“MRITYUNJAY!!!”
Katha’s scream, being so loud, rang in the entire north wing. The soldiers ran in the direction when they heard the scream and saw their Maharaj fall on the floor with a loud thud.
“Mrityunjay- Hukum, wake up.”
Katha tried to shake him as her heart started pounding in her chest, seeing her husband lying unconscious like that. She removed the arrow from his shoulder and ordered the attendees.
“Help me get him in the chamber. You both go and call the physicians. You go and inform Maa-sa, Kunwar Ratan, and all the Royal members present in the court.”
Katha told the soldiers, they nodded at her command, and left to do their respective tasks.
The soldiers helped get Mrityunjay inside the chamber and onto the bed. Katha tried rubbing his hands, but nothing worked. The physicians came in and, after removing his Kurta, started examining the wound.
Katha stood on the side, trying hard to control tears from flowing down.
“JAI!!!”, Rajmata shouted as soon as she came inside the chamber. She couldn’t stop herself from crying, seeing her son in such a condition.
Katha didn’t react as she was feeling numb. She didn’t know what to do.
Behind Rajmata came Ratan, Abhay, both the RajGurus, and Daksh. Everyone stared at Mrityunjay’s body, lying lifeless on the bed. The other royal families were told to wait outside the chamber by Ratan, so as not to create any chaos while the physicians were examining Mrityunjay.
Abhay moved forward and held Katha by her shoulders. She came out of her numb state and looked at her brother. Not being able to control herself, she hugged him tightly, and he hugged her in return. RajGuru Dhananand came near Katha and said, “It’s okay to cry sometimes, Katha.”
Katha shook her head as she knew it was not the time to cry since everyone was hurting. She noticed Rajmata crying badly and struggling to breathe. Katha left her brother and moved toward Rajmata who was already being held by Ratan.
Katha touched Rajmata’s shoulder who looked at her and harshly removed her hands. Abhay held her because she could’ve fallen by the sudden push. She didn’t understand the reason and gave a confused look to Rajmata.
“I told you that if I help you get ready for an auspicious day, it will bring misfortune to you. Look at my son, he is lying lifeless. Why didn’t you listen to me? Misfortune came upon you, your husband is hurt… badly.”
Everyone was shocked to see Rajmata shout. Ratan was the most shocked as he had never heard his mother shout at anyone, not even the attendees.
Katha tried to say something, but Rajmata showed her hand to stop her and said,
“I don’t want to hear anything. You should’ve listened to me, I am disappointed in you, Katha.”
Katha stopped herself from crying, and Abhay, getting angry, said,
“You’re an elder to us, like a mother, but that doesn’t give you any right to shout at my sister like that. She is just giving you the respect you deserve. If you don’t want that, then I’ll take my sister with me where she wouldn’t be disrespected and shouted at like that.”
Katha looked at her brother, and everyone else was shocked as well. She calmed her brother down, knowing that it wasn’t the time. Before anyone could do or say anything, the eldest physician said,
“Maharani-sa, we’ve removed the pieces that were stuck in Maharaj’s shoulder. It’s good that you had already removed the arrow from his shoulder otherwise, the consequences would’ve been worse. We examined those pieces and the wound properly; it was poison, but since you removed the arrow soon, the poison did not have much effect. The thing is, Maharaj is in a… sleep.”
Katha furrowed her eyebrows and asked, “What do you mean by ‘sleep’? “
“Well, we cannot say when Maharaj will wake up, rest assured, he is out of danger.”
Everyone let out a sigh of relief, but still couldn’t digest the fact that Mrityunjay was in a coma. A part of Katha’s heart shattered knowing that her husband was in a coma. It hadn’t been long since they were married, but she had already started feeling lonely.
Both the Gurus shared a look as they were aware that there was danger lurking in the couple’s lives since the day they married.
Ratan stood there holding his mother in his arms, who was hugging him tightly. He looked over to Katha, who was standing numb. He felt bad knowing that the situation they were in right now was the least expected.
But, suddenly a thought came into his mind, how was an attack even possible, ever since the coronation was announced, Mrityunjay increased the security more than ever.
He held his mother and said, “Maa-sa, you should go and rest, I have to take care of some matters. Whenever Bhai-sa wakes up, he won’t like this state of yours. Please go to your chamber. I will come in a while.”
Rajmata shook her head but when Ratan insisted, she couldn’t say no, as she knew that there was no use saying anything to Ratan, as both her sons were stubborn.
She went away from there and Ratan said, “RajGuru Dhananand and RajGuru Prakashanand, you both go as well please since it’s late now, I and Raja Abhay will look into the matter.”
Both the Gurus nodded, and after they left, Ratan turned to Abhay and said, “Ranaji, please have a seat, and you too, Bhabhi-sa, please.”
Abhay shook Katha a bit, bringing her out of the trance, and said, “Let’s sit down, okay?”
Katha looked in Mrityunjay’s direction, who was looking pale due to the poison’s effect. Since the physicians had removed the poison, Mrityunjay was in a little better condition.
She nodded at her brother and sat down on the couch with him, Ratan sat on the couch opposite them.
He asked, “Bhabhi-sa, please tell me how Bhai-sa was attacked? I mean, did you see an-“
Katha said, cutting him off, “A crow.”
Both Ratan and Abhay shared a look because they couldn’t understand what Katha just said. “Crow?” both of them asked in unison, and Katha nodded while saying,
“Yes, when we were coming back to our chamber, Hukum was walking backward, in front of me. I saw a crow coming in his direction at a very fast speed. I shouted his name, but before he could understand anything, the crow stabbed him with the arrow. The crow was a trained one as it moved its neck in a precise way to stab Hukum. A normal crow isn’t capable of such an action.”
Ratan nodded understanding why no one was found to be suspicious. He said, “Okay Bhabhi-sa, I think you should rest now too, we’ll look into the matter.”
Katha looked at Ratan and said, “How can I rest knowing that he is lying lifeless? Rest is a foreign word for me at this moment, Devarji-sa.”
Ratan’s gaze softened seeing Katha’s vulnerable state. Abhay was feeling a sting in his heart noticing that his sister was in such a condition that too so soon in her marriage when she was just getting to know her husband. He shook his head, trying to get rid of all the negative thoughts that were clouding his mind.
He came out of his thoughts when Katha said, “You both can go if you want, I will stay here with Hukum. Please tell the physicians on the way back that they should be ready at every moment, as we are not aware when their presence might be needed.”
Both Ratan and Abhay nodded after Katha again told them to leave, this time, harshly.
Ratan told the physicians what Katha said and went to his mother’s chamber, as he knew she needed his presence right now.
Katha, on the other hand, listened to the eldest physician, who was the last to leave after Katha told everyone to leave. He said,
“Maharani-sa, if anything is needed, please inform us instantly. But, every half an hour, dip this white cloth in cold water and put it on Maharaj’s forehead to stop his temperature from rising. Do it five to six times.”
Katha nodded and sat near Mrityunjay after the physician left. She caressed his cheeks as tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but she controlled them.
