A Military Warehouse in the Outskirts of Peepli,
Aparaajitha had woken up from the stupor induced by the drug with which she and Malli were being sedated much earlier than her gaolers were expecting. All those years when she had spent fighting off the effects of Indraneeli from overpowering one's physical and mental faculties from the Raktabijas came in handy. This drug used on both of them was pretty mild in comparison.

Looking at the still recumbent form of her friend Malli, she momentarily cursed her lapse in judgement. Her disappearance must have driven Mrithyunjay literally mad by now. His world revolved round her. She had no idea how he would be dealing with the situation in the capital of Mahishmati. She prayed to Lord Shiva, "Parameshwara, please give him the strength and fortitude to take the right decisions for all of us."

The last thing she remembered was the menacing voice of a mountain of a man lurking in the dark shadows. He spoke, "I intend you and your friend no harm. Your current presence in Mahishmati will complicate matters. Your father, Ranadeep, the King of Suvarnadweepam is shortly expected to arrive at Mahishmati. Everything I have done to sabotage the diplomatic and matrimonial alliance between Mahishmati and Suvarnadweepam will go in vain. I hope you too realize that it is best that you stay out of sight when 'your father' arrives, Princess Suvarnamekhala."

This speech jolted her to the realization that somebody in the upper echelons of power in Mahishmati had realized that she was an imposter and masquerading as the Princess of Suvarnadweepam. Shatadru and Simhamukha were secretly aiding him. This person was doing everything in his power to undermine the influence of Subahu. He was strong and influential enough to sabotage state diplomatic and matrimonial alliances and sneak away a royal guest right beneath everyone's noses. He could be a very useful ally in her game of politics if rightly used.

The most pressing need at the present moment however was to simply escape from captivity. Aparaajitha gingerly got up flexing the muscles of her hands and legs. They were acting pretty weird and weren't as flexible as they used to be. This sudden weakness and lethargy only meant that several days must have elapsed in captivity.

They looked like in the midst of nowhere. Aparaajitha hadn't spent much of her life in Mahishmati though she had spent a great deal of her growing years dreaming and visualizing it. She had to put to test all those years of learning and grooming she had spent with her aunt and foster mother, Shodasi Devi learning about the history and geography of the kingdom, and its people to extricate herself and her friend, Malli from this situation. She despaired if she could ever do it. Everything seemed to have changed. Nothing seemed alike to what she had seen or learned about the kingdom.

Her gaolers seemed to be pretty lackadaisical in their approach. They weren't expecting two young women to escape from the midst of nowhere. She had to take advantage of this very attitude. First and foremost, she had to smuggle in some essentials and supplies so that both of she and Malli would be able to survive in the wilderness for some days at least. Next, she had to somehow procure a means of transport that would take both of them to a place of apparent safety and security.

She decided to carefully observe everything before making her move. Both of them were in some sort of military warehouse. There was a check post just outside. Several loaded knapsacks with supplies were lying in the corner. She pocketed a couple of them and strapped it around herself and the still unconscious Malli. There was a chance that they could get separated from each other during the escape attempt. She wanted to make sure that Malli had adequate supplies on her person to make it out on her own in that eventuality.

A caravan of fully covered bullock carts was approaching. One of the gaolers gave a cursory glance towards the stuff on the carts before he signed an approval document granting the caravan of bullock carts free passage. He also loaded several knapsacks with supplies like the one she had seen in the warehouse into those bullock carts. The leader of the caravan gave their gaoler a toothless grin before he gave orders to the caravan to proceed. He seemed to be a tobacco addict and most of his teeth seemed to have eroded as a result of that.

It was however not the man's teeth that had caught Aparaajitha's attention but the caravan itself. This was a perfect getaway. Malli started stirring, "Appu, where are we? And who were they?" Aparaajitha instantly silenced her friend and pointed outside towards the last cart of the caravan. She explained, "We need to somehow get into that bullock cart unnoticed by anyone. Once we are far enough from this godforsaken place, we will alight and find some other means of transport. Got it!"

It was a dicey proposition but one that could get both of them out of harm's way. Malli nodded her head. Everything about the plan was going on excellently. Both of them had sneaked out and got into the last cart. They covered themselves. Before they could heave a sigh of relief, they found that the cart already had one more occupant who was severely wounded and bleeding. He was on the verge of death. He must have been in this state for more than two days. Aparaajitha shook him, "Sir....wake up...."

The man's eyes momentarily flickered open. He showed signs as though he had remembered something. He clung on to a bloodied scroll as though for dear life. He gasped, "I...don't....know....if...you...are...the...person...whom...I...want...to...entrust this...But...you are...the last person....whom I am going to see in this life....so...." It was eternal silence hereafter.

The leader of the caravan shouted to one of his helpers, "I hear unusual noises from the last cart. Just go and investigate if everything is alright."

Aparaajitha and Malli jumped out of the cart into some nearby bushes just in time before they were discovered by the man. The helper shouted, "It is one of those prisoners of war from Kanchu Kota." The man shook him vigorously and then concluded, "But he'd dead, Chief."

"These vermin! They never stop trying to run away. Throw him outside the cart into those bushes as fodder for the wild animals and let's be on our way. We have to reach the Kalakeyan heartland in three days", the leader of the caravan instructed.

After the last of the bullock carts had trudged away, Aparaajitha and Malli emerged from their hiding place in the bushes, "That was bizarre, Appu. Who was he? And why did they kill him?"

Aparaajitha shook her head. She showed the scroll to Malli, "The man gave this to me before dying. Maybe this will give us some clue what this is all about." She began reading the scroll for which the dead man in front of her had sacrificed his very life, "This is the true story of Mahishmati written with our blood......We do not want this story to die with us (dab.....dab....dab)....We want it to go.....beyond the fortress of lies.....the wall of misinformation and disambiguation......crossing the valley of death...(splat....splat....splat) We all want this story to live.....2.5 yojanas north of the eight crossroads junction near the town of Peepli, in a secret subterranean cave in the third mountain of the Udayagiri Mountain Range ..."

Just then, there was a rustling of leaves. Aparaajitha and Malli hastily retreated back to the bushes from which they emerged. They feared recapture by their gaolers. But their fears were unfounded. It was Mrithyunjay and their men. His horse had been straining to its breaking point. It looked as though he had been riding nonstop for days together. There were big, deep, dark circles round his eyes. Judging that it was safe now, Aparaajitha and Malli stepped out of their hiding place.

The expression of joy on Mrithyunjay's face on finding both of them was supreme. As he collapsed before them on his knees, completely exhausted and out of breath, he said, "I can't express in words how happy I am to see both of you. Everything has fallen apart at Mahishmati after your disappearance."

Aparaajitha was extremely shocked, "What?"

"Yes. Just after I had managed to save your uncle, Aditya Varma and the rebels, I was informed by our men that Shatadru came back from the boat ride in an apparently wounded and battered condition and told some outrageous story that masked ruffians had kidnapped you and Malli after wounding him. You can only imagine what went through me when I heard this."

Aparaajitha laid her hand comfortingly on his right shoulder, 'I am sorry. I should have judged better." He enclosed her palm with his palm. A single drop of tear trickled down his cheeks in happiness and relief.

"Shatadru was lying. You did not believe him, did you?" Aparaajitha asked.

"Of course not. I knew he was clearly lying. Only after I caught his family to ransom did he tell me where you and Malli were. After threatening him with dire consequences if he revealed that he had told me the truth, I set out in search of you. When I went to that warehouse, both of you had already escaped from there. Luckily, we came upon you here."

Both of them fell into each other's arms completely oblivious of their surroundings or the people around them. They were lost in a world of their own where everything else was transfixed. Their hearts beating in unison like a magnificent symphony were the only moving things in this world. Malli and the others discreetly withdrew a little distance away to give both of them some privacy.
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Near Durgam Konda,
'Durgam Konda' simply known in the vernacular tongue as a mountain with a fortress was a bastion that could be defended for an extended period of siege by a mere handful of soldiers against a much larger force. The mountain itself was a very steep, bare and sheer cliff on all three sides except one. The only approach route was from the front side of the fortress which made it very easy for the defending side.

It was thither that Sambamurthy and his men were bound to escape the wrath of the lady tribal chieftain, Urumi Nachiyar. Nachiyar and her troops were hot on their heels. The gates of the fortress were very near. He was halfway through the gates of the fortress and his soldiers were ready to close it behind him once he had fully entered. "I am beyond your reach now", Sambamurthy defiantly congratulated himself. But his look of defiance instantly transformed into horror as he found himself sprawled on the ground.

Nachiyar's Urumi had receded from around his back and neck where it had left bloody imprints. She forcefully swung the whip blade in his direction once again. The gates of the fortress had closed by now and he was lying outside it. Nachiyar threw a lasso around his neck and started riding away from the fortress with him in tow. Apart from a few arrows that fell widely off the mark, there was no resistance from Sambamurthy's soldiers within the fortress. They were scared out of their wits by what had happened to Sambamurthy just before their eyes.

By the time, Nachiyar and her men reached the town square of Sankaleshwar, the Overlord of Vijayapuri had breathed his last. The common populace of Vijayapuri went berserk as Nachiyar and her troops left behind the lifeless body of Sambamurthy as a stern warning and reminder to the administrative machinery in Vijayapuri that oppression in any form would be fought tooth and nail.

She loudly proclaimed, "To protect our women, our lands, our culture, our language and our identity, I, Urumi Nachiyar, will go to any lengths. I will kill anyone who threatens them or lay down my own life a thousand times in any field of battle. I will not tolerate oppression of any kind. Beware!"

The old physician pointed towards the lady from afar and said, "Bhavani, that lady whom you saw on horseback wielding that whip blade is Urumi Nachiyar and that lifeless body that you see there in the town square is Sambamurthy who used to be the Overlord of Vijayapuri."

Bhavani's fingers wrapped themselves round Narasimha's fingers rather protectively. She tugged at the curtains of their cart to close it even more securely. She asked the aged physician, "How far are we from your friend's dispensary, Thatha?"

"Just a short distance away. We have to take the second right after crossing the town square", he replied. Bhavani was thoroughly shaken.
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Author's Note:
Dear friends and readers, I have completed Ch 61. I have made a few minor changes to Part 1 of this chapter. Aparaajitha and Malli get kidnapped a bit differently. I have rewritten that portion. So please reread it. Let me know how you found this part. If you liked what you read, please vote, comment and support this story.