Tyaag

(Sacrifice)

Flashback continues...

"Look! Rajkumar Arnav is breathing so heavily! Vaid ji, please pay attention to him." Sayantani pointed out.

" His pulse has regained steadiness, your highness. I believe he shall regain stability soon. Looks like the Yuvrani has paid a very huge price for such an effective cure." The mendicant commented after checking Arnav.

" Rajkumari, however much grateful I am to you for saving my brother's life, I can't help but be inquisitive about you approaching a Tantrini. Tell me, Tarini, what have you sacrificed for saving the future of Aaranya?" Anjali held Tarini's hand softly while she continued to look at Arnav, tears brimming her solemn eyes.

" The future of Aaranya." Tarini said slowly as she dropped to the floor and started crying.

This ray of hope that he shall survive is enough for me, God! Thank you so much for answering my prayers!

*******

The ministers and noblemen of Aaranya were fighting amongst each other to decide who shall rule now. Some suggested democracy, some suggested election of a new ruler and the others suggested submission to another kingdom. None of them noticed when the little woman, covered in sweat limped into the hall with Arnav's royal imperial sword in her hand and her dupatta balanced on her head. She ascended the steps towards the throne and cleared her throat loudly.

"Loyal noblemen of Aaranya, I hereby announce to you the new master of the throne - Emperor Arnav singh Raizada !" Tarini said with pride, placing Arnav's sword on the velvet of the throne.

Everyone gasped at her announcement.

"But our noble prince is dead, princess!" Some minister exclaimed.

"No, he is not! He is just unconscious! And we, the toyal family of Aaranya, eagerly await the day when he shall wake up and claim his right on the throne. We hope it shall come soon." Tarini smiled, hope gleaming in her eyes.

"So who will take care of Aaranya till then?"screamed another minister.

"Legally, I believe the Yuvrani has the right to take care of Aaranya. I believe she is capable enough to be the proxy ruler till my brother regains his conscious."said Anjali.

"A mere girl as the ruler of such a huge country is unacceptable! We shall leave the kindgdom." revolted a minister.

" You shall revolt against your own country?" Anjali raised her eyebrow.

"You see her as a mere girl but we see her as the Ardhangini of the crown prince, Arnav. He looked upon the people as his own children. Like if he was their father! That makes Tarinii their mother, doesn't it? Everyone knows a mother never shall let any harm reach her children." Vikram, Anjali's husband supported her decision.

" My kingdom, Raigad is the most important supporter to this throne and by that very importance vested in my crown, I declare Tarini, wife of Yuvraj Arnav Singh raizada as the Empress and the administrative head of the country Aaranya." Vikram used his stamp on the legal document sealing Tarini's fate, once again.

That was the fateful day when the war compensation became the Empress of Aaranya - an Empress without an Emperor.

As Tarini replayed that fateful day in her mind, she couldn't stop herself from sobbing.

"When shall you wake up?"
*********

A sudden noise shook the daylights off Tarini. She was sleeping near Arnav, her hand on his hand, her head on his chest. It was a very uncomfortable position as she was half on the ground yet she felt ultimate comfort as she could feel Arnav's pulse rising and dipping with her breath.

"What is this noise? Who is there?" she asked in a stern voice.

"Samraagi, the kingdom has been attacked by the king of Surya pura. He is filled with vengeance as you slapped his messenger and ignored his proposal."

Alarmed, Tarinii rose up. All these weeks she had only emphasized on political treaties and building the economy but not any military training. The reason for that was that she herself had not started her training to become a better warrior. This could be dangerous but she couldn't back out. She wasn't a coward.

"Prepare the soldiers to guard the territory! The enemy must not cause any harm to the citizens. Take the palace guards also to help them! Quick!" She shouted orders to the guards.

*****************
The air was filled with tension and fear as probabilities of war increased by the second. Tarini was discussing the matter with the ministers.

"I think we must offer a peace treaty." one of them said after discussing with other ministers. "That would be the smartest move right now as our defence is not well prepared. Moreover our people are at stake."
Many ministers agreed with him.

"Fine then! Send the king of Suryapura a treaty, asking him to befriend us and convey him my apology too." Tarinii said as she realized this was the only way to prevent her people from suffering due to war.

The messenger sealed the peace letter and rushed to convey it to the enemy. Tarinii and the ministers waited for the reply of the king.

After three long hours, the messenger arrived with a message from the other king. He looked very scared and hesitant to read out the message.

"The king of Suryapura wants...he wants..." the messenger hesitated.

"What does he want, messenger? Gold, horses, elephants, jewels, land? I am ready to surrender anything for the welfare of my people during this crisis." Tarini stated.

" He wants you ... you to surrender ...to him..." The messenger said, his head drooped down in shame.

" What!" Everyone in the court stood up.

All the ministers were enraged at this. Tarinii was no less than a daughter and a mother to them.

"The peace treaty shall be discarded. He dared to say this to the Empress of Aaranya! He shall not be spared for this!" shouted the ministers.

Tarini looked on sadly. Why does everybody want her to surrender while whom she had surrendered to has almost surrendered his life!

Oh Lord! Please save me and my kingdom from this!

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

Tarini caught hold of her sword and headed towards the palace gates. The situation demands war and war it shall be!

Suddenly she felt somebody pull her dupatta off her chest as she passed the empty palace hall. She covered herself with her hands and turned angrily to see who had the audacity to insult her?

"How dare you!"she angrily said to the humongous dirty looking man who was holding her Dupatta in his hand.

" Tch tch! It doesn't suit you to wear a red and green dupatta in such a state.." The man shamelessly grinned at her, his gaze full of perverse. "Ooh! Shyam was right! You indeed are one hell of a hot property! Red angry hot!"

"What do you mean to say?"she asked ignoring his perverted comments. She had understood that this man was some ally of Shayam.

Turns out my late brother in law had only perverted friends, just like himself. Poor Sayantani didi!

" I suppose you don't know that after a woman's husband dies she isn't allowed to dress up! Instead she should be bald, wearing white clothes etc..."

" Says who? Your chauvinistic personality which takes the Shastras and the scriptures in a wrong way?" She retorted back at him, angering him even more. "It's my choice what I wear; not only because my husband is alive but also because here in Aaranya everyone has their personal right to choose how they want to live! Aarnaya's great constituency gives them that right. Low lives like you won't be able to comprehend that."she said proudly and arrogantly.

Angry with her outspokenness, the man grabbed Tarini inappropriately.
"How dare you! If you are so fond of dupattas only then come, join my harem! Wear as many dupattas as you want, after all I would be the one discarding them off your body." He smirked.

Disgusted by his filthy statements, Tarini protested against him.
"You are crazy to think I shall ever join your harem!", she pushed him away.

This angered him even more and he tried to touch her improperly.
But before he could do anything one swift strike of a sword made him lie dead on the floor.

Tarini looked up to see the person to had saved her.
She was initially shocked to see the person but then she gave out her happiest smile possible. Her eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing and started flowing out tears of happiness.

"Aap!"

She ran into his arms and cried holding him. It had been a long time since she had cried on his shoulders.

"Are you fine, Khushi?"

Tarini was very happy to see him, tears of joy spread through her eyes, smudging her kajal. She hugged him tightly to which he reciprocated happily.

"Guards! Ministers! Where is everyone, Khushi?" Arnav looked around.

" This king attacked on us because I rejected his proposal and slapped his messenger." Tarini sobbed to his chest.

" And why did you slap his messenger?" he asked, lovingly cupping her face.

"He said you were dead but I knew you couldn't be dead. You said you would never leave me and I know that Arnav Singh Raizada fulfills his promises."she looked up into his eyes.

They both stared into each others eyes, melting in each others arms with each passing second.

Their beautiful moment was disturbed when the soldiers returned along with the ministers.

"Prince! You are safe and healthy!You killed our enemy! Thank god you are healthy now! Long live our prince!", the old minister said, happy to see Arnav alive.

Arnav courteously greeted all of them. He hugged Akash and Aman who were ecstatic to see their old friend on his feet after such a long time. Sayantani was very happy to see him. She immediately sent a message to Anjali's kingdom about Arnav's health.

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

"Hmm...This is like a miracle, a boon to Aaranya that you are back, prince. The Empress has successfully saved our prince's life. Looks like her and the people's prayers held more power than our medical techniques.

Congratulations! He is ready to take over the responsibility of the kingdom."announced the head mendicant while doing a check up of Arnav's wounds which had filled up now.

Everybody's faces lit up with happiness knowing that Arnav was all fit and fine now. Tarini gave a wide smile to him but noticed that Arnav looked disturbed.

"Empress?" he scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. Were they talking about his sister? She is the empress of Raigad. Did she save his life?

"Yes, your Khushi never lost hope on you! She brought that marvellous her and helped you ingest it everyday helping you get back to feet." Sayantani chirped.

"Khushi...empress? "he looked towards Tarinii while she looked down, shyly.