Akshaya Keerthi~The Rise of Rajat Kumari[✓]

23| The Sage's words

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Characters
Anandhani: The queen of Kapilvastu.
Guru Kailash: Family preist of Samprapath clan.
Devakesh: King of Dwarvati and father of Anandhani.
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The sudden response from the divine saint had surprised Anandhani, even with his eyes closed he had sensed their presence. Her mind wandered in exquisiteness for a question that could only be answered by guru Kailāsh. The saint had sensed the presence of questions in the mind of the person next to him.

"I won't take much of your time, but if you wish you can take a little time from me." The assertion made by the holy saint was another shocker for Anandhani, she was already in confusion about how he knew about the presence of her with her father in front.

"Guru Kailash, I was surprised by your sudden gesture of greeting us. Your eyes were shut but you still opened up your eyes when we arrived close by." Meeting guru Kailash wasn't new for Anandhani but greeting him outside the royalty of the palace appeared uncommon. Her voice held the charm of adequate bound with the coating of respect to the old man.

"This was just because of your aura, nothing else." Kailash wasn't always into spinning huge sentences as a reply, he was adamant about just speaking the required lines when needed.

The spark of knowledge that adorned the face of Anandhani Devi was obvious in her face, and respect towards the old man had increased in her eyes. Her hands automatically hoisted up and folded in the formal gesture of namaskar.

"Rajamata had mentioned your arrival, Anandhani Devi. I know that you have come here to retake the crown with you but let me tell you that the crown holds a very important significance for this old banyan tree." Kailash stepped his feet down on the ground, even before his step could be kept on the ground the young kid who had mentioned himself to be his successor kept his paadrakhsha {1}beneath his feet sole.

Being an ascetic he lacked the need for jewels but his fingers held a ring with a shining gem, he held the end cloth of his saffron dropping it under the clutch of his left fist, and positioned himself towards the tree, his face appeared to be still with just the lower lip vibrating the chants in glory to the old tree. Anandhani observed him keenly, her eyes were motionless and the eyelids had forgotten their daily chore of blinking, being dry.

The glorious tree was alive, it held emotions just like any other fellow living companion but lacked the means of communication, the chants that propagated towards the tree left quite a certain impact on the tree. The twigs that jutted out its trunk now moved in melody if one faced right then the other too had to change its position. The branches which were turgid now had gained flexibility.

The queen of Kapilvastu was in a moment of perplexity, her eyes seemed to be drowsy in the absence of sun. She stretched them wide but the scenic view didn't change. Her eyes witnessed the sudden movement of the branches in a lower direction with a little bundle in the grasp.

The branches ascended down in the hands of the saint. His call of the Raja Patani brought her forward, she positioned herself a little away from him.

The bundle was hidden beneath the hide of leaves and the jerking of hands by the saint on the pile of leaves made a way for light to render its path, the object seemed to be golden in colour.

Anandhani blended her intuition with the awareness of the crown being golden in colour with a dignified aura around it, into an almost perfect guess. Her eyes spoke out loud for her 'Is this the crown?' The curve over her face had gone up, she smiled brightly when the little guess was confirmed with the removal of the coating of leaves from the crown.