Chapter 34: Anilgarh The Shadow of Sorrows Evening
A heavy stunned silence filled the palace of Anilgarh a silence sharper than any sound. Soldiers walked with slow heavy steps their feet barely lifting off the ground as if each step was a blow upon a fresh grave. Their armor was caked not with the glory of victory but with dried mud and blood. In their eyes was not the fatigue of battle but the hollow look of an unspeakable defeat. There were no cheers no victory chants only the echoing silence of death and loss bouncing off every cold stone wall.
The grand courtyard once alive with the sounds of laughter and commanding voices was now filled with tears lament and emptiness. The fountains stood dry. The flowers in the decorative pots had wilted. Garlands hung limply from the archways speaking only of mourning.
From the inner chambers Queen Vaibhavi emerged. She moved slowly as if each step drained the last of her strength. Her hands trembled violently. Tears streamed down her face in a continuous silent river yet her eyes themselves looked dry and burnt out as if the very power to weep had been stolen from her.
Queen Vaibhavi screaming gasping for air. My king. My lord. My everything. Why? Why did you leave without me? Before my very eyes my entire world.
Neer stood a few paces away beside the bier that held his fathers body. His eyes were red and swollen but his face was set like stone hard and unyielding. He knelt on the ground one hand resting on the floor for support the other gently placed on the cloth wrapped form of his father, a form now shrouded in golden silk within which King Vyomesh had ceased to exist.
Neer trembling whispering to the shroud. Father why why did you go? Why did you take it from me from me? What what do I do now?
Queen Vaibhavi collapsed to her knees then fell forward onto the cold marble. She clutched at her own hair then pressed her forehead against her husbands bier, her body rocking back and forth in a primal rhythm of grief. The hem of her sari was dirty from the floor. The sound that came from her throat was the pure broken sound of a wifes unthinkable loss.
Queen Vaibhavi wailing her voice shattering. Oh my king. Oh my life. Someone save me. Someone tell me this is a dream that you will come back. Ohhh Ohhh.
All the courtiers and soldiers could only watch. No one dared to step forward. Everyone was paralyzed. In every persons eyes was their own private pain their own shock but the greatest agony was reserved for the Queen Mother now sitting on the earth clinging to the lifeless shell of her partner.
The sound of lament echoed through the palace halls as if the very stones of Anilgarh were weeping, the walls the wooden doors the curtains swaying in the breeze all of it. Neer was now completely shattered. He rested his head against his fathers bier, his body shaking with silent shuddering sobs that occasionally broke into choked cries.
Neer voice thick with tears. Father my life. I couldnt do anything. I I promised you but I failed.
Queen Vaibhavi reached a trembling hand to pat his back but she could form no words. Her lips moved but no sound came out. The entire hall was filled with a strange awful mixture of raw anguish, quiet weeping, and the heavy hidden pain of a kingdom broken.
If one looked out the window the distant battlefield was still a smear of blood and dust, crows circled far away, and the wind carried the stale scent of death. In Neers eyes there was only a hollow emptiness, pain, and a loneliness so vast it felt like drowning, the loneliness that comes when your greatest pillar of support crumbles into dust before you.
Queen Vaibhavi pulled her son into a tight embrace, her voice a broken attempt at strength. Our king is gone but we are still here. We we must be strong.
But her own voice lacked conviction, it only held a reflection of pain. She knew she was saying it more for herself than for Neer. Because in Neers eyes there was now only one question. What now?
In the palace there was no laughter no joy. Only lament, the echo of wails, and the deep shared shadow of defeat and pain hanging over everyone. And in that shadow Neers face was the most broken of all because he had not only lost his father, he had lost his closest friend, and perhaps he had lost himself.
Anilgarh A Few Days Later
Neer carried a simple meal to his mothers chambers. The plate held only plain food, rice, lentils, one vegetable. Queen Vaibhavi sat by the window staring out at nothing. Her eyes were still puffy but the tracks of her tears had dried.
Neer softening his voice. Mother please eat. How long will you sit alone in your room? Ive brought food for you.
Queen Vaibhavi without turning her voice a rasp. Son Im not hungry.
Neer setting the plate down gently. If you dont eat then I wont eat either.
The Queen slowly turned. A faint tenderness touched her eyes but even that tenderness was exhausted.
Queen Vaibhavi. Have you not eaten my son?
Neer shaking his head. No Mother.
The Queen let out a long shuddering sigh and gestured towards the plate.
Queen Vaibhavi. Alright I will eat. You must eat with me.
She picked up the spoon. With her own hands she fed Neer first a spoonful of lentils then a little rice. Neer ate quietly. Then he took the spoon and with great care fed his mother in return. This was not a meal it was a ritual, the bond of mother and son surviving even after death.
Just then a knock sounded at the door. A soldier entered.
Soldier. My Queen some esteemed visitors have come to see you.
Queen Vaibhavi a touch of formality returning to her voice. Show them in.
Two men entered the chamber. Akshay and his father Brijesh. Brijesh face was etched with deep sympathy and Akshay eyes grew wet the moment they met Neers.
Brijesh bowing his head. My Queen we are deeply grieved. Hearing about the Maharaj. He was our friend after all. What the neighboring kingdom did was not right. Now my Queen only your son Neer remains to shoulder the responsibility for you and the kingdom.
Akshay moving towards Neer. My friend we are so sorry for your loss. We cannot fully understand your pain but whenever you need help remember us.
Neer hiding his tears stepped forward and hugged Akshay tightly. It was a hug that held a long awaited moment of comfort.
Neer voice hoarse. Yes my friend.
Queen Vaibhavi. Brijesh please sit. I will arrange for some refreshments.
Brijesh folding his hands. No My Queen. We have not come to eat. We only came to see you and our Prince.
Akshay. You sit Father. I will speak with Neer outside for a moment.
Akshay led Neer out to the balcony.
As they walked, Akshay placed a hand on Neers shoulder. His fingers lingered there a moment longer than necessary. A strange weight in that touch, as if he was remembering something, or perhaps memorizing it.
Neer didnt notice. His grief was too loud.
Akshay said softly. Neer we know all of this happened suddenly and something unthinkable happened on that battlefield. Dont worry. Everything will be alright. Take care of yourself and your mother. All of this is on you now. The responsibility for the kingdom and this palace is in your hands. We have complete faith in you.
Neer could only nod. He wanted to say something perhaps about the battle about Agni about the curse he had uttered. But the words wouldnt come. Only a heavy sigh escaped and the same old pain flickered in his eyes.
Just then Brijesh joined them and hugged Neer.
Brijesh. Prince take care of yourself. We must leave now.
Neer nodding again. Yes.
He walked them to the palace gates. As they left Akshay turned to look back once more. In Neers eyes he read the same unanswered question. Will everything really be alright?
Akshay stepped into his carriage. His father Brijesh was already inside. The moment the door closed and the wheels began to turn, Akshays face changed. The warmth drained from it like water from a cracked vessel. He looked at his own hands, then out the window at the shrinking palace.
No one saw. No one ever did.
The gates closed. The palace was swallowed again by its profound silence. Neer walked slowly back towards his mothers chambers. On the way he paused at a window looking out far far into the distance where the road to Tejgarh lay.
In his minds eye was only one image. Agnis face blurred by the smoke of war and in his eyes the same guilt that now pulsed like a second heartbeat in Neers own chest.
The days passed slowly, each one a new weight, each night bringing the same dream, the same battlefield, the same Agni, and the same echoing curse.
That night Tejgarh did not sleep. In the deepest chamber of the palace Agni stood alone staring at the cold remnants of fire that had taken everything from him. A decision silent heavy and irreversible settled into his chest. Before dawn one prince would vanish from these walls. And Tejgarh would wake to a throne already abandoned.
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