Devika - A journey unbound by time

1: Goblet of Poison

Queen Devika stared at the goblet filled with poison in front of her. She could see her reflection in the murky green liquid. All her love, her sacrifices, her kindness were returned to her in the form of a goblet of poison.

"Drink it." Bhadra commanded. His eyes were glaring at Devika, filled with malicious hatred.

The man, Bhadra Kumar, was her husband and the current King of Gauda. She had accompanied him since their wedding in every high and low of life. During the course of their engagement, she had helped him to secure his throne and protected him from his villainous step brothers' assassination attempts. But he had disregarded her affection and had immediately married his Prime Minister's youngest daughter after bringing Devika to his home. A mere Prime Minister's daughter was granted equal rights as Devika, who was a Princess and a first wife. It had endlessly hurt her, yet she had endured it with a smile and maintained her demeanor as a Queen. No one who saw her face would have guessed that she was depressed.

Even after marrying her, Bhadra had never once touched Devika in lust or in love. Devika; the woman hailed as most beautiful in the surrounding five nations, was still a virgin after three years of marriage. Yet despite suffering all those wrongs, she lived quietly with dignity until she learnt of her father's murder by the hands of her so called husband. Her father had given his kingdom to Bhadra as Devika's dowry and Bhadra had killed her father after obtaining his help in succeeding the throne.

A week ago Devika was notified of her father's death. She had wanted to visit her father's kingdom for his last rites. When she went to see Bhadra to seek his permission, she had overheard him celebrating the success of her father's assassination with Mandira. Shocked she had ran away from the place. She was so blind in his love that she couldn't believe her ears or rather refused to believe them. But truth couldn't be ignored for long and she was now forced to wake up and face it.

Now Devika had nothing left; no kingdom, no family and no husband. She picked up the brass goblet and stared at it. "Why? Why are you doing this? What wrong did I commit?" Devika asked him, her voice steady without any fear.

"You didn't commit any wrong. You have simply outlived your usefulness. Now, you are just a hindrance to my true love, my true Queen, Mandira. She doesn't want to be called as the second wife. She deserves to be my only Queen." Bhadra Kumar replied, his voice filled with love when he spoke of the Prime Minister's daughter.

Devika had desperately tried everything to hear the same love for her in his voice. But he had always held a look of disgust when talking with her. Hurt by his rejection and feeling guilty of her father's death, she chose to drink the glass full of poison. Sip by sip, she drank the poison like a Queen. Not a word of pain nor a plea of mercy was uttered by her. She was calm even in face of death like a warrior. Her dignity and calmness grated on Bhadra's nerves. Her refusal to submit to him even now, left a bitter taste in his mouth.

She laid down on bed and laughed as she had recognised the smell of the poison. 'Was fate playing a joke with her life?' she wondered. She glanced at Bhadra and asked him, "Do you remember the first time we met?"

"Of course, we met at the temple of Lord Shiva in Gauda kingdom where you shamelessly demanded to marry me. Your father agreed without taking in consideration my will or my interest and sent a proposal to my father. I had to marry you to please my father or I would have lost his favor. I never loved you yet you were thrusted on me without a care for my wishes." he replied callously.

"You are wrong King Bhadra Kumar. We met for the first time in my father's kingdom, Nala. You were only eight years old at that time and had still insisted to go on a hunting expedition with your father. You seperated from the hunting party and had fallen in a ditch dug by some assassins. The ditch had numerous wooden spikes coated with the poison of Dhatura flowers. Somehow you had managed to avoid getting pierced by the wooden spikes. I was on my way to an ancient temple in Nala Kingdom of Lord Kaal Bhairava with my maids. Fortunately for you, we had decided to take a lesser known shortcut and happened to pass by the ditch. We rescued you by tying our dupattas together to form a rope of cloth." Devika spoke reminiscing. It was getting difficult for her to speak yet she had persisted. The poison was spreading through her body.

"You... You are lying." Bhadra spoke shaking his head negatively, "It was Mandira who rescued me." He stated firmly.

"You had given me a ring on your finger as a token of your gratefulness. I had saved you from being poisoned but today you served the same poison to me." Devika spoke and fell into a coughing fit. She spat up blood and her clothes got smeared with the blood from her mouth. She laid back down and said to the man, "If I had another chance, I would never take that shortcut. I would never risk myself for you. I would never marry you. God has seen my devotion and he knows my truth. If the truth really triumphs over lies then he will smite you and your beloved. My God will punish you for your black deeds in front of everyone."

With her last breath, she cursed the man and his beloved wife to face God's wrath. Finally her eyes closed and she laid in her bed dead. Even death couldn't rob her of her beauty, the blood from her mouth smeared her lips as if decorating them. She looked as if she was simply asleep. Her skin was pale like never before but it still served to enhance her looks.

She had left the mortal world leaving behind a man who didn't want to believe her words but couldn't find a way to refute them. He sank to his knees holding his head in his hand. His posture of loss and defeat.

Soon, multiple maids entered the room. They were shocked to see their beloved Queen lying dead and they too started wailing. Even if the King of Gauda had not loved  his wife, the people of Gauda had worshipped her for her kind acts. She had managed to win the hearts of common people with her various deeds and that was what Mandira couldn't bear. It led to her and her father's death. The room that was supposed to ring with laughter, filled with sounds of mourning.

In the following days after Queen Devika's death, a lot of things happened which caused a prosperous nation to become run down. The new Queen had started her reign and it caused a lot of setbacks for the once prosperous people of Gauda. It was as if alongside of Queen Devika the happiness of the kingdom had burned on her pyre.

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