Monday 8 June 2020

The Betrayal Story - Part 11

Roopali twitched her nose and spoke, “I will report this to the king . You cannot sell something more than the price decided by the king. You are cheating the public.” “Who are you? Are you the king’s puppet?”, the angry shopkeeper asked. The public retaliated against the shopkeeper when he spoke against the king. They began to lynch tiny stones at him.

Amar Singh intervened them. “Stop ! Stop it all of you!”, he screamed. The crowd stopped. “Why should we stop ? This man spoke against our king. He should be punished.”, one man from the crowd spoke. The king removed his fake beard and the thick shawl before his aide tried to stop him. “He will be punished. But not here ! At the royal court . He will be punished for cheating the public and disrespecting a woman.”,he said.

The crowd was in awe to see their king close to them. They had seen them from far.  But having him amongst them was a treat. “Your highness, we are blessed to have you here.”, the crowd said and bent down with folded hands. The shopkeeper was stunned and started begging for mercy. Roopali was dumbstruck by the king’s presence. She didn’t expect the king to be here.

The shopkeeper was bought to the court. An urgent hearing was held. All the ministers and queens gathered at the court. “I hereby declare that your shop be seized and you are jailed for six months.Do you have anything to speak in your favour ?”, the king ordered. The shopkeeper knelt down with folded hands and cried, “ Your highness, please forgive me ! Don’t seize my shop. It’s my only earning.”

Roopali , who was standing at the corner of the court , came forward. “ Your highness, please hear me out before you make your judgement.”, she said. The king signalled her to speak. “Since he is sole earner in his family, it’s better not to seize his shop and reduce the number or jail term for the interest of his family.” , she said. The king was impressed. He said , “You spoke right ! I will then hereby change my judgement. For the interest of your family, your shop won’t be seized and your jail term would be reduced to one month. But you need to promise in writing that you won’t charge more than price decided in the court.”

Gayatri wasn’t amused by Roopali’s intervention. “I have one more order to pass. With today’s events, I am very impressed with Roopali’s sense of judgement and hereby assign her the post of city’s supervisor. You will handle all the city’s menial issues and pass the judgement for betterment of citizens of this kingdom.” Roopali was surprised and wanted to say something. The king stopped her. Gayatri wasn’t pleased. She fidgeted with her fingers constantly. Satyavati noticed it and wondered what was wrong with Gayatri.

(To be continued)

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