Chapter Eight
Gayatri had woken up very early in the morning and finished her puja even before it was time for sunrise. Ranaji was greeted by Gayatri's beautiful and beguiling smile and the sight of a beautiful sunrise right behind her on opening his eyes. She addressed him, "Nice that you're up! Here's your favorite black coffee."
She was about to turn back picking her puja thali after giving him his favourite black coffee when she heard the two unexpected words out of his mouth, "Prasad...please..." She was unsure about what she had heard and reiterated, "What?" He replied, "Prasad..."
Gayatri looked surprised but did not reveal it outside. She gave him the Prasad saying, "Ranaji since you have asked me for Prasad, I will give it to you now. But you will keep it aside and take it after you have your bath. You've not even brushed your teeth. Here you are."
Ranaji opened his mouth in exasperation to say something but kept quiet on second thoughts. He said something completely different, "When we got married I was very angry and thought the worst about you. But I no longer do so now. At that time, I was afraid that you would come between me and my memories of Sulakshana."
Gayatri replied to this, "Ranaji I will never force you to do anything against your will. Love can never be forced. It either happens or it doesn't. So I will not keep on regretting if my love for you remains unrequited. I know that whatever you did was for Amerkot. I don't blame you. We will remain as friends forever."
Ranaji nodded his head. Everything was happening as he had wished. Gayatri wanted nothing from him. But something did not feel right to him. He could not exactly pinpoint what it was. Did he want something else from Gayatri? If only he himself understood what his real feelings were! Life was really complicated!
Ranaji said aloud, "Hush! Just look how beautiful the sunrise behind you is...That was a really wonderful experience. I wish we could see many more sunsets and sunrises together like we did yesterday evening and today morning."
Gayatri promised him, "Done! In that case both of us will try to spend every sunset and sunrise after this with each other. Even if we happen to be busy we will try to make time for each other."
Just when all of them were about to start, Aditya informed them a slight change in their return journey. He explained all of them what the plan was. He looked a bit disturbed when he glanced at Swarnaleka. But she allayed his fears saying, "Don't worry about me. I believe in doing my duty. The wrongdoers even if they are your own have to be punished. I don't know who is behind all this but I would like to play my own part in finding it out."
In one dark corner of the forest, a couple were severely wounded and tied to a tree. Somebody emerged out of the darkness and spoke, "Kill both of them. Even if Aditya has proofs against me what is he going to do with it after I become the King of Amerkot. I will surely not punish myself."
It was only then he noticed that the people who were tied to the tree were Aditya and Swarnaleka and not Ranaji and Gayatri. He shouted, "You bunch of nincompoops. What did you mean by that message? Was it Ranaji and Gayatri who escaped with proofs against me?"
Ranaji came out of the bushes saying, "Yes! We did not have any proof against anybody previously but now we have it against you...Lakshyaraj! I will deal with you and your treachery after we reach the palace."
At the palace, Aditya informed everybody about how they had caught Lakshyaraj red-handed in the attempt to assassinate the King and Queen of Amerkot. He said, "Rajmata I was informed by my men of some suspicious movements in the forest. So we stayed back for the night without returning. I sought help from our nearest check post and got some men who were parading as night robbers arrested. But we did not have any proof against the person who planted them in the first place."
Ko-kila Chachi started getting apprehensive and asked, "Then what did you do?"
Aditya replied, "You know Ko-kila Chachi I believe in winning not only the kila but the entire war...so I shot an arrow in the dark and who gets caught...surprise...surprise... Lakshyaraj!"
The evil trio of Kunwarji Chachaji, Ko-kila Chachi and Badi Rani ma stood rooted to the spot. Kunwarji said, "Ranaji you can't arrest Lakshyaraj on the basis of the evidence of a few night robbers. They are just bluffing to save themselves. Your brother is innocent."
Aditya replied, "I knew that all these issues would arise so I and Ranaji decided to catch the person involved red-handed. I sent an anonymous cryptic message to all the important people in this palace reading something like this:'We caught them. They are wounded. But he escaped with proof against us. What shall we do? Please come.'"
He continued, "I knew that the person actually involved in this conspiracy would come in person while the others would just ignore it as a prank. And Lakshyaraj came as we planned. Ranaji has personally heard his confession out of his own mouth. The rest is up to Ranaji's decision."
Rajmata said, "Death is the only punishment for traitors according to the laws of Amerkot. Don't hesitate, Ranaji."
Ranaji said, "I disinherit and outcaste Lakshyaraj from Amerkot. All his assets will be confiscated by the state. I pardon him from death punishment for the sake of all the rakhis Swarnaleka tied on my hand as a sister."
Aditya warned the rest also saying, "As they say attack is the best form of defense. Everybody will pay for their deeds. One down... Now who next? Let's wait and watch! Last time I failed in saving Sona. Not this time. One failure is enough for a clever person. I will take care that I won't fail a second time. Ranaji is my best friend and Gayatri is my sister. Their enemies are mine. I hope everybody understands that!"
Rajmata beamed with pleasure, "I'm glad that you're back, Aditya. Welcome home. Now that this business is done, we will have Gayatri's first rasoi today. She was unable to complete that marriage ritual due to the snake bite. We will complete that ritual now."
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