CN SS: ~REVENGE~ part 11 updated at page 31 - Page 5

Originally posted by: Shinning_Stuti

REVENGE~

PART:2

The Nand queens of the women-quarter are sitting at the edge of their seats... This night is going to decide their destiny! The moon of the night sky is playing hide and seek with the black cloud. The happy air of the festive night is slowly being touched with black and gloomy omen. All are living with a hope... some with the hope of a new beginning, some with the hope of burning everything including own identity in the devastating fire of revenge! None knows what is going to happen next!

"I am afraid that we are doing wrong Sunanda!" Avantika whispered with a hopeless sigh. "This was a last chance for Nandini to live her life; but she is ruining the chance in the urge of revenge!"

"You cannot do anything Avantika. She will not be happy in this forced relationship." Sunanda discouraged her. "Your daughter is going to fulfil her duty as a daughter. You should bless her instead of thinking about a selfish future!"

"Duty of daughter!!" Avantika closed her eyes in a sheer pain. But she took no time to control emotions. "We have taken a great risk Sunanda! We... we did too hurry!"

"Everything is going as per plan. We have a concrete plan Avantika!" Sunanda tried to assure her.

"I do not believe. Acharya Chanakya and Chandragupta have defeated the vast army of Magadh! They cannot be so dumb in front of some mere little conspiracies of women! That can't be so simple..." Avantika's voice was increasing restlessly! "Sunanda, I fear there must be..."

She is a true royal, and she knows the real score, unlike Sunanda.

"Excuse me ladies!!"

Both of them were shocked with the stony voice. A rough and tough woman soldier is standing. Vishakha was standing behind her, with trembling limbs!

"Acharya Chanakya has ordered you all to meet him!" She ordered in an emotionless voice! They stood speechless, being unknown to their destiny.

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Suddenly a chaos from outside entered in the room. Chandragupta looked out lazily. "It's looking like your partners in crime are caught by now, you murderous princess!"He told in an idle tone. "Really, you people are so ungrateful!" He smiled amusedly. "Despite all of your father's inhumane atrocity on us me and my family forgave you all, gave you the status that you lost, and also a chance to arrange the life properly, and you were here just to kill me! Wonderful! After all you are the daughter of that crooked barber Nand! After all the foul blood of Nand dynasty is flowing through your veins!"

"Chandragupta!!!" Nandini roared again in vain from under the tight clasp of her groom. "Don't dare to say anything against my father and my lineage!"

"Usually I refrain myself from talking and behaving this way with a respectable woman, but today you left no choice. As you showed me your shameless, vicious form in the first chance... how would I consider you as a respectable woman from now on?" Chandra smiled with apathy, and eventually his hold got loose enough to free Nandini. With a little effort from her side, Nandini managed to move herself in his imprisonment, and brought herself closer to his lips. "I don't want your respect Chandragupta! I want revenge!"

"Don't cry for revenge if that urge does not have a greater cause to welcome something good! Else the fire of revenge will burn you alive!" Chandragupta released Nandini, and she vaulted like a spring, and picked up a torch from the nearby stand for illuminating the room. "I am ready to burn in the fire of revenge Chandragupta, but I will not let you to escape from that burn!" She shouted and threw the firebrand on the bed. The flame of fire grabbed the ambience swiftly... In the extreme illumination Nandini shouted- "If avenging your father's death was your duty as a son Chandra, then it is my duty too to take the revenge of my father's death as a daughter! If my urge of revenge welcomes the destruction of the world, then also it would not stop me from fulfilling my duty!!"

"Nice!!" Chandragupta smirked again. The blazing light of the flame was brightening his personality more. "Now this is a perfect night for us, isn't it Nandputri? Anger, hatred and the fire of revenge?" With a sudden cruel glare he suddenly pulled her wrist. Nandini fell on his chest, again the metallic sound of collision in the point they met. The insane revengeful flame of fire had almost captured the room, and in that strange ambience the newly married couple was standing together with minimum distance in between their body. Nandini was fuming in extremely passionate revenge... Chandra was standing with his as usual uncanny calmness...

There are two kinds of fire. Hot, like Nandini's , and icy, like Chandragupta's. The strange thing is that icy fire is hotter and more destructive than the other, and also more focussed in its fury.

"CHANDRAA!!" The familiar voice of Acharya Chanankya knocked the door! In this uncommon and abnormal night the Acharya too has been compelled to knock the king's bedroom! "Are you alright Chandra? Is everything okay?" He shouted in a concerned voice...

"Yes, Acharya!" Chandra reciprocated. And then he picked up the protesting Nandini in his arms. "I won't die so easily in your hand Nandputri! I have plenty works to do other than losing my valuable life in your stupid urge of revenge! And I cannot let you to burn alive in this fire... at least not till the day you get to know what a daughter's duty should be actually!"

Lifting her in his arms, he effortlessly crossed the barrier of fire, and rushed out of the burning room!

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There was a gathering in midnight in the secret conference room of the palace. All the Nand queens were standing in chains like captives in a line surrounded by armed women soldiers. The queen mother, Queen Helena, Queen Durdhara and princess Chhaya was standing anxiously with different expressions in their faces. Acharya Chanakya was sitting in his own seat, with his usual calm and composed face assuring seraphic peace in the tension budding in air; all the rest of the room are looking at his face only.

Some announcement took place, as his majesty got into the room. He was not alone, there was his new bride behind him too captivated and guarded by two soldiers. All stood up with concerned and severe respect including Acharya, joining both of his hands touching the forehead with kingly courtesy and respect Chandragupta Maurya took his sit on the throne. Nandini was stood in the line of the other captive ladies. With the same furious fire in eyes she stared at Chandra's glowing face.

"Are you alright my son?" Moora asked Chandra with motherly concern before the session starts. Chandragupta nodded and smiled confidently. With soft and respectful glare he looked at his teacher. Chanakya smiled back to him- the smile usually having some languages that only can be decoded by Chandragupta. Then he stood up and delivered the speech.

"A grave conspiracy had been crafted to assassinate his majesty, and fortunately, with the efforts and cooperation of the security managers and the spies of the palace his life is out of danger now." He declared in his usual awe-inspiring tone. "I, the Mahamatya of Magadh, hereby thank all the soldiers, spies and security guards of the palace and the antahpur for working hard in these days to supply all the details of this conspiracy and to take necessary action against it. The conspirators are caught now, and his majesty will declare their punishment."

Chandragupta stood up before addressing. "I hereby present my gratitude to every single secret agent and royal guards of the palace for ensure the security of my life. I am grateful to Rajmata for ensuring the delicate and perfect security conduct of the antahpur for which all the culprits are in front of our eyes now; I thank to my Acharya Mahamatya for his hardship of gathering all the details of the conspiracy and for saving my life along with the safety of Magadh... I will conclude that, this incident is not at all a big issue; trials of assassinating the kings are not new in Magadh's history and it will go on. I am sure that none will be able to give a scratch to me as long I have the armour of my guru's blessings, my subjects' prayers and as long I am bound with the duty of unifying my motherland and create an Akhand Bharat free of crime and corruption... This unwanted incident has wasted a lot of time and peace of all unfortunately, but these are simply included in a king's routine. Only we have to be more careful with the enemies in the mask of friends."

He paused and looked at the captive women. "The former queens and princesses of Nand had not only planned to kill the king of Magadh, but also conspired to destroy the peace and stability of the state. Trial to regicide and to conspire against Nation is one of the greatest crimes stated in Nyayshastra, and as a king it is my duty to punish the criminals for sake of justice... I know the former queen is very much aware of the punishments allotted for attempting on the king's life, and she had taken such a step after giving that a good thought... however..."

He paused again, now his glare concentrated on the face of Rani Avantika who was literally trembling in fear thinking about their future now, and her usual majestic appearance cannot hide that blind fear from her face. As a queen of a very cruel king she knows very well how much brutal the punishment can be! What would Padmanand have done in this situation? Maybe burn them alive in front of each and every citizen or may be piercing their body with spears before hanging them alive in the entrance of the capital? What this new king is going to declare now?!

Sunanda was almost dead out of fear now; the whole plan was made by her and Nandini, and all the procedures was going so swiftly without any difficulties... she did not even imagine that their each and every actions are being observed and measured in each step! Now what will happen! The other royal ladies are too shivering terribly. There was a pin-drop silence in the room!

"I have decided the punishment for the criminals." Chandragupta himself broke the silence after a moment. "The crime that they have committed cannot be forgiven by any cost; but keeping their status and dignity in mind, and judging their mental condition too, I have thought to give all of them a second chance before the severe punishment. They all will be imprisoned, and it will be ensured from royal prison that they won't be able to conspire against the king anymore." He declared.

"Only imprisonment?? No death sentence? What are you saying Chandra!" Queen Helena spoke out suddenly forgetting the situation. "They have tried to kill YOU!"

"Yes, but I will not give them the extreme punishment. I will be following my principles of justice, and I will not go on Nand's path! The women will be imprisoned, and they will be secured in the prison. None will torture them without any reason!" Chandragupta uttered in the same composed way. Helena helplessly stared at him in confused eyes. "But... Maharaj..."

"His majesty has taken his decision, Mahadevi!" Acharya delivered with a sheer clam smile in the lips. "He must have declared this after giving it much thought. You should not cross his decision!"

Helena looked at Acharya with stunned glare. His expression had no change, only the eyes were sparking. She noticed Chandra looking at the eyes of his Acharya for a moment, both of them talking in eyes in some code language, and then Acharya nodded. What does it mean Helena could not understand. But she got it clearly that Chanakya has full consent in this decision. Actually this decision is not made out of mercy, but both the guru-shisya has full-proof strategy behind this move too, like always! And Helena neither has the right nor the power to dig and cross this decision.

I love this part about the maunabhasha, the silent communication between Chanakya and Chandragupta.

The Nand queens were looking relived with the punishment it seemed; except the new bride Nandini. She was still gazing at the king, with her eyes splitting venom! Today she is not only failed to complete her mission, but also this shepherd boy dared to show her mercy by not taking her life! While the other ladies were grateful to Chandragupta's kindness, his justice was stinging Nandini direct in her ego of a never-defeated princess! Chandragupta looked at her just before they were going to be taken out; "Stop." He commanded.

He came down from his seat and stood just in front of Nandini. Nandini's open hair was flowing in the soft breeze. The dust of ashes, dissipated kohl and vermilion, and the extreme rage has hidden the normal glow of her face. Her veil was not in its right place, and half is lolling on the floor, the dupatta has embraced her body very casually, and the spikes of her breast band are visible from outside. She is looking like the Goddess of destruction now! Chandra smiled gently looking at her fierce face.

"Unchain her. I don't want the queen of Magadh to spend her life in prison. It will be an insult to the majesty of Magadh!"

All presented in the hall was stunned hearing his decision. "She will be house-arrested in the palace only, and since I think I have no more fear from her, I will be completing all the rituals of our marriage too further." He smiled. Nandini kept on gazing at him with surprised glare while she was being released. She could clearly point out when his gentle smile converted into a smirk! "Today is our suhaag raat. I want to spend the night with her. Prepare for it." He ordered with a smirk! Nandini's heart shivered in an unknown fear suddenly!

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"Wait for a minute!" The queen mother stopped the security guards while the captives were taken to the jail. She came forward to the chained Avantika and looked at her with a cold raged glare. "I know your nature very well Avantika. I know what you had done years ago with king Sisunag of Magadh. I was never in any doubt about you; but at least I expected you to be a bit matured along with age; that you would be sensible enough to understand what is good for your daughter, and you won't repeat the same thing by your daughter that you committed in your young age! I had given your daughter a chance of living her life like a queen. But she chose to become a coward assassin!"

"She does not want to live on the mercy of your son, understood? And my daughter always does whatever she wants from her life!" Avantika grudged out.

"Poor girl! Does not know the real world at all! So easily she thought she will kill Chandra with such a silly plot!" Moora shook head in sarcastic sadness. "Never mind, she is still a young girl; I still hope her to grow up as the queen of Chandragupta Maurya and not as Napit Nand's daughter! My son is a gem, Avantika, he will obviously brighten her life and pull her out of all the darkness!" She smirked.

"Why have you come to me? To see me in chains? To relish my condition?" Avantika shouted like a wounded tigress.

"No!" Moora smiled. "I am not a sadist like you Avantika. I still cannot forget your violent laugh when you came in prison to declare that your husband has killed 39 innocent newborn to finish the last trace of my son from world. I still cannot forget your vicious way of draining out your frustration by cherishing my condition in prison! I cannot forget how much torture and humiliation your husband has given to me in the last 21 years! Avantika, you and your murderess daughter cannot even imagine the phase I have gone through! If I was like you, if I wanted revenge then none of you would be in condition to speak anymore! But I am not you, so I don't want any woman to face the same treatment ever, be it the daughter of my worst enemy! So, if you don't want my urge of revenge to be lit up, try to behave properly and say your daughter to do so too!"

Controlling her emotion on which she was getting carried over she inhaled longer. "My son is not like your nasty husband, so you people will never be disrespected. You, your daughter and your daughter-in-laws are secured in the prison only, else the dwellers of Magadh, who was living in the burning hell during your husband's reign, will tear you all up once you go out of this palace! Mind it, and try to tell your daughter too so that she controls her temper! You all are depending on Chandra's mercy directly or indirectly, and one should not make hole in the same plate in which he takes meal! You are my relative now; there are some rituals left tomorrow where your presence was necessary, so I would order to free you for some hours on tomorrow. Get ready for that." She blinked before going away. "Try to elevate your position from now on leaving these cheap conspiracies; I don't care about you and Sunanda, and also your young daughter will hardly draw my sympathy from now on, but I don't want your innocent daughter-in-laws to be punished for your deed!"

Leaving Avantika dumbstruck and fuming in anger, the queen mother left the place.

Now this was one classic putdown! Loved it!!👏 Your Mura, for all her innate goodness, is no pushover, I was glad to see.

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Dashing the rebel princess inside the room, Chandragupta shut the door with a bang and locked it. Nandini closed her eyes with extreme tire of failure. It was the first time in her life she was in a war of her own, and she has failed miserably here... And the consequence of this failure is hugely unexpected. She was ready for a death anyway, be that an easy one or a dangerous violent one... but she will have to live with the same man whom she tried to kill and failed, she will have to live on his mercy from now on, that very thought was burning her heart! She was praying hard for Chandra to turn out to be a demon and do something worst with her! She was just unable to take his calm and gentle smile with the victorious smirks hidden behind it. His generosity towards her was whipping her conscience, his nonchalant smirk was humiliating her!

This is what is called killing with kindness, or at least with calm good sense!

"Night is almost over Nandini." Chandragupta stated with an amused sadness in his voice. "Well, for the rest hours we can enjoy our Suhaag Raat! " He smirked. "So now, open your breast band!"

"What?" Nandini looked at him with a strange shame gripping her mind.

"Yes, obviously. Are you planning to sleep with me in this dangerous breastplate even now?" Chandragupta laughed out cruelly. "Don't waste more time and open your breast band!" His voice bent in taunt. "What happened? Are you feeling ashamed to carry out this simple innocent order? Just a moment before you were eager to sleep with me and now you have been suddenly blessed with all the sense of honour and shame?"

Nandini felt her hands were shivering while acting as per his order... Shame on her! Shame on her! What she had planned and how severely she has failed! His generosity is laughing at her now! Slowly she put off the dangerous armour from her body and placed that beside before covering her body with the veil. Chandra was staring at her, but there was no trace of lust or desire as expected. With an apathetic and ignoring glare he was following her actions cautiously. A drop of tear rolled down from Nandini's cheek. The inflammation of burning ego is even more painful than the experience of seeing own father's death in front of own eyes!

The last sentence just about sums up Nandini's present predicament.

"Over?" Chandra smiled. "Good. Now don't even try to create another childish drama and sleep like a good girl!" He commanded in a taunting voice.

"Why did not you kill me?"

Chandra felt very amused looking at the desperate, fiery eyes of the revengeful princess. "Good question!" He commented and came closer to her. "Because, I have no reason of killing you, and have enough reasons to keep you all alive!"

"Why? Why you are showing mercy on us? I cannot live on the mercy of the same man who killed my family! Who took away everything from me!" Nandini uttered in a hopeless yet desperate voice.

"I don't care if you can live or not. I don't do anything without thinking about benefit. Simply I won't let you die so soon as your life has value for me, Nandputri!" Chandragupta declared in an unshaken, emotionless tone. "So you have to live my dear lady, not for own sake, but as I want you to. You can go anywhere you can after I let you free, but for now I need you."

"What do you want from me?"

"That's all my concern. Not yours." Chandra stated. "Well I hope you have understood that it's not so easy to kill me; so from now on I will expect you will utilize your time, energy and intelligence behind some constructive works and not on some stupid plan of killing me. When your nasty father could not kill me even when he had power, then what do you expect to do?"

This reminded me of a raging wave dashing against an immovable rock and being dissipated.😉

"Nandini has never learnt to accept defeat, Chandra!" Nandini's eyes sparked in anger.

"I like this attitude." Chandra laughed completely ignoring her. "Well, keep on trying! I always like playing games. You and your plans are going to be my favourite time-pass it seems. But..." He suddenly cupped her cheeks forcefully, his glare too cold to endure. "Don't ever forget Nandputri that your whole family is captive in my prison. Your one wrong step and they all are going to suffer!"

"You can threaten me as much you want. But you will not be able to stop me until and unless you kill me!" Nandini smirked viciously. "You took away everything from me; you gave me the most tormenting pain of life... I will never spare you Chandra! I will keep on trying till my end!"

Now this latter para shows how stupid Nandini is still, and how totally self-centred. She does not give a damn about any of the other women, nor can she grasp the fact that her puny plans are always going to be easily checkmated by Chandra and his Acharya.

"Pain! Do you know snobbish princess that what is called pain?" Chandra smiled with a deep aversion breaking his facial muscles. "Have you ever seen how is the world around you? Have you ever even tried to know the soil which is the cause of your life? Have you ever thought while living in the sea of luxury that what is the source of all your wealth? Have you ever even thought that there is a vast world beyond the scope of your eyesight?

No! Your world only consists of some happy moments along with lots of luxury and wealth. You don't know what life is. You don't know what pain is! You did not get back even the one-tenth of the pain and humiliation that my mother had been bearing for 21 long years. And her pain and humiliations are not even one-tenth of what the subjects of Magadh and the entire Bharat had been bearing years after years.

You want to avenge your father's death to fulfil your duty as a daughter. But you don't know as a daughter you have greater duties to fulfil. Before being your father's daughter, you are the daughter of your motherland! You have your responsibilities towards her. Have you ever thought to fulfil those?"

This is the beautiful, succinct core message that Chandra wants to teach Nandini. This is in fact lesson No.1. It will need a tectonic shift in her thinking processes before she grasps the truth of what he says, and is then able to translate that understanding into action. Let us see how far and how fast she progresses!

"What do you mean?" Nandini was unable to understand him; but the touch of sudden sentiment in his usual calm face had somehow touched her heart too!

"I knew that you will not understand Nandputri!" Chandra's lip bent in antipathy. "You are always trained to take a life to live a better and comfortable life only. You are never taught how to live for someone else! You are doing the same now; thinking about own, about your selfish pains, selfish revenges. That's all is expected from you! Anyways..." He smiled. "I devoutly hope Nandini, that one day you will understand how much silly and negligible is your pain in front of the welfare of this vast world surrounding you! One day you will understand what should be your first preference, what is your duty and responsibility actually as a daughter-as a daughter of this soil! One day you will learn how to live a life not for own, but for others."

Lesson No.1, Part 2! Extremely well worded.

Nandini was trying hard to argue with him, but she was not able to utter a word. Her eyes, her soul, her heart was subsequently sinking in his deep bright pupils of eyes... her beats of heart was slowly losing its own rhythm while flowing with the husky, composed, measured voice of this young man! She had a lot of points to say; she had a lot of reasons to seek revenge from him...but she could not utter a word! Her own words lost in the depth of his speech.

The lady of the east sky put on the lamp of dawn; the golden orange ray spread all over the sky. The birds started chattering, the world woke up. Again the start of a beautiful morning.

"Look, it's already morning!" Chandragupta looked out of the window. "Good morning Nandputri. It was truly the worst experience of a suhaag raat that one can have! Anyways, enjoy your day and think about your next plan to kill me." He smiled amusedly. "As I said, I have plenty works to do other than waiting for your next move, so good bye and good day!"

Chandragupta opened the door of the room, and instructed the royal guards standing over there to keep an eye on her. She is house-arrested, and from now on a troop of soldiers will always observe her each and every action. She is not given any extreme punishment, but her freedom is snatched for always! But God knows what happened to Nandini. In this particular moment she was not feeling to be imprisoned. She was not feeling humiliated, she was not feeling ashamed for her failure... Actually she was feeling nothing. She was just gazing at Chandra's exit, and his words were ringing in her ears. You don't know what life is! You don't know what pain is!

Any change in the psyche of any human being begins with thought. That is what is now happening to Nandini. She has moved away from blind, insensate rage and the all consuming desire for revenge against Chandra to thinking about what he has just said, about how far it applies to her, and if it does so apply, what she should do about it. How this thought process develops, and where it takes her, is going to be a fascinating tale.