment at the temple. She followed Chandra, joining him in the line, and muttering beneath her breath to express her dissatisfaction while putting on a fake smiling face so that she would not lose her impression with Chandra.
Durdhara, being his childhood friend, openly expressed her feelings of dissent. She whispered with a hiss in Chandra's ear, "Ab Rani hokar kya laabh! Koi aur din hota toh seh lethi. Aaj mera upvaas hai... aur yahaan ithni beedh main kadi rehna...baap re baap! Mujhse nahin hota!" (What's the use of being a queen? If it was some other day, I would have endured it. Today is my fast, and to stand in this crowd, whew! I cannot do it!)
Chandra turned to her and said, "Durdhara, I was not always the Samrat of Magadh. I used to be a poor shepherd's son my entire childhood. Would you have been the same if I had continued poor? Be reasonable. All the ladies around you must have been fasting. Not just you!"
Durdhara, by this time becoming peevish, said, "Yes! But I was always the daughter of one of the richest Seths. I was always used to certain comforts and privileges. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't have married you if you would have continued to remain poor always with no hope of becoming rich or luxurious. We are friends and I cannot pretend to be what I am not with you. I hate standing in a long queue for my turn and that's it!
Nandini's eyes were glowing with pride at Chandra's declaration. She just could not help blushing or showing her happiness in the glow that illuminated her whole face and persona. All his tall claims about being like a father and well wisher to his Praja were not empty words after all. He truly meant everything he spoke. Only a Raja who saw himself as one among the Praja and not above them would be remembered by the coming generations and history.
She was truly blessed that she had such an opportunity to be beside and support such a magnificent and charismatic personality as his Rani. She had remembered her previous visits to various temples with her father and brothers. She had seen only cowering and downcast eyes. Here she saw eyes that loved, that adored, that hero worshipped and looked high up to the skies in esteem of her husband. This would forever remain a very beautiful memory in her mind.
Chandra a bit downcast at this kind of reaction from two of his wives, turned towards Nandini and said, "Tumhe bhi kuch apaththi hai toh bathado! Waise bhi tum Magadh ki Rajkumari thi shaadi seh pehle. Tumhe iska anubhav bhi nahin hoga!" (Tell me if you also have a problem! Anyhow you were the Princess of Magadh before your marriage. You wouldn't have experienced something like this before)
"Anubhav toh nahin hain mere paas, par apne aap ko is sanche main dalne ki avashya prayathna karungi!" (I don't have any experience of this, but I can surely try to put myself into this mold) said Nandini.
Chandra was a bit shocked to first hear this out of her mouth. He reiterated, "Kya?" (What?) in order to reconfirm if he had heard her properly.
Nandini said, "Maine kaha 'Haan'. Mujhe prasannatha hai Maharaj ke nirnay aur wyavahar seh!" (I said 'yes'. I am happy with Maharaj's decision and behavior)
Chandragupt's face beamed in pleasure that at least one of his wives had been able to understand where he was coming from and was thinking from the same wave length like him. He never saw this coming from Nandini. His esteem of Nandini rose up several notches higher with her words. She wasn't what he had always seen her to be. There was more to her and her character than the bratty, spoilt, pampered and vengeful princess he had seen in her.
Chapter Eight: A Premeditated Attack
Chandra and his three queens had finished their Darshan and performed the Arti of Mata Gowri. They were all about to leave when a lady among the people tried to approach near Chandragupt. She was promptly stopped by the soldiers. The lady lamented, "I mean no harm. I just want to meet Maharaj and put forward my issue. I have sought permission to meet Maharaj in the court but I have been refused citing security concerns. I just cannot let go this opportunity when Maharaj himself is personally here. Please allow me to speak."
Chandragupt ordered his men, "Leave the lady and let her speak!"
The lady spoke, "Maharaj, my husband was a great patriot. He fought the war with Padmanand on your side voluntarily as a soldier. But unfortunately he became wounded and maimed in this battle and was deemed unfit for active military service. Earlier, he used to be a blacksmith. That was the family profession of my husband. But due to his health condition, he is unfit for that job. So he has no job or source of income at the present moment. Our entire family comprising of five members including my two small children, my husband, and his aged mother, and I are literally starving. Maharaj, I request you to please give a solution to our problem."
Nandini who was listening to all this intervened telling, "Maharaj please forgive me for interrupting you and interfering in this matter. This issue and several related ones have been running in my mind for some time from now. I would like to discuss them with you and the council of ministers in the court. I would be very glad if the lady here also takes part in that discussion. Is it possible? I know you could immediately solve this lady's problem by giving her some wealth. But the root cause of this problem will not be eliminated."
Chandragupt declared, "This issue will be immediately discussed in the court. Arrange for an urgent meeting of the Mantri Mandal! Rani Nandini will also be given an opportunity to put forward her views on the same. (He turned to the lady and sympathetically said) I understand the difficulties you and your family have been going through. An attempt will be made to resolve them as quickly as possible. Meet us in the court."
At the court,
The issue was placed before the Mantri Mandal by the lady and Rani Nandini was asked to make the additional points and observations she wanted to make before the decision would be taken. Nandini offered her Pranams to the Maharaj of Magadh, Raja Chandragupt and all the great and educated intellectuals and Mantri Gan in the Raj Sabha, including Pradham Amatya Acharya Chanakya. She said,
"All of us in the Raj Sabha are well aware that any war results in a lot of collateral damage in its aftermath. The death toll is high and so are the wounded on both the warring sides. The hardest hit are the women, the children, the aged and the maimed. The main earning member of the family is dead and they often left behind without any financial support.
It is even worse in the case of maimed or wounded soldiers. They are considered unfit for military service and terminated from it. They have to battle several health issues, and their expenses are even higher than when they were healthy, as they are jobless and lack any financial support to boot.
I have generally understood from what I have heard that in case the dead or wounded soldier has a son or male family member who is old enough to take his position in the army, that job is given to them. Isn't it Acharya ji?"
Acharya Chanakya agreed, "Yes, Rani Nandini. That is the standard procedure."
Nandini continued, "Acharya ji what about the cases where no male family member of the soldier who is dead or maimed is old enough or fit enough to take up a military position? Are the soldiers or their family given some pension or compensation?"
Chanakya slowly replied after a long pause, "No!"
Nandini spoke, "Do the esteemed members of this Raj Sabha think that just because a soldier is wounded or maimed, he becomes unfit for any and every job? They could be employed in the spy network or in government jobs which do require hard labor or extreme levels of physical fitness.
Regarding the women, isn't it possible to train the ladies who wish to follow their dead husband's footsteps to join the army? A female contingent of army could be developed. This could be very useful in times of war in protecting the capital and other regions when Maharaj and his army might have to suddenly leave.
The Praja would not be so completely unprotected in the absence of the regular forces and law enforcement agencies. Administration would proceed as smoothly as before even in times of war and strife. We would have a trained contingent ready to meet any eventualities if the enemy thinks of attacking the capital in Maharaj's absence. The enemy would receive a strong and resounding answer.
If these ladies do not want to join active military service, a rehabilitation center for them, children and the aged people could be established. Side by side, all these people could be empowered by giving them some vocational training and an alternate source of income to make up for their financial loss due to the loss of the male earning member of the family.
These are a few points and suggestions I had to make. There may be a number of practical difficulties in implementing them. Whether these ideas will be implemented or not, if so, to what degree, I completely leave them to the discretion of Maharaj Chandragupt and his able and astute ministers of the Mantri Mandal. I would like to thank Maharaj for giving me this opportunity of putting forwards my views and opinions."
Chandragupt carefully listened to all the suggestions of Nandini and said, "Rani Nandini made several valuable points. I would like to appreciate her for paying such deep thought to these matters. (Turning to the lady who had originally raised this issue he said) But before that, I am greatly thankful to you for bringing this matter to my notice.
I would want the Mantri Mandal to draw up a detailed budget plan for giving a pension to the family members of our dead soldiers. Do we have the necessary funds for it in our treasury? If not, are there any alternate sources of money generation for this purpose? The lady who has raised this issue be immediately helped with necessary funds to help her and her family.
Similarly, no wounded or maimed soldier will be terminated from service. Their health expenses will be borne by us and they will be employed in other ways in the government service.
I feel that this will boost the morale of our soldiers who will no longer be worried about their future or about the families and will give their very best in every war. So dear lady, please ask your husband to rejoin government service immediately. He will be given a comparatively light job involving very limited physical labor.
Work on the rehabilitation center and imparting vocational training to the family members of the dead soldiers will be immediately started. Regarding the female army contingent, I would like to discuss in private with Acharya Chanakya and my Mantri Mandal on its feasibility before I give my decision. The court is dismissed!"
Helena who was watching this from the sidelines of her curtained and secluded section gave a grimace. This Nandini was losing no chance to curry her favor with Chandra. She was gaining popularity with the Praja also by taking interest in general welfare schemes. She had to buck up her act if she was to beat Nandini in the act. Nandini had bewitched that Malayketu away from her just like this.
Chandragupt before leaving the court hall, stepped near Nandini and whispered in a voice audible only to her, "Saath denekeliye dhanyavaad, yahan aur Mandir main bhi! You have been looking very different since some time. I am unable to guess what it must be. You must have started using some new beauty product. It is making a real difference to your appearance."
Nandini blushed a deep red at this personal compliment she received from Chandragupt. She was using the same beauty products she had always been using. Over the past few days she had even been negligent in grooming or beautifying herself. But the fact that he had noticed her and appreciated her beauty was actually a tribute not to her external person but her inner self. It pointed towards the fact that he had perceived the paradigmatic shift in her attitude and was affected by it.
Throughout her childhood she had seen all the important men around her, her father and brothers giving importance only to external appearance. She had seen her mother being passed over, neglected and replaced by newer, younger and even more beautiful women every year. These women themselves were discarded once the glow of their external beauty and youth were past with yet other women. The same thing happened with her sisters-in-law too.
All of them remained just show pieces for public display and nothing more in the lives of the men with whom their destiny was tied up. By the time she grew up, she had begun believing that perhaps this was the common lot of all married women. It gave her a distaste to think that women were solely objects that men could use and throw. That to some extent explained her insecurities and unwillingness to get married. At least here, she was the daughter of the house and would always be pampered and prized over everyone.
But for her husband, she would just be a toy he would use and discard. That is why she had always clamored for love in her marriage and vehemently wanted to marry the person whom she loved and who would love her in return. Unfortunately, she had been unable to stick to her original stance by circumstances. Malayketu who came into her life did nothing to change her opinion. If anything, it firmly entrenched her opinion that men always cared for skin deep beauty and not what you actually were within. Chandra was somehow very different from all of them.
Nandini was walking back to her chambers humming a soft melody within herself. She felt like singing, dancing, celebrating all at the same time. Life was not so bad after all. The happiness of her dancing spirits gave a peculiar glow to her whole aspect. On her way, she was accosted by Helena who said, "Don't be too happy! I know how to win back Chandra from you. I challenge you!"
Nandini felt sorry for her thinking, "Helena you are still talking about winning and losing, profit and loss? This is a relationship and you are still dealing with it like a political game you play in an open arena. You are talking about challenges and fights. Why do you see your happiness as so dependent on somebody else? If it had been somebody else who was not so sophisticated and learned as you, I would perhaps have understood their attitude and insecurities. It is really a pity you give yourself so less importance!"
Helena questioned, "Then does this mean you are going to give up Chandra to me and will not compete with me?"
Nandini said, "When did I ever tell you that? This relationship is as much mine as yours or Durdhara's. We can all peacefully coexist. Just as you and Durdhara have your own space in Chandra's life, I have my own space in his life. And I will not give up my space in his life at any cost. What is mine is mine! I will not tolerate it being snatched away from me. But I will never try to snatch what is yours from you. We are essentially doing a disservice to ourselves and our fellow women if we try to supplant them. One day we would also remain in danger of being supplanted by somebody else."
Helena was left fuming as Nandini sashayed away from there with her head held up high. When she reached her chamber, Nandini started pondering why she had reacted like that to Helena's demands to give up Chandra. It should essentially not have mattered to her what happened to the future of this relationship. She always kept consoling herself telling that this was just a compromise. What had so drastically changed to realign that equation? She just knew that it was so. The reason for it still eluded the grasp of her understanding.
Nandini was carefully dressing herself in the Shrinjara she was given by Moora. She double checked everything about her appearance right from her Maang tikka to her Bindi. As was her usual custom, she completed her dressing by holding her hair in place with a golden knife studded with gems before she covered her head with a Duppatta. This was something she had been doing ever since she was eleven years old. She had continued this practice even after her marriage.
After this was done, Nandini looked at her mehendi laden hands. They had beautifully ripened to a deep, and dark red. She softly fondled the letters representing 'Chandragupt' that were etched in her palms for a moment, before she filled her Maang with sindoor. She was wearing a red saree with gold and silver brocade work. It accentuated her whitish pink skin hue.
Her whole appearance was glowing and luminous with a brilliant light shining in both her eyes which were hopeful, playful, expectant, curious and piquant at the same time. Just as Nandini was coming down the stairs, she saw Chandragupt personally overseeing the security arrangements from time to time. For a moment, he was spell bound by Nandini's beauty. But not wanting her to notice it, he instantly turned aside.
Nandini was disheartened and disappointed by this kind of response to her efforts to look her best. This evening she had really spent a lot of time in her personal grooming and make up just because she wanted Chandra to notice it. She had wanted a repetition of the personal compliment she had received the afternoon of the very same day this evening too.
But luck and Chandra did not seem to favor her. He seemed so preoccupied that he did not even take the time to notice her appearance. He scarcely nodded in return to her greeting to him as she was passing by. How foolish of her! She felt so angry with herself for expecting too much. If he was not going to notice, she would also not degrade herself by showing it outside that she had started expecting his attentions.
Nandini did not know what to make out of his blow hot and blow cold attitude. Was he really interested in her or were her female instincts simply misleading her? She did not know what to make out of the enigma that Chandragupt was. She had always been herself and pretty frank and open in her anger, her revenge, her confusion, her divided loyalties, her guilt, her friendship, her empathy, her esteem, or her acceptance of him.
But she could hardly make out what Chandragupt really was behind the mask he perpetually wore. Was she reading too much or too little into his behavior? Moreover, she saw no earthly reason from his side for wearing this mask to her. Of what use could a girl like her who had lost her everything be to him except as a charitable compromise?
For some reason, Nandini was feeling terribly uneasy and disoriented that evening. She had been fasting throughout the day without even water. Her throat was feeling parched. Her intuition told her that something unpleasant was going to happen. It was the first time after the war that the doors of the palace were being thrown open to the general public. The Praja had started pouring into the palace in huge numbers. However, the soldiers were carefully and thoroughly checking everyone who was being admitted inside.
Nandini's fears to some extent were silenced. She was proceeding in a hurry to the open space in the Royal garden where the open air Utsav and later rituals were going to be conducted. She bumped into a lame person who was hopping on one leg and carrying a crutch along with him.
The soldiers were following the regular security protocol even with him, shuffling and examining him thoroughly when Helena, who seeing that Nandini was also beside when this was taking place, and was not protesting against this in the least degree, saw this as the right opportunity of winning the popularity of the general public.
She overruled the soldiers telling, "The poor man is a cripple. What kind of harm do you anticipate from him? Just let him go. Don't you have any consideration even for his physical condition?" All the surrounding people looked greatly impressed by this studied kindness of Helena and gave approving nods and impressed smiles. Helena passed by Nandini having a smug look on her face at having scored several brownie points in her own favor in her Praja's psyche.
The Utsav passed without much event. The moon was shining brightly in the sky by now. Now it was the turn of all the wives to perform Arti and Puja of Chandragupt, one by one, look at his face through a sieve and then at the moon and break their fast with water and sweets from Chandra's own hand. Helena did it first, followed by Durdhara.
Nandini's turn came third. She did her Puja and Arti and looked at Chandra through the sieve and then at the moon. In all this something seemed to be amiss. She was just not able to figure out what it was. The lame person she had bumped against was standing in the front in the first line among the Praja.
It was only when Chandra had lifted the golden tumbler of water from her thali to break her fast that Nandini was able to recognize what had been troubling her all along. The lame man was no longer lame. He was standing on both of his feet. He had, carefully and unnoticed by anyone, taken out a couple of poisonous darts to attack Chandra. Her heart was racing ahead and pounding like anything. She knew what she had to do.
Nandini instinctively pulled Chandra down while personally ducking herself as she took out her knife from beneath her secured bun of hair and dispatched it lightning quick towards the intruder who was planning to assassinate Chandra. The knife hit the man right in the middle of his brow and he was spot dead. A chaos instantly ensued and all the people started running helter-skelter.
Moora stared on in stunned disbelief at how all her grand plans had ended so badly. But being a lady of iron and steel, her face remained blank and steely in its resolve. At the other end, the color started escaping Helena's face as she blanched in guilt that somewhere her mistake in allowing the crippled "behrupia" had resulted in such a major fallout. She was quivering within herself at what Chandra's reaction would be when it would come to his knowledge that she had asked the security protocol to be relaxed for him. Durdhara appeared truly terrified by this turn of events and clung to Chaaya's dress and hid behind her. She was muttering the Hanuman Chalisa within her breath.
Chandragupt quickly recovered his poise and was able to judge what must have exactly happened. He immediately began giving orders to all his men, "Evacuate the general Praja from here safely. Make a safety ring and escort all the ladies of the royal family from here safely and keep all of them securely guarded. Give orders to all the rest of the soldiers in the Royal palace to gather here in the garden."
Nandini was a bit reluctant to leave Chandra and go from there. Her fast was not broken and danger was looming all around them. She kept looking back, lagging behind and her eyes lingering on him. She softly murmured, "Mera Vrat pura nahin hua..."(My fast is not over)
He hurriedly pushed her aside and thundered, "Nandini are you mad or what? Pran chale jathe, aur tumhe vrat ki padi hai? Mere sir par math baito! Mujhe yahan ki stithi samaalnedo! (We might have been dead, and you are still bothered about your vrat? Don't sit over my head! Let me take charge of this situation!) Go from here! Now!" The water tumbler, sweets, and her Puja ingredients like sindoor, haldi and turmeric stained rice scattered and fell to the ground.
She was scarcely able to hide or control the tears that were swimming in her eyes. He knew that he was being too rude to her when he ought to have been thankful to her. But the situation was very dangerous. They seemed to have been infiltrated from within. There was also the threat of a full fledged attack. This matter needed to be handled urgently. This was no time for chivalry and proprieties.
Once all the soldiers were assembled in the lawn, Chandragupt ordered, "All of you will hold the sword in your right hand and raise it up to the skies. Each person will look towards his left side now. Have all of you seen?" The men shouted in unison, "Yes, Maharaj!" Chandragupt asked, " Now do you know what you should do?" They shouted, "Yes!"
And before the next couple of seconds, in several places the men drove their sword deep into the chest of the person standing next to them. Chandragupt stood unmoved throughout this entire sequence of events. And when it was over, he coolly asked, "How many in number are they?"
A captain in his army sprang into action and gave him the approximate figures. "They must have numbered to around five hundred in number. Such a number could not have infiltrated through the security cordon. They must have intruded from some secret entrance of which we seem to have been unaware of.
But there definitely seems to have been a security lapse in the fake lame man managing to come so close to assassinating Maharaj! We will try to get it investigated at the earliest and inform Maharaj how it happened. I would like to thank Maharaj for coming up with the idea of getting all our men tattooed with a special identifying mark on their right hand. That is how we were able to foil this premeditated attack."
Chanakya reiterated, "Is the back of this attack broken or are there any more left? Have you discovered the secret passage through which this infiltration happened and destroyed it? It will always be like a sword hanging over our head."
The military General spoke at this point, "We haven't yet discovered that passage but I will put my men on the job. Similarly I am still not sure if this is the total number of men who have infiltrated. We will carefully sweep every nook and corner of the palace before tomorrow morning. But it is better to be careful for the present night.
This attack seems to have been very well planned and coordinated. They somehow managed to sneak in one of their men past the security cordon with the intention of assassinating Maharaj. Our soldiers also were a bit lax looking at the fact that the behrupia seems to have disguised himself as a cripple. That man would have tried assassinating Maharaj. And in the ensuing confusion and chaos, these other infiltrators would have killed all our men and soldiers in quick succession and succeeded in taking control of the entire royal palace."
At another dark corner of the Patliputra palace, three hooded figures where discussing in hushed tones, "Our plans have failed miserably. The entire force with which we came here has been decimated. We have to make good our escape from here before our secret passage is discovered and we lose our opportunity of escaping from here. We have to rebuild and regroup our forces. We will attack again at some other opportune moment."
The other hooded figure questioned, "Amatya, our plan was so foolproof. How did we fail?"
The first hooded figure spoke after a pause, "Kumar, I know that this will pain you. But Rajkumari Nandini seems to have come to some sort of understanding and acceptance of Chandragupt. Otherwise why would she keep a Vrat for him or why would she kill our man whom we intruded after such difficulty? It all began there!"
The third figure spoke now, "I can't believe that my Nandini did this or can do something like this. There is something wrong that is happening; and I have to find out the reason why it is happening. Amatya, you and Kumar Dhananand make good your escape from here. I will stay behind here to find out a few things. If something wrong happens to me, you will crown Rajkumar Dhananand as the king and fight on his behalf."
With those few words the three men parted ways with two of them heading towards the secret passage and the third sneaking back into the royal palace.
Edited by shailusri1983 - 8 years ago
Chat Clubs
Members Lounge
