SS: Lambi Judaai part e page 6 5 february 2011

Posted: 14 years ago
Hey Guys,
I am still working on An Ugly truth which is proving to be quite difficult. I am also still swamped with schoolwork, papers and projects, but I couldnt get this idea out of my head. I had the writingbug in my system again😆. So........here it is ...i am presenting a new story mixing two of my hobbies......writing and history.
I am dedicating this to all of you and I hope you will like it.  I hope you will forgive me for letting all the other stories hang midway in the air and not being able to dedicate time to them.
I specially want to mention Dhani, my wonderful friend for proof-reading and liking this story. It is due to her comments that i got the courage to post a story like this, otherwise it would be kept hidden in my folder like a lot of my other stories.  Thanks Dhani! also for suggesting titles. I decided to use something else than you suggested though. Sorry😳
 
love,
Ranjana
p.s ignore mistakes as usual s.v.p.
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*note: history in this update is used for recreational purposes only. Asoka had a change of hearts during the battle of Kalinga and he turned to Buddhism after that according to the found rock-edicts, which narrated the bloody battlefields and the lost lives. It is debatable though, whether he went through a real change of hearts or a clever political strategy. Before that Asoka had fought long and gruesome wars and he was known as Chandasoka, the terrible Asoka, it is said that kingdoms were afraid of fighting against him. Also the story of his mother and his half-brother is more or less found in historical evidence. The rest of the story is made-up, fiction, baloney, bogus'.etc.etc .etc.

I have changed Jai's name to make it sound more ancient and regal. Bani's name is the same as it sound kind of folk as in the Sanskrit equivalent of her name would be Vani, I think, but she isn't from the sanskritized area whereas Jai is. (Asoka's period and area had Sanskrit literature). Moreover Jai is a Ksatryia but from a lower class.

 

 

It must have been centuries ago when an emperor, in an effort to gain more land, respect, fear and taxes from his neighbouring states set out with the worst weapons know to mankind. War.

People didn't know what possessed the emperor as he raged like a destructive wind though states, countries and battlefields, leaving behind the evidence of his destruction. Corpses, burning houses, torn families, orphaned children and enough food for lurking vultures. The rumour amongst the emperor's subjects was that the emperor's stepbrother had sent men to kill the emperor's unborn child. In that attempt of murder the emperor's mother and step-mother to the other prince, had lost her life. After that a rage was destroying the emperor on the inside. And the emperor chose to destroy everything in his path. People paid a price for that, even the emperor's commander-in-chief Jaideva. He served Emperor Asoka, more commonly known as Chandasoka, the terrible Asoka.

Jaideva rested in his tent. His attended tended the gash on his shoulder with an herbal paste.

'Shall I get you something to drink, or something else, Sir?' He asked suggestively.

Jaideva shook his head. 'Not tonight.'  He answered. 'I need my head clear for tomorrow. We are going to pass some treacherous passes. We don't know what we will encounter. Our enemies might be lurking behind the mountains.'

'It is turning out to be long war sir.'

'Yes it is.' Jai sighed wistfully. The last time he had seen his family, his mother, his father, his two brothers and a sister who was married all ready, was three monsoons ago. His stay in this army seemed forever. He had entered as a boy, trying to earn something for his family. When the previous commander-in-chief noticed that Jaideva could fight, he turned into a soldier. It had taken a lot of work, patience and blood shedding, from him and his enemies, to be where he was now, but fighting someone else's battle was proving to be very harder and harder every day. The lines in his face had turned harsher, and his face turned more rigid. His emotions were locked somewhere far away. No expressions were visible anymore. Not even pain or anger. This battle had nothing to do with protecting their borders from outsiders anymore. The white people speaking that harsh sounding language, who came from far-away lands (Greeks), had learned not to harm them anymore. They stayed safely in the kingdoms they had established. Jaideva only plundered now. There was nothing noble in this war anymore, there was no superior motive. The only motive now was wealth and everything the Gods had doomed. Frequently Jaideva feared for the repercussions of his actions. He killed innocents who were doing the same as he had done in the beginning: protecting his country, fighting for his king. Yes, he was a Ksyatriya (warrior). It was his duty to fight, but this was no dharmayudh (battle of justice). This was just yuddh, war.

Jaideva sat down in the small cot in his room. His attended took the filthy, blood covered pieces of cloth and left. He lied down, trying to spare the gash at his arm. It should be healed by tomorrow. He actually should have applied this as soon as he came back, but he couldn't leave just like that. He had to see his soldiers first. He needed to see how they were doing. He needed to lift their spirits.

 

The sound of a galloping horse reached his ears. A horse neighed in front of his tent when Jaideva's attendant stepped in.

'The emperor's bode has brought a message sir.'
Jaideva sat up, adjusted the scarf around his shoulders to protect himself from the chilly wind that blew in the tent, and signalled the attendant to bring in the bode with all regards.
The bode greeted the commander of the army and presented him two scrolls. One of them bared the royal sign.  Jaideva unrolled the piece of cloth and started reading.

'Kalinga' He whispered at least. 'His majesty ordered us to turn to Kalinga. One of the emperor's half-brothers has found refuge there. The general assigned to bring him back has been defeated. Inform his majesty that we will make the arrangements as soon as possible.' Jaideva looked at he bode. 'We will be there in ten days.'

The bode nodded. 'Make arrangements for the bode to rest for the night. One of the queens and her entourage will join us in ten days. Make sure there are no complaints.' Jaideva ordered his attendant. Both of them left when Jaideva opened another scroll that had come with the message of the king.

'Taradevi.'

Jaideva threw the scroll on the sandy ground, unable to read her mockery of loving words, when everyone knew the reason behind her pursuit. She was one of the most famous courtesans of Pataliputra. Well versed, well-spoken and educated. She was beautiful, graceful and there was no shame in being a courtesan. But her manners were not something to be proud of. Everyone knew about her ambitions of becoming a empress, but the emperor had no eye for her. Taradevi realized that the years were catching up with her. Any moment Taradevi could be replaced by a younger, more charming woman. And that would mark the end of her power. Still, to have some influence in the court, she had chosen Jaideva as her potential future husband. And she started declaring her love for him, quite publicly too. Jaideva had rejected all her attentions and efforts, but she wouldn't waver.

Taradevi was like sweet poison. As sweet and as charming as she was, her cunningness was no secret to anyone, except maybe the princes of the royal court who called for her services. As easy as it was to succumb to her charms, as difficult was it to escape her magic. The magic of courtesans was what she used, not to protect herself, but to profit from it. The richest and most clever men acted like fools on her doorstep. It was no secret that she eliminated all her fellow courtesans with her magic, as soon as they seemed to be a threat to her position and power. Till date only two men had escaped the tentacles of her magical powers. One was the emperor. He who was consumed with rage and negative forces so much that no other force could enchant him. And the other was Jaideva, the commander who had seen all the hardships in his life, a loyal man with tremendous willpower and strength. The best warrior, even his enemies acknowledged that. And above all...he was honest. Even if it had almost cost him his life to contradict his emperor. Jaideva had even announced that he would fight his last war for the emperor. After that he would go home. To his family. The family who were now more or less strangers to him.

 

It was her inability to charm Jaideva, an ordinary man compared to the emperor, which fascinated and irritated Taradevi. Now she had announced that she was coming with the entourage of the queen and would be camping near the tents in Kalinga. Jaideva was aware of the fact that he had to end her pursuit once and for all. If Taradevi would choose to do so, she would play a very ugly game, even resorting to the magic of courtesans, to get what she wanted. That would mean marriage to him and a place in the court. She had an awful temper and would destroy everything that came in between her and her ambitions. If it wasn't for the distance between them, Jaideva knew that Taradevi would have made his life miserable.

Jaideva's chain of thoughts broke when he heard a piercing scream reverberate thought the night. Shrugging off the cloth around his shoulders he picked up his sword and rushed out the tent when he heard the scream again. It was a woman's scream. The only women travelling with the army were the prostitutes serving the soldiers. They lived in the tents at the end of the encampment.

Without any regards to his own wounds he cut the rope which had tied down his own horse and mounted it.

As soon as he got towards the back of the encampment the screaming got loader. A crowd of cheering men had gathered at the very last tent. When they saw the black horse with the white spot between the eyes, the commander's horse, the crowd parted and stopped their cheering. Just the screams of a woman was heard. Jumping of his horse, Jaideva ran inside and drew his sword. One of his soldiers was pinning a struggling girl beneath him while three of them helped. A few women, dressed in rich, exquisite and revealing clothing kept looking at the scene in front of them as it was the most common thing in the world. Another woman was trying to hold the girl's mouth so she couldn't scream anymore. The girl bit the woman which earned her a slap. Her cloths were already torn, but still she struggled as hard as she could.


'Leave her!'  Jaideva ordered his soldiers.

The spectators left the tent as quickly as possible. Only the men forcing the girl didn't pay heed, still occupied with whatever they were doing or attempted to do, until one of them felt a sword poking in his back. Immediately the girl was released and the man on top of her stood up.

'S...s.....s. ....sir.'  He managed to stammer. The girl picked up the tatters of her clothing and scrambled to the empty corner. The corner that was far away from them.

'You four are dismissed.' Jaideva ordered. 'You no longer work for the emperor.'

'No sir! Please!' The started pleading. One of them fell on his knees, knowing that as soon as they are dismissed their loyalty towards the emperor would be questioned. And the emperor wasn't benevolent towards any traitor, or his family.

'She is.....she is just one of the locals I picked up.'  One of the soldiers blabbered.

'That doesn't mean that she is less than anyone!'  Jaideva's voiced thundered, silencing even the sobbing girl. 'I know the war has messed up with your minds, but I don't want savage animals in my army. You three can go!'

'NO, please.....'  The three men fell on their knees. 'Our families..... They will be killed sir. ' they said fearing the repercussions of the emperor when they returned to the city.

'So....what should I do? You made your choice. I made mine.'
They pleaded, whimpered, even cried until Jaideva relented.

'Stables... I don't want you near any weapon so you will clean the stables! I don't want to see you here again and you will not go near any of the locals ever again! If I see or hear you violating any of the orders I will kill you myself!' He said, lifting one of the men, the one who had brought her here and had tried to rape the girl, by placing the point of his sword on his neck, under his chin and applying some pressure.

'As for you.'  He said to the shivering man. 'Half of your wages as a stables cleaner will go to the family of the girl when she returns to them.'

'She has no one Sir.' One of the women in the background sniggered, and looked at Jaideva with a crooked smile that tried to promise him a lot. 'Her brothers died in the battle and she was brought here in the plundering.'
' Spoils of the war.'  Jaideva thought immediately when a guilty pang hit at his heart. 'This is what you do now commander.' A voice inside him nagged him. 'You force girls to become one of the harlots in your army.'

 

He turned towards the girl who was cowering in a corner, hugging her torn clothes. Long, black hair, now filthy and in tangles, was shielding her face. Her arms were covered with blue marks in the form of fingers. Her bare feet were covered with stains of blood and the nails on her toes were chipped and filthy, as were her legs. Her thighs were bruised and covered with cuts.

'Get some clothes for her!' He ordered the women. He walked towards her and kneeled down. She whimpered and backed further away when he touched her. Jaideva waited till the clothes were brought, then tapped her on the shoulder and held out the clothes for her. Large, black eyes filled with tears looked at him. There was a cut above one of her eyebrows and a large bruise on her cheek and under her eye. Her lips were chaffed and cut. She accepted the clothes and looked around her with fear in her eyes. She flinched when he tried to wipe the blood from her lips, but turned to him and clung to his hand, dropping the clothes on the floor. Her tears wet the palm of his hand.  She was darker than the men and women in his army; she had the colour and the features of the locals. Her mesmerizing black hair and intriguing colour would make her stand out in this crowd, making her more vulnerable for attacks, ridicule and ill-mannered treatments, but he couldn't release her. As per the army,  and the most important the emperor's rules, she was now a captive of the army. She would have to travel with them.

'Help her with a bath!'  Jaideva ordered one of the woman. ' She cant go home anymore.'

The girl looked up. She couldn't have understood him entirely as the locals spoke a different language, still she looked like she could figure out what he hand for she looked down dejected, released his hand and wiped the tears that threatened to fall on the ground. The girl whispered something.

' Her brothers were killed. She has no home anymore.'  One of the girls translated for Jaideva.

'Tell her she will stay here. Give her some work, but don't let her do anything like this again if she doesn't want to otherwise I will have your heads rolling!'  He threatened pointing his sword towards the woman. He walked away, knowing that his orders would be followed.

Three days later
They had not been prepared for this attack when they made their way to Kalinga, but victorious they were. The local warriors had attacked the convoy, but they were all killed with minimum damage to his own army. The battle was fierce, but the warriors were outnumbered by his men. He had thrown himself into the battle and got injured slightly. The injuries to his men were far less then he had expected and he was glad. He had ordered for a feast to celebrate, but had stayed in his tent himself and had lied down on his cot to rest.  Jaideva didn't want to sit with all the drunk men and all the scarcely clothed women he had seen countless times himself. The allure of these women wasn't as strong as when he was a young boy. Also a result of the wars he had seen. He just wanted peace around him. this was the irony of his life. He destroyed peaceful lives, but longed for peace himself  on someone else's orders.

 

The entrance to the tent wavered in the wind. Someone entered. He had released his attendant from his services tonight to join the feast.

The soft steps in the sand revealed a woman's entrance. He was not in the mood for the charms of a woman tonight and shouted at the person to leave. Something fell on the sand with a hard thud.

Jaideva turned around and saw the same girl looking at him like a frightened deer. The girl he had helped a few days ago. A cup was lying on the ground, near her feet,  and with great difficulty she managed to balance a large vessel with steaming water.

He smiled at her and motioned her to come further. She did with tiny steps, revealing that she would rather be somewhere else and placed the vessel in front of him. The gash between his ribs was revealed to her when he sat up. She rushed towards him and tried to help. Still dirty from the battle he had ordered for some water himself. He dismissed the girl but she still stood there. With a  clean cloth in her hands she started tending to the injury. Jaideva winced in pain when she pressed a bit harder to stop him from struggling. When she was done the girl poured the rest of the warm water, bit by bit, over his back, washing the rest of the dust from his torso.

'Thank you.' 

The girl probably didn't understand him but she smiled hesitantly. She picked up the vessel and the cup when her stomach grumbled loudly. She looked embarrassed when she rose.

Jaideva reached towards the plate, laden with exotic fruits, and handed her a banana. She didn't except it until he pushed it in her hands after which she fled.  That evening he couldn't contain his curiosity when Jaideva asked his attendant about that girl again.

'She works for.....for the men Sir. She cleans their....their...'

'Their filth.'  Jaideva completed.'

'Yes sir, but she is a nice girl, from a high cast too. Still she doesn't complain when those harlots yell at her or make fun of her, or when she has to clean our soldiers' dirt.'

When Jaideva dismissed his attendant again he knew that he had the power to move that girl from whatever she was made to do, but he also knew that she would have to live with the women as she would have the travel with the army. And if he knew one thing about the prostitutes in the army, then he knew that they were vicious and would do anything to make her life miserable.

The next day she came again, after they set up their tents for the night, gave him hot water for his bath and left after he gave her something to eat. He had noticed her appearance careful now. Her nails were dirty, her hair was entangled, her clothes stained and ripped at several places, but she didn't  look dejected or broken. She looked beautiful. At peace with whatever she was doing. Whatever she had in this moment.

Jaideva thanked her again for her services, when she answered him hesitantly. 'It's all right, Sir.'

'You do understand me. ' Jaideva noted in surprise.

The girl nodded. 'I do, Sir.  My brothers taught me your language. It is the language of your emperor. He has a lot of land, Sir.'

'Yes he has.' Jaideva thought for a while 'But still he wants more.'

'Why didn't you tell me that you could understand me?'

The girl smiled. 'Because the men will leave me alone now if I am unnoticed, Sir. They don't want to talk to me,  or sit near me and touch me. I'm like an insect to them no, unworthy to be near them because I am not like them. Even the women  let me be.'
 ' and you don't mind?'

'No. I like it, Sir. ' She said when she turned around to walk away.

' What's your name.' Jaideva asked, rather ordered her to tell.
'Bani.' He heard her say before she disappeared again.

She came the next night too. Jaideva had dismissed his attendant in time when she came with hot water for his bath. While he removed his armor he winced due to the unhealed gash at his side. She took him by his hand and made him sit down while she poured the warm water over his head and his body.
'Do you have anything to put on the injury, Sir?' She asked him.

'A balm. It's in the trunk.'

Bani found it for him and put it on the gash after she had scrubbed her own hands clean. 'Do take enough rest, Sir.'  She ordered him before she was about to disappear.

'Bani.' He called her back. 'Stay here for a while.'

'I have to get back.' For once she forgot to address him formally.
'They won't notice. The feast is taking place. Have something to eat.'

Bani sat on the sandy floor in a corner, next to his cot and carefully folded the clothes Jaideva had left on the floor.

'You don't have to do that for me.' He ordered her while she smiled enigmatically.

'I have lived with five brothers. It's a habit now'..Sir'

'Let the sir be, Bani.' Jaideva smiled''' Do you miss them?' He asked a while later.
Bani nodded and the effort she made in not trying to cry was visible.

'You don't hate me? I led the war, my soldiers were ordered to kill them. I ordered them to kill. You don't hate me for ordering to them to kill? You come here every evening, help me. You never thought of taking revenge for what I did to your brothers, what happened to you?'

Bani looked at him intently.

'Should I hate you? Did you hate my brothers? Did you hate me?' She asked Jaideva.

He lowered his eyes''. and shook his head silently.

'My brothers did the same thing you are doing. You are warriors, it is your duty to fight. They did their duty and died, with pride. And you are also doing your duty. It wasn't personal. Warfare has many rules, but this'..this is the final rule and the only one that matters''..death! Some win and some loose. My brothers lost with pride and you should be proud of what you have achieved.'  Bani told him.
'But I am not.'  Jaideva whispered with a pain laced voice. 'I am not proud of what I have achieved. There is a difference between me and your brothers. They fought and died for their land, to protect it. I fought to fulfill my emperor's desires. To fill his coffers. It's not something to be proud off'. I want to stop this, but I can't.' He whispered while he lied down on his cot and threw his arm over his face, shielding his eyes filled with unshed tears. Bani looked intently at him before she mustered the courage to touch his arm and stay there till he fell asleep. She snuck out of the room in the dark night, trying to avoid anyone on her path.

 

It was before dawn  when Bani was cleaning near the tents of the soldiers.  There she saw man due to whom she had not been able to sleep all night. The regret he was feeling,  affected her for some reason. She prayed all night to the Gods to let him be free of all guilt and resentment for himself. In the morning she went about to do her chores as usual when she saw him on his usual routine of training, just before the soldiers would wake up. He was practicing with his sword in the open field. The dust rose around him in tiny particles creating clouds at his feet. With agility and speed Jaideva had mastered  over the years, he attached his imaginative foe. Bani stood rooted at the ground, looking at the movements he made. It was like a dance. His arms moved at the same time as his legs. The sword would  slice through the wind and land again. It never ended. His wrists would turn with grace, making figures with the sword. Figures that would bring the maximum amount of injury to opponents. Jaideva turned in circles and the sword in this hand would follow him in dizzying speed. He was the master of the instrument, in utmost control of the situation and demanding only the best from himself while he moved. His body stretched some, then contracted some as required. It memorized Bani, she was bound by the magic of the sword and then the spell the man in front of her had cast on her. He was done with his practice, but Bani stood transfixed until Jaideva spoke to her.

Startled she gathered her wits and turned around to leave.

' Thank you.' 

Bani looked surprised when she turned around.

' You stayed  with me until I fell asleep.'  Jai explained.

'Its okay, Sir.'  Bani mumbled before she ran away with a fiery red color on her cheeks that didn't go unnoticed by Jaideva. He didn't see her while traveling that day, nor when the camps were set up or that evening when water was brought to him for his bath.

The following morning, just when he came back from inspecting his troops, he found her in his tent.

His filthy and dusty clothes were slung over her arm when he found her like a statue in his tent. He smiled at her and startled her.

' Have you eaten anything?'  Jaideva asked her.

She shook her head. The leftovers and half-eaten food she got from the women wasn't that appetizing. She saw Jaideva move in his tent and uncover a copper plate filled with delicacies. Delicacies she had never even seen or heard of.

Bani said nothing when a chunk of food was held in front of her. She looked at her hands full of soiled clothes and dirt under her nails from her chores in the morning. The food was brought in front of her mouth where she took a small bite to her embarrassment.

It was at the same time that someone entered the tent. Bani turned around instantly, fearing that one the men or the women of the camp had seen them like this. To her surprise, and the anger of the man in front of her, an unknown woman stepped in the tent. She looked regal, queen-like and beautiful with sculpted features like the statue of a goddess, but most of all she looked angry.

' You haven't answered my message Jai.'  The woman declared.

' I have not felt the need to answer your message.' He answered

Bani shifted uncomfortably and looked for an opportunity to flee while the woman's gaze pierced her.

' You can leave.'  The woman commanded.

Jaideva grabbed Bani by her arm. ' Tara you were not expected. Nor did I hear you come in or have you let anyone announce you. The only one who needs to leave is you.'

' I am your guest Jai. You can't insult me like that.'

'Right now Bani is here and she is a guest too. She entered before you,  so'.'  He left his sentence unfinished.

' She is a mere slave. She means nothing to you.'

' And what do you mean to me Tara?'  Jaideva challenged.

The women, named Tara, looked angered.

'You are comparing me to her Jai!' she shouted losing all the grace and beauty she had in one moment. She looked hideous in this form. Pitiful even when she commanded Bani to leave, to which Bani complied when she mumbled an excuse in her native tongue.

' You have no right to come here like this.'  Jaideva looked at the famous courtesan. ' You were supposed to come with the queen, not on your own like this. You might not care about your reputation, but I do.' He thundered like a raging cloud. '

' The queen is not coming, the emperor will meet you near Kalinga.'  Tara sniggered. ' The travel was too horrendous for the youngest, delicate queen. And I offered to forward the message to you.' 

' Good.' Jaideva just shrugged.' Thank you for performing the duties of a bode. Now if you would please take some rest and food so you can return to the city as soon as possible.'  He called his attendant loudly and asked him to escort the lady to some kind of suitable arrangement for her stay and later her return. Haughtily she turned towards the attendant, knowing that she couldn't make a scene in front of him. His attendant came back, informed him about the arrangements he had made for the lady and was about to leave when Jaideva stopped him.

' Find Bani and ask her to come here.'  Jaideva ordered the attendant.
' Who?'
' The girl who comes here to clean.'
The man nodded and left. Jaideva made preparations for the last day of travel.

 

Tomorrow they would be near Kalinga, two days earlier than they had expected,  which would work in their advantage. The day after tomorrow they would attack. Just two more sunrises.

Jaideva waited as long as he could for Bani, but eventually he had to move with the soldiers. He knew she was following them somewhere at the end of the entourage where now Taradevi would be following them too. She had not left for the city. Jaideva ordered everyone to march till dark when they saw the vestige of Kalinga. Everyone made suitable arrangements and waited for the emperor, who had already reached the camp, to permit them to have an audience with him and discuss the tactics of the war. Attack with full force, that was the plan. And with as many men as possible. The emperor had issued his command.

The best men were informed, soldiers were told to let polish their armor and be prepared to shed blood. The men reacted enthusiastically, claimed to be able to kill as many men as possible and rob as many things as possible. Jaideva nodded in approval and left the wired-up men to retreat to his tent to rest.

Taradevi came to meet him. He sent her back to her tent, denying her the right to see him. He got a message from her.

' Don't make me angry Jai. You know I want you and I will do anything to have you. If you can't be mine, I won't let you be anyone else's. Especially not that slave-girl's. You can't love her. You will have to love me.'

Jaideva sent her a message back. ' I know that you are a witch, but don't try to use your magic on me. I have no need for you or your magic. As for Bani'she was never a slave-girl and if she was, she won't stay so for a long time. I will marry her. Even if it is to spite you.'

A while later Jaideva was polishing his sword when he heard her footsteps, even on the soft sand. Her presence filled the depressing small space, but something was wrong.  

' Why didn't you come this morning?' Jaideva asked her.
She didn't answer.
' I asked you to come.'

She went about with her chores, cleaning everything in the small place, arranging his sleeping space and his clothes.

'Why aren't you answering me?' Jaideva asked her when he opened his eyes and stared at her back. 'Turn around.'  She stood rigid with the clothes over her arm.

'Now!' he ordered.
 

Slowly she turned around to reveal a bruise on her cheek and a cut through her eyebrow, next to the inflicted by the soldiers a few days ago. Her neck was marred by nail scratches and there was no doubt who had ordered to do this.

He had seen it before, on one of the newer courtesans of the court whom he had visited a day before.

' You are not going back.'  Jaideva ordered her.
' I have to. Sir'
' No you don't. I am ordering you to stay here.'

'As what, Sir?' Bani looked at him. ' I am your slave. That is my position in this army and everyone knows that. I have no status and that gives everyone the right to treat me like they want to.'

'And that is why you let her do this to you?' Jaideva asked . 'You should have come to me directly.'

Bani looked at the sand on the ground and kicked a small heap, just to keep herself busy. She didn't want to face him.

' You will stay here.'  He ordered again.
' She will misunderstand it.'  Bani mumbled when the entrance opened and Taradevi stood in front of them.

' Jai'I need to speak to you.'

' No. you don't. Go away. I have not given you permission to enter.'

'  We are getting married jai.' She argued.

Jaideva looked at her in surprise. ' Who gave you that impression? You spread the rumors in the court that I was visiting you. Don't you think I know that. And now you demand marriage. What do you take me to be? A fool?'

Taradevi's eyes were fixed on Bani. ' I know what you want Jai. And I don't mind. I know what the promise of pleasures of the flesh can do to a man, but wouldn't you choose a woman of a higher cast instead of a slave. I would be honored myself.'  She bowed slightly.

' Leave!'  Jaideva commanded Taradevi. ' Find yourself some other man! I am not interested!'

Taradevi's eyes were colder than the coldest river water when she left. It made Bani shiver.

'You cant go there tonight. You will have to sleep here.'

Bani nodded and sat down in a corner on the sandy floor of the tent, faraway from him,  when she saw Jaideva smile. ' You don't have to fear. I wont harm you.' He promised her.

Bani heaved a sigh in relief and lied down on the sand. He was a good man, she knew that. For the first time in many nights she would sleep without fearing abuse from women or rape by men while she was being watched over by Jaideva, though he wasn't supposed to stay up all night. It wouldn't be in his benefit in the war tomorrow. But still'.the shadow of the fire slowly burning in one corner of the room danced on her face relaxed by her slumber. She shifted every time when the wind would blow. In her sleep she rubbed her nose when her hair rested against it and tickle her. Jaideva covered her halfway through the night with a thick cloth. She even smiled in her sleep.

 

Bani was up before dawn. Even before she opened her eyes the realization hit her that the war would begin today. The men were ready to attack and fight. Jaideva was being assisted in wearing his armor when Bani woke up. The attendants left a while later.

' Don't leave the tent today. It isn't safe for you. Tara will be waiting for you to come out.'

' But I have to work'. sir.' She added hesitantly.

'No Sir.' He reprimanded her. 'And you don't need to go. Stay here. Some of my personal attendants will guard this tent and you. They will bring you whatever you need, I have instructed them to do so don't take anything from anyone else. I trust my men, nothing will happen to you.'  Jaideva took the balm he applied to his wounds when he was injured and gave it to Bani. 'Apply this to all you cuts, it will heal quickly.'

Bani nodded and saw him leave for the battlefield. She so hoped that he would turn around just once, so she could see his face, but he didn't. She hadn't seen his face full of remorse of fighting yet another war and regret for leaving her behind like this.  Bani spent her entire day praying to the Gods that Jaideva would  come back. She got everything she needed. Water to wash herself, fruits to eat, drinks to drink and clean, beautiful clothes to wear, but her mind was fixed on the battlefield. If she concentrated hard enough, she was able to hear the clashing sounds of metal and the brutal screams of men slain. She strained her ears every minute of the longest day to hear a familiar scream she actually didn't want to hear. The attendants stood in front of the tent and every hour they got an update of the battlefield'.how many men had died on both sides, which of the high-rank men had been slain and how the battlefield looked. Not knowing that Bani was able to understand them, they discussed the news amongst themselves and Bani was relieved to hear that all was well, until the messenger left and she had to wait for a whole hour again to hear something, or hopefully nothing, about Jaideva.

Bani was sitting on the floor, mending some of the cloths of the commander in chief when the entrance opened and Jaideva entered. She jumped up in surprise and smiled broadly as she saw him. Covered in sweat, dust and blood, some of his one and some of others, he faced her. His appearance looked frightening as the blood run over his face, but Bani could only smile when she saw him standing in front of her. He looked at her ' Worried?'  He asked.

She nodded. ' I hate the war.'
' You told me to do my duty.'
' That doesn't mean that I have to like it.'

Jaideva's attendant entered and for a place that small, Bani managed exceedingly well to blend into the background again.

' Taradevi managed to send someone near the tent today.' Jaideva said when the men left after treating his injuries. Bani nodded.

' I have heard about it.'
' She will try to harm you, you are aware of that, aren't you?'
Bani repeated the movement.
'You will stay inside, promise?'  Bani nodded again.
'Do you love me?'

Her head moved again until she realized what he had asked. A red color, brighter than the sun when it would rise in the morning, stained her cheeks.

' w'what happened on the battlefield?'  Bani fumbled with her words.

' They will surrender, if not tomorrow then the next day.' Jaideva spoke gravely.

Bani sensed the tone and looked intently at him. ' Are you all right?'

He didn't seem to hear her. He as staring like he was hypnotized by something.

'There was blood all over. The sand was red, Bani.'  He narrated hesitantly. ' I killed'' so many men today. They seemed to fall like twigs in a storm, but'.. I didn't want to kill them.' Jaideva looked at Bani with tears in his eyes.  'The corpses were everywhere''. From both sides men were killed and I'there was a man.....when I came back to the camp'.his limbs were cut off'.he was lying there and I could hear the vultures. He stopped me, he screamed for me'..he wanted to die'..'

Bani stood up and walked towards him. For the first time she sat next to him.

' The man'' Jaideva continued. ' He begged me to kill him'..I asked him who he was, but he didn't say anything. Just pleaded with me to kill him'''  he abruptly looked at Bani next to him. ' He was one of my own men Bani. I know it. He didn't want to tell me because he thought I wouldn't take his life. I stuck my sword in his chest. He blessed me before he died Bani.' Jaideva was shaking by now.

' It must have happened on the other side too isn't it?'  He asked her.

Bani nodded. Jaideva hugged her immediately. Bani didn't stop him from holding her. Right now she didn't care about her status as a slave or the possibility that someone might walk in. She let him hold her until Jaideva stopped shaking and laid on his cot with his head in her lap and slept deeply that night, until the attendants, aware of a woman's presence in the tent, called out to their commander.

This time Bani disappeared in the background too, but before Jaideva left to meet the emperor and than the battlefield, he turned around and looked at her. It wasn't nearly enough for him because he came back, held her hand and kissed her temple briefly before he left.

Bani received water to wash herself again and clothes to dress herself. From the messages to the attendants she knew that the emperor was winning. More people were being complied to surrender. The screams from the battlefield grew louder and more clear. Bani was familiar with the sight of war as she had seen the corpses of her brothers. She felt bad for the families who would be torn apart now, the women who would have no son, brother, husband or father anymore, but she prayed to the Gods to give them a shelter like she had found and a supporter like she had found in Jaideva. The clashes of metal on metal reached her ears.

Halfway the day Bani hear the news. The brutal battle had ended. The blood of victims were scattered all over the battlefield. The color of sand wasn't brown anymore. For centuries the rains wouldn't be able to wash the color of the sand to it's original color. For centuries people would think of Kalinga and War in the same breath, but far from this horrible sight  Bani was smiling. No news of him meant that he was alive. He had not been gravely injured.  She wanted Jaideva to come back soon, just once so she could see him, make sure he is alright and see it for herself. Bani waited'and waited even though she knew that he wouldn't be back soon. What she had managed to  hear from the guards was that the emperor had been acting strangely. He wasn't celebrating his victory. The emperor was still standing in the middle of the battlefield, looking at the corpses and was trying to keep the vultures away from the bodies himself. The commander had taken him away from the battlefield to his chambers. There they were still discussing the war. Bani was satisfied with the news and looked at her image in the layer of water. For the first time in her life she looked at herself, wanted to look better for someone else. She got the finest clothes in the days she was in Jaideva's protection, but she wanted to look different,  special.  She applied the past Jaideva had given her on all the old and new cuts in her face and washed it of.. She untied her braided hair while looking at her reflection in the water-filled vessel and tried to untangle her hair with her fingers when she heard the commotion outside.

The commander was stabbed! There had been foul play! Enemies had managed to enter the camp! The vessel Bani was looking in fell from her hand and landed on the sand with a soft thud. The guards were discussing what to do, when one of them shouted. 'Why should we guard a harlot when our master is hurt?!' The others agreed and ran off with their swords in their hands leaving Bani behind. Before she could react or even think of breaking her promise to Jaideva, someone entered and Bani felt a stinging slap on her cheek. She was pulled by her hair. Suddenly she felt something cold resting on her cheekbone.

'Disfigure her face.' A sharp woman's voice was the only thing she heard before she felt an excruciating pain on her cheek and saw blood on the sand. Another slash on the other side of her face followed and she cried out as much as she could while a large hand covered her mouth.

Someone rubbed a handful of herbs in the gashes. It hurt her terribly but the pain had a numbing effect on her body. She couldn't struggle. The only thing she could see was Taradevi with a sword in her hands.

'If Jai cant be mine, than he wont be yours either.' She smiled vindictively at Bani.

The point of the sword traveled over Bani's face, towards her neck and stood still at the pulse there. There was some pressure and drops of warm blood flowed before she heard the shout of a man and the sound of a sword cutting through flesh and bones. A load thud followed.

Taradevi looked visibly shocked when she saw her accomplice lying on the floor and Jaideva towering over the body with gashes and blood on his body from the battle, but still looking fierce and powerful and destructive.

'Leave her Tara!' He commanded.

'It's too late Jai.' She sniggered. 'You should have done what I asked you to do. Why did have to take her side? Do you think I don't know that you love her?  This slave-girl.' She pushed the point of the sword a bit deeper in Bani's throat. ' I can see it on your face. You are rejecting me for her.'

'Tara. I said leave her!' Jaideva repeated again while he stepped towards her with the sword in his hand.

Taradevi raised the sword at once and was about to land it on Bani's neck when Jaideva stepped forward and pushed the sword he was holding in her back and deeper into her body. She fell to the floor looking at Jaideva. He rushed to Bani whose eyes were closed. He lightly tapped her cheeks.

'Bani'are you all right?'

Her eyes opened slightly, but she couldn't make a move. Her body lay rigid in his arms.

'I cant move,' she whispered.

Looked at her arms and legs. He couldn't find anything that had injured her. He smoothed the hair back from her face and looked at the gashes on her cheeks. The flowing blood had turned black. Frantically he looked around for something to clean the wounds, when he saw the water vessel on the floor and the water mingled with the sand into a muddy substance.

Something pierced his skin when he heard the familiar execrable sound metal piercing through flesh, mauling tissue, blood veins and organs.  Jaideva turned his head slightly to see a sword lodged deeply in his back while blood streamed down his body.

Taradevi barely managed to sit on her knees while she leaned forwards.

' I poisoned her wounds Jai.'  She whispered in his ears with the last bits of breath she possessed.

'I told you, if you cant be mine, I wont let you be someone else's'''..You two will never meet. You will never be together Jai. ''''I curse you. Both of you '' She took a deep breath.  'You will never be with your slave-girl.' Taradevi fell on the ground with Jaideva's sword in her chest.

Carefully Jaideva placed Bani on the floor. He lowered himself on her. He resting his head on her shoulder and listened to her shallow breathing when he heard a soft whisper.

'I want to touch you.'

With the sword in his back, cutting through muscles and organs, Jaideva lifted one of her hands and pressed them against his face and then against his lips.

'You were all right.'  Bani whispered.
He nodded slowly.
' Why did you come then? You shouldn't have. You knew that she came for me.'
'I came for you. To save you. To tell you that I love you.' He said weakly.

Bani smiled and closed her eyes. Jaideva moaned in pain. He felt her lips against his forehead when he closed his eyes too. He never saw the body of the woman he loved turn blue, due to the poison spreading through her body. Nor did she felt the man she loved struggling for his last breaths. They died in peace with the knowledge that in their last moments they were together, even when the unbreakable curse of a courtesan hovered over their deaths.

The emperor found them a while later. The sight of blood and a dead woman with jealousy still etched on her face on one side, and two lovers entwined, even in their last moments on the other side made him run. He ran towards the battlefield and fell down amidst the corpses on the ground. He cried for days, fully realizing now what anger and jealousy could do to people. It only destroyed the most beautiful things in life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by RANJANA_RRJ - 13 years ago
Posted: 14 years ago
RR...love, jealousy, rage and death...what do men do in rage and what jealous women do in the name of love.

Love the history mixed with fiction and the brutality mixed with madness.
Posted: 14 years ago
I absolutely loved this! It was beautifully written. Good that you decided to post it up here. 😃

Dil

p.s. please update your others when you get the time!
Posted: 14 years ago
Hi, what an incredible "SS".
The fervency in which you wrote this story is just breathtaking.
Sad though, how anger and jealousy can destroy the best of us,
when we want, what is not ment to be.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
😃 Feels good to be free - Lunna
**************************************************************************************************************
Posted: 14 years ago
that was wonderful sad thought but still very nicely written and touchy
Posted: 14 years ago
hey renu
tah twas just beautiful
 
a mixture of everything was ther as kanta di said
 
all the emotions were beautifully described by you....
 
JB could not be 1 when they were alive
but atleast they both deid together.........
 
just too gooddddddddddddddd
 
 
Posted: 14 years ago
Very emotional nice stoy.

Waiting for Ugly truth.
Posted: 14 years ago
Originally posted by Indian_Goddess




Dil

p.s. please update your others when you get the time!


You too Dil.
Posted: 14 years ago
Beautiful !!  Sad but lovely!!
Posted: 14 years ago
dis was so sad! i so wanted a happy ending! but very beautifully written!

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