Part 35 Plan

"Khushi, I forgot to tell you something important. Come..." He walked towards her.

Madhavi fumed, looking at Khushi, who avoided looking at Madhavi.

Arnav saw Khushi without moving. He grabbed her hand and took her away, fuelling Madhavi's anger. She looked for Arvind. She found him talking to a worker. She rushed to him.

"Uncle..."

"Mmm?" He turned towards her.

She gestured for him to look at Arnav and Khushi. Arvind saw Arnav pulling Khushi with him. He was stuck for a second and composed himself.

"What?"

"See, uncle, how he is dragging her..."

"Yeah, they are friends..."

"But, uncle, this is not a city but a village. How could a man drag a girl like this? What will people think?"

"What will people think?"

"Uncle, they will think of them wrongly."

"Wrongly means?"

"They will think they have an affair..."

"What's there to think WRONGLY? You are talking like they are in an illegal affair. They are not someone's husband and wife. They are unmarried. If they have an affair, it's their matter. We have no right to poke our nose in their matter. You came here for the first time. That's why it seems wrong in your eyes. Look at people. They don't give heed to them because they know Arnav and Khushi's hearts are pure. They know they will not have any WRONG relationship."

"What if they love each other?"

"If they love each other, I will get them married... simple..." Arvind shrugged his shoulders, irritating Madhavi.

How could Arvind be so brainless? Being a King, how could he think of getting his son married to a maid? And Arnav... he was not less than his father. If he had been the son of a REAL Queen, he would have understood his value. After all, his mother was a beggar. Then, how would his mind be? Madhavi left the place, thinking about how to break their relationship.

In the meanwhile,

"Arnav sir, why are you dragging me like this?" Khushi asked.

"You didn't follow me. That's why."

"Madhavi looks angry."

"So?"

Khushi sighed.

"Arnav sir, try to understand."

"Stop calling me SIR..."

"Then how do you want me to call you?"

"Call me by my name, Arnav, Aru, Arnie..."

"What will people think...?"

"Let them think anything. Do what I said."

"To order me to call you by your name only you brought me?"

"No... I forgot to tell you something important."

"What?"

"When I went to the mountain, Gorakha Siddha told me about Palani Murugan temple."

"Is it?"

"Yes, I don't know why he talked to me about the temple..."

"Do you think he did that particularly?"

"Yes... He doesn't need to talk about it because a Shiv Linga was at the peak. When there are many Shiva temples with many specialities, why did he talk about Palani Murugan Temple instead of any Shiva Temple?"

"And, there are SIX so special Murugan Temples in Tamilnadu. Leaving all the FIVE behind, why did he talk about Palani?"

"Is it? Are there six temples?"

"Yes, those are related to Lord Murugan's life."

"Oh... Is Murugan a powerful God?"

"He is the Chieftain of Lord Shiva's Army."

"Is it?"

"If you had read BAGAVAD GITA, you would have known about it."

"Is it mentioned in Bhagavad Gita?"

"Yes, in that, Lord Krishna says, among all the Generals, I'm Subramanian..."

"Subramanian?"

"It's one of the names of Lord Murugan."

"Oh... is he that powerful?"

"Yes... he is an aspect of Lord Shiva. He was born out of sparks from Shiva's THIRD EYE."

Arnav raised his brows in amazement.

"Do you know about Palani Temple?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, Ratna Aunty took me to Palani a long ago."

"Oh... did you visit the temple?"

"Yes... Palani Murugan is Ratna Aunty's favourite God."

"Oh..." Arnav became thoughtful.

"Yes, that's why she visits Palani yearly once."

"Tell me about the temple."

"The Temple was established by one of the eighteen Siddhas called BOGAR. The temple's idol of Murugan is made from nine materials mixed in a specific proportion, called NAVAPASHANAM. Navapashanam can cure any disease."

"He also said the same."

"Is it?"

"Yes..."

After hearing that, Khushi had become thoughtful.

"What are you thinking?"

"Siddhas actions would have a valid reason. He would not have spoken to you about Palani for no reason. He would definitely have a reason. What it would be?" Khushi tapped her cheek with her index finger while thinking.

Arnav sighed as nothing came into his mind.

How could he get anything in his mind until the RIGHT time came? He would get a spark when the right time came.

.......

On the other side,

The Siddha doctor of the palace was shivering before the Murthy brothers.

"You should do what we said. You have no choice."

"How could I do that? The medicine Arnav brought from the mountain is so powerful. How could I lie to the King?"

"Tell him that was not a right herb. Or, tell him one more medicine to be mixed with it."

"How could I say so? Didn't you hear what he said? Someone in the mountain helped him to collect the herbs. It must be someone with a divine power. The king also understood that."

"So, you will not do what we say?"

"I will prepare the medicine and give it to the king. After that, you can do anything to stop him from giving it to the Queen."

"Look, you will get a few lakhs if you do what we say."

"Doctor profession is a divine one. I want to be loyal to my profession..." he hesitated.

"Could you delay the process at least?"

The doctor looked down, not answering. The Murthy brothers looked at him angrily and left the place.

The doctor didn't know why they didn't want their sister to get a cure. They didn't want him to give her the medicine. He didn't know why.

Krishna Murthy changed the gear angrily and asked,

"What will we do now?"

"I, too, don't know." Chandra Murthy said, disappointed.

"I have an idea."

"What?"

Krishna Murthy told him the idea.

"Are you sure about it?"

"We have no choice. Ratna should not get cured. If she gets cured, she will throw us out of the palace. We will lose the Royal life forever. She knows us." Krishna Murthy said.

"It's better if she just throws it away, but she will spit on us for staying in the palace forever. We can enjoy the Royal life only until she is mad."

"You are right."

"Then we have to implement the plan."

"What if Arvind got to know about it? He already suspects me from the time I applied the black magic paste on his head." Krishna Murthy said.

"Why not we just FINISH him?" Chandra Murthy suggested.

"Whaaat? Are you sure?"

"Why would he be alive? If we finish him, we will become the Royal heirs as he has no child.
Who will question us? We are his brothers-in-law. The villagers will make us his heirs because no one cares for mad Ratna. Even though they don't, who cares?"

"You are right. After the KalaBairava festival, we will fix a day to finish him..."

They planned to kill Arvind as if everything was happening as planned. They forgot that there is a power that makes all of us dance.

.....

Night

Arnav was sleeping deeply when he suddenly felt like someone had tapped him. He sat on the bed, jerking, and looked around. He found himself on the bed and sighed. Taking the water jug, he drank water. When he kept the jug back, something caught his attention. He saw a blaze through the glass door, just like the other day when the Murthy brothers did black magic in the cemetery. He pushed the window and saw two people in the cemetery. He could not see them. He waited to know who they were. One of them turned in Arnav's direction, but Arnav didn't know who he was. He never had seen him in the village. Who was the other one? Arnav was shocked to see Gorakha Siddha in the cemetery. Without thinking, he ran to the cemetery to meet him. When he came there, Gorakha Siddha was not there but the other one. Arnav searched for him here and there. He stood running his fingers in his hair. He saw the man looking at him.

"Where is he?" Arnav asked.

"Who?"

"The one who was talking to you..."

"He just left..."

Arnav was fed up. He looked at the man and asked,

"Who are you? I have never seen you here."

"But I have seen you often."

"What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I'm an undertaker. So, I ought to be here..." he said in the local language.

"Mmm..."

"Why are you searching for him?"

"Do you know who he is?"

"Yeah, he often meets me."

"He meets you?" Arnav frowned.

"Yes..." the undertaker said casually.

Arnav could not believe the great Gorakha Siddha would meet an undertaker who lived in the cemetery. He could not understand Siddha's theory. Arnav returned to the Palace disappointed that he had not seen the Gorakha Siddha.

To be continued...