"I love you", Mrithyunjay said to Aparaajitha after a long silence.

"What?" Her ears pricked rather curiously as though she was unsure about what she had just heard.

He pulled her even more closer to himself till she was feeling almost breathless. Even that little distance between them seemed to disturb him. He was afraid that she was going to slip between his fingers like the naughty and playful waters of the river whose namesake she was.

"Yes, there is no other name for this feeling that unites you and me. I feel what every man feels for his woman. Nay! I have always felt this way towards you."

Her dearest dreams were coming true. She always thought that she loved him more than he did. She had always been pretty open in displaying her feelings for him. He had always been guarded towards her. There were times when she despaired if he returned what she felt for him equally and reciprocally. Now she realized that she had equally been mistaken in gauging the depth of his affections for her.

He continued, "I felt scared of what I felt for you. Its intensity was all-consuming and overpowering. I gradually learned to hide it and give it other names like loyalty and duty. When I didn't know how to explain my feelings to myself, how would I explain it to you? What if you rejected me? I have adored you the way no man did any woman before this. For years, I have kissed the very ground you walked on. You are both my doom and salvation. That day when you were drowning in that whirlpool, everybody said that I had saved you. What they didn't know was that you saved me. Mrithyunjay exists because Aparaajitha is."

He had finally taken that leap of faith. He waited with bated breath for a response from her in word or gesture. One reproving word or gesture and he would repress these precious feelings forever.

She buried herself within the folds of his warm, all-encompassing bosom. She had found her home at last. Words just eluded her. What could she say to a confession like that? She just reveled in this wonderful feeling of floating above the clouds. She cooed softly in his ears, "Make me yours, Mrithyunjay. I want to belong to you forever in a way neither man nor God can part us."

"We will exchange the vows of marriage", Mrithyunjay said. He was feeling extremely relieved. It was as though a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He no longer had to repress or hide his true feelings behind other guises.

"There is a Kali temple just a short distance away from here. We will marry there", he said.

Aparaajitha suddenly recollected the scroll she had in her possession, "Mrithyunjay, there is some important information..."

He held his right palm in front of her mouth, "Hush, dear! Time enough to talk about problems later on. This moment, this happiness is just for us. I don't want to spoil it by thinking or talking about anything else. I have waited so long for this day. I cannot wait one moment more."

She nodded her head in agreement. He was right. They had been battling problems and issues since their childhood. She would not taint this moment.

He simply swept her off her feet with the ardor of his affection for her. As he held her in his arms and looked into her eyes, he simply nodded his head in acquiescence while shedding an unending stream of tears. But these were tears of absolute bliss. He could not bear to be apart from her any longer just as she couldn't.
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The entire retinue was silently celebrating this happy moment. Circumstances had changed pretty rapidly at the capital. They had been forced to reassess their original strategy. The sudden and unexpected arrival of the king of Suvarnadweepam, Ranadeep had forced them to exit in haste.

The future was once more vague and unclear. Aditya Varma and the rebels were planning to regroup in Kunthala and instigate the common populace to rebel against the existing administration. They had been working towards this end for years together. The final planning and execution would take about a fortnight from now. In this interim time gap, the contingent from Malava islands had nowhere to go. They were on the run once again. They were hunted. They no longer had a safe haven in Mahishmati from where they could operate with impunity.

This had resulted in the need to relocate elsewhere. The current plan was to seek refuge under the aegis of the lady tribal chieftain, Urumi Nachiyar in Vijayapuri. The kingdom of Vijayapuri was originally a confederation of four major clans who had accepted the suzerainty of the family of the erstwhile king of Vijayapuri, Ganapathi Deva.

Vijayapuri did not have a proper ruler ever since Empress Shodasi Devi who was Ganapathi Deva's daughter had been forced to flee the kingdom. Ashwakootam possessed only nominal control over Vijayapuri. Anarchy, lawlessness and endless power struggles became the norm ever since.
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The rest of the journey towards the Kali temple was relatively uneventful. Malli laughed and joked even more boisterously than usual. The others in the retinue smiled unobtrusively looking at the heartwarming spectacle of Mrithyunjay and Aparaajitha riding ahead of them on the same horse, lost in each other's eyes, paying absolutely no attention to the path ahead of them.

One of the soldiers remarked to Malli, "I wouldn't be so happy as you are if my love was going to become somebody else's."

Malli turned towards the man extremely surprised, "Am I so very obvious?"

"No, the way you were trying to be so unnaturally cheerful. I thought that maybe..."

"Actually, you are right. I have always loved him even though I knew he never so much as noticed me. I loved him even though I knew my best friend loved him to the point of craziness. I knew my love would never be reciprocated. There wasn't a place for a third person in their world. And they deserve it at least in this lifetime after all the heartbreak, betrayals and separation of the previous birth."

"You actually amaze me, Malli. A previous birth?"

"I don't know how to explain this. Fate and destiny are sometimes so strange. The lives of some people get intertwined with each other inexplicably. It is a good thing only I remember the previous birth. They can begin this life with a clean slate with no memories of their troubled and unfulfilled past. I unwittingly stood between their union in a previous birth. I will atone for it in this lifetime by bringing them together. Whatever I told you just now is your secret and mine till the grave."

The man gravely nodded his head as they continued to ride ahead.
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At the Kali temple,
The priest lit the holy fire and started chanting the mantras of marriage. Malli sat beside Aparaajitha as her bridesmaid. Aparaajitha looked the loveliest bride in the whole world in the sandalwood colored silk saree with big red border. She smiled demurely with her eyes fixed on the ground. The rest of the retinue sat around witnessing the marriage. "Please exchange the garlands before you stand up to take the seven vows around the sacred fire", the priest instructed.

Mrithyunjay and Aparaajitha stood up and exchanged garlands never taking their eyes off each other. Malli tied Mrithyunjay's utthariyam and the loose end of Aparaajitha's saree together in a tight knot. They circumambulated round the sacred fire seven times while taking the vows of marriage. Mrithyunjay tied the mangala sutra (sacred chain) around Aparaajitha's neck and applied the sindoor (vermilion) at the parting of her hair. The priest declared, "The marriage is solemnized. From this moment onwards, both of you are man and wife."
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Later on that night,
After having become one in every possible way, Aparaajitha and Mrithyunjay slept together on the cool earth looking at the stars in the night sky. He confessed, "It is my dream that at least our children should live in a free Mahishmati."

She smiled softly as she promised to him, "We will make this happen together. We will live in that free Mahishmati along with our children."
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