Manohar sat down heavily on the armchair in his room and swabbed his sweaty face with the handkerchief, still reeling from the pressure of having had to give the king a highly edited version of Digvijay’s meeting with Nandini. The girl had some nerve to send say such outrageous things about the king, but then, she probably had no idea of the eminent personage she was insulting.

He had repeated hardly anything of what Nandini had said, but the king had still been quite irritated that the girl hadn’t been overcome with gratitude at the offer of unlimited money and agreed to become Prithvi’s mistress.

If he hadn’t edited the words carefully, the king would certainly have gone and killed her by now, forgetting that royalty no longer enjoyed impunity for its actions.

And he sincerely hoped the girl meant what she said and wouldn’t go to Prithvi with any complaints. Otherwise the king would have to suffer the ignominy of being murdered by his own grandson.

****************************

Sarojini looked up from the dinner table where she was sitting with Bhoothnath and Prakash, and stared quizzically at her daughter.

“Nandini, why did you take a bath again at this hour?

Nandini looked intently at the base of the stairs and mumbled, “Someone threw colours on me when I was returning home.”

“People are still playing?!” Prakash said eagerly. “I’ll go and see!”

“Prakash! Sit down! You are not going anywhere,” Sarojini snapped.

“People shouldn’t be throwing colours at innocent passerby,” Bhoothnath said indignantly.

Nandini quietly walked up to the table and sat down. How could she tell them the truth…that she had bathed again because a stranger’s words seemed to be clinging to her skin like dirt. But if only the mind could be cleansed as easily as the body….if only she remove the memory of the past hour…

She still was reeling under the impact of the revolting speech she had heard from that man…who purportedly was a messenger from Prithvi’s maternal grandfather!! Who wasn’t even supposed to exist! And then again….if he had such a soiled mind, that could be the reason Prithvi had withheld the knowledge of his existence from her, she thought, feeling increasingly troubled.

But who on earth had spoken to him about the relationship between Prithvi and herself….and what had they said to encourage him to send an envoy with such a vile and disgusting message…

Thankfully, the rage with which she had stormed back into the house had subsided or she would have been in Ayodhya right now, ranting at Prithvi….demanding to know how much more had he concealed from her….

But she didn’t want to know anything from him anymore. Not about his past, or his family, or his feelings for her. Because hours back, in that first instant when she had held the marble Krishna in her hand, one thing had suddenly become crystal clear in her consciousness.

Nothing on earth could lessen her love for him, so she just had to accept him as he was….

Life with him would be difficult, but even the thought of life without him was insufferable ….

 “Nandini! Did you hear what I said?”

Startled out of her thoughts, Nandini looked up to see her family staring at her. She flushed.

“Why are you so lost in thought? Is something wrong?” Bhoothnath asked apprehensively.

Nandini shook her head and uncomfortably asked, ““Did you ask me something, grandpa?”

“We asked you if you would be okay with staying for some days at Manju’s house,” Sarojini replied. “You’ve already missed a few days of college. I don’t want you to miss more than 3 days of lectures when your exams are approaching. Your aunt doesn’t want to let any of us leave soon but I told her about your exams. So she has half-heartedly agreed to let you leave after three days. We’ll come a week after that. But will you be able to travel back alone in the bus?” her mother asked worriedly.

“Ma, it just takes a few hours and I’ve done it before,” she said exasperatedly.

“Hmmm....ok….so if you will be comfortable staying with Manju, I’ll ask her right now itself.”

“I’ll get to stay with Arjun?! Of course, I’ll be fine!” Nandini laughed, suddenly feeling light. As her family began the discussion about leaving at first light the next day, Nandini’s attention wandered again.

She usually loved staying with her aunt and cousins. But this time, she could not bear the idea of staying away from Shamli for even a couple of days, leave alone a week or two.

She might find it difficult to talk to Prithvi without getting into a fight with him, but as long as she could see him everyday, it was enough for her…

************************

Four days later

********************

In the crowded bus terminal of Dinakpur, a large family was congregated around a young girl, and many people looked at the noisy, boisterous group with amusement.

Amidst being snowed under hugs and kisses, Nandini sighed as her mother hurriedly repeated safety instructions for the millionth time in the past two days. At this point she almost wished she had been returning with them so that her mother wouldn’t have been so worked up about her travelling alone. She felt less like a nineteen year old and more like a five year old as Sarojini rapidly repeated the list of do and don’ts.

“Don’t talk to strangers, especially men. Don’t take food offered by anyone. Try to find a seat near a female passenger. Keep the bag with the money on your lap. Don’t keep it by your side or you’ll forget. As soon as you reach Shamli, give me a call.”

She touched all the elders’ feet for blessings, hugged her cousins and Prakash, and followed her uncle into the bus, with her mother and aunt close behind. Only once she had settled into the seat, and heard the instructions yet one more time, did her family disembark from the bus.

Leaning out of the window, she grinned and waved goodbye to her whole extended family and continued to wave until they were lost to sight. Sarojini’s smile couldn’t conceal her anxiety and Nandini knew her mother wouldn’t know a minute’s peace until she called up and assured her that she had reached safely.

As for herself, she was fighting murderous impatience to reach Shamli as soon as possible. Since they had landed at Dinakpur, she had smiled and laughed and worked hard with the rest of the womenfolk to ensure that the housewarming ceremony went off beautifully, but not for a second had her mind been able to concentrate on anything. She had missed Prithvi so much that she barely remembered much of the events that had transpired in the past three days.

She couldn’t wait to see Prithvi again….and she would tell him that she had missed him terribly. She no longer cared whether he reciprocated or not…..

****************************

Prithvi paced restlessly in the courtyard, occasionally casting glances of combined frustration and gloom at the closed doors of Vrindavan and then at the road that led to the highway.

“Nandini will be reaching today, isn’t it?”

He stilled and then turned to see Sankatmochan settling down comfortably on the stairs with a bowl of fried eatables in hand.

“I don’t know,” he lied stiffly.

“You do know because I’d told you that right after they had left for Dinakpur because I couldn’t bear to see you looking like the world had ended, even though you didn’t even come out to say goodbye to them. And you’ve been looking at your watch every few minutes since she left. AND you’ve been walking back and forth in this courtyard like a caged lion since the sun rose today,” Sankatmochan pointed out kindly. “But what I cannot understand is how they can let a young and beautiful girl like her travel alone,” he adjoined thoughtfully, before stuffing his mouth with a bhajia.

“She’s coming alone?” Prithvi asked, startled.

“That is what Bhoothnathji said when he called me up today morning to enquire about the temple. The rest of them are coming after a few days.”

“How could they let her travel alone!” Prithvi said angrily, and strode into the house and upstairs to Sumer Singh’s room where the elderly man was reading a book and relaxing.

Sumer Singh, who had returned two days ago, looked up questioningly as Prithvi walked into the room with evident annoyance.

“Yes, My lord?”

“Nandini is coming today,” Prithvi announced.

“Yes, my lord,” Sumer Singh concurred.

Prithvi indignantly said, “She’s travelling alone!”

“So I heard from Sankat, my lord.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me before?” Prithvi asked angrily.

Sumer Singh looked at him blankly.

Flushing slightly, Prithvi swiftly amended, “I mean - Well??! Shouldn’t someone be going to pick her up at least?”

“Someone should,” Sumer Singh agreed solemnly, “I could go and -”

“No! Not you! – I mean - you wouldn’t be able to pick up her bags,” he added quickly.

“That is true, my lord….and it wouldn’t be safe for her if we sent Sankat,” Sumer Singh thought out very loudly. “If only you would go….but I suppose you are very busy,” he said regretfully.

“I’m not that busy,” Prithvi muttered, “I’ll go…”

Then with a speed that belied the reluctance in his words, he spun around and began walking out of the room.

Sumer Singh looked at the clock. It had just turned 4.

“My lord, I don’t think the bus from Dinakpur is expected to reach before 5:30,” he said hurriedly.

Prithvi stopped, and without turning around, mumbled something about not wanting to be late. This time Sumer Singh didn’t wait till the young man had made a red-faced exit before chuckling out loud.

***********************

As Prithvi parked his bike and walked into the bus station, he couldn’t help notice that there was a strangely buzzing atmosphere all around in the terminal where the bus from Dinakpur was scheduled to halt.

Casually at first and then with a sudden sting of unease, he noted that small groups of people were huddled together, discussing something with clear agitation.

Something was wrong….

Feeling a strange sense of foreboding, he was about to approach one of the people in the outer ring of one group to find out the reason for the unrest, when he heard snatches of a conversation between two men passing by.

“This is the second bus accident this year….”

“God alone knows whose curse is upon us….”

He strode forward, caught one of the men by the shoulders and roughly turned him around. 

“What are you talking about? What accident?” he demanded harshly.

Taken aback at the sudden intrusion, the man stared at him, but his friend spoke up.

“We heard that there has been an accident just a short while back outside the town… a bus coming from Dinakpur crashed into a tempo. Many bus passengers have died.”

“No, no, that is not true,” the other man protested, and turned to an ashen Prithvi with a confident air. “I heard that ALL the passengers died in the accident.”

As his insides turned to ice, Prithvi turned chalk-white and staggered a little backwards.

Gratified at the very strong reaction his news had wrought, the man spoke again with renewed, gloomy emphasis. 

“That’s right….Everyone in the bus is dead…..terrible for their loved ones, isn’t it?”

 ********************************

End of Volume II