The Betrayal Story - Part 22

Gayatri was shocked by king’s reaction. She had never seen him get angry at Satyavati. Satyavati was  the wise one among them. She gently rubbed her head, wondering what is so special about Roopali that has made the king blinded that he doesn’t want to listen to his wise wife - whose words he always listened to.

She knew love is blind and now she had seen the proof. She had to do something to cure her husband’s blindness. She didn’t want to be Satyavati - always sacrificing for betterment of others. She wanted her husband’s attention back on her. She was selfish for his love and wanted his undivided attention.

She watched Suryavanshi stomping out of room and Satyavati had rushed behind him to cool him down. The king was still seething in anger. She knew it wasn’t right time to speak to the king. She walked out of room too while planning her mission. She remembered what Suryavanshi had found out through his spies - Roopali isn’t whom she claims to be.

Next day, she met Suryavanshi at the army training ground where he was supervising the progress of army’s training. He greeted her though he wasn’t fond of her presence. “If you are here to speak on behalf of the king and to belittle me for my doings , then I am in no mood to listen. I have already my share of my hearing from my sister.”, he said firmly.

“No ! You are wrong. I believe your word. I always knew there was something wrong in that girl when she arrived.”, she said. He was slightly surprised. He knew Gayatri was insecure about the new girl in king’s life but he never thought she would be so open about it. “Can we speak in private? There are many king’s men snooping on our conversation.”, she said. He agreed.

They headed towards a scheduled place which wasn’t too far from the ground. He could still see the view of the ground from there. He waited for her to speak while she gathered her thoughts. “I would like to proceed with the investigation . I don’t trust this Roopali. We need enough proofs to prove her guilty.”, she said. “What do you mean by we?”, he asked. “I can’t do this alone. I would need your help.”, she replied. He smirked, “Fine! I will help you out.”

(To be continued)

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)

The Betrayal Story - Part 20

Roopali realized he shared the same feelings she had for him. His eyes revealed his true feelings for her. "Your highness, you stare at my eyes with great intent. What do you see in my eyes ?”, she whispered softly. “I see .. it is filled with immense love and affection and I wonder what did I do to get so much love. Why do you love me so much ?”, he said.

She blushed. Her cheeks became red and her gaze shifted from him to cold floors. He lifted her chin so that he could continue to stare those mesmerising eyes. Someone was staring at them while hiding behind the bushes that was few distances away. He was the same spy working for Gayatri.

He tried to get closer view by crawling over dead leaves. He forgot to keep his movement still. His silly mistake alerted the lovers. They looked around for the source of noise. But they found nothing and assumed it was an animal. The king decided to call it a night.

He kissed her forehead before leaving. Her heart skipped a beat but she hid her excitement with a smile. She felt as if she had whole world in her hand . As he left, she euphorically jumped into her house. Finally she had a good night sleep.

The spy shared his findings to Gayatri. Her heart broke into pieces when she learnt about the king’s infidelity. Her eyes were red with anger and pain. She tossed the coin bag to the spy and dismissed everyone out from her room. When she was alone, she screamed furiously and slowly fell down to the floor.

The king was swept by the wave of new found love. He was like an overexcited teenager , always waiting for day to get over soon so that he could spend the night , watching the stars with his beautiful lover. When the day ended, he would sneak out of his palace to meet his lover while Gayatri  watched him with painful heart.

(To be continued)

The Betrayal Story - Part 19

It was full moon's night. Roopali stared at the moon with complete admiration from the porch of her house where she comfortable sat on the cold floors. She needed peace after what had happened in afternoon. Watching the moon and feeling the cool breeze blowing under her ears gave her what she needed the most - peace.

After spending few hours doing what she liked, she got up to hit the shack. Suddenly she heard the voice of someone riding the horse behind her. She turned back to see it was king. She wondered what made the king arrive at this hour. The king stopped and got down from the horse. As he walked closer, her heart beat faster.

"Your highness, is there something you need?", she asked. "Yes, an answer !", he replied. She looked surprised. "Did someone say you are commoner and you are not supposed to stay at the palace? Is this your sole decision to move out?", he asked furiously. His eyes were red in anger.

She remained quiet. "I did my best to take care of you. Why aren't you happy? What else should I do to make you feel safe and happy?", he continued. "It' not that. You have done everything for me and I don't think I can ever pay you. It’s me.”, she said softly.

“What do you mean?”, he asked. She turned her back towards him.”I ... I have developed feelings like the lovers have for their beloved.”, she spilled her heart out. He was shocked and confused. “I know this is not right . I decided  it was better for me to stay away from you. So that’s why I moved out.”, she said.

He walked closer towards her. He held her in her arms and stared at her with love. She realised he felt the same.


(To be continued)

The Betrayal Story - Part 18

After relishing the snacks and drinks, the king got to the point of his visit, “I have a question that has been bothering me since you left.” Roopali hesitated. She understood immediately what he wanted to ask. She smiled nervously, thinking how she will hide the truth. “What made you leave our palace? Is it because you aren’t happy with our treatment or someone said something to you or did we make you uncomfortable?”

She didn’t reply. She was numb. She had to spill beans now which she didn’t want to.  The king noticed she was nervous and signalled his guards to leave. She was filled with emotions. Her gaze was bent down. “You don’t have to be scared of anything. You can tell me if anything is bothering you.”, he said. She gulped , thinking how she would hide the truth.

She turned behind to hide her emotions that were spilling out from her eyes. “No one bothered me and there is no flaw in your treatment towards me. You have been too good towards me, your highness.” , she said. “Then why did you leave the palace?”, king asked. “I am a commoner. The palace is abode for the royals. It was time for me to shift from the palace to place where commoners reside.”, she said.

The king was furious. He stomped towards her and grabbed her elbow to turn her towards him. Tears had welled up in her eyes and she began to cry. The king’s heart melted. “I am sorry for being harsh towards you.”, he said softly and loosened his grip towards her. He stood there for few minutes and left helplessly.

There was a spy watching from a window close by. He stood where no one could see him. He thought he could find something worthwhile to tell his mistress who had hired him .  There was nothing. He headed towards the palace and told the guards that he wanted to meet the queen. They took him to Gayatri who waited impatiently for him.

“What news do you have ?”, she asked. The spy narrated her everything he had seen. She gave him his reward in small bag of gold coins. The spy excitedly checked it out and saw it was half as promised. “Why do you look so surprised? You didn’t find anything that’s interesting. Find something good then I will reward you what I had promised or else I will get you killed.”, she said.

(To be continued)

The Betrayal Story- Part 17

The king arrived at Roopali’s house on cool morning . He saw huge queue of people gathered outside her house. The crowd was whispering to each other as they watched their king proceed inside the house .The guard was about to announce the king’s arrival. He stopped him and  stood there watching her in serious discussion with a poor farmer at her house. He was complaining how the drought in last year had left him penniless by destroying all his crops and why he needed a waiver in tax for this year.

After listening to his problem carefully, she spoke gently, “I will speak to the finance minister and get this tax waived for you. I will also discuss this issue with the minister to ensure that tax is waived for all the farmers.” “Consider it as done.”, the king spoke aloud. Roopali and the farmer rose up with folded hands to greet the king.

“We are sorry to keep you waiting. We were not aware of your arrival , your highness.”, she said with gaze bent down. “You don’t have to be sorry. I saw you busy resolving an issue and I wanted to see how you were faring in your work. Hence I didn’t let you know about my arrival.”, he said. He looked at the farmer and said, “I hereby declare that all those farmers who have suffered from the last year’s drought will have their tax waived for five consecutive years and they will receive all the help they require to sustain their livelihood and crops. I am also sorry for not looking into this matter earlier.”

The farmer was left with joy shining from his eyes. The crowd was about to disperse when he signalled them to wait and said, “You don’t have to leave . I will wait here while your supervisor listens and resolves each one of your issues. You have waited very long to be heard.”, he spoke. The crowd became happy while Roopali continued with her work.

He watched her resolve issues. Some issues were sticky and some were petty. But she resolved each one of the issues with all her capabilities. There were times when the issue was beyond her expertise and in those cases, she would tell them that she would get back later. The queue reduced gradually. It took her four hours to finish solving everyone’s issue.

Once she was done with work, she made lemonade and prepared a plate filled with snacks for the king. “Your highness, forgive me for keeping you waiting and not being able to serve you properly. My maid isn’t well and I had given her off today . I wasn’t expecting you too.”, she said embarrassed. The king smiled and said, “Please don’t be guilty. I understand that one’s first priority should be serving their city and people. Hence I let you serve the people first and not me. I don’t  mind waiting four hours to get such refreshing drink and snacks from you.”  She blushed.
(To be continued)

The Betrayal Story - Part 16

Gayatri had lost lot of weight. Her eyes had huge dark circles around them due to sleepless nights and crying. Her face was still stained with droplets of tears. Her always glowing face had lost it's glory. Her fragile body showed the self initiated sufferings. But her lost hope was instilled back when she rose up to see Amar Singh.

He walked closer to her and held her tight. She smiled as she cried. "Why are you punishing yourself for the mistake I made? You could have approached me and rectified my mistake like Satyavati did.", he said. She didn't like his comparison of her with Satyavati. But she smiled to hide her true feelings from him. He had not spoken or met her for three days when she had told him about her insecurities with Satyavati. She didn't want to lose him again.

"I thought you were mad again, your highness. I thought you didn't want to see me again. ", she wailed thinking about last few days. He brushed her back gently. "Don't think too much. I was busy nursing my emotions and didn't realize that others would get affected too with my over involvement with myself. I am sorry, I hurt you.", he consoled her. 

"My king was in grief, I didn't know. What a fool I am?", she cried again. The king understood her emotional outburst and made her sit on the edge of the bed to calm her down. As he sat next to her, he spoke, "Please forgive me, Gayatri. I can't see you crying like this. I want my charming wife back. The palace is missing your carefree spirit."

She finally smiled. After wiping her tears and taking deep breath, she spoke calmly, "Amarji, what is bothering you so much? How can I help to reduce it?" He smiled watching his wife get back to normalcy. "Oh it's nothing. Just some thoughts.", he said. "Won't you share it with me ?", she coaxed him.

"Well, I didn't like the way Roopali had left. It seemed like she wasn't happy leaving.", he said. Gayatri was in euphoric state and didn't realize what she had said. "Your highness, if you don't mind, I have an idea. Why don't you meet her and ask her what is bothering her?" , she said. However, she soon realized the mistake she had made. Amar Singh hugged her and agreed to meet her the next day. Gayatri wanted to hit herself for suggestion she had made. But she didn't do anything. She sat simply and stared at him as he left.

(To be continued)