Devika - A journey unbound by time

9: Culprit and Suspects

"Aunty, who was she?" Devika asked Gayatri. Though Rajni gave her own introduction, Devika wanted to hear her aunt's opinion.

"She is an unsavory character in our life. You don't need to pay attention to her." Gayatri replied, a distant look in her eyes. Shaking her head lightly, she focused on Devika and bought her to the chambers so she could rest for the night.

After Devika slept, Gayatri left the room. She was deep in thought regarding Rajini's appearance. She knew that her cousin had no good intentions when it came to the royal family of Nala Kingdom. Worrying about how to keep Devika and King Nanda safe, she made her way to her own chambers.

As soon as Gayatri left, Devika opened her eyes and laid awake in her bed. She tried recalling if she could remember Rajni from her past life. All she could recollect was that this woman visited them twice before her father imposed a ban on her entry in the Kingdom. Try as she might, she couldn't recall the reason for her banishment. Assuming that the woman was not that important and any problem that she presented would be resolved by itself, Devika didn't waste any time thinking over her.

She mulled over the complex problem of solving her mother's murder. Thinking hard, Devika made a small list of the ministers who were pushing for King Nanda's remarriage. She assumed that if her Father agreed to remarry, these people stood to gain most. These ministers also knew about Nanda's promise to his wife of never taking another wife. The only way they could get their own daughters in the palace was if the reigning Queen died. Thinking long and hard about it, Devika realised that these ministers were the ones with motive.

Devika was puzzled as to how she would question these ministers. 'Who would entertain a seven year old child? Who would bother listening to her? How should I go about asking questions of that time without arousing suspicion?'

Devika fell asleep with these thoughts buzzing around in her head.

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In the morning, Devika headed to the temple in the palace before going to the practice. Her eyes bore faint dark circles which displayed her lack of sleep. Rewa was accompanying her when she crossed the path with Rajni heading in the same direction.

"Good Morning, Little Princess. Are you heading to the temple?" she asked Devika.

Devika nodded lightly before hurrying to stand besides Gayatri. This behaviour of hers' angered Rajni, narrowing her eyes she entered the temple with her maid following behind. When she saw King Nanda was present in the temple as well, Rajni quickly schooled her expression and stood besides him. This action of her didn't escape Devika's watchful eye. During the course of entire morning prayer, Devika kept observing Rajni covertly. By the time, the morning prayer ended, Devika added another name to her mental list of suspects.

After the prayers, Rajni casually touched the sleeve of King Nanda's robe and said in a sweet voice, "Good Morning, your Majesty. How have you been these past years? You look as if you haven't been taking care of yourself. I understand that working for the Kingdom must have kept you busy. Forgive me as I couldn't come over to meet you as often and couldn't take care of you."

Her boldness angered King Nanda but he had years of experience perfecting his expressionless mask and he didn't easily show his emotions to everyone. He held back on the account of Rajni's relation with his late wife. As a result, he didn't say a word and stepped back freeing his sleeve from her fingers.

However, his lack of response coupled with the action of stepping back translated to something else in Rajni's eyes. She felt that Nanda was just shy to respond, thinking this pleased her to no end. She gave Nanda a coquettish smile and took a step towards him.

Devika noted this and quickly stepped forward to rescue her father from the clutches of the woman. Pulling on her father's hand, Devika said, "Father we should hurry towards the training area, General Abhay must be waiting for us. He will scold me if I am late." She gave a cute pout at the end.

King Nanda wanted to escape as well and nodded at Devika. Quickly pulling her along he rushed towards the training field. Devika almost laughed out at her father's actions. Turning back, she saw that Gayatri was also having a hard time keeping her laughter inside. Rajni however, was glaring at them murderously. Devika turned forward and thought for a while.

On the way to the training area, Devika signalled Rewa closer and whispered a series of instructions for her. Rewa nodded and left to carry out her instructions immediately.

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In the part of palace which was set aside for guests to stay, Rajni was pacing the room in agitation. Her eyes held malice and her demeanor displayed anger. The personal maid who was serving her stood to the side, occasionally glancing at her mistress in nervousness. After the scene at temple, Rajni had rushed to the chambers in anger.

"Devika... that bastard child survived. Seven years... seven years I stayed away from my beloved, my Nanda. What haven't I done to obtain him? I ensured Father gave him best deals in trade. I killed his wife, my cousin, with poison. I attempted to kill a newborn. To become Queen Rajni of Nala Kingdom has been my dream since I first saw King Nanda. If Father hadn't found about the poisoning and took me away at that time, then I would have been present to console my beloved King Nanda. It would then have been a matter of weeks before we could have been together. But no worries, I am back now and this time, I will achieve my dream of becoming the Queen. I am back to be with my beloved Nanda."

"Miss Rajni, what about the Little Princess?" the maid asked her.

"What about her? She is just a daughter. Once I gave birth to the heir apparent for the Nala Kingdom, who will care about her? She will just get married to someone and leave the house. The entire power to rule would become my son's. I am willing to be lenient towards her but if a situation like today gets repeated then I will ensure that she leaves to meet her mother." Rajni said with a sinister smile playing on her red lips.

A knock sounded outside her door, Rajni signalled the maid to open the door. Outside the door, Rewa stood with a maid servant.

"Greetings Miss Rajni, this is Mina. She is a palace maid and she will be looking after all of your necessities for the duration of your stay. His Majesty has specially alloted her for your use." Rewa said and left after a bow.

Rajni was vexed at Rewa's boldness to leave when she hadn't given her the permission to do so yet. She wanted to punish her and the fact that she couldn't really irritated her, but couldn't express it in front of Mina. Eyeing Mina warily, Rajni asked her to stay in the outer chambers unless she is called in. Mina bowed and left quietly.

Though Rajni was cautious in front of Mina, she was highly pleased that King Nanda had thought of her enough to allocate a special maid for herself. Thinking happy thoughts, she called Mina inside.

"What did His Majesty said to you when he sent you to me?" Rajni asked her curiously.

"I don't know the exact words Miss. His Majesty asked Rewa to send a capable maid to help you in your daily tasks and to guide you in the Palace." Mina replied with appropriate humbleness in her tone.

Rajni's smile increased and her past irritation was forgotten. "Very well then, your first task is this. I need to send a gift to His Majesty to display my gratitude. The gift needs to be one of a kind and special. What do you think His Majesty would like?"

Mina thought for a while before saying, "As a King of Nala Kingdom, he doesn't lack in riches. So why don't you gift him something that would be made by you specifically for him. It would be something that he will not be able to buy and one of a kind gift for His Majesty."

Rajni nodded thoughtfully and started thinking of various gifts happily.