Late hours of night, at one of the most opulent rooms of the Magadh Palace...
Her back was facing him, her silky smooth skin doing peek-a-boo behind the lush hairs that dangled on her back as they followed the tunes of wind like bondages. She was enticing, he decided. Taking silent steps he proceeded towards her, his each step closing the gap between them. Eight precise steps and he reached his destination. With her back still facing him, she was too lost to sense his presence. Or may be too untutored to sense a predator, he thought with an arched eyebrow. Intending to hold her by her shoulders, he leaned a little further. As her sensuous fragrance hit his senses, he realized, it was heady and intoxicating. He called out for her, his voice deep and husky.
"Rajkumari Vishakha"
His voice brought her out of her trance. She winced inwardly, how she wished to be in trance. Suppressing a groan as her whole body prompted to twist in pain, she had to administer, all the years of her training to calm her shaky nerves and appear level headed. But one moment and a turn around and all her efforts went in vain. Eyes gleaming with something she couldn't decipher, he was standing close to her, dangerously close. Had it been for the regular course, she would have been compacted the remaining distance between them. But now with her body wrenching in agony, this proximity seems a bad idea. A very bad idea.
Gulping down, she tried to make her way past him, only to be held by her wrist.
Maintain his rock solid grip; he slid his hand from her wrist to her palm. It was sweaty, he noted. Interesting!
Still locking her palm, he studied her with a languid gaze, while she squirm her hand to be freed. Having zero effect of her efforts, he continued his inspection, with a tilted head.
She shifted timidly under his hawk like gaze. The man suddenly had donned an altogether different aura, a giant, over powering aura. She wondered if his earlier blithe was just a facade to fool her. She tried finding the callow youthfulness, which she had thought was unchallenging to charm, in him. But all she could find was an unpredictably perilous man, who was too pragmatic to be charmed, chilling her spines with his formidable gaze.
With a sudden pull he brought her close.
Her heart beating so fast that he could listen to it. Racing heart he checked mentally.
A pull once again and she was more close, gasping for breath. Palpitation and difficult breathing. Check
A little more closer and her hands were on his broad chest, her whole body arched in stress: Muscle tension, check
His arms gripped around her body, as she shook. Tremor. Check
She swayed as he steadied her frame: Dizziness check
Perfect ! Indeed withdrawal symptoms.He looked around, the room was in dismay, clear assaults of its owner can be seen everywhere. He smirked at her imprudence. The pet is clearly missed by his mistress.
"kya hua Rajkumari vishakha, aap theek toh hain na, aapke kaksh ki sthithi dekh kar prateet hota hai ki aap kuch doondh rahi thi? Kya dondh rahi thi aap?"
[What's the matter princess Vishakha, are you all right? Looking at the condition of your room, it seems that you were looking for something? What were you looking for?]
She tried coming up with a reply stammering, one more he thought, stuttering. Check
Looking at her jeopardized self, he pitied her coaching .What the hell this woman was thinking, after all the mishaps centred around snakes, taking place in the palace, one of which concerned the Prince of Magadh , she will wrap that creep around her neck and do merry go round in the palace..
She was talking about a lost piece of jewel or something. Paying least attention to her ramblings, he loosened his grip deciding to let her go. A decision so abrupt, that it came like a jolt to her. Stumbling at her place, she thanked the settee which saved her a fall. Offended, she gave him a vexed look, in her profession it were the men supposed to be falling and not vice versa. But one more thing which she learnt at the early stage of her profession was about tempers. One who loses it last, has the last laugh.
Composing herself she asked, "Maharaj aap yahan? Aapko kuch karya tha?"
Twirling the emerald ring which adorned his one of the long slender almost artistic fingers, he smiled menacingly, "Agar madhya raatri mein main apni hone wali patni ke kaksh mein aaya hoon, toh aapko kya lagta hai rajkumari , mujhe kya karya hoga?
[if I have come to the room of my would be wife at midnight, then what do you think princess, why am I here?]
She tried her level best to hide her frustration; as she mentally cursed her fate a thousand abuse. It clearly couldn't have chosen a timing as bad as this one. Her prey himself has come to her ready to be hunted and she is all unequipped.
"kis soch mein pad gayi aap, mera tatparya tha ki maine socha, humare vivah mein sirf do din shesh hain, kyun na ek doosre ko samajhne ka prayaas kiya jaye? [what are you thinking about, what I meant to say is, two days and we will be married, it would be good, if we spend some time together trying to understand each other]
Kyun na kuch baatein ki jaaye? [lets have a talk]
Listening to his last sentence, suddenly she wasn't really sure if it's he who's the prey. As she lifted her gaze, one look at him and she wasn't sure about she being the predator either.
Making himself comfortable at the settee he motioned her to come and take a seat facing him, with a slow stretch of his right hand. She felt like having a trial in front of a judge, becoming all the way more sure that he knows about her identity. That he would strangle her tonight to death and throw her corpse in one of the dark deep pits of the large backyards of his detention centre,, and nobody will ever know that there was a rajkumari vishakha or her impostor. Nobody will ever dare to know. Attempting to hide her nervousness she engaged herself in hosting duties as she offered him a drink, a soft one, as per his preference.
He cautiously mocked a sip. She breathed a sigh of relief, he doesn't know, not yet, else he wouldn't have swallowed anything coming from her hands. Smirking mentally he chose to ignore her open display of relief. She indeed was coached poorly.
Stretching himself he adjusted a pillow behind him, as he asked "haan toh rajkumari vishakha batiye kuch apne bare mein, apne jeevan ke bare mein, aapne rajya ke bare mein"
[so princess tell me about yourself, your life, your state]
She began her monologue and he began his. The formal audible, the latter muted. He tried listening to her, what looked like an excerpt from a guide book on "Rajkumari vishakha and her capital", too shallow too superficial. With a mental yawn, he wished her trainers would have given a little variation in the story at least then it wouldn't have been that boring.
Bored to death he tried entertaining himself with other interesting stuff. He roamed his gaze around the room, found none, other than the pretty woman sitting in front of him. He watched her, deciding to stick to watching only and not listening.
Her features were as sharp as spade. Arched brows and high cheekbones, large eyes, made extra large with the aid of kohl and lush lips with an all time conscious pout to highlight their full splendour. Poison or without poison, she can easily be death of anybody, he concluded. But unfortunately he wasn't one of those 'anybodies', who surrendered themselves to a cowardly death at the hands of a fickle allurement. Chandragupta Maurya's death will have to be as gallant as his life is. Looking at her he was reminded of a face, a beautiful face. Contrary to the one in front of him with an imprint of world weary craftiness, that face looked like a dew drop, untouched, pure, prismatic. The face of a woman who doesn't require to deck up from head to toe to appeal him, the woman who was completely oblivious that a flowing errand curl from her bun, a careless fold of dupatta, a bat of eyelash, a carefree smile was enough for his knees to shake and his throat to parch.
Determined to maintain his resolution of not thinking about one particular person, he concentrated on the orator once again; who just like him wasn't interested in her speech. Focussing on flaunting right parts of the body in right proportion, she was alluring and artificial and repulsive. She was talking something about troubles and rescue. Yes trouble, that's the word. That woman, his wife, no correction, his son's nanny was a trouble. And a trouble with no solution. And this is no discovery, the very first time when he laid her eyes upon her, when she insisted fighting with him, despite of his refusal, with her dark ebony tresses oscillating wildly. He knew that very moment that this woman is trouble.
His minds went back to few hours happenings
"Chandra ye lo, iss pustak mein unn saare lakshanon ke bare mein likha hai jo ek vish kanaya ko hote hain jab usey vish prapt nahin hota hai, isse theek se smaran kar lo"
[Chandra, this book contains all the symptoms which a vish kanya shows when she doesn't get her daily dose of poison. Learn them properly]
Throwing a cursory glance on the book which stated the withdrawal symptoms he had returned back the book to her
"kya?" [what]
"kya, kya? [what, what?]
Kya kya', she mimicked him " jaldi se smaran karo " [Learn. Quickly]
He couldn't believe did she just mock him?
"Mujhe smaran ho gaya nandini", he had replied with gritted teeth, and a voice low. [I have remembered Nandini]
"Do pal ke liye yaad nahin rakhna hai Chandra raatri ke kayi pehar tak yaad rakna hai, waise bhi uss vish kanya ko dekh kar tum bahout kuch bhool jaate ho"
[you don't have to remember them for a few moments Chandra, you need to remember them till midnight, and anyways one look at that vish kanya and you start forgetting things]
"kyun tumhe bura lagta hai?" [Do you have a problem with it?]
"NAHIN aur ab jao uss kone mein baith ke smaran karo" [NO! And now go sit in the corner and learn them]
Wowa did she just used that tone with him
"Dekhon nandini main tumhe cheta deta hoon , tum sirf ek daasi ho aur main ek samraat hoon"
[look Nandini. I'm warning you, you are just a maid, and I'm a king]
"toh samraat ho toh tumhe jaadu se sab yaad ho jayega? Nahin na? Yaad karna padega, jao jaa ke yaad karo , uss ke baad main tumse sunugi ki tumhe bhali bhanti yaad hua ya nahin"
[so? Being a king is not going to help you miraculously. You, yourself will have to learn. Now go and learn, afterwards I will listen from you whether you learned it properly or not]
"aur suno shor mat karna bindu so raha hai" [and now make sure you don't make noise, bindu is sleeping]
"Nandini main magadh naresh hoon" [Nandini, I'm magadh naresh]
"Toh?" [so]
"Toh kya? Main bas bata raha tha, lao do kya yaad karna hai", Man! the woman had some guts
[so what? I was just letting you know, in case you don't know, now give me what I have to learn]
And hence he , samraat Chandragupta Maurya , sat in a corner of his room and rote learned the task his wife, no, correction again, his son's nanny assigned him, and he , Magadh Naresh then also took a oral exam conducted by his wife, no his son's nanny, where he was three times, three whole times reprimanded. Heck even Aacharya treats him more courteously then her . Now this is called trouble, a deep audacious trouble.
"aur jaante hain maharaj main jab choti thi toh ek baar ghode pe se ..."
Yeah you fell down from the horse and then you wounded yourself, and the scar of the injury is still on your arm which, clearly looks a couple of days old injury. He knows it all, he must say this woman had a very predictable childhood. Well most of the childhoods for that matter are predictable but some like his are not. For instance who had thought that the eight year old princess who waited to be weighed sitting at the weighing scale, while he refused to donate even a single penny for her tuladaan, will someday be his wife, not at least he. She looked cute as a child, she still looks the same, cute, somehow her hairs are more straight than it used to be earlier. Though curls suit her, especially the disobedient one which dances on her face, despite all her effort.
Aur jaante hain maharaj, har varsh mere janamdiwas pe...
They never celebrated her birthday. He doesn't even know when is her birthday in the first place, maybe he should ask her, would she tell him?
Main na bachpan mein kewal kheer hi khana...
She doesn't like kheer much, she somehow is more into laddoos, they always quarreled for the last piece, little does she know that he is not really fond of laddoos, it's their bickering he was fond of
Meri ruche pustakon mein nahin thi...
Her love for books has all the way more increased, if he hides one of them, would she fight with him the way she used to earlier?
Main, pitaji and meri maata hum bahout khush the.....
They were really happy, both of them together, life was like a dream
Parantu, humari khushi ko nazar lag gayi...
Their dream was short lived, perhaps they were not meant to be dreamt of in the first place.
Uss raat main apne maata pita ke saath...
They were together he and her, Blissfully together, he had left his crown in the name of her, for the sake of himself.
Tabhi kuch logo ne humpe akraman...
Helena came back to call him, she convinced him to go alone.
Unhone ne mere maata pita ki hatya kar di...
She killed Durdhara
She looked at him, the face which was pleasantly serene, moments ago; boosting her morale, now looked like a cold steel hard mask, concealing a volcanic fury. He sounded like a case of voluntary split personality. In her short life span, she had dealt with many men, in fact she had dealt with men only. With a slight contrast in their exterior, they were all the same. She could read each one of them like a book. Of course she can read him as well, but like a book? No! She read the things that he allowed to be read, and now when he is sitting in front of her in all his splendour, she knew that all the while she has been reading a wrong page. She has met many unintelligent men; this was her first encounter with an unintelligible one.
His threatening look was back. "Rajkumari Vishakha, aapke baalpan ke baare mein jaan kar achcha laga, kya aapko gyaat hai, main apne baalpan mein kya karta tha?"
[Princess Vishakha, it was nice to know about your childhood. Do you know, what I was fond of in my childhood?]
He stood from his place, as he spoke advancing towards her, taking calculative steps, he reached her, he spoke again as he intimidatingly towered her. "Main saap ke saath kehlta tha, mera poora bachpan saapon ke beech beeta hai. He inched a little closer, his eyes gleamed with cold danger, "saap ke vish dant todne ka mujhe bada anuvabh hain"
[ I used to play with snakes, in fact I have spend my whole childhood amidst them. have a whole lot of experience of taking out the poison tooth of a snake]
Shaking under his astute gaze she wasn't, sure whether it was her withdrawal symptom or she was scared. The only thing she was sure was the fact that this man wasn't dangerous, he was danger himself,a walking talking danger. A danger she wasn't warned about and she couldn't blame her tutor for it either. He was a kind of danger which can't be foreseen, one has to witness to know about it.
She tried making an excuse of headache.
He looked sideways, hiding his frustration, look who's talking about headaches. With great efforts he composed himself and offered to make her sleep. She protested. One look from him, she resigned. He held her with her arm, wincing under his steely grip; her body obeyed him like a slave.
He laid her to the bed, closing her eyes with his palms. His fingers lingered on her face. To her it wasn't even remotely romantic, he sounded like a surgeon performing a surgery with excellent precision. As his fingers persisted, he made sure that the one with the emerald ring, rested a little longer than a while under her nostrils. As she inhaled the powdery content of the ring, she was astonished at the sleep which was taking her over in spite of her withdrawal syndrome.
As he watched her getting tranquilized, an image of a calm serene face drowsy with a child like sleep flashed in front of him, and despite all his efforts refused to vanish. Defeated he decided that even his death is destined at the hands of a woman. A woman whose innocent face concealing her scrupulous heart was her deadliest weapon.
It was time to go back to his room, something he was looking forward to, ever since he entered this room. Something he now had no intentions of doing. He knew she was in the room and he didn't wanted to face her, he didn't wanted to face the turmoil her memories has once again evoked in him, but the most of it, he didn't wanted to face himself.
His steps lead him to the roof of the palace, yet another memory lingered, they had lit diyas together, which glowed in their eyes, warming their hearts for each other. Standing their he concluded that her memories were far safer than her. To begin with they never ditched him; they mirrored her as per his will, pure and pristine. And most of it they never left him, even when he asks them to.
He stood there, waiting for the night to get over. Deciding it was an easy forgivable indulgence, he dwelled upon the memories of that one person, whom he wished to escape.
Ek puraana mausam lauta
Yaad bhari purvai bhi
Aisa toh kam hi hota hai
Woh bi ho, tanhaai bhi...
(Gulzaar)
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Author's Note: well this is just a random thought which crossed my mind. If you happen to read it and like it as well, do drop in a word or two.Good or bad, they are always welcomed.
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Aishwarya
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