Prisoner: Chapter 2

  Everything stood perfectly still. There was no wind to ruffle the treetops or make the lamp flame dance. Payal was only sleeping in brief spells. The damp airlessness of the night was making it difficult to breath. Fleeting dreams haunted her during the half asleep-half wakeful state, where she hovered. Her bedclothes, wet with sweat, stuck to her mercilessly as she tossed and turned. "Raja, don't go", she whispered. "Nobody wins a war. I beg you, don't go".
  Damini sat at the foot of the bed and shook her head hopelessly. The nightmares had stopped temporarily, only to be revived by the arrival of the King's letter. "Didi", she called gently as she cried out in her sleep. "Didi, wake up." Payal was yanked free from her dream as she awoke with a start, a look of madness in her eyes which was now quite familiar to Damini.
  "Where is it? Where is it?", she screamed, her voice entwined with insanity.
  Damini was ready with the letter. Payal clutched it to her heart and cried desperately. When the tears ceased, she opened the letter to read it for the hundredth time.

Payal, my love,
                       Gods have surely forsaken this  place. If this isn't hell, what is? The stench of death and rot lies thick in the air, threatening to choke me. All I hear are the deafening clash of weapons and the bone-chilling cries of the dying. My friends and family now lie dead in battle with nobody to perform their last rights, maimed beyond recognition. Often, I have had to plunge my knife into a man's heart in order to put him out of misery. I am responsible for countless deaths. Victory may be ours in the end but the immeasurable loss we have suffered cannot be compensated for. Our bards sing of honour and heroism at war but I tell you now, my love, there is nothing to be proud of here. These sins I commit will haunt me beyond this life. 
                       I too die a new death everyday. I cannot help but admit that I miss you more than I can ever express. When I close my eyes and think of you, I swear I can hear your sweet laughter, the soothing tinkle of you anklet. I can even smell the flowers in your hair. Often I have this vision of you wearing a blood red ghagra and walking through the devastation in the battle field. You bend down and bless each body, sending him to the afterlife. I run to you as fast as I can, you look at me with those kohl laden doe eyes and disappear. The only thing that keeps me sane and helps me to inspire my soldiers everyday is the thought of you waiting for me to return. 
                        Please forgive me, dear Payal, for the pain that I am causing you. I will make up for it in any way that you wish. I fear for your safety even within the palace walls because you are more precious and more beautiful than any jewel in the royal treasury. I only thank God for granting me your undying love. I escape death only to return to your warm arms. My heart is with you, keep it safe.


Your faithful servant,
Raja Suvajit

Prisoner: Chapter 1

 "Where is the runner who brought this letter, Damini?", Payal asked..

 "He is in the bhojanshala, Didi."

 "Fetch him right away."

 The fifteen year old handmaiden scurried off in a swish of her ghagra. Payal sighed as she watched her leave. Damini had grown considerably since she had rescued her from imminent death in the hands of the soldiers who had brought her to the palace in chains for some petty crime. Her heart had gone out to the little girl with the tear-streaked face. "Didi", she had whispered into her ears. Her heart had melted and she never bothered to change it into "my lady" even after she was employed as her handmaiden. She named her 'Damini', lightning because she always arrived at lightning speed when called. 

  Payal clutched the letter to her heart. The royal seal glistened in the bright sunlight that entered her apartment through the stain glass window. 

  "I beg you on bent knees, run away with me tonight. We will go far away, across the border and never look back," said the King. His voice was hoarse with pain, he held her hand in a bone-crushing grip.

  "Why?", laughed Payal. "What is wrong with right here?"

  "No, no my love. If we don't leave tonight, tomorrow morning I must leave you and God only knows if I will ever return to your arms", he cried, tightening his grip on her hand and making her wince.

  Her eyes bored into his, looking for an explanation. "War", he whispered with trembling lips. 

  A single word brought her entire world crashing down. She attempted to reply but her voice chocked in. Every inch of her wanted to scream.

  "Stop me, I beseech you. You know that a single word from your lips can make me move mountains," a single tear rolled down his smooth cheeks while his eyes seemed to scream in agony. 

  "You are the King, you belong to the people. From the moment you sat on the throne, my love, you forfeited the right to think about yourself", she whispered, trying to steady her voice inspite of the tears that welled in her eyes.

  "Don't, I beg you. Don't do this. Will you see these hands, which hold you, bloodied in battle?", wept the King.

  The words struck like a million arrows to her heart. She held his hands open on her lap and said, "If it is your destiny, it will come to pass. The people of this kingdom love you beyond measure. You are good and just. They will be heartbroken if you abandon them. Follow your destiny, my love for we all must, no matter how painful."

  "Payal, you heartless angel, I cannot see tears in your eyes. I will burn down the entire kingdom, the entire world if you are in pain."

  "See these tears then and go to war. Burn and wreck your enemy beyond measure. Avenge my pain and protect your people, she cried choking on her last words. 

  In the morning she ran, teary eyed down the road. Finally she fell to the ground weeping, engulfed by the dust stirred up by the King's horse. Even in her overwhelming grief, she could hear the unmistakable sound of laughter coming from the queens' apartments. 

  The memories seemed to rekindle the familiar ache that had given way to a strange numb nothingness over the past few days. She looked down at the thick roll of parchment and slowly began to open it.