Stray

Tragedy can strike in the most unexpected of ways. Rajkumari Mandakini Devi had left her childhood in Suryapali at the mere age of nine, being married to the crown prince of the kingdom of Gandak, which was a land beyond the Heemdevi. She had just begun to adapt to her new life and stop missing home when her husband, the prince, at the young age of eighteen, died a tragic death, falling from a horse while riding. Widows, especially childless ones, were sent back home across the land unless some lesser prince of the same clan took pity on them and married them. At the age of thirteen, Rajkumari Mandakini Devi was escorted back to the palace of Suryapali by the now-crown prince of Gandak, Rajkumar Sarthak, her husband’s half-brother. He had no intention of marrying the princess of Suryapali, who was already a widow. He was set to take the throne and wanted someone else for queen. For all that Mandakini heard, the rumours at Gandak were that she was ill-fated for the clan. The day Mandakini set foot in the capital, she knew something had changed. Death had not only taken away her husband’s life but her own as well. The women studied her from a distance with pity. She was kept away from most celebrations, apparently because she was “mourning”, or so her mother said, and she couldn’t tell anyone how she felt. Only Trikal Dev, then the crown prince, would often reassure her that she would be the most powerful person in his kingdom. Mandakini would only smile faintly, for she knew what her innocent brother promised was never to be. His attention, too, was fading ever since he brought the new bride home. Trinayani Devi, in secret, grew to be a nemesis for the insecure Rajkumari, for she saw people genuinely respect her wherever she went. The princess of the small province of Meendeep suddenly became the most important woman in Suryapali. How could the princess of Suryapali take that with a smile? That too at her age?

Her old friends started visiting her soon after she arrived, her classmates from grooming class, the daughters of the nobles and ministers, some married by now to other nobles and ministers. Some reluctantly reconnected with the widowed princess because she was royalty; they couldn’t refuse. Mandakini felt that she was too vain to keep a friendship like that. So one by one, they all started leaving her little group of followers over the next few years, some because they had married elsewhere, others because they had children and mostly because she didn’t quite like them anymore. After all, all they could talk about was their families. Their only purpose of existence. Did that mean she had none? Her mother suggested the greatest way of finding solace in loneliness was to dedicate her time to God. But Mandakini knew her purposes were elsewhere. She heard Trikal Dev discuss administration and would often drop her suggestions to the crown prince and later the king. At other times, she would engage in debates of politics and welfare with Trinayani Devi, who had somehow oddly become one of her closest people in the palace, especially after her mother’s demise. Three years back at Suryapali, she had already lost her parents. First, her father went to war, then her mother to grief. Mandakini couldn't help but wonder if all the ill fate was true after all.

Among the few friends who stuck by Rajkumari Mandakini, mostly because they had nowhere else to go, was one of the noblemen’s unmarried sisters, Subhashini. Subhashini lived in her brother’s house after her father’s death, and the dispute among her brothers often made her shift from one home to another. None of them wanted to take up the responsibility of either getting her married or securing her future. Mandakini, in her twisted way, found similarities between her situation and that of this orphaned girl. Subhashini was educated and groomed when her father was alive, but that too stopped once her brothers started the disputes. One day, when she was yet again thrown out by one of her sisters-in-law and had to go back to another, Subhashini had had enough. She came to the Rajkumari, falling at her feet, praying, begging, sobbing, hoping. The Rajkumari took pity on her, and although it was unfit for a noble lady to work in the palace, she appointed Subhashini her lady-in-waiting. That way, Subhashini would have a roof and a steady income, and Mandakini would have a friend. She was the princess of Suryapali; she didn’t need anyone’s permission to appoint a maid for herself, especially not the new queen. 

Almost four months after Subhashini’s appointment, when she had settled into her new life and routine; contended with herself, she had been asked by Mandakini to pick flowers for her evening prayer in the garden. Subhashini, unaware of which garden areas were meant for the princess, had strolled into Trikal Dev’s wing. He had spotted her on his afternoon stroll in the garden, and her dignified appearance made Trikal Dev curious about her upbringing. The maids around the palace had a certain amount of toughness that was missing from Subhashini’s face. She was young, soft and noble. Soon, the scared Subhashini had poured out her woes to the new king and added that it was the princess she served. Trikal Dev had smiled at the timid, scared figure and dismissed her as she ran into the palace. She had still been scared when she narrated the incident to Mandakini, who smiled, reassuring her that she wouldn’t be punished. 

Soon enough, in gatherings and family dinners, Mandakini couldn’t help but notice Trikal Dev’s attention on Subhashini as she served the princess. His visits to his sister’s chambers also increased. A part of Mandakini was scared, but another part of her hoped. Hoped that her brother would take a liking to the girl, perhaps fall in love or marry her, and that way, if she rose to be his favourite, Rajkumari Mandakini’s relevance would grow by leaps and bounds. The Gods seemed to hear her prayer, as soon as Trinayani Devi was expecting her first child. The perfect time for Mandakini to push Subhashini towards her brother. And she did what she intended to do. Subhashini was beautiful and well-groomed, unlike the concubines he took in. She was intelligent, and Mandakini’s spies told her they often heard the king engage in strolls and conversations with her. Rajkumari Mandakini was pleased that her plan was going as she expected. A part of her hoped that Subhashini deserved the love story she was deprived of. She would be good for Trikal Dev, unlike the queen, who questioned his every move. But naïve as she was, at just sixteen herself, she had misread her brother’s intentions.

The day Subhashini came into her chamber during the darkest hour of the night, hiding discreetly from the newly appointed guards, a gale was passing outside. Mandakini saw tears and fear in Subhashini’s eyes that haunted her every day of her existence since then. She was carrying Suryapali’s blood in her womb. Rajkumari Mandakini’s eyes lit up with hope. That was good news, wasn’t it? Subhashini shook her head. Her voice trembled as though nothing escaped her lips. But what Mandakini heard sent a shiver down her spine. 

“He told me to kill the baby in my womb. He said he won’t marry a maid and tarnish his reputation. If I want to live like his concubine, I may, but only after I do away with my sin.”

“But… you are a noble blood, Subhashini.” Rajkumari Mandakini shook her head, “He can’t do injustice to you; he is the king. He can’t possibly kill his blood.” Subhashini sat on the floor, sobbing and lamenting how the child could be her only way of having someone who was her own. Everyone had betrayed her. And he wanted to do away with the baby lest it were a boy; someone of royal blood who could claim the throne with a lesser pedigree. Was she such a lady to stay like his concubine and answer to his beck and call of desire? She had loved him and thought that he did too. How wrong she was!

“I will talk to him once. He has to accept what is his responsibility. I am his elder sister; he can’t refuse my order.” Mandakini held Subhashini and promised, “I won’t let anything happen to your child.”

Rajkumari Mandakini hadn’t slept all night. She waited for dawn, and as soon as she heard the birds chirp, she sent a message to the king that she wanted an audience with him. The messenger came back with another piece of news. The king had left at night to resolve an issue at the borders near Vairath. From there, he would go to marry their princess, Ratnawati, the match who was promised by his deceased mother to her cousin, the queen of Vairath. Rajkumari Mandakini was no fool. Why Rajadhiraja Trikal Dev chose this very moment to remind Vairath of the promised alliance in a hurry was now clear to her. This was a message to her and her friend that the Rajadhiraja had no intentions towards her. He knew his sister well and how she could manipulate him with her words. But all of a sudden, Rajkumari Mandakini felt that the unseen thread between the siblings had loosened. Rajkumari Mandakini sat down on the floor of her room and wept. This was all her doing. Who could she now turn to for help? She had promised to protect Subhashini and her unborn child. In what she admitted was a desperate move on her part, Rajkumari Mandakini found herself on the threshold of Maharani Trinayani Devi’s room. After all, who could sympathise with a pregnant woman more than another expecting her child soon? Rajkumari Mandakini knew that Trinayani Devi came from an upbringing of high morals. She wouldn’t try to do away with her husband’s mistake. And true to her expectations, Trinayani Devi gave her a suggestion. 

“Keep her in the concubine’s wing. She will be well hidden. No royals go in there. Tell Rajadhiraja she had left without a trace, that you know nothing about her, even expecting a child. But you need to promise me that as soon as she has her child, she will leave and never show her face in the palace again. I will provide her with accommodation and child support myself. If she promises to not come back here with her child.” Rajkumari Mandakini Devi had readily agreed to the arrangement. That way, Trikal Dev wouldn’t be able to harm the baby, and the concubines were more supportive of the women around them than of their loyalty to their masters. The plan was perfect. Except that it wasn’t.

Little did both Trinayani Devi and Rajkumari Mandakini comprehend that Subhashini, who was so eager to save her baby, would pass away the very minute her son’s cry could be heard. Scared as she was, Mandakini held the baby, who stopped crying in her arms and stared at the pale, lifeless figure on the bed, before naming him Trishaan Dev. She wept for the friend she lost, holding the baby in her arms and decided that it was time Trikal Dev faced his deeds. The king was shocked not only when he heard that Subhashini had passed, perhaps the only time some remorse was visible on his face as Mandakini studied him closely, but he was even more stunned to find out his queen and sister had been protecting her baby. The newlywed Rani Ratnawati stood witness as the Maharani made the Rajadhiraja swear on the head of her child to not harm Subhashini’s baby. Ishaan Dev was only six months old. Mandakini herself took the responsibility for the guardianship of the infant till he grew old enough, and the concubines would bring him up as their own. The only thing Trikal Dev, defeated by his own, expected from them was that the child’s parentage remain hidden. Such scandals involving a noble lady would tarnish his image as the righteous king among his nobles and ministers, whose sisters and daughters often visited the palace. So, the secret of Subhashini’s existence in the history of Suryapali ceased to exist that very day in that room. 

But the fruit of her troubles, turmoil and struggles that grew not far from the royal wing of the Palace of Suryapali, Trishaan Dev, was making sure he did not disappear into oblivion. Rajkumari Mandakini had discreetly yet closely watched him grow, being better than his half-brothers in many skills, even showing the intelligence worthy of his blood. At first, it made her feel proud, knowing how proud Subhashini would have been of her son. Then it scared her. What if Trishaan Dev knew the truth and tried to avenge his mother? What if he wanted to be a contender for the throne? But today, Mandakini’s motherly affection was worried over something else. Was Trishaan Dev playing the same game with Haimanti that his mother lost her life in? Didn’t she owe Subhashini that much? Would she not have told her child that his blood wasn’t impure, nor did he deserve the humiliation he had endured because he believed that his mother was a nautch girl? The only way Rajkumari Mandakini could perhaps do away with her guilt was to stop someone else from becoming another Subhashini in front of her eyes. Rajkumari Mandakini stopped at her rosary and wiped away the tears from her cheeks.