Tuesday 7 July 2020

The Betrayal Story- Part 21

The pain was unbearable for Gayatri. She watched her husband who was once smitten by her spend his whole time with another lady. There were times when she wanted to chastise him for his actions but he was a king and no one dared to question him. He had done this to his first wife by bringing her home as his second wife after exhausting war he had fought on behalf of her father who had betrothed her to him as token of his gratitude.

She remembered the times when he had spent all of his time with her instead of his first wife. Now it was her turn to take the back seat as the king would bring his third wife soon. Just like Satyavati, she had to ignore her emotions and welcome his decision because he was king and he had the right to marry as many times he want.

Her heart became heavy as she thought about the king and his new interest. She wept silently during lonely nights. Mornings were difficult. She sometimes wished she wasn’t alive. The king’s radiant smile and reason for that smile burnt her heart. But she hid her miseries from everyone as she knew they would console with the same reason.

Days passed by. Her miseries increased. She stayed awake whole night while nursing her broken heart. Suddenly , one fine day, something struck her. She was spending lazy afternoon with Satyavati and her brother. While she stayed quiet , they spoke casually. The conversation suddenly directed to Roopali and her lineage. She wanted to get up when something Suryavanshi  spoke got her attention, “I had checked about Roopali through my spies. The village she said she is from doesn’t exist. I feel there’s something hideous about her.”

“Why would she lie about her village ?”, Satyavati asked. “I don’t know but my spies wouldn’t lie.”, he protested. “Then I will speak to king about this.”, she said. She immediately headed towards the king’s chamber with her brother and Gayatri where he was busy signing some bills to be passed. He looked up at her and smiled.“What brings you here, Satyavati? You bought your whole troupe here. There must be something serious.”, he said. She asked the guards and  ministers to leave the room. When they left, she spoke, “Your highness, there is something I need to share. My brother, Suryavanshi, has found something alarming about Roopali from his spies. He says that she had lied about her village. The village she spoke about doesn’t exist.”.

The king rose up from his seat in fury. His eyes turned red. “I didn’t expect you to do this. I had made it clear that everyone would accept her as rightful citizen of this kingdom. Who is Suryavanshi to spy on her without my authorisation.”, he growled . Suryavanshi stared angrily at the king. Satyavati signalled  him to cool down by pressing his hand.

(To be continued)

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