Jeevana

The echoes of loud trumpets rang through the assembly hall. All the ministers and noble men stood up from their seat to acknowledge the arrival of their ruler.

"Hail our ruler who with the grace of the divine lord, has controlled all the riots and rebellions within our country in the mere period of a month. The terms put on the subsidiary and ally states were simply marvellous!"

"Yes and now no one in the empire would dare to revolt against our dynasty!"

"So virtuous!"

"So brave!"

"So efficient!"

" It is so difficult to believe that the ruler of Aaranya is a girl!"

" She is just 18 years old!"

Walking in her majestic aura towards the throne, Tarini acknowledged every person in her surrounding with a silent nod. A blank sad expression spread throughout her face.

Her luxurious silk saree glittered against the golden sunlight, unlike her eyes which appeared dark with sadness. The crown meant for the Empress of Aaranya adorned her long hair. It couldn't be ignored that she didn't wear any head gear except for the crown and a long run of Sindoor through her parting. Unlike typical queens, her body hadn't been adorned extravagantly; she had no time to pay attention to herself. Short earrings, two thin neck pieces, bangles and a huge dangling nose ring was all the jewels she kept on herself - enough to show that she was the Kulvadhu of a prestigious royal family.

The court bowed on seeing her. She ascended the stairs and sat on the magnanimous throne with a very heavy and imperial sword- the Emperor's sword beside her. She blinked her eyes at the courtiers and greeted them, allowing them to take their seats.

The door keeper announced the arrival of a messenger from another kingdom.

"Greetings from the King of Suryapura to the widow of Yuvraj Arnav Singh Raizada..."

A loud slap on his cheek rung through his ears. Tarini was heaving with anger.

"How dare you come to my kingdom and declare my king as dead? Who do you think you are to do so, huh?"

"But many people say that he is dead...and he is not the king..."the messenger spoke hesitatingly.

"He is not dead!" Tarini roared like a lioness.

"If he isn't dead then why are you, a lady on the throne?" he spoke garnering some confidence to speak in front of an angry Tarini. Afterall she is a young girl what could she possibly do? he thought.

"I am on the throne on behalf of him! With him! Unki ardhangini hain hum (We are two parts of the same soul) and you are nobody to question the rights of the Emperor Arnav Singh Raizada..."and she left signalling that she didn't want to hear any of the crap the messenger was saying. The messenger was sent back to his kingdom and the court was adjourned for the day.

******************

Tarini ran covering her mouth with her small hands, towards the inner rooms of the palace. It was so difficult to maintain a stern attitude when she was broken and sad at the inside.

The usually calm
and thoughtful Tarini had no time to maintain her composure. The stress of managing an empire as huge as Aaranya was posing a threat to her mental health. Above and over that, she had her own personal problems playing a toss at her stability.

It was killing her day by day that even though her husband was alive everyone looked at her as a widow, a woman without a man!
Not that she cared what the people of foreign kingdoms thought. The actual wound was the discouragement in the form of ignorance she was recieving from the person she loved the most! Her wishes had come true ...the wish to be an empress ...a total authoritarian ...to be without any interference- Especially the interference known as an Emperor! But she never thought that this would happen like this ...like this that even though she has an Emperor, she has no Emperor.

How she wished that instead of her, Arnav would be on the throne and she would be by his side. At that time with power or without power wouldn't matter. Just Arnav-Khushi forever!

She laughed at her own thoughts and mocked herself. The Tarini who was married to this kingdom, who was never called by anyone with an endearment whould have never thought such things. The personality she depicted now was more of Khushi than Tarini.

She sighed and went towards the room where Arnav was sleeping peacefully in a coma; the sunrise in his life being a questionable time - would he ever wake up?

It was a bright room with lots of guards to keep the sleeping Emperor safe. He was an emperor without a crown, without a coronation and without a throne.

He was an Emperor because Tarini deemed him to be so. She signed documents with his name, issued orders under his name.

The guards opened the doors for Tarini.

Arnav was sleeping peacefully on the bed. Nobody knew when he would woke up. Tarinii clicked her fingers to signal the maids to go away. She sat beside Arnav and ran her fingers through his hair.

She cleaned his body and helped him ingest the special medicines which kept him alive.

His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm; his heartbeat formed a tune which invited her to dance.
This was the only moment when she found solace and peace in the whole day. Yet she would always have a yearning in her heart.

Please wake up! Free me from all of this! I don't want all of thiswithout you! I want you, I need you, I love...

She started crying and remembered all that had happened with her almost a month ago.

****************FLASHBACK

Tarini scrunched her eyes as the bright sunlight knocked her eyelids. In her dreams, she had reminisced each and every moment of her life which was made special by Arnav. The first time she had seen him was on the war field; he was the one whose one look had calmed her fierce form even though that calmness lasted just for a second. That day, he was her enemy, yet he had supported her in front of her father and said that he admired her. His voice echoed in her ears.

The second time she met him was when she was bound by chains in a dark room where she was kept as a prisoner. She was tired, hungry and wounded. He had secretly come to meet her in that dungeon. He had tended to her wounds and had given her some fruits to eat. He had come there against the rules of his kingdom, he had defied the laws for her.

The very next morning, she was bent in front of the court. He had saved her from mortal insult by placing his will to marry her.

She shall be my wife, father! Let her late dishonest father's promise be kept so that he gets some place in heaven. She shall be the younger Kulvadhu of Raizada dynasty.

She could never forget the grand wedding they had. He had looked like if the Lord himself had descended from heavens to take her away from that illusion of a family that she held close to her heart. How he had filled the vermillion in her parting, how they had mouthed each and every promise while taking the 7 nuptial rounds around the holy fire.

She remembered how he had become her first human friend by agreeing to her innocent request of starting their relationship with an honest friendship. He had promised to help her accomplish every aspiration she had.

How that one day of emotional connect had been enough for her body to understand his pain was yet a mystery to her. How what he and his kingdoms became her utmost priority was an unexplainable phenomenon for her.

Maybe that is what love is. Selfless. Reflecting. Understanding.

She smiled in her unconscìous state thinking about the evening they spent at the beach, gazing at one another during the orange sunset.

Her mind then took her back to what happened in the court a few hours ago. Arnav's painful expression as he lay unconscious on her lap made Tarini wake up with a jolt.

She sat on the bed and covered her eyes with her palms, breathing heavily.

" Maa, the beautiful girl has woken up!" A child yelled from beside her.

Tarini looked at the child in confusion and then looked around. Where am I? She wondered as she tried to get up from the bed.

"Aah!" She whimpered as her abdomen hurt making her fall back into the bed. She twisted her mouth in frustration, she had to go to the temple to pray and search for a way to save her husband.

"Dear, don't exert yourself so." A kind voice said. Tarini looked up to see a short woman in a white saree standing near the door with a copper vessel in her hand.

" You are a Tantrini?" Tarini asked, recognising her dress style.

" Wow, I didn't think that people would be able to recognise us in this era. We are a long lost civilisation degraded to such an extent, we roam scattered, like nomads." The woman smiled ruefully.

"Your tribe can't be forgotten, lady. The most important contributions to the modern medicines were made by your tribe. Shame on the people who have forgotten your tribe." Tarini held her hand.

" I found you at the foot of the Lord's idol, last night. Your whole saree was stained with blood and so I dressed you in fresh clothes. Your feet are wounded and swollen. And I don't think you are aware of this but you are menstruating too. Why did you take such pains of coming to this hill in such a state? You appear distraught, my child. Tell me, what is disturbing you?" The woman asked making Tarini break into a sob.

" I had come to this temple to pray to the Lord to help me find a solution to the situation my Kingdom is facing. My husband... I don't know if he is even alive now... Oh my god! Why is God testing me in such a manner?" Tarini cried. The woman sympathised and kept a hand on her shoulder.

" Ma'am, your tribe... your tribe is known for the effective medical solutions they have provided through centuries. I think the sage wanted us to meet and that is why he must have asked me to come to this hill. Ma'am please help me if you can! Please!" Tarini fell to the woman's feet and cried.

" It doesn't suit an Empress to droop to my- a low born's feet." The woman said calmly.

" I am not an Empress!" Tarini started wailing even loudly.

" I will help you, but what shall I get in return?" The woman asked.

" If your method proves effective, I am ready to give up even my life to you." Tarini said with determination.

" I want your female child as soon as she is born. I want your daughter as soon as she enters this world." The woman looked at her seriously making Tarini gasp.

Give up her future child for the sake of her present? What type of a dilemma was this?

But Tarini agreed. How would she have a child, when her husband is dying? The woman's expectation for Tarini's daughter was proof enough to show that the woman was very sure that she could save Arnav.

" Okay. Here, take this plant. Consider this as your husband's life. I have worked magic spells on this plant overnight specially for you. Everyday at noon, you have to crush one leaf from this plant into a paste and dilute it into water. Help him ingest this solution everyday. This shall help him gain control of his body soon. Have patience and remember your promise." The woman whispered a tantric matra to the sapling and added some ash to it.

Tarini caught hold of the earthen pot and looked towards it. She didn't know if she would be able to reach her kingdom on time or even reach there. But her mind was determined and adamant. She would save him, come what may.
********

"Bhabhi! Where were you? Akash had gone with a search party to find you and had not been able to find you." Aman said concernedly as he saw her limping into the room where Arnav was kept. He was informed of Tarini entering the kingdom with Arnav's horse.

" I have... I have found something!" Tarini breathed heavily.

Sayantani came near her and held her.

" You look very weak, princess."

" Didi, how is he? He hasn't stopped breathing, has he?" Tarini asked, agitation clear in her voice.

" No dear, he hasn't yet. But the mendicants fear that he won't survive any further...because... because... we can't feed him anything in his state of unconsciousness and it looks like he has no... no plans of waking up." Sayantani cried, her voice breaking into sobs.

The maids whispered amongst each other noticing the potted plant in Tarini's hand.
Here our prince is fighting against death and it seems like the princess has brought a new plant for the prince's personal garden.What a shame! Shouldn't she have been with him instead?

Tarini tore a leaf from the sapling and crushed it with her nails. She mixed it into the water that had been offered to her to quench her exhaustion.

She went forward towards Arnav who lay still on the bed, his chest rising and falling in a slow manner. She tried to lift his torso so as to make him lean against the headboard.

Everyone looked at her astonished by her actions. Inquisitive by her actions, Anjali tried to go forward and question Tarini about this. She was stopped by doing so when Vikram held her hand and pulled her back.

" I can say by the look in her eyes, she knows what she is doing." He consoled Anjali.

The maids gossiped amongst each other yet nobody said anything to her as she looked grief struck.

Tarini used a spoon and put small amounts of the solution into Arnav's mouth with trembling hands. On finishing the solution which seemed to have magically dissolved into his mouth, Tarini massaged his stomach with her soft hands.

"Princess! What are you doing? This technique has not be used for years. We don't know if it shall be of any help to a dead person!" The mendicant realised what Tarini was doing on smelling the plant and looked her in shock.

" I can feel his pulse beating silently and slowly, trying to recover to come in pace with my heart beat. He is not dead until the people who love him believe so. After all, life is all about belief!" She snapped at the mendicant who went behind, scared for his life.

" What do you mean?" Anjali looked at the mendicant with a serious look.

" This plant which the Yuvrani has brought is an almost extinct medicinal herb. It has ash splattered on it along with a sorceress' spell. The Yuvrani has surely contacted a Tantrini for this solution." The mendicant blurted out making everyone in the room gasp.

" A Tantrini's spell?!" Anjali held Tarini's shoulders tightly and questioned.

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