Anamika - Rebirth of the first wife

Chapter 9 - The Court

Ranisa was unconscious for the past two days but today she has opened her eyes which brought a relief to everyone. Mala was still kept in dungeon. Her trial was postponed until Ranisa gains consciousness. Now that she is conscious, the trial is decided to be held tomorrow.

The next day came and the court was assembled with Ranisa and Anamika present as well.  Ranisa couldn't believe that it was Mala who poisoned her. But who will put some maid over her life, definitely not Ranisa. Due to the fear of her life, Ranisa didn't even try to defend her head maid. Mala was brought in the court.

Ranasa was sitting on the throne and Yuvraj was sitting on his chair which was one step below Ranasa and above all the ministers. Anamika and Ranisa were sitting in the balcony from where they see the court proceedings.

Ranasa questioned Mala, "Are you accepting your crime?". Although he is furious, Ranasa couldn't express it now since he should be neutral as a king. "No Ranasa! I didn't do anything. Someone has trapped me", Mala begged while crying.

"You pleading while shedding tears will not prove you innocent. Do you have any proofs that it was not done by you? ", Ranasa asked her. Mala shook her head in No. "Then it is proved that you are the culprit. And you know the punishment for murdering or attempt to murder any Royal member right. It is more than Treason. You will be executed tomorrow in front of all the subjects", Ranasa's voice boomed the court with the final judgement.

After that when the guards were about to take her back to the dungeons, Yuvraj stopped them and turned to Ranasa. "Ranasa! I completely agree with your judgement and please don't mistake my interruption to be against you", Yuvraj started formally since it is the court and not their private conversation. He continued as Ranasa nodded at him, "She is definitely the culprit but not the master mind behind this."

"What do you want to say Yuvraj? Tell it clearly", Ranasa said. To which yuvraj replied, "Ranasa! What will be the motive of a maid to take this much risk to kill Ranisa? Or what is the ultimate aim?". Every body started thinking about this and on the other hand, Mala was praying that her actions towards Anamika doesn't come out. For she knew that it will not even spare her a day of life, when Ranasa and yuvraj will come to know that.

Breaking everyone's thoughts and silence, yuvraj said, "I have also thought about the reason and we have a clue for that". Ranasa asked him to tell the clue and yuvraj said, "Mala is not the native citizen of our kingdom. She was offered to our Ranisa by her friend Ranisa Meenavathi, a few years ago. So the reason for her actions may be that she got an order from her master to do so".

When he finished, everyone present in the court room found it right. Mala was shocked to the core. If she is linked with her queen for whom she is loyal, their dreams of marrying Saudamini to Yuvraj may never happen. Not even a chance and above all war will be declared.

Yuvraj was noticing her changing expressions and as he guessed, she refuted their accusations. "No Yuvraj, it has nothing to do with my previous queen or king."  And to make them believe in her words, she further said, "yes I did poison Ranisa but it was due to the insulting words which she said to Ranisa Meenavathi. Since I have been loyal to her, I couldn't bear those words. That's why I did it. I accept my crime Ranasa".

Yuvraj looked at Anamika slightly turning his head upwards to balcony and they had an eye conversation. After that Yuvraj smirked at Mala as she finally gave him the much needed caution. He could still go on war based on his previous claims about Meenavathi but still it wouldn't be fair without strong proofs or words from the pawn herself. Now that the maid had accepted the crime, that too, only to save her queen, it means she wants to save her master at any cost. Which indicates that she should save them until their ulterior motives are achieved. Just like Anamika concluded while they both were discussing the previous night.

"Ranasa! Now that she has accepted her crime, we can proceed with the punishment", Yuvraj said and the guards took her to dungeons. After she went away, yuvraj said, "Ranasa! Although she said that Ranisa Meenavathi has no hand in this, we should still be cautious around them until we get proper proof."

"I agree with you Yuvraj. And moreover it's high time we strengthen the security of the palace and also every food item has to be tasted by maids before given to the Royals.", Ranasa replied thinking about Pandit ji's words. "Also we have another issue for which we should think about a solution", Yuvraj added.

Every body was curious about what he was going to say. Yuvraj said, "This time thankfully the other maids found our Ranisa unconscious and alerted us. But what if some intruder disguised as maid tries to kill by weapons? I don't need to worry about my wife as she can defend herself. But it cannot be the same for our Ranisa or other future women of the Royals".

When he finished, the ministers started thinking about this and even Ranasa thought about the possible solutions. Yuvraj found some stare on him and looked at Anamika again as he knew that he hadn't discussed this with her. She was looking at him with a frown and suddenly she gasped inaudibly. And then looked at her right to check whether Ranisa had noticed or not and also checked others and averted her eyes.

Yuvraj said suddenly, "Ranasa! we can have a separate meeting to discuss on this". Ranasa agreed and dismissed the court for the day. Pratap went back to Anamika's chamber and as soon as he entered their bedroom, he was welcomed by a pillow which he caught before it hits his face. Thanks to his training and quick reflexes.

Pratap looked at Anamika who was glaring at him. He quickly got to her and hold her by her waist before she took another pillow. "Anamika! Why are you hitting your innocent husband?", Pratap asked with an puppy face. "Innocent? Which innocent husband will wink at his wife in the middle of crowd? ", Anamika was fuming in anger. Pratap was also amused and couldn't understand why she got angry more than her normal level.

So he tried to calm her down, "But you are my wife. I can definitely wink right. If not you, then who would I wink at? ". "Pratap! It's not about winking. What if Ranasa or Ranisa noticed it? It would be too embarrassing", Anamika replied while her anger was gone within seconds. "What would they think? They are eagerly waiting for grandkids and they know that we do much more than just winking", Pratap said nonchalantly.

Anamika widened her eyes and hid her face on his chest to hide her blushing face. Pratap laughed at her and said, "If your anger cooled down, can we do something productive before going for lunch?". Saying this he kissed her neck and this single action brought a moan out of her. But suddenly, Pratap felt her whole weight on him. She fainted.

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Hi guys,

Sorry for being too late for this update. I was mentally stressed for a few days which is why I couldn't write anything. Now I'm relaxed and started writing yesterday.

And a very Happy New Year to all the readers.

If you like the chapter, do vote and comment.

Thanks,
SM.