Trinethrini halted in the midst of her words. She held her right index finger to her lips gesturing Eiravati to remain silent. Her eyes peered towards the huge cast iron doors of the chamber. She tiptoed towards the entrance and flung it open. She found Rajamata Kamaroopi squatted on all fours with her ears glued to the keyhole.

Gathering herself up, Kamaroopi stormed in. She had heard more than enough of everything Eiravati and Trinethrini spoke. She clapped her hands derisively, "I didn't expect this from you."

She glared at Maharani Eiravati, "You've always played the innocent, naive, docile, and loving wife to perfection. I almost believed you."

Turning towards Trinethrini, she said, "And you, Trinethrini, who wouldn't squeak even to shoo a mouse, you were her accomplice in this?"

Eiravati pleaded her, "Please mother, listen to me."

Kamaroopi pushed Eiravati away from her, "Don't call me mother, you despicable hypocrite! Whose sin are you passing off as my son's?"

Eiravati folded her hands and fell down on her knees in front of Kamaroopi. Hot, guilty tears streamed down her cheeks. The hardened heart of the older woman did not show any signs of relenting.

Kamaroopi ranted and raved as she paced forth the chamber furiously, "And all those times when you stood the high moral ground over me and my son judging us for our inhumanity and sins...And all those times when you spouted those maxims like a high priestess...All those times you showed us the mirror...What does your mirror tell you now?"

She paused to gather her breath before releasing the next volley of accusations, "And all those times when my son put you up there on this high pedestal, looking upon you as some sort of paragon when you were not worth the dust on his feet...All those times that I kept telling my son about who you really were and he kept disregarding me because he was taken in by your sweet and innocent face...I'm not going to let this go...I will drag you to Hell for this..."

Kamaroopi caught hold of Eiravati by her long hair and dragged her towards the door, "I suspected something was amiss when my son came to me last night and started asking strange questions about family tendencies and resemblances. I came to talk to you about that when I overheard you and this wretch discussing further ways to dupe my son. I will take you to court this moment."

Trinethrini tried to convince the enraged Rajamata to leave her friend. She stammered, "Pl...ea..se....Raja...mata....she...is...inno...cent...I...told....her."

Kamaroopi released her hold over Eiravati's hair as she pushed Trinethrini aside, "Will you shut up! You told her and she listened? Did her good sense defeat her?"

All three of them were near the balcony that stretched out of the chamber. Vines and creepers of flowering trees adorned its entrance like a border. A single basil plant stood in a small square pot in the middle of the balcony. In the confusion and melee, Eiravati fell back landing on her back near the pot.

Kamaroopi advanced menacingly. Her eyes were red and her nostrils were emitting fire. Eiravati instinctively started crawling backwards, "There is no where you can escape. I will have you stoned by the whole of Mahishmati."

Eiravati realized it was futile to argue or reason with this woman who had gone mad in her rage. She weakly stood up preparing to face the consequences of her lie when Kamaroopi spat at her, "You whore!"

Something within Eiravati snapped. She forcibly heaved the woman in front of her. Kamaroopi was not prepared for this visceral reaction from her opponent. She lost her footing and toppled down from the parapet wall of the balcony. Eiravati sat down in her shock, too weak and drained to react to what had just happened.

Trinethrini's face paled. She sprinted to the parapet wall to see what had happened to the Rajamata. It was a sheer drop of eighty feet from that balcony. A huge crowd had gathered. Soldiers and maids were buzzing around like bees. Kamaroopi's lifeless body lay in their midst looking like a macabre red specter. A few looked up in Trinethrini's direction to see where the body had landed from.

Trinethrini ducked down to evade their inquisitive eyes. She sat down near Eiravati and cried, "It's...all...ov...er."

Eiravati did not respond to Trinethrini's observation. Her vacant eyes did not register anything. Her hands and legs were numb. The horror of her friend's situation stuck Trinethrini even more forcibly. She shook Eiravati vigorously, "Yo..u....mu..st.....ru..n..."

Eiravati shrugged her shoulders, "Where do I have left to run, Trinethrini? From myself?"

Trinethrini shook her head. She tried furiously to think of a way to save her friend. Eiravati would be arrested and tried for murder. In all probability, the charges would be proved and she would be sentenced to death or lifetime imprisonment. Even Narasimha wouldn't be able to do anything for her. It appeared hopeless in every way.

The soldiers would be arriving any moment. Time was running out of their hands. Just then, an idea stuck Trinethrini with the force of lightening. She could save her friend. Hurried footsteps were heard crashing into the chamber. A few foot soldiers followed by a minister barged into the chamber, "Maharani, how did the Rajamata fall?"

The minister pointed an accusatory finger at Trinethrini and said, "A few of my soldiers say they saw her near the parapet wall."

Eiravati cleared her throat to confess the truth when Trinethrini spoke loud and clear, "I pushed the Rajamata down in anger."

All her stammering was gone. She did not falter for her words the way she usually did when she was scared. Trinethrini confessed to a crime she did not commit with great conviction, "I was having a private conversation with Maharani Eiravati when the Rajamata stormed in. She accused and taunted me. She called me names. I could not tolerate it. In a fit of anger, I pushed down the Rajamata from the balcony."

Trinethrini stilled Eiravati with her hands. She shook her head gesturing her not to contradict her words. Eiravati's throat became clammy and parched. The words she was about to speak acquitting Trinethrini and acknowledging her own crimes shriveled up within her throat.

The minister ordered the soldiers to take Trinethrini into custody. They bound Trinethrini's hands and legs with chains and made her wear an iron collar around her neck. With one last glance at her friend, Trinethrini followed the soldiers outside the chamber. Tears dimmed Eiravati's eyes until she could barely see anything in front of her. Nothing would undo what she had done.