The winds and rains had kept lashing furiously for nearly the whole of last night. Mrithyunjay and the other crew members battled and soldiered on against the storm. They kept dredging and draining the excess water with their pails and buckets. Wherever the ship sustained any damage, they repaired and salvaged as much as possible in the existing conditions.

They had no idea how far they had drifted off course or their exact whereabouts at sea. Luckily the ship had held against it but the Matsya Yantra (Mariner's Compass) was broken due to the wind speeds. The weather had quietened down and Mrithyunjay was taking stock of the damage they had sustained, "Inspect and report to me the damage to the ship. I know the Matsya Yantra is damaged but calculate the rough coordinates of the direction we are headed. Let me know as soon as we sight land."

Mrithyunjay heaved a big sigh of relief. The worst had passed. He was terribly exhausted. He temporarily excused himself from his mates and crew members and retired to his cabin in order to have a small power nap. This was the fiercest and severest storm Mrithyunjay had encountered ever since he began sailing on the high seas.

What worried him even more at the moment was the fact that he had been instrumental in persuading Annapoorna to let Aparaajitha come along with them for this mission. Now when all their fates hung in balance, he rued more than ever the fact that she was also traveling with them. He was internally blaming himself for the fact that he had endangered her life.

What had happened to the other ships? Had they survived the storm just like them? Where were they? Would all their grand visions of freedom and emancipation from exile end like this? With all these niggling questions running at the back of his mind, he fell asleep like a log the minute he hit the bed. This ordeal had sapped his entire strength and energy.  He had been so tired that even the slight rap on his cabin door hadn't woken him up.

Aparaajitha walked into the cabin speaking, "Mrithyunjay, I wouldn't have believed it possible...." before her words were cut half way by the adorable sight of the man she loved stretched on the bed like an innocent child in deep sleep. She smiled spontaneously and instinctively before she came up to him and sat beside him admiring his sleeping form. She noticed slight beads of sweat dotting his forehead and wiped them with her scarf.

Aparaajitha noticed that Mrithyunjay's eyes were twitching from time to time due to the bright rays of the morning sun. She tried to draw the curtains aside so that his sleep would not be disturbed. But the brisk morning breeze did not allow the curtains to stay in position. After pondering for a minute, she hesitantly tiptoed and stood in the direction of the sunlight shielding him from the rays of the sun. She stood like that unmindful of time and place stealing glances and drinking him in with her eyes and fixing the form she beheld in the deepest recesses of her heart.

She spoke to him, "You know, Mrithyunjay, life changed drastically for me after my parents's demise. When they were there, I was free to do anything I pleased. I heeded no boundaries or limits. I could be myself. But when they died, I was forced to stop myself and care for all those people who depended on me. I never complained about that. I knew it was my duty. But all the same I felt confined and restricted. I used to feel heavily burdened and crushed beneath the weight of all those expectations. I have never spoken about it to anyone, not even you. But not anymore now. Once again, I feel so free like a bird flying in the high skies. My heart hums a soft symphony of melody. Your love set me free, Mrithyunjay. I will ever be thankful to you for being there in my life."

Her monologue was however abruptly cut short when one of the crew members walked in to wake Mrithyunjay and inform him something. Aparaajitha gestured the man to be silent by holding her finger to her lips, entreating the man not to disturb Mrithyunjay who was sound asleep. She followed the man up to the deck to first listen to what he had to say before deciding whether to wake up Mrithyunjay or not.

The crew members pointed to a royal ship that had floundered against some nearby sea rocks, "What should we do princess? Should we scour that ship for survivors or should we abandon them to their fate? We already have very limited food supply and stocks."

"Of course! If there are survivors, we take them in. We cannot leave them like this to perish. We will manage somehow. Send a party to board that ship", Aparaajitha ordered.

After a while, the boarding party returned to their ship again, "There were no survivors. We found this emblem and royal insignia flying on the ship. It belongs to the royal family of the Suvarnadweepam (The Isle of Gold). Similarly, we found this royal invitation on behalf of Vijayamarthanda, the king of Ashwakootam inviting the Princess of Suvarnadweepam, Suvarnamekhala to visit Mahishmati and Ashwakootam along with her entourage. It seems as though the whole ship was plundered and ransacked by pirates. All the men were beheaded and the women on board were raped before they were also killed."

A horrified Aparaajitha asked, "Who must have perpetrated this dastardly act?"

A singular silence prevailed before one of the crew members spoke in a highly hushed voice, "Simhamuka! That is his modus operandi on the ships he captures. He spares none, not even children. We narrowly escaped from him the previous time because of Captain Mrithyunjay's valiant endeavors."

Though very sorry for the fate the other ship had met, Aparaajitha was not blind enough to seize the advantage of the ruse that was running in the background of her mind. This was such a fortunate turn of luck after that storm had upset all their original plans.

One of Subahu's major allies, Vijayamarthanda had some major designs or plans with regard to the Princess who was supposed to be traveling in the other ship. There was this flag, emblem, insignia of Suvarnadweepam that they had in their possession. Similarly, the royal invitation would ensure they would be welcomed right royally in Mahishmati and Ashwakootam without them fearing detection and capture at every turn. They would be free to work their subversive agenda right under the noses of their enemies.

She instructed, "Fly this royal flag on top. And bring me and Malli our original clothes and jewelry. And remember, from now on I am the princess of Suvarnadweepam, Suvarnamekhala, Malli is my lady-in-waiting and all of you are part of my entourage. Got it!"

Everyone now understood what the plan was. They were going to impersonate that they all belonged to Suvarnadweepam and were part of that royal entourage. The plan appeared very daring but at the same time feasible. One of the crew members meekly expressed, "What if we are discovered? Simhamuka pays indemnity to Subahu for him and his pirates to go unchecked on these seas. What if he exposes that we are not the actual entourage from Suvarnadweepam?"

"Firstly, this is the only chance we have got for now. Secondly, I don't see it possible how Simhamukha would ever come face to face with us. And even if he did, there was no way he could expose the deception to Subahu or Vijayamarthanda without revealing his own culpability in this issue. He has attacked the ship of a supposed ally in what I suppose is a major communication gap. He will not speak anything. Even if he does, as the princess of Suvarnadweepam, our words would have greater weight than the words of a marauding pirate", said Aparaajitha.

"I too agree with the plan of our princess. This is our best bet when we go ashore. If anything goes wrong, we can always rethink our strategy", came a booming male voice from her rear.

It was Mrithyunjay who had come up from his cabin at just that moment. The scarf Aparaajitha had hastily dropped behind in his cabin was safely tucked within his pocket. Now no more questions or doubts were expressed by the men. Everyone resumed their usual duties on the ship.

Mrithyunjay turned towards Aparaajitha, "You should have woken me up princess."

Aparaajitha looked surprised, "How did you know?"

"I can distinguish your scent even in the midst of a thousand  others", he said. "And moreover, this belongs to you." He handed over her scarf to her. Aparaajitha's face flushed a deep red while she received her scarf. They both continued looking at each other without breaking their eye contact even for a moment when one of the sentry watch shouted aloud, "Land ahoy! The northern shores of Mahishmati lie ahead."

They turned together to catch a glimpse of their much loved motherland while their hands unconsciously brushed and entangled with each other. The moment they had all awaited was here! 

End of Book Seven: The Daughter of Mahishmati Returns

Author's Note:
A big thank you to each and every person who read, voted, and commented on this story. I enjoyed reading each and every beautiful comment you gave on the previous chapter of the story. I would have thanked and answered all of them if I had time. I felt very bad not personally replying to them. But please know that it means a lot to me that all of you took the time to read, vote, comment and connect with this story. A big bear hug to my constant readers and friends.