Chapter Forty-Eighty:
At Chitrakut,
The merchant caravan and civilians were safely dispatched. All their plans were made. If everything went according to their plan, they would reach the spot where they were headed in the forests of Bhavanagiri within a few hours and Rajkumar Dhananand would be under their control. With Dhananand gone, the back of Padmanand's revolt would be broken. With his heir and successor gone, he would have nothing to fight for. It would be easier to defeat him in his mentally weakened frame of mind.
Chandragupt was getting ready to set out. He was trying to wear the heavy armor when he flinched slightly. He was slightly hurt near his near his left arm during the fighting of the previous night. These slight wounds and hurts were nothing for a warrior. He was used to them. They were actually his strength. They were like a reminder to him that there were still enemies out there ready to hurt him, his family and his motherland and whom he had to eliminate at all costs.
He was re-attempting to wear the armor when the soft and soothing touch of his dear wife, Nandini rested on his arms gesturing him to desist for a moment.
Nandini: Easy with it! You're hurt there. If you try so hard, the wounds on which I have applied lep will get aggravated.
Chandra: Let these wounds fester Nandini. They will keep reminding me of my mission.
Nandini: Maharaj really has some strange logic! Wounds are never anybody's strength. Rather the medicine to cure them is!
Chandra: There you go Nandini calling me Maharaj even when you know how much it exasperates me when you keep calling me like that even when we are alone.
Nandini, with an angry pout on her lips! "Then what about all those things you do to exasperate me by not taking care of yourself? This is my place and you completely neglect it."
Chandra stood uncomprehending not understanding what Nandini was trying to convey. She continued, "When I sleep at night, this arm is my safe haven and pillow. I feel safe and protected when I rest myself there. I feel as though no harm can befall me. By neglecting that arm, you are neglecting my needs and comforts."
Chandra: Now don't tell me even my body is not mine but yours?
Nandini: Indeed it is mine. Everything that is yours is mine. It is more mine than yours. You have committed yourself to me not just for this lifetime but seven lifetimes after this. Now there is no escaping from that. I have an equal part and right in everything that is yours.
Chandra with resignation writ on his expressions, "What do you want?"
Nandini without speaking any word took the armor from his hands and laid it on the side. She loosened the tunic he was wearing near his left arm and massaged healing oil on the wound before she wrapped a piece of cloth dipped in medicinal lep tightly round the wounded portion of the arm. Once this process was complete, she took the armor beside her and gently eased it over his shoulder. The arm which had been paining a few minutes ago was feeling so light like a feather now. Once she was done with it, she remarked, "There it is done. You were struggling with it a second ago. Now you are actually wearing it."
Chandragupt did not say anything. But he smiled such a broad smile that reflected his internal happiness. He knew words would fall short to thank Nandini for making each and every moment of his life memorable and valuable. He had started valuing himself only after he had met her. Even a hundred thank yous would fail to describe or convey all that she meant to him.
He always kept his pain and weaknesses to himself. He never shared it with anybody. But the release and freedom he experienced by letting go of his pain and sharing his weaknesses with Nandini was truly magical. He felt transformed and transfigured by the buoyancy and weightlessness of this emotion. It was like floating on the seventh heaven. If there was pure bliss on this earth it was this!
He glanced at her, his eyebrows arched upwards, as though inquiring her, "Are you ready for today?"
For a moment, the brightness in her eyes dimmed for a second. However, she recovered her sense of poise and balance with the same elegance that characterized her. Her expressive eyes and effusive smiles expressing what a whole dictionary of words cannot express, "I am ready to go wherever you lead me Chandra. I will walk even to the ends of the earth along with you. All that matters is that we are together and will always remain together."
They set out together, a whole legion of hopes resting on them. But their love was their strength. It gave them the power to overcome any obstacle or difficulty on the path and rise up to any challenge.
A few hours later at Bhavanagiri,
Chandragupt and his entire force were hiding and camouflaged. Nandini had explained during the military conference how she had spent a significant period in her life when she was small in these very forests when her father had been routed by the King of Ujjain, Maheedhar, and how their entire family and Padmanand's entourage had been forced to go into hiding here.
It was not like Padmanand had never been challenged by any of the previous kings. But he had fought back and regained what he had lost on all previous occasions. The Kings too had been overconfident or careless giving her father and Amatya Rakshas the chance to fight back and win what they had lost. They had been unable to capitalize on their successes. There were many secret routes which led out of these jungles of which even she was not aware. She had been very young at that time and hardly remembered much of the details about this terrain.
But as and when they were going to approach closer to the location where Rajkumar Dhananand was, he and the entire forces under him were going to beat retreat using one of these routes. It would be literally impossible to cut off all the routes of escape from Bhavanagiri. Chandragupt had also anticipated the same thing. He had a different plan waiting for Dhananand. Since Amatya Rakshas wasn't present along with Dhananand, it was possible to lure him into this trap.
Half the distance had been traversed. Till now, they hadn't come across any of Dhananand's scouts or informers. In all possibility, they would be lined up further down the path or with Amatya Rakshas gone, the soldiers and informers weren't working as efficiently as they used to be. But going any further was going to put their plans in jeopardy. So they had to halt here and play the waiting game. Chandra turned towards Nandini and the rest of his men and signaled that they were going to remain wherever they were, well hidden and wait for somebody's arrival.
Chandra: We will wait here until they come. Once they are here, we will follow at a safe distance taking care not to alert them.
Nandini: But who will be coming here? Dhan Bhaiyya?
Chandra: Your Gautami Bhabhi and Senapathi Bhadrasal.
Nandini: Bhadrasal is under imprisonment and Gautami Bhabhi is at Patliputra. Why will they come here?
Chandra: In search of your Dhan Bhaiyya of course. It was part of our plan to use Bhadrasal like this. But we were a bit confused if your brother would risk anything at all for an ordinary commander under him and expose himself to danger. So to make the plan foolproof, Acharya Chanakya has manipulated circumstances such that your Gautami Bhabhi will also accompany an escaping Bhadrasal in her ardent love to meet her husband. As for why Bhadrasal will try to bring your Gautami Bhabhi along with him, the logic is very simple. He failed in his last mission and got captured to boot. Your brother isn't very tolerant of failures. The only way he can redeem himself in your brother's eyes is by bringing Gautami, Dhananand's love and wife along with him.
Nandini, for a moment almost losing herself in the tumultuous flow of her emotion, "I feel sorry for Gautami Bhabhi...She does not deserve this...
Chandragupt without being swayed either by his intellect or his emotions and in absolute control of himself, "Perhaps...But it is inevitable...A few good things and good people too get crushed...in the quest to eliminate evil!...I could keep you out of this...
Nandini: No...Chandra...no...I got carried away momentarily...My mind knows that they are receiving their due...But who will explain that to my heart...
Chandra: I understand! (He pressed her hands with his) I know how difficult all this will be for you...and you are not alone in this...I am always with you!
A couple of hours of painful and irritating waiting ensued. But it soon ended fruitfully when they beheld Gautami and Bhadrasal on two horses making their way through the thick foliage of the forest. Gautami was very scared and hesitant. She did not know if she had done the right thing throwing all her better judgement to the wind in her overpowering love to meet her husband.
She had trusted an almost stranger whom she had personally met just twice or thrice and that too in her husband's presence alone to brainwash her into accompanying him. She knew what she was doing was treason and could end very badly for all the women of her side whom she had left behind at Patliputra. But she couldn't help it. She would rather live with this guilt than with the guilt that she got a chance to escape from Patliputra and join her husband but didn't take it because she was scared to act decisively.
They continued riding ahead and Chandragupt and the rest of the contingent followed behind them at a safe distance.
At Dhananand's forest camp,
The scouts placed on the path leading to Dhananand departed to inform him about the impending arrival of Bhadrasal and Gautami. The informers did not stay behind to notice that a big army contingent was also following Bhadrasal and Gautami. Dhananand was overjoyed and jubilant. He did not suspect any foul play in this sudden, unexpected development. He and his entire force remained wherever they were without retreating.
As the minutes started elapsing, Dhananand found it difficult to contain his excitement and remain behind in his camp awaiting their arrival. He quickly mounted his horse and went ahead to meet his wife and receive her. Except a few men, there weren't many to guard and defend him in the case of an attack. But at the present moment, his thoughts were very far from anticipating any impending danger.
As his eyes fell on the approaching form of Gautami, Dhananand's eyes glistened with the moisture of unshed tears of happiness. How long it had been since he had seen her! Now he would never let her go. She would remain with him forever. They would never be separated again. He was about to greet her when the sound of whizzing arrows swished past him. He quickly brought out his shield and defended himself from the onslaught. Gautami sat on her horse shell-shocked while Bhadrasal realized that everything that had happened till then was a trap.
All the men around Dhananand collapsed from their horses like nine pins pierced by arrows. Leaving Gautami unattended, Bhadrasal quietly slipped away from there. He had fought and worked enough for Padmanand and Dhananand. Even if Dhananand escaped from this tight corner he had got himself into, he was unlikely to pardon Bhadrasal for this mistake. He would fare even worse than he did with Chandragupt during his imprisonment with his former master in case he succeeded in escaping from here. His own loyalty and personal code of conduct prevented Bhadrasal from surrendering and joining hands with Chandragupt though he could expect to be treated better here. He would fend for himself from now on.
Gautami collapsed on the spot perceiving that her own perfidy had led to her husband's capture. Chandragupt's soldiers took her into their custody. Dhananand broke into a maniacal and nervous fit of laughing, "Welcome, Chandragupt and my sweet sister Nandini to the forests of Bhavanagiri!...Can I expect at least Kshatriya Dharma from the very great Chandragupt Maurya?"
As he spoke the words "great Chandragupt Maurya", his face wore an expression of a very deep snigger. Nandini retorted at this, "Bhaiyya what are you trying to insinuate?what you have committed is treason...You cannot blame anyone for your fate..."
Dhananand with perfect disbelief on hearing his sister's words, "I really can't believe it is my own sister...my own Nandini who is speaking this.
He turned towards Chandragupt with hatred and venom writ all over his face, "With what brainwashing or blackmail did make my own little sister speak your language?...She must have been intoxicated or under the influence of some insidious drug...Otherwise, my little sister would never have spoken like this to her brother.
Nandini interjected, "You speak the truth Bhaiyya...I was really under the influence of an insidious drug...the drug of family love...Only now I am free from this addiction...I am able to see the truth for what it is...The scales have been lifted from my eyes once and for all...And no!...Don't you dare to blame my husband for any of this! ...Your actions have made me open my eyes..."
Dhananand frantic with frenzy by now, "All this is MINE...Do you understand...MINE...I am just trying to win what is MINE...from this husband of YOURS...who snatched everything unfairly from ME...
Nandini stepped back and faltered a bit seeing her brother's animosity and iron clad sense of entitlement. Her thoughts went down the memory lane just a few months ago when she heard the very same brother say, "Everything that is MINE belongs to my SISTER...I will do anything for YOU..."
It only meant that her brother had never truly loved her nor truly meant any of the words he spoke then. They were just high-sounding and flowery words spoken for namesake. She had been blind enough to think that he had really meant them at one point of time in her life. Everything Dhananand ever thought was just ME and MINE. Now she or her concerns were a non-entity for him because she was no longer HIS.
Nandini: Leave me or my husband...we may not be very important in your eyes...But what about the Praja of Magadh who hate you and Pitha Maharaj?...Do even the wishes of the people over whom you want to rule matter to you?...The whole of Magadh wants to see my husband...SAMRAT CHANDRAGUPT MAURYA...on the throne...
Dhananand: Ah...those ants...who cares? (Turning towards Chandragupt and addressing him, he continued) Chandragupt, you are are a Kshatriya. Can I expect at least a fair fight and Kshatriya Dharm from you? You have an entire army along with you while I am single. Fight me and defeat me one on one...Or are you a coward? ...Are you scared I will defeat you?
Chandragupt without loosing his cool or composure, "I am a Kshatriya...I am not a coward either...But I don't need to prove any of this to you...Before you spoke these words, I was planning to take you one on one...But now I have realized how wrong I was...You just do not deserve any of this...If I did that, you would get an honorable death ...and the Veer Swarga reserved for heroes who go down fighting bravely during war...Magadh awaits her justice...and that justice is that you deserve to die here slaughtered like a dog ...for all the crimes you have ever committed...
Chandragupt turned to his soldiers, his voice absolutely toneless while speaking, "Escort Maharani Nandini far away from this place. (He now addressed Nandini while he spoke) My love, you will not find it pleasant to watch what is going to befall a once loved brother of yours. All said and done, he is still your brother and will always remain your brother."
Dhananand met his due for all the crimes he had committed against Magadh, Chandra and his family, and against Satyajit. He did try to fight back but in vain. Realizing the futility of fighting, he tried to escape, but was relentlessly pursued and surrounded. He tried to rejoin his army contingent.
But perceiving the capture of their leader, all the soldiers and men under him took to their wings. He was none too popular with his men. It was their fear for him that kept them with him. Now they had nothing to fear from him. Dhananand ultimately fell in a most ignominious fashion slaughtered and mercilessly slashed to death by Chandragupt's soldiers.
Chandragupt stood unmoved throughout this entire sequence of happenings till Dhananand breathed his last. Once Dhananand's death was confirmed, Chandragupt rushed towards Nandini to support her. Though Dhananand did not deserve anything less, Nandini did not deserve any of this. She was an unwitting victim in this cruel game written by destiny and etched in blood.
Nandini asked with bated breath when he rejoined her, "Is it over?..." Chandragupt quietly nodded without wasting too many words over it. Nandini who had managed to keep a grip over herself until then broke out sobbing uncontrollably in Chandragupt's arms displaying her weakness and vulnerability. She cried out aloud, "Why?...Why?...Why did it have to be like this only?...Why couldn't it be otherwise?"
Chandragupt kept her shielded within his arms. He resolutely wiped and kissed away her tears as she kept shedding more and more tears, unmindful of where she was and what she was doing. She kept weeping saying again and again, "Leave me alone...Go away from me...I don't deserve anything good in life..."
Chandragupt spoke with great sorrow and poignancy in his voice, "When you did not leave me and go when I needed you, how could you imagine that I would desert you when you needed me? ...I will be your strength in your times of weakness and vulnerability...just as you were my strength!"
Nandini repeated the very same words once again in Chandragupt's ears before she fainted out of mental exhaustion, "Dhanyavaad sab kuch ke liye!" ( Thank you for everything) The first time she said the same words was when she thanked him for supporting her after she got to know the truth about her father and brothers.
Cradling her unconscious and recumbent form in his hands, Chandragupt spoke, "Sorry that I couldn't spare you any of this. Sorry that you had to suffer. Sorry that I could not protect that innocence of yours anymore."
How much had transpired after that day and this! And how excruciatingly painful the circumstances for both of them! What had remained constant from that day to this was that both of them had stood beside each other through thick and thin.
PS: This above chapter has not been proof-read by me. If there are any mistakes, kindly ignore them. Similarly, I may not be responding to comments. My eyes are in an absolutely bad shape. They have been troubling me pretty badly since a week. So the next update may not be anytime soon. However, do like and comment as it encourages me that readers are still reading this one.
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