' 7 October 1905
Rangpur

Dear Diary,

Mornings have never looked brighter before, the sun-kissed forest outside my queer little bungalow seems to have my heart. I've never felt the warmth of this green-mantled beauty before. Everything feels new.
Today I'm invited to the palace. To advice my Princess about a suitable suitor with whom she can save her land.
Wait!
Did I just say MY princess?
I'm laughing at the irony.

Diary, I've never felt this alive before, and at this very moment, sitting inside the small room of my two storeyed cottage, all I can think of is her... her emerald green eyes!
I'm looking at the window, expectant, what if she jumps in again, unannounced..."

The young Barrister kept the pen in the china cup, and blew on the wet ink on the page. He had to go, the Princess must be waiting...
And his heart too!

The word 'castle' would probably do more justice to the stone structure infront, Trilochan thought, it would rather be an injustice to call this strength a 'palace'.
The guards had let him pass, and as he entered the main door, walking slowly on the stony pavement, he held the silver medallion close to his heart, rubbing it unmindfuly.
It was a strange anxiety, an unknown excitement, and all Trilochan could do was breathe out slowly to calm his relentlessly thudding heart.

"Barrister Babu?" A giant guard bowed infront of him, and Trilochan nodded in agreement.
"This way, inside." The guard folded his hands at him, "Princess is expecting you."

His heart was rambling inside his chest, trying to break free from the boney cage, and Trilochan exhaled sharply, a few times, to shake of this feeling.

"Is the incense too strong? Are you finding it difficult to breathe?"

Trilochan had turned at once, in the direction of the voice, and his longing eyes were greeted by the same pair of ocean deep eyes.
She looked divine in the bright light of the day. Pristine, elegant, royal!
She was wearing a simple white saree, a local knitted one, and her hair was wet, cascaded artistically below her knees.
She had probably taken a bath just then, and the essence of her body made Trilochan gulp nervously at her.

What was happening to him?
Why was he feeling this way?

"Are you alright?" Princess Sunaina asked again, breaking Trilochan's trance and he let out a small smile and lowered his eyes.

"I'm well. Thank you. May we start?"
His voice had found its lost composure once again.

"A little too eager to start, aren't you?"
Sunaina teased, and as he looked up, she gestured him to sit in one of the devans that were laid in one side of the room.

The sitting arrangement was modest, 'a dying kingdom' she had pointed out, and Trilochan sat on a chair facing the Devan as she parked herself on it.
Two guards were standing behind her, and one glance at them, Trilochan was reminded of Mahishasur, and his green eyed Maa Durga was sitting right infront.

"Trilochan Roy Chowdhury, isn't it?" Sunaina's eyes were focused on him.
"A Barrister, studied in Bombay... Father is the Zamindar of Tulsipur, a pro-british idealist, elder brother, Birochan is a business contractor, and is trying desparately to make his strong hold in England, his wife, Subhadra is ailing and they have a son, two years old." She paused, "what's his name again?"

Trilochan smiled.
"Anirudh, he is three."

"Going by your family background, it's very unlikely for you to help me..." Sunaina's eyes were focused at his.
"So, why are you?"

"First, I'm a patriot, and next, I believe doctrine of lapse is an unjustified law imposed by the British. Losing both Rangpur and Raipur to the English government would be a huge blow for us, and we'd take centuries to recover from it." Trilochan's words were firm yet measured.
"And, I don't believe you of all should gauge someone by their family background provided your own grandfather..."

Sunaina raised her hand and Trilochan stopped immediately.

"So what are you suggesting? That I should get married and have a son?"

Trilochan nodded.
"It looks like that's the only way, unless you have another male heir in both the kingdoms."

"We don't." Sunaina sighed.
"But, having a son would take atleast a few months, and by then..."

"Ten months. And, once conceived, you have to put a appeal to the government, and they'll wait for the baby to be born. And till then, let's just pray it's a son."

Trilochan was speaking slowly, and throughout he felt a heavy stone crushing inside him, making him writhe silently in an unknown pain.

"That won't be a problem," Sunaina chuckled, "finding the 'son' would be the easiest."

"As in?" Trilochan frowned.

"Rajan, how many months pregnant is your wife now?" She bend her head slightly to her left, and the Mahishasur standing on her left bowed down at once , now seated at her feet with folded hands.
"Two months, Princess."

"And your sister?"

"One month."

"And your's, Naga?"
She had turned to her right now.

"My wife, two months", he replied calmly, as his eyes narrowed on Trilochan, "this is her eighth one, and had never conceived anything but sons."

"So, I'll have my son in just seven?" She winked.

Trilochan gulped at her words.
"But, what if the government knows?"

"Impossible!" Sunaina sat upright, bend her body a little towards him, "unless you tell them." Her bewitching eyes were fixated on his.

"I would never..."

Trilochan let out a protest and Sunaina smiled.
"I know, and that's why I'm trusting you Barrister... With my kingdom, and with my life."

Trilochan nodded.
"And the husband?"

Sunaina had let out another deep sigh, as her head fell back on the beam of the divan, her gaze on the stone carved ceiling.
"I've thought about it too." She paused.
"Tell me Barrister, how can I establish my firm supremacy in both Raipur and Rangpur, provided, Raipur is my maternal ancestry and is ruled by my grandmother, with no male heirs alive?"

Trilochan was listening quietly.
"By marrying someone from that ancestry. Not an immediate heir, as you said none are alive, but someone with the same title, same blood, who might be a potential candidate for the throne."

"Excellent!!" Sunaina jumped up, her eyes shining brightly at his proposition.
"You are an extremely intelligent man, Trilochan Babu, and I believe I have someone who fits exactly your criteria."

She smiled and raised her right hand as one of the guards left immediately.

Trilochan felt the twitch in his heart intensifying, and suddenly it was difficult for him to contain the pain inside.

"You don't have to be so harsh on yourself. Marrying someone you don't love would be..."

"Stop." She raised her hand.
"I don't have the luxury to either fall in love or pursue the purpose. My life is different, Trilochan Babu... My life is in the soil of my country, and I can keep no man happy."

"But you're being too harsh... And."

"Rajan, leave us, will you?"
Sunaina spoke gently as the tall guard bowed down and got up immediately from the floor, pacing out of the room at once.

"Trilochan Babu, you are a good man, and I hope you get the love that you deserve, but it's not me." She looked down.
"I too have felt what you felt last night." Her words were low. "It's very rare, this pounding of heart, and smiling for no reason, and believe me, last night I couldn't sleep."

Trilochan had got up from his chair, slowly, and bend down infront of her on one knee, his hands were on hers now.
"Princess, I understand, and you are as natural to me as my breathing, and I don't want to stop breathing."

Sunaina looked up.
"But, we both know that's not possible, you and I... It's a dream, an unrealistic dream." She sighed again and squeezed his hands.
"See, I don't even have the luxury or time to play coy," she chuckled, "so I just told you exactly what I felt, and I hope you too, would be able to suppress, like me, whatever you have in your heart."
Trilochan was quiet, and then one drop of tear fell on the knuckle of their joined hands.
"I hope you'd understand and respect my incapability to give in to my emotions."

Trilochan nodded.
"I understand."

None spoke and the stone walls of the room suddenly felt suffocating, and Sunaina picked up their joined hands and kissed his knuckles held in hers, their fingers intertwined immediately, and without thinking any further about any consequences, Trilochan rose up and cupped her chin with one hand.
Right, wrong, past, present, everything faded away in that moment, and Sunaina closed her moistened eyes in a way that the entire universe could know what she wished for, at that moment, and Trilochan's lips had readily fulfilled that wish for her.
Their lips were now joined, only lips and hearts, and the rest of them maintained their poised distance. It was a kiss of assurance, a kiss of trust, a kiss that was meant to seal their hearts forever.

Sunaina broke it first, and Trilochan returned back to his seat, his heart ripping off in the cruel humour of the moment.
This was the first time he had felt love, and heartbeat had followed instantly.

"I understand, Princess." He murmured, "I really do."

Sunaina was looking away, her face stronger than ever, and she slowly wiped a small trail of tear from her cheek and exhaled sharply.

"So, where were we? About the man I'm supposed to marry." She started to speak.

"You had figured out the requirements before, haven't you? And if I'm not wrong, you have figured out someone as well."
Trilochan wasn't looking at her either.
He looked at a large oil painting on the wall and spoke reflectively.
"You are an intelligent one, Princess, I'm no one infront of you."

"You can drop the decency Trilochan Babu. I'm clever and cunning." She chuckled, "but I don't have much of a choice, have I?"

"I guess not." Trilochan tried to smile.
"So, who is the man?"

"A priest. Same ancestry."

"Priest?" Trilochan gasped.

"Yes. His forefathers were casted out of the family, but he shares the same bloodline, and is the last living male in the entire damn dynasty."
Her words were an indignant whisper.
"He is sixty six, and a celibate."

"WHAT?" Aided by the sudden surge of adrenaline, Trilochan stood up from the chair as Sunaina sank back in her divan again.

The guards had entered, three this time, and along with then came an old man, thin, tanned, with sunken cheeks. His once tall features had stooped down with the burden of age and poverty, but his dark eyes reflected nobility.

"Pranam Princess." He had bowed down, as Sunaina readily got up from her seat and sat infront on him, her head bowed and her hands on his wrinkled feet.

"ThakurMoshai, I'm in need of your kind assistance, and my kingdom would be eternally indebted to you, forever."

The old man trembled at the Princess's behaviour, he had immediately jumped a few steps back, and folded his hands in a fearful plea at the royalty.

"Princess, Your highness!" He muttered, "Command me, and this poor man shall comply."

Sunaina looked up, tears were rolling down her eyes now, and in quivering voice, she spoke the words, drawing a swift teary glance at the seated Barrister.

"Marry me, Please!"

A sad orchestra played in the air, the inside of the large hall fell deathly cold, as the numbness of the situation took over everyone present inside the room.

"Please, ThakurMoshai." Sunaina was weeping. She could have just commanded the old man, but instead she wept at his feet.

"Maa...!"
The old priest sat down too.
"I'm your old son Maa... How can you be so cruel to your son." The man was crying to. "I'm very weak, too weak to break free from the vows that I've taken infront of the gods. I've embraced celibacy for life." His words were a staggered sob, and Trilochan banged his fists and rubbed his head in the sheer helplessness of the situation. It wasn't for the helplessness of his love anymore, but the helplessness of the beautiful princess who wept infront and the helplessness of the old man, who address her as Mother!

Sunaina spoke first.
"It's for the country ThakurMoshai, your Rangpur and Raipur, I promise to free you from all marital responsibilities, all husbandly duties, please... just marry me."

"Is it... Is it that important your highness?"
The old man sobbed the words, his lips busy murmuring inaudible prayers to his gods.

"It is... More than my life, and yours and everyone's in these two kingdoms. This is beyond us." She rose up slowly and wiped her tears.
"The British will take our lands if I don't marry, ThakurMoshai, and me being the Princess of Rangpur, the only way to save both the lands is to marry someone from the royal bloodline of Raipur."

The old man stood up as well, slowly, his hands folded near his chest, and the white tilak on his nose faded a little in his tears.
"I'm the only one alive, isn't it?"

"Yes."
Sunaina nodded.

The old man had let out a pained exhale, as he wiped his tears and folded his hands to his forehead, probably asking his ancestors for forgiveness.
"This is probably a test for me, Princess." He breathed, "Prabhu Narayan had given me the last chance to act on my dharma, the dharma I was born with, Kshatriya Dharma!"

Sunaina smiled, her hands too, folded in gratitude towards him.
"ThakurMoshai this is my lawyer, Barrister Trilochan Roy Chowdhury, a bramhin, and fighting the Kshatriya Dharma for us, with us... he would ensure our marriage evades the British out of our lands."
She looked at Trilochan and he smiled, in love and in awe at this brave-hearted, selfless leader of the land.

I'm proud to be in love with you, Princess Satyavati Sunaina! He mused.

"Namaskar, Barrister Babu." The old man had now joined his hands at him, greeting him in his tired stained voice.

Trilochan got up from his chair, and held his hand.
"What is you name, ThakurMoshai?" He asked politely as the old priest coughed up his exertion and began to wheeze loudly.

"Apurba... My name is Apurba Sen."
He huffed, and smiled, humbly.

.....................................................

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