..In An Unknown Era.. Part 5 Pg.77 - Page 22

😳😃

ha na

Haan right...😳

oh to de na😉

Radhika was excited. As much excited as she had been the whole day. These beautiful palaces were like a dream come true, for her. She was an admirer of such places, and this one was no exception. She had spent almost the entire day to go through the minutest details of this magnificent fort.

But now it was almost evening. The fort was to be closed in about an hour. Her friends were waiting for her outside. She had to be quick now. Hence, she quickened her pace.

The backside of the fort had no signs or instructions. This was because this part had mostly been damaged, and was not considered worthy to be repaired or to be taken care of. Though the reasons for neglecting it, are still unknown.

Very few people bothered to go and check the small buildings behind the fort. Radhika was, perhaps, the first one to go there in a century.

...

Half an Hour later,

Outside the fort.

Kashish and Natasha had been anxiously waiting for Radhika outside the fort. Now it was almost time for the closure.

Kashish : Whats this? Radz is so late man. What shall we do now, Natz?

Natasha : This girl is seriously crazy Kash. Doesn't she realize the time or what?

Kashish : I know right. She is too much sometimes. Let me do something.

Kashish went to the guard for assistance. He went to search for Radhika.

...

No matter how spoilt the buildings seemed, their architecture was worth appreciating. Each one had beautiful carvings on the outer walls. They must've looked great in their peak.

Radhika noticed that the carvings on all the four rooms were the same. There were two lotuses on either side, and the rest were geometrical patterns.

The interior was also almost similar. The ceilings were, like in all Mughal Palaces, beautifully made. All sorts of patterns were up there, which had the power to make you stare at them.

Having done with first three, Radhika was still not sure about what purpose they served. Were these small palaces part of the Harem, or anything else. They certainly housed royal people, for their dcor itself was quite royal. With these thoughts in mind, she moved towards the last one, located at the farthest corner.

The last one was rather hidden. At first sight, no one could tell that there four buildings there. But Radhika, was extra- brainy when it came to her interests. She knew that in architecture, odd numbers were seldom used. A group of three buildings was highly unlikely, especially about five centuries back. There had to be one more, and her sharp eyes had quickly found it out. It stood in the farthest corner, half hidden by its angle of construction, and half by the plantation shielding it.

She quickly strode towards it. After removing the various vines that partially blocked the entrance, she stood there, eyeing the room. No matter how concealed it had been, the interior was breath-taking. The roof had the same kind of geometrical patterns, she had seen in the previous rooms.

As she kept staring at the it, she didn't notice that the entrance had a slight step. She tripped over it, and in an attempt to balance herself, she grabbed at the nearest support she found. There was a circular hook on the wall to her right.

She grasped it as hard as she could, but to her surprise, the hook detached from the wall. Due to this, she fell right on the floor with a thud. Rubbing her left leg, she got up slowly and stared at the spot where the hook had been once. The sight she saw made her jaw drop.

Along with the hook, the panel attached to it had also flipped open. Radhika had not noticed the secret compartment earlier. The lining in the was almost invisible, and it seemed almost impossible to discover the secret compartment without pulling the hook.

Radhika instantly forgot the pain in her leg, and stared at the open block in the wall, in utter shock.

...

The guard had searched every corner of the fort, Radhika could have possibly been to. He had also taken special care of the backside of the fort, as Kashish had told him that Radhika had wanted to go there.

He checked the first three rooms thoroughly, but no sign. The last one was all covered in wines, and it didn't seem that anyone had entered it recently. And so, he did not bother to check it.

Having done his duty, he headed back to the entrance.

...

Radhika put her hand into the block, and pulled out a rolled piece of what she thought, was cloth. It was red in color, now brown with age, and had golden edges. Her heart raced as she moved her fingers along it. With trembling hands, she unrolled it.

It was actually a letter, written in black ink, on a yellowish-brown paper. The paper was quite rough, and seemed to be almost as old as the fort itself. The writing was in the purest form of Hindi, and the ink had not faded a bit, inspite of its age.

Radhika had almost frozen in shock. Here she was, in some old room of a five-hundred-year old fort, reading out a new discovery. All this seemed so unreal, yet was all so real. She was unsure of what exactly to do next. She decided to read the letter next. Luckily, the script was Devnagri, and the the language was Hindi. Any other, and Radhika wouldn't have understood it.

She quickly began reading. The letter said :

Dear Radha,

Finally, you're here. I had been waiting from so long. I knew you would come.

Don't worry, My child. Keep aside all your worries, and focus on what this letter says. And I know what you're thinking. Your name isn't Radha, right? Well, this question would be answered very soon.

First of all, let me make it clear that all that has happened to you today, is not merely a coincidence. It is much, much more than that.

Anyway...Do you believe in destiny or fate, my child? Even if you don't, I assure you they do exist. And you destiny, is different, very different, from your friends and most others. It depends on you, and your choice which you would make tonight.

Radhika could almost feel her fingers shaking terribly. She took one look at the sky beyond her, which was now quite dark, and continued further.

You have been chosen, my dear, chosen for a very different experience. Without further ado, let me tell you, that you have been chosen to relive your past life. I know what you must be thinking right now. That all this is some kind of a dream or a joke, right? But no, my child, this is all very true.

Your past has been full of adventures, my dear. Your life had been a witness to a timeless story, a story of two completely different individuals, who gradually became one. I suppose you know them. They are none other than Emperor Akbar, and Empress Mariam-Uz-Zamani. And I also know you admire these two a lot. Well, that undoubtedly is because of your connection to them in your past life.

Along with this letter, you'll also find a ring, my dear. That will be your connection to both the worlds. The moment you have it on your finger, you'll find yourself five-hundred years back. And once you remove it, you'll be back here again. But remember my dear, you can't always wear or remove it on your own. The ring also has a mind of its own, more of which you'll understand later.

And also, when you choose to return, you'll back here at the exact time you left. So, don't worry about what goes on here behind you.

I know I've spoken a lot, and answered some of your questions. I also know that there are many more, but those, my child, should be left to time itself. The choice, my dear, is all yours now. I wish you all the luck in whatever you choose to do.

With Love,

Your Destiny.

Radhika was dumbstruck after reading the letter. She still thought it all to be a dream, a very strange dream. But no matter how many times she pinched herself, this dream wasn't breaking.

She took out the ring from the compartment, and gazed at it. It was a beautiful piece of art. It had a Swastik sign, made out on the top, which was embedded with diamonds. She felt a strange sense of familiarity with the ring. But she brushed those thoughts aside.

Radhika's gaze kept moving from the ring to the full moon outside. Her mind was a haphazard mixture of questions. Who had written the letter? Why was she chosen? Who is Radha? What if she actually wears the ring? All these questions were eating her up. She quickly glanced at the letter again.

Past Life'. What exactly was her past life like? Wasn't this the question she had always asked herself? She had always fantasized about her previous birth. In fact, that is what her entire class did when they were first introduced to this topic. But, this choice wasn't any child's play.

She just needed to wear the ring, and she would be off to centuries back. She might even get to know the Emperor and the Empress, as the letter said. But, what exactly was the cost of this? What if her past life was not so good as this one is?

She read through the entire letter again.

"I can always come back here, if anything happens" She tried to reason out. "After all, not everybody gets a chance as amazing as this!" After about half an hour of pondering about the positives and the negatives, her mind was finally made.

She was going to relive her past. With this thought, she slipped the ring into her right index finger. All went black after that.

...

Thanks for reading. 😃

Arrey toh new pg. aane toh de...😆

Aur main spma nhi kr rhi yr...new pg pe pehla comment toh tera tha na...isiliye mujhe fir se next pg. laana pada...😛😆