In the Palace of Vijayapuri,
Bijjaladeva, five years older, even more bent due to his advancing years and an even crookeder mentality, spoke to a lady at the farthest corner of a chamber filled with luxury and splendor of every kind. She was very simply but aesthetically attired in subdued colors and literally no jewelry, a complete contrast to the surroundings.

However regality and strength oozed from ever single cell of her body. Even a complete stranger would be able to tell without knowing anything that he stood in the presence of a queen, a very powerful and benevolent queen. She was Shodasi Devi, the Empress of Vijayapuri, the long estranged queen of Bhallaladeva.

Bijjaladeva remarked, "Amma Shodasi, when I see you like this, bereft of colors, bereft of wifehood, bereft of motherhood, my heart aches.........(Nay! This sounds very weak and ineffective).....My heart bleeds for you............My blood boils!"

He insinuated, "Mahishmati never treated you properly.......... Mahishmati deserves to burn for all that you lost there........"

Despite the very dismal response he seemed to be getting, he was not a person who gave up easily, "If only I was not so old and crippled, I would have fought for you ..........But then.......you don't need me to fight for you!.......You are capable enough to fight your battles yourself.......Don't you wish to seek revenge against Mahendra Baahubali and that Devasena?"

The lady had been looking out of the window all this while. She now turned to face Bijjaladeva. She spoke in a very firm and decisive tone, "I stopped looking back into the past since a very long while......It would be good if you too did the same........Five years ago, you sought refuge.....I gave you!......Now, if you want revenge......You're free to leave......to seek your revenge....But I will not be part of it!"

Bijjaladeva tried to cover up telling, "I am an old man......I need nothing......I am six steps nearer to my grave than I am to life.....I was just taking your side.....I was looking at things from your point of view!"

Shodasi Devi cooly replied, "I see!.......But where were you when I was ousted from Mahishmati by your son? ........Where were you when my rights as a wife, as a mother were snatched from me by your own son? .......If Mahishmati had to burn for the injustice done to me, she must have burnt long before Mahendra or Devasena came!......I lost my colors a long time ago...what you are mentioning is just a mere formality......I mourn my husband and son.....I sincerely do.......But I cannot and will not fight for them.....because they got what they sowed........and because that happens to be the least of my concerns....."

Bijjaladeva reiterated, "So you will never seek revenge from Mahendra and Devasena for your losses?"

Shodasi  with a tone of finality, "No!"

Bijjaladeva with incredulity and disbelief, "I can't believe that a woman like you can exist!"

Shodasi Devi smiled mercurially as she replied, "The woman does not exist. Her own loved ones killed her in slow stages. The one you see before you is the Empress of Vijayapuri......I have nothing against Mahendra, Devasena, or Mahishmati!"

Bijjaladeva had got his answers. He became silent. He realized that his manipulations and insinuations would not work with her. But all the same, he would secretly work on accomplishing the revenge on which he had set his whole heart and soul. He didn't care about Mahishmati or Vijayapuri. Both these kingdoms could burn for all that he cared. 

He couldn't let Mahendra, Devasena, Avanthika and Katappa remain happy and at peace any longer. This time, he wasn't alone. So what if Shodasi didn't see fit to join him in his revenge?  He had somebody else beside him. Somebody about whose existence nobody knew at Mahishmati. Somebody about whom only he and Shodasi knew. He would help him if she wouldn't.
-
-
-
Shodasi Devi's Flashback
"I am leaving Mahismati forever.......Won't you stop me?......"

"Once you step out of this palace, don't ever turn back..... I have got everything I wanted from you....You have borne me a son......Now I have no use for you......Anyways you never think like me........Ever since we got married, we have only quarreled and argued.........But if ever you come back to Mahismati claiming your right of wifehood and motherhood, I will destroy you and your people."

"As a wife, don't I have the right to advice you on what is right or wrong or to voice my own opinions?.......As a husband, isn't it your duty to respect them?.......Just because we think differently does not mean that we have to separate......We could still make this marriage work.......Marriage is a divine commitment.....Who are we to break it?"

"Only I have a right to opinion in Mahishmati.......If you wish to think differently, you may leave.......Since I married you, I am letting you go alive......Anybody else in you place would have been dead......And one more thing......I believe in no divine above me.....I am my own God......I accept no rules or laws......I am answerable to none; not even you.....I make and break my own rules.....All the rest have to follow......"

"I am glad that whatever we had ended.....and that you ended it yourself......One can live without many things in life.....But living without freedom is even more suffocating than living without breath......Thank you for breaking my bonds yourself.......Adieu Mahishmati! This bride is leaving forever."

End of Shodasi Devi's Flashback
-
-
-
In Mahishmati,
Mahendra and his daughter Bhagiradhi were sparring in the practice arena. While practicing the cuts and thrusts, a friendly conversation ensued between the two duelists.

Bhagiradhi: You know father, I am fed up of being told this is right and that is wrong by everyone. Everyone keeps on correcting me. Why do they never listen to what I have to tell? I wish I was the king too. Everybody would listen to me just like they listen to you in the court when you tell, Idhe na maata....Na maate sasanam! (This is my word.....My word is an ordinance)

Rani Avantika and Rajmata Devasena stood outside the practicing arena watching the father-daughter duo with interest and curiosity. Devasena replied, "What would you do if your words acquired the sort of power your father's words have?"

Bhagiradhi: Na maate sasanalu aithe inkevena unda (If only my words became ordinances, I would have nothing to wish for).....I would do anything......I would do what I pleased......

Devasena: Bhagiradhi, do you know who often used these words apart from your father?....Your great-grandmother Sivagami Devi used to say the same words......Not everyone's words become ordinances.... But the one whose words become ordinances has to be very careful about what they speak and decide.....That right comes with a very great responsibility.....Though we have the right, we cannot do what we please. We have to speak and do what is right.
-
-
-