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"Sometimes I wish life was different!"
Satyavati Sunaina clutched her six months protruded belly and sat down slowly on a wooden stool, her reflection prominent on the large stand mirror placed infront.
She sighed, and then took a small silvery vermilion case from the side table, but then another pair of hands joined hers from behind.
Satyavati smiled at once.

"Different as in?"
Trilochan asked, his chin now resting on his wife's shoulder, her wet locks dampening his lips with its soothing sweetness.

Sunaina turned her head slightly to place a tender kiss on his forehead.
"Raja Saheb, I never thought my life could be any different from the cause of my kingdom, but now, after I met you, after we... Well, I might sound selfish, but somewhere I wish I'd be not a queen, but just a wife, your wife...."

"You are my wife Naina."
Trilochan nuzzled on her shoulder, planting a soft kiss on her neck, and Sunaina shivered at the comfortable feeling.

"I want this to last forever Tri, you and I... And our baby..."

"We'll.... We'll be together forever Naina." Trilochan sat down on the stone floor, beside his wife, and then he placed his head on her lap, her hands automatically reaching up to caress his shoulder long hair.

"My grandmother won't let us be."
Sunaina exhaled thoughtfully.

"Why do you say so?"

"Because....", a sudden bout of excitement, and then Sunaina paused with a deep exhale, her sentence remained incomplete.
"Tri, if you are to choose between me and the Rajdharma, whom would you..."

Trilochan didn't let her finish, for the choice was prompt and simple. He turned to face her belly and planted two kisses on the bare tight skin, and it made red tints appear on Sunaina's cheeks at once.

"It's you my love, it'd be always you...! What is Rajdharma? To provide for a kingdom? But do you know what is Swa Dharma? The Dharma a man must abide?"

"What?"
Sunaina asked slowly.

"It is to provide for the family first... That's basic! If I'm not capable of providing for my own family, protecting my own wife and children, then how am I to protect an entire kingdom?"

"Shri Ram Chandra did leave Sita for..."

Trilochan stopped Sunaina by placing his index on her lips.

"I'm not Ram Chandra. My definition of righteousness starts with you and ends with you." He raised his head and cupped Sunaina's cheeks lovingly in his palms, his eyes boring deep in hers, and then he suddenly spoke, his voice grave and hoarse.
"There is nothing... I repeat, Nothing in this world that I won't do to keep your safe and happy." He looked deeper into her emerald green eyes.
"Let's leave together." He urged.

"What?"
Sunaina narrowed her eyes as a chuckle of disbelief played on her lips.
"What do you mean by leave Tri?"

"Elope. Run away... It's simple Naina... if you're not happy here, if you don't feel secure, if something is bothering you, it's only on us to find a solution... And, I'm giving you a solution to all our worries."

Trilochan got up from his wife's lap and sat upright, his hands holding Sunaina's joined knees, and the earnestness in his orbs made her heart twitch.

"Elope and go where?"
Sunaina asked calmly, her mind racing with a thousand apprehensions.

"To Tulsipur... And once our baby is born we'll go to London... If you wish! My father has a house there, my brother stays there half a year, it won't be a problem."
He squeezed her thighs and she trembled at the thought of leaving her kingdom.

"And Rangpur?"
Her voice quivered.

"Rani Maa is taking care of Raipur, isn't she? Rangpur is only but a name now. Everything related to Rangpur is in association with Raipur. Do you really think it would be a grave issue for her to manage both?"

"But she's old?"
Sunaina refuted, and Trilochan chuckled at the question.

"She's the most potent ruler I've ever met, ferocious, scheming, ruthless... Age won't do her any harm."

Sunaina smiled at his oxymoronic praise.
"So I leave my land?"
She looked up to meet his gaze.

"No... Not leave, but take a temporary break. Once our child is of age, once we feel Raipur needs us, it's safe for us, we'll come back! Atleast there won't be a threat of separation then, the threat that you feel now!"
Trilochan breathed out the words, and then very gently took the vermilion case from her hand and took a small pinch of the holy dust in his fingers.
"You're my everything Princess, you're my life... I can go to any extent to see a smile on your lips, and if that involves us leaving this palace, I won't even think twice."
He raised his hand up and smeared the vermilion on Sunaina's freshly bathed uncombed hair, and she just closed her eyes to live the moment.

"So? Will you Princess?"
Trilochan asked again.

"Will I what?"

"Leave the palace with me?"

A melancholic strain of thoughts rang in Sunaina's heart, his words ringing in her ears along. She recalled how she had overheard her grandmother's treacherous plans, the plans that had the threat of separation, the cry of pain. But again, the old woman had promised her that she would spare her husband's life.
The cost was simple, yet difficult. She would just have to keep up to the plan, the plan of Trilochan's anonymous departure from the kingdom, and then a royal decree stating how the king had met with a tragic fate during one of his hunting expeditions.
Sunaina knew it all, she was compliant, but it was her heart that didn't want to comply.
And, now... Her dear husband was giving her a choice, a choice of live and love, together, forever!

"I'll come with you Tri."
She slowly murmured, a thousand thoughts clouding her judgement, but still she replied.
"I'll come with you..."

Trilochan's thudding heart had galloped at that moment, a glorious revelation when his love had managed to overpower her sense of duty, and knowing this his excitement knew no bounds.

"You will? Princess... I'll... I'll arrange everything... I'll plan a..."

"No... Let me plan."
She swallowed the words slowly.

At the hour of midnight, when the kingdom sleeps, the lovers would escape through the west corridors, leading through the stable keep's shelter, and from there, the fastest horse they'd mount, straight to the land of togetherness!

"But how would you ride on a horse Naina?"
Trilochan had shared his concerns that night, half lying on the bed, and Sunaina lay on his chest, his hands caressing her belly, and her hands were on his arms.

"I'm a warrior Raja Saheb, and so would be my baby... Don't worry about us."
She had smiled.
"The stable keep, blind, isn't he? what's his name again?"

"Sarathi." Trilochan replied.
"Blind, and safe... I've made one of Naga's sister visit him discreetly, in disguise, commanding him to with a prophecy!"

"Prophecy?"

"Yes... It's simple... He's to wait for a queen and give her the passage when needed... And, that's his mortal duty!"
Trilochan winked and Sunaina chuckled.

"So Sarathi will be ready with my horse! And, and the signal?"

"Whistles?"

"Two whistles!" Sunaina turned herself and hugged her husband with utmost love, the bulge of her belly coming in between.

"Once we reach Tulsipur, I'll not let you be away from my eye, not even for a second."

"And the baby?"

"The baby would be there too... He'll be happy I promise, he'll grow up seeing his parents' love..."

"And your nephew you said... Anirudh?"

"Yes! He'll be the perfect companion to our child... Children grow better in companies."
Trilochan smiled fondly.

"And your sister-in-law?"

"My sister-in-law!" Trilochan breathed out softly. "Let's just say, if Maa Annapurna would have come to earth, she'd have taken her form for sure."

Sunaina smiled anc closed her eyes.
"Tell me more about your home Tri... About Tulsipur."

"It's a beautiful place Naina, my Tulsipur... Primitive, but peaceful... The people are simple, they have enough to provide for themselves." He too closed his eyes and drew a long breath, trying to recall the freshness the air had in his land.

"And the floorboards?"
Sunaina remainded him to retell the story that she had heard a hundred times from him already.

"Yes, the floorboards in the haweli. They are checked like a chessboard... Only red and black. And the pillars have lotus curving at the base, red in color. There is a mango tree in the backyard, beside the cemented base of the pond... Anirudh and Rudra would play there..." Trilochan smiled with his eyes closed, lost in his own sweet dreams.

"So Rudra haan?" Sunaina pinched Trilochan's chest a little and the later took her hand and kissed it.

"Yes, and Yogmaya, if she's a girl."

"No... We'll call her Mahamaya."
Sunaina murmured unmindfully.

"Yes ma'am."

He kissed her lips.

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Will power is a finite resource, it burn in the brain at times of need to provide the much needed energy to take harsh decisions. Raimoti had the willpower, and hence deciding on her next course of action wasn't difficult. She crumpled the letter and threw it into the flame of a burning candle, watching it charr slowly, and it was only that amount of time she had taken to frame her action plan.
Two quick claps, and a Mouni entered inside the dressing room. Raimoti gave a a few quick instruction, and although the later narrowed her gaze at the queen in question, she did obey the orders silently. Ten more minutes, and Raimoti was dressed in a simple kurta pajama, with a cotton jacket on top, and the Mouni tied a blue turban around her head, making her look much like a beautiful Sikh boy.
Raimoti smiled at her reflection, and turned turned to the girl.

"Did you bring it?"
She asked, and the Mouni nodded, pointing towards a small silver Bowl kept beside.
Raimoti took it at once and opened the lid.
Garlics!

Flashing a naughty smile to herself in the mirror, she quickly dismissed the Mouni, and then with a flinched face she put two pieces of the raw peeled garlics in her mouth and chewed them nicely.

The smell and the feel almost made her gag!

A visit to the Royal Armoury would raise suspicion, hence, her next destination was the king's personal storeroom.
She took money ofcourse, along with one of Apurba Sen's old diary with mostly love poems for his queen in it, and then she took a revolver, bullets, and a sharp silver dagger, the one with a curving of the former queen's name on it.

Satyavati, it said.

"Dear Mother-in-law, thanks for the gift." She chuckled to herself mischievously, murmuring the words, as with absolute care she lifted the pajama to the knee and hid the dagger in its loose folds, tied with a tight velcro.

All set, all planned, and now the escape.

She walked confidently down the the west corridor, where the guards were a minimum, and then straight she went into the stable keep's shelter.
Few Mouni's who saw her bowed down, she was recognisable ofcourse, and the guards didn't seize her way.

"Damn!"
Raimoti stooped down and entered inside the royal stable, but the sight and size of the gigantic horses made her mutter a curse under her breath.
Once she had very proudly boasted to Satyakirth that she could ride anything that moves on earth, and she meant scooters and cars, horses were never her strong suit. But then, it was the royal stable, what else could she expect!

Raimoti took a deep breath and looked at the old wrist watch, it's been already forty-five minutes since Satya had left, and she was desparate to hurry.

Horses right? How difficult could they be to manage?

Raimoti inhaled a considerable amount of air, as if going under water, and then she closed her eyes. Her slender fingers reached her mouth, and with a skillful blow she let out a loud whistle, and then one more, her heart pounding in hope of getting the horse's attention.

Three horses neighed at once, loud sky piercing neighs, and with the call came an old man, rushing out from inside the stable shelter.

"Rani Maa...?" He asked, startling Raimoti, and she quickly turned to face the wrinkly old man with no sight standing infront of her.

"Umm... Yes..."
Raimoti replied, frowning her gaze at the whitened eyeballs of the old man, never could she recall of meeting this old man before.
"How can you tell?" She asked.

The old man smiled.
"Two whistles... I remember! I've been waiting..."

"Waiting for?"
Raimoti asked.

"You!" The old man sounded elated.

"Why?"
Raimoti asked again, her emergency hormones making her restless.

"The goddess had come in my dream, told me that a queen would come and seek passage out... And I'll to be her sarathi..." The old man was smiling.
"It took twenty five years Rani Maa... And now my duty has ended."

He fumbled with his stick, and then put a reign around a white horse, the one that particularly seemed calm, and Raimoti looked around uncomfortably, a little baffled at the man's strange behaviour.

What goddess? What queen? What twenty five years?
The question were many but she didn't have the time or luxury to address them any more.

"Prophecies are real... dreams do come true..." The old stable keep was murmuring, unbinding the horse for it's post, and the noises invited another young man inside the stable.

"Dadu?" The young man called, and the old man turned and smiled with tears in his dead eyes.

"See... See child... The queen has come... Didn't I tell you she would!"
He kept murmuring, and the young man first narrowed his eye to take a good look at Raimoti, and then he quickly lowered his gaze and kneeled down infront of her.

"Apologies Rani Maa... It's rare that a queen would visit these dirty stables."
He joined his hands at the cognizance of her identity, and Raimoti pursed her lips in a awkward smile.

"I'm... Well... I'm looking for something to ride... Umm... " She looked around.
"You see your Raja Saheb and I are playing a chasing game, and he is already a little ahead..."

The young stable boy frowned his eyes and then his face brightened into a smile.
"Did he take a horse?"
He asked, and Raimoti nodded.
"Oh, then I have something that would easily make you win the race Rani Maa."

"What?"
She asked, curiously, and the stable boy smiled again.

"Beside is the Royal garage... They have multiple motor cars, and drivers too!"

"Do they have a motor bike by any chance?" She swallowed the excitement in her voice, and the stable keep nodded at once.

"Ofcourse Rani Maa... Only if you know how to ride?"

"Ride? I reign on them boy... Go fetch at once."
She winked at the boy, her words laced with a playful command, a command that was meant to be obeyed.

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The motor bike sped for long thirty minutes, at a stretch, at it's full capacity along the muddy deserted stretch of land, leaving the river to the right, and when it was a mile to the border of Raipur, the rider caught the sight of a black stallion and the man who rode it.
Raimoti's flushed face shone up like a midday sun.
The speed increased, and then in another five minutes the bike crossed the horse and the rider, standing crisscrossed infront of them.
The black stallion stopped with a loud gallop.

"Get down!" Raimoti growled, getting down from the bike, and Satyakirth jumped down from the horse at once.

"Rai... Rai you?"
His voice was shaking in disbelief, but before he could ask anymore, a sharp punch hit his face, nose to be precise, bringing him to a prompt realisation of how impossible it indeed was to leave this woman behind.

Raimoti was panting, fuming in exhaustion and adrenaline, her fist hurting from the blow that she had just inflicted on the man she loved, and Satya held her knuckles and kissed them.

"How dare you?" She growled again.
"How dare you leave me alone?"
She charged random blows on Satya's firm chest, and he took them all with love in his eyes.

"Why did you come?"
He pleaded her.
"Why?"

"Because, we are partners in crime, remember... You go, I go... You die, I die!"
Jets of tears started to roll down Raimoti's eyes.

"But... But your health... And..."

"My health is perfectly fine Satyakirth Sen... You worry about your own!"
She hissed the words, laced in tears, and Satya couldn't help but cup her face with love laced affection.

"But you visited the infirmary?"
His voice had more of an urge than a question, and Raimoti freed herself from his grip.

"I did! Because I wanted to ensure everything is good before we set out on this mission of ours... Is that a crime?"
She huffed the question, and Satya exhaled sharply. He held her arm and pulled her to his chest, and Raimoti didn't resist this time.

"Don't you ever leave me Satya... I'm warning you... I've left everything behind... Nothing matters to me but you... Don't you ever leave me!"
She sobbed in his chest, and Satya touched the turban on her head and smiled.

"Look at me... How did you manage to come out? Karthik was meant to guard the main entrance."
He asked lovingly, and she sniffed a tear and rub her nose in his kurta.

"I took the backdoor, through the stables."
She pouted her lips, and Satya couldn't help but capture them in a kiss.
Raimoti pushed her tongue in his mouth at once, deepening the kiss, and Satya pulled out from her and chuckled.

"You do smell like garlic now Princess... A very strong smell!"

"I know... A foolish experiment I did at the infirmary." She winked at him, and rubbed her face on his chest again, wiping off the residue of tears from her face.

"Foolish indeed." Satya smiled, holding her hand to guide her to mount the horse, but Raimoti stopped him.

"Send him back... Let's get in the motor bike Satya... Faster, convenient." She saddled on the vehicle, and gestured him to sit behind.
"Hope you don't mind riding behind a woman!"
She smirked, and Satya turned the horse around and hopped behind her on the bike.
"Mind? It's an honor Miss Mukherjee! Lime two brothers riding!"
He chuckled mischievously, and Raimoti rolled her eyes at him through the mirror and sped up the bike with a jerk, making him fall on her back.

"Opps, did my brother fall?" She smirked again, and this time, Satya wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, and kept his chin on her shoulder.

"Now, he won't."
He whispered.

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