PARIKSHA
(test)

"The first test meant to check the Emperor's attitude towards his citizens. Sadly, I wasn't very impressed with Prince Shyam. An emperor must have an attitude but he must be humble also! Prince Arnav, on the other hand, won hearts. Unexpectedly, I was greatly impressed by princess Tarinii's courteous behaviour. We don't know which prince shall be the perfect emperor but she would make a humble empress!

The second test was the chess game, an Emperor must plan his rules smartly and not be discouraged by minor threats. Prince Shyam had put a threat on Prince Arnav's king two times but Arnav showed unmatched courage. He defended smartly and won without getting discouraged. This gave Arnav a winning hand.

The third test was posed in front of the princes by the lady who on my request had faked her case here. I wanted to test your sense of justice and open mindedness here. A king must always have a progressive thinking because only then the kingdom can progress in true sense. Prince Arnav's answers were quite satisfactory.

As you all know the last round was won by him. Based on these tests, I feel proud to announce that Prince Arnav Singh Raizada shall be the best choice for the Emperor of Aaran..."

Suddenly, an arrow shot the sage on his chest. Distressed on witnessing this scene, the crowd ran hither-tether. Bhadraketu, Tarinii's ex fiancé appeared on the main door.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" He laughed devilishly. Shyam put a hand on his shoulder and joined him.

"If this sage is not going to take my name, let his voice vanish! Ha! Ha! Ha! "laughed Shyam. Arnav and Tarini gasped at the situation.

" This godless man was our father's enemy! How can you be friends with him?"Arnav shouted at Shyam.

Some soldiers came and bound Arnav to big strong chains. He struggled to get out of them while Tarinii tried to free him.

"Your enemy's enemy is your friend. Bhadraketu is my friend as he is your enemy!" Shyam mocked him.

The villains laughed wickedly as the soldiers captured Aman, Akash, Vikram and all loyal ministers.

Bhadraketu stopped laughing as he noticed Tarini who was trying to break the chains that bound Arnav's hands. He went towards Tarini and caught her by her hair, making her cry out with pain.

" Leave her, you bas***d! Your enmity is with me. Don't dare to touch her!" Arnav screamed.

Bhadraketu dragged her by her hair towards Shyam.

" Oh, the great Arnav Singh Raizada has a soft spot for his wife! The compensation from that war where he killed her father ...Ha Ha ha ! " Shyam laughed devilishly, insulting Tarinii.

Tarinii tried to free her hair from the villain's clasp and cried out aloud. "Leave me!"

" Why, you insolent bi**h? I was going to marry you but you won't come with me, would you? It seems like you don't know how to obey!"
Bhadraketu spat.

Arnav struggled to free himself from the strong chains but was unsuccessful in doing so. The chains were truly very strong and binding.

"Leave her!" he gritted his teeth. His wrists had started bleeding due to the chains.

" I had asked her to dance for me and my friends but being the arrogant bitchh that she is, she said no to me! Me! The ruler of this world! So today she shall dance for me, my friend, Shyam and my soldiers!"

" I surely am going to enjoy this!" laughed Shyam.

" I am not going to dance for anyone!" Tarini screamed and pushed Bhadraketu away from her.

" Alright, don't dance! Let all your hair come off! Let your foot become immobile! Let your husband bleed to death..." He pulled her closer to him.

Tarini gasped at this. She looked towards Arnav's bleeding arms and asked
" Will you leave him if I shall dance for you?"

"Obviously no! But I shall allow him to be kept alive and maybe, his wounds be covered."

Tarinii's eyes were filled with tears. She had felt Arnav's words peirce her heart but she couldn't see him in any problem. She loved him! She agreed to Bhadraketu's demands.

"No Khushi! Don't do this to yourself!" Arnav pleaded her.

Bhadraketu dropped Tarinii to the floor. Not able to meet her husband's eyes in this moment of shame, she looked down, ready to bear this mortal insult for his sake.

"Khushi, look towards me! Please don't do this! " said Arnav

"Ooh lovebirds! My friend, Bhadraketu, have you ever eaten the soft meat of lovebirds. The aroma of their tender hearts getting roasted in fire makes my mouth water. Today, we shall witness the burning of people's favourite, Prince Arnav's heart. I am sure this fire of his wife's insult shall be enough to char him for life!" Shyam laughed looking at the tears which burnt Arnav's cheeks.

"Stop! You can't do this, my son! Don't make her do this! This is very insulting!" Mayuri's voice choked.
This was the last string for her. In the last, Tarini was the Kulvadhu of the Raizada dynasty - that very dynasty to which she had devoted 25 years of her life. Being a woman of noble birth, she understood how insulting this situation was. She came forward and held Shyam's arm tightly and spoke in a reprimanding tone."You are going to stop all of this, right now."

Shyam pushed her away to the ground.
"Get away, old woman!"
She hit her head on the ground and fell, partly unconscious.

Tarinii gasped and went to tend her, her crown jewel left scattered on the ground.

Mayuri tried to raise her head and slowly whispered to her.
" I have realized that what I did was wrong! I repent my deeds! I wish to serve my husband and Sunayana in the heavenly abode and apologize for my sins. Life shall leave me soon. However, I want you all to live. Listen carefully! I need you to remind Arnav somehow that there is a ... a red button near where he is bound. That button is capable of instigating a mechanism to call for help against these enemies. We have a separate hidden emergency army. Remind him of the butto..."and she died on the spot.

Tarinii tearfully looked at Mayuri's dead body and decided that she had to fulfill Mayuri's last wish of keeping all of them alive.

I need to remind him of that button, that is the only way now!

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

Both the villains seated themselves on the royal throne appearing like stains on the red velvet of the sacred throne.

Tarinii hesitantly sat on the floor, her skirt spread around her. It pained Arnav to see her like that, but the gradual loss of blood from his injured body was making him weaker by the second. Both the devils laughed evilly and mocked the protagonists' pain.

Sayantani had tried to persuade Shyam into not making Tarini undergo such an insulting ordeal. Angrily, Shyam had grabbed her by her hair and thrown her, making her fall near Arnav's feet.

"You stay out of this! Remain with your dying 'brother'!" Shyam said pointing towards Arnav. Shyam didn't show any sign of repent.

Sayantani massaged her feet and tried to stand up but her fall had injured her knees.

Mayuri's dead body had been thrown somewhere like if it was trash.

The royal musicians started playing music like they had been commanded to. Pitchers of alcohol poured down the devils' throats.

Tarinii closed her bloodshot eyes, rose up, twirled and started singing...

Mohe rang do laal

Mohe rang do laal

Nand ke laal

Chhedo naahi bas rang do laal

Mohe rang do laal

She twirled around making beautiful hand movements. She was a very graceful dancer. She pointed all her movements towards Arnav to draw his attention.

Her eyes were sad. Her voice was broken. Her cheeks were stained with tears.

Sayantani cried even more seeing her like this.

Arnav was extremely sad seeing this state of hers. He blamed and cursed himself for this.

It was when the 'Alta' from her hand brought colour to her tear stained cheeks, that Arnav noticed the word laal caught his attention.

RED!

His mind took him back in time to when his father had guided him about all the emergency facilities in their royal palace. He remembered the red lever placed subtly in the court room which was meant for emergency purposes.

It should be somewhere here only!

He spotted the lever hid near where Sayantani was trying to stand up.

"Bhabhi, Bhabhi!" he whispered to earn Sayantani's attention.

Sayantani turned towards him, sniffling in pain.

"There is a lever under the carpet. Just give it a small push, please!"

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