FITOORI

Chapter 1.

6 YEARS LATER, 1541 

In 6 years, it was as if everything changed.

Happiness turned into devastation and hope for the future turned into a inevitable bleakness of the future. The wish for peaceful Kingdom died in the horns of war and in the cries of a mother...The Queen of Amber retained her beauty but all her happiness had been washed away the day she washed the blood of her child from her clothes.

The strong Queen of Gondwana on the other hand became weary of Ruling and now even the nobles in her court started to become impatient in demand of an Heir, in demand of the 'Yogya-Pareeksha'.
(A test of worthiness conducted by the people of Gondwana to choose their next Ruler.)

Somehow, the Second son of Amber, Rajkumar Bharmal, had been forced to take over the responsibility he had never been prepared for, to become King after his brother Puranmal was killed in Battle and though he shouldered it, he did it reluctantly. And amateurishly.

He remarried when his beloved wife Mainavati was unable to bear him an heir- on the court's suggestion- and not just once but married twice for in these war times Amber needed allies and Rani Durgavati was too busy fighting her own battles to even think about going to help.

Rajput Kingdom of Amber, Rajasthan

Year, 1541

Mainavati sat in front of Durga Maa, her hands folded in prayer, her eyes closed and her face serene.

This had become a common scene to witness in the past six years. The people of the Kingdom would all bow down to the Queen as she would walk barefoot from the Royal Palace to the Temple of the Goddess just outside the borders of Amber.
She would pray for an hour everyday, she would then perform charity outside the temple before going to Amber's Healing Hall and help heal as many people as she could before heading back to the Royal Palace with sun down and taking care of the Palace staff and giving them orders- orders which will be carried out seamlessly the next day while she was out praying.

Mainavati would then usually dine with the rest of the family before retiring to the Maharani Chambers (Prime Queen), the King would eventually join her if he so wished. She still loved Bharmal and he her, but all these years- childless- her love had become tinged with grief and disappointment. He had promised to keep her safe and he had but at the cost of her child. Their Child.

Bharmal had married other Princesses and though Mainavati had supported him in his decision, her jealousy had reared its head along with her anger many a times.

Sometimes, during her low moments, Mainavati had also wished that Bharmal had saved her child rather than her... at least then she will have a legacy and not...nothingness.

She sniffed as she held her tears at bay. Five years ago Mainavati had been about to give birth... her child, her Son was so close to being in her arms that she had thought nothing could disrupt her happiness but disrupt it had. Someone had poisoned her with the Dhatura Ark ( A herb that causes forced abortion and destroys a woman's womb). She had still delivered her child but he had been born dead, born poisoned. Her womb was damaged beyond repair and by all accounts she should have lost all hope for a child of her own blood but--

She feels her hand being clasped in a smaller hand and smiled- or at least made a valiant effort to smile at Sujamal's effort to provide her comfort. In truth Sujamal was Bharmal's nephew, his elder brother- late Raja Puranmal's son but since Raja Puranmal had died on battlefield and Sujamal's mother had passed away soon after giving him birth, Mainavati was the only mother he knew and he was the only son she could ever know.

She still remembered the day she had cried when Sujamal had called her 'Maa Sa' (Dear Mother), she remembered what Shaguni Bai- the temple's famous priestess had said that day- That she was a childless mother and Sujamal was a Motherless Child, that it was a match made in heaven and now he only lacked a sister just like Mainavati lacked a daughter.