– The Raga of Life and a Veena's Warning
The palace of Suryapuri had never known silence this heavy.
Servants rushed through the corridors with pale faces. The sound of prayer bells echoed faintly from the temple halls, but none could ease the fear that had settled over the golden kingdom.
When Prince Aaditya entered his father's chamber, the world seemed to stop.
Maharaj Viraj lay on his royal bed, his body still but his eyes half open, clouded like a dying sunset. His breath came shallow and uneven. Around him, the royal healers whispered chants, their hands glowing faintly with sacred fire—but nothing worked.
"Move aside," Aaditya said quietly.
The healers hesitated, bowing as they stepped away. Aaditya knelt beside the bed, gripping his father's cold hand. "Father…" His voice broke slightly. "Please, wake up."
Viraj's lips parted, but no sound came—only a faint tremor, as if he were trying to speak but something invisible held his tongue.
Behind Aaditya, Devansh stood in silence, his veena slung across his shoulder. He could feel it—something unnatural in the air. A vibration not of illness, but of imbalance. The same energy that had flashed between them in the garden now clung to the king's pulse.
He took a slow breath. "This isn't sickness," Devansh said softly. "It's a disruption of life-force. Something ancient is interfering."
Aaditya turned sharply. "What are you saying?"
Devansh stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. "I can try something. It's dangerous—but it might work."
Aaditya didn't hesitate. "Do it."
---
Devansh sat cross-legged beside the king and placed his veena on his knees. The healers exchanged fearful glances; no one played music inside the royal sickroom. But the young prince's calm aura silenced them all.
He struck the first note.
Tan...
The sound was soft, almost fragile—but it carried power. The curtains stirred though no wind blew. The flames in the lamps leaned toward him as if bowing.
Another note followed.
Re... Ga... Ma... Pa...
Each one shimmered in the air, creating ripples of light that danced over Viraj's body. The king's fingers twitched. The glow around him flickered faintly.
Aaditya felt his chest tighten. The melody was familiar—too familiar. His heartbeat began to sync with it, rising and falling in rhythm with the notes.
Devansh's expression grew tense. Sweat rolled down his temple as the music deepened, his fingers moving faster. The veena began to hum with an inner light, its strings vibrating beyond mortal sound.
Then, all at once—
the glow around the king burst into radiant gold.
Viraj gasped. The air filled with the scent of sandalwood and rain. His eyes fluttered open, clear and alive. The healers cried out in disbelief.
"Father!" Aaditya grabbed his hand, tears welling in his eyes. "You're awake!"
Viraj blinked weakly, confusion giving way to recognition. "My son…" His voice was hoarse, but alive. "I heard… music. Like the heavens themselves were calling me back."
Aaditya turned to Devansh—but the other prince looked pale, drained. The light around the veena flickered out, and the wood cracked slightly under his trembling hands.
He almost fell, but Aaditya caught him. "You saved him," Aaditya whispered. "How did you—?"
Devansh smiled faintly. "The raga I played… it's called Raga of Life. It channels the pure vibration of creation. But it's not meant for mortals."
Aaditya frowned. "Then how did you know it?"
"I don't know," Devansh admitted softly. "The melody came on its own… like a memory my soul remembered."
---
Later that night, when the palace had quieted again, Aaditya found Devansh sitting alone on the terrace. The moonlight bathed him in silver, his veena resting beside him like a wounded friend. The crack in its frame pulsed faintly, as though it breathed.
"You should be resting," Aaditya said, approaching quietly.
Devansh didn't look up. "The music healed your father—but it also awakened something. I can feel it."
"What do you mean?"
Devansh finally turned his gaze toward him. "Each note of that raga carries divine essence. It belongs to the Celestial Realm. Playing it here means the barrier between heaven and earth has weakened. And whatever was once sealed there… has begun to stir."
Aaditya's brow furrowed. "You speak as if you know this curse."
Devansh's expression darkened. "Not know. Remember."
Aaditya froze. "Remember?"
Devansh rose slowly, his hand brushing across the veena's cracked wood. "When I touched this instrument, I saw something—a glimpse. A grove bathed in divine light. Two figures standing together. A melody that shattered the heavens… and a curse that followed."
Aaditya's breath hitched. The same vision he had seen—the same grove.
"It was us, wasn't it?" he whispered.
Devansh hesitated, his eyes filled with quiet pain. "I don't know. But every note I play brings that memory closer. The curse is tied to us."
---
The wind shifted suddenly, cold and sharp. The palace torches flickered.
A faint hum rose from Devansh's veena, though no one touched it. The strings moved on their own, whispering a low, haunting tune. Then a voice—distant yet clear—echoed through the air.
> "The song that broke Heaven will rise again.
And when it does, the silence will claim its due."
The voice faded, leaving only the rustle of the wind.
Aaditya stepped closer, his fire-lit eyes scanning the dark horizon. "What was that?"
Devansh's fingers trembled. "A warning. The veena remembers."
Aaditya clenched his fists. "Then we find the truth. If Heaven cursed us, we'll face it together."
Devansh looked at him, startled by the fire in his voice. "Together?"
"Yes," Aaditya said firmly. "You risked your life to save my father. You could've stayed silent—but you didn't. If this curse involves both of us, then I'm not letting you carry it alone."
Devansh's gaze softened, a quiet warmth rising behind his calm composure. "You sound like someone I once knew."
A faint smile curved Aaditya's lips. "Maybe you did."
The moment lingered—two souls standing between firelight and moonlight, bound by something far older than memory.
Above them, the clouds parted. A single streak of light cut through the night sky, falling toward the earth like a spark from a broken star.
Devansh's veena pulsed again, a faint sound humming from its cracked strings—soft, mournful, alive.
The melody had begun to return.
---
End of Chapter 3: The Raga of Life and a Veena's Warning
> A forbidden melody heals what death claimed… but every note reopens an ancient wound.
The curse that once shattered Heaven now hums again—its rhythm written in fire and moonlight.