KRISHAVYAYAM

32. Jīvanadātrī

"Bearing the witness and evidences, the court enunciates her highness Maharani Kamalnayani as not guilty and releases her with all due dignity." Balarama announced, barely letting his exhilaration show up in his baritone as a relieved Kanha peered at his heart who was yet held by the shackles.

Kamalnayani gave a thankful look to Kritavarma and Satyaki, both folding their hands at her as they grinned from ear to ear. The enthusiastic name-hailing outcry of the queen broke soon after. Kamalnayani feebly smiled and winced, feeling the migraine hammering against her head as the exhaustion took a toll over her. She heaved a defeated sigh, blinking quite a few times to clear the twinkling stars before her sight as her eyes met that of Kanha's coincidently.

'Hridayaa, you don't look so good. Should I call the RajaVaidya? You need to rest.'

'Then stop looking.' she deadpanned. 'That is one of the coping mechanisms I use. Ignore. On a second note, I am doing just fine so I need no pity.'

'Oh Mahadeva, my lovely wife, you literally look like you will fall any second.' He heaved an exasperated sigh at the curve on her lips and the weird argument that she had offered against his. 'And nobody is pitying you, I am just concerned for you!'

'As I said before, Aarya, stop looking. Things are better like that sometimes. Avoiding is the key to many problems.'

'I don't even get it is supposed to convince me.' He rolled his eyes. 'Avoiding is not a healthy coping mechanism by the way.'

'I avoid that fact as well,' she answered as he went speechless, facepalming before shaking his head. She didn't say anything, as if all her energy and words had abandoned her. There was pain in her eyes, and unlike him, she made no attempt to hide it. Her ache concealing itself behind the facade of nonchalance and bitterness, her face bearing expressions as cold as snow. His heart twisted in the very ache she was doused in and she turned away to hide her tears from him.

Hastily a dasi paced in, panting wildly as the concerned royals awaited her to pass a news regarding the son of the manifestation of BhuDevi. "Praise DvarakaNatha. My lord, the prince's fever has creeped to the highest notch. He's experiencing abdominal pain, diarrhoea and has been throwing up. At this speed, the junior physician says, all the hydration would drain out of him in no time. My lord, it's critical and nothing seems to be working yet."

"Bhanu," Satyabhama breathed heavily, her parched mouth taking in as much air as possible, as Jambavati followed her into the prince's room. A dismal Kanha's gaze followed the way his wives had left as his fingers curled in a fist in despair. He was going to let his Hridayaa handle the harness.

However, before anything else could decipher much, the iron chains broke into two with a snappy popping sound. The horrified folks witnessed a vague silhouette of a goddess emerge from the dorsal of the ninth queen and dissolve in thin air in a trice. She stood with her hands on her either side like a virago amidst a war, the manacles slipping off her body at a mere cue from her and dropping to the floor.

Her honey brown eyes that gleamed with affection were now glaring daggers at her offenders. Hissing, she let the venom drip naked from her vox, "Please excuse me, respectable ministers." Casting an unimpressed glance on the courtiers who had dared mess with her before flamboyantly marching away, she robbed the luminance of the judiciary with her exit. Her strides hastened as she melted in her tracks, her heart racing merely at envisaging the consequences of no treatment against this fatal conspiracy. Her stature resembled a lioness, her gait like that of a queen despite the plain garbs that hung on her physique. How rebellious were those raven tresses which bellowed when the fire born sovereign resolved to indulge herself in quietude.