Ripsu and Sukumar were lying on the ground. Ripsu could feel his fingers moving. He was still alive. The venom of the snake had already killed Sukumar. Slowly, it was draining the life from Ripsu too.

On the other hand, Rudradev was lying unconscious on the floor of the temple outside the Garbhagriha. The poison was spreading in his body. Sambhava had tears in his eyes. He had already lost his brother in the war. And now, he was about to lose his friend. The crown prince was a fierce warrior and a great commander. He could have been the greatest of all kings. He certainly did not deserve to lie on the temple floor, dying from a strange poison whose cure could not be found.

Sambhava heard someone approaching. The footsteps were getting closer. He turned around to see a tribal woman dressed in blue. She was a skinny woman with dark skin. Her hair was long and her eyes were as black as her hair. Sambhava had lived in the royal palace for a long time. He had also accompanied the crown prince on several occasions. Undoubtedly, he had seen many princesses, queens and noble ladies. She was not more beautiful than any of them. But that woman was more beautiful than many common born women he had seen.

The woman looked at the soldiers with surprise. The temple had been abandoned long ago. Only the tribals living in the forest visited that place. She thought, “Why did so many soldiers gather here? What is their purpose?” Her eyes fell on the crown prince lying on the floor and then, on the man who was sitting beside him.

She said to Sambhava, “Who are you? Who is this man and why is he lying here?”

Sambhava said, “This man is Yuvraj Rudradev, the crown prince of Matangpur and I am Sambhava, his friend. The crown prince was shot by a poisoned arrow. The physicians could not heal him. So we brought him to the Goddess hoping for a miracle to happen.”

The woman sat on the floor and removed the piece of cloth that was covering the prince's wounded chest. The wound was almost two days old. It had turned green and showed no signs of healing. Blood and pus was oozing out of it. “It is strange.” The woman said.

“What is strange?” Sambhava asked the woman.

The woman did not say anything. She stood up from her place and said, “I will return. Do not go anywhere.” Saying this, she ran out of the temple.

She returned some time later with a sickle, some cloth, an earthen bowl and a stone and pestle. She kept the things near Sambhava and hurried outside the temple once again. This time, she returned with some violet flowers. She sat down on the floor and asked Sambhava to light a fire and heat the sickle. He obliged. Then she started grinding the flowers.

She said, “Fetch me some water. I cannot make the medicine without water.”

Sambhava ordered a soldier to hand a water pouch to that woman. She took the pouch and kept it aside and then continued grinding the flowers. She said to Sambhava, “I know about this poison. It is made from the venom of a snake which is commonly found here. Every other day, our people get bitten by that snake. If left untreated, the wound festers, the whole body turns black and the person eventually dies. It is a very dangerous venom which can be cured only by these violet flowers. But then again, these flowers are found only in Chakora Van. So, if someone who lives in a different place is given this poison, he will certainly not survive. The tribals know about this snake, its venom and also this poison. We know its cure. But there is one thing that I do not understand. Why would someone shoot your prince with an arrow laced with a poison whose cure can be easily found here?”

“I think that the assassins did not know about the cure themselves. Otherwise, they would have chosen a different poison.” Sambhava replied.

The woman finished grinding all the flowers into a paste. She transferred some of the paste into the earthen bowl and poured water into it. Then she carefully mixed the paste with the water. She asked Sambhava to hand the heated sickle to her.

She took the sickle and placed it on the wound to cauterize it. The hot sickle burned the skin. She put some paste on that wound and wrapped a piece of cloth around it. Then, she took the bowl and fed the medicine to Rudradev. She said, “Now, we have to wait. With the blessings of Mata Kali, the crown prince will wake up.”

Ojaswini’s chambers:

Ojaswini was sitting at the edge of her bed. She kept staring at the clouds that were floating in the sky.

A maid entered her chambers and greeted her. Ojaswini said to her, “Tell me Kamini, did your brother bring any message?”

Kamini said, “Rajkumari, my brother has arrived. He is waiting outside your chambers. I shall call him inside so that you can talk to him yourself.” Kamini went to the door and called her brother inside.

Kamini’s brother entered the chambers and greeted the princess. Ojaswini stood up from her place and approached the soldier who was standing in front of her. She said to him, “Nanda, tell me about everything that you saw. Did the messenger reach Yuvraj along with the physician? And did you get to know about the condition of Yuvraj?”

Nanda said, “Rajkumari, the attack was planned very carefully. The physician that you had sent never reached Yuvraj. I found the messenger, the physician and the charioteer lying dead on the forest path. I think that someone was waiting there to kill them. I did not go further as I was not aware of the dangers that were on the way. I had to bring the message to you. So, I returned to the palace.”

Kamini said, “Rajkumari, I think that there is a traitor among us. Otherwise who could have known that we were secretly sending a physician for the crown prince?”

Ojaswini nodded her head. She said to Kamini, “You are right. Someone leaked this information to the conspirators. Nanda, keep an eye on everyone. You shall do the same, Kamini. If any of you notice anything unnatural, come to me directly. Do not go to any other official or any other member of the royal family. Not even my father!”

Nanda said, “Rajkumari, please forgive me for my boldness. But, do you think that Mahamantri Jayadrath might have a hand in this conspiracy? Afterall, he was the one with whom you had shared the information.”

Ojaswini said to him, “It is very unlikely for my father to be involved in something like this. However, I cannot say the same about the ones who work for him. Keep an eye on him too. But be careful! No one should cast a doubt on you.”

Ojaswini dismissed them and went to meet her father.

Chakora Van:

Rudradev could feel his chest moving. But, he could neither open his eyes nor move his fingers. He tried screaming but he failed to open his mouth. It was dark all around him.
He could only hear some faint whispers.

He realised that he was in a closed place. He could suddenly move his limbs. He looked around himself and found no one. He was all alone. Just then, the door opened and a woman entered the place. He looked around once again and saw numerous sculptures. “It is a temple.” He thought.

The woman was walking towards him. He could hear the sound of her anklets very clearly. The woman had worn gold ornaments and decorated her hair with flowers. She was holding an earthen lamp with her hand.

The woman stood near a pillar and smiled at him. He felt as if the woman was mocking him. He said to her, “Who are you?” The woman did not answer. She smirked and continued to stare at a distance. He kept repeating his question when he heard another voice. He recognised that voice. It was Sambhava. He turned around to search for him but there was only darkness.

The woman was still standing there. He approached her. The woman put her hand forward indicating him to hold it. He was about to hold her hand when he stumbled on something and fell down. He did not know how and where he was falling. He kept falling deeper and deeper into a pit and finally, he hit the ground with a thud. Surprisingly, he felt no pain.

Rudradev opened his eyes slowly and found himself in a completely different place. It was a temple too but the darkness was missing. The woman was not there either. He looked around himself and saw Sambhava sitting beside him with another woman whom he could not recognise.

Sambhava was very happy. With tears in his eyes, he started screaming, “Yuvraj has opened his eyes! Yuvraj has opened his eyes!”