CHAPTER 46: Two Rulers in Remorse

Both the rulers were moved to hear the narrative of Mrutyunjay who stood as Aryaman before them.  King Ravichandran could not stop this thought from troubling him that when an asura could lead such a disciplined life, why couldn’t he do it? 

Ever since the day Aryaman doused the forest fire with his divine astras, the King knew him to be a great archer.  He was convinced that should Aryaman side his way, he could easily defeat Chandrashekar in battle. 

Thus, he always ensured to cater to Aryaman’s desire under the hope that it would be only then that the flying hero would fulfill his desire some day!  More than the satisfaction of his subjects being happy under his rule, what mattered to him more was taking decisions, which conformed to Aryaman’s line of thinking!  He was thoroughly disappointed when Aryaman declined to side with him to fight against Chandrashekhar. 

Still, the King allowed him to go to Sumegha as a peacemaker only because he did not want to risk going against the wishes of such a powerful man!  With Aryaman declining his offer, Ravichandran strongly began to nurse the desire of getting rid of him. Later when he learnt of Rajaveera’s plans, his conniving mind devised a scheme of hitting two targets with one aim! 

It was with this in mind that Ravichandran proposed Rajaveera to make Aryaman fight against Chandrashekar for testing his prowess and then take him along to Asurloka to defeat the Devas!  The King had always felt that Aryaman was a Deva himself but he did not share these thoughts with Rajaveera for he wanted the latter to communicate with Aryaman without having any second thoughts. 

How thrilled he was when Aryaman agreed to battle against his foe singlehandedly! 

Sitting inside the well, Ravichandran could not help thinking that despite the fact that he had always thought of using Aryaman for his own benefits, the latter still possessed good feelings towards him.  With his mind in remorse, the efforts that Aryaman was now making to save him from the clutches of Ananya’s arrow touched his heart.   He closed his eyes and all these thoughts were making feel miserable.

Rajaveera, too, stood looking at his son with repentance.    

That Aryaman was thinking of sacrificing his life to bring about an alteration in his character filled his heart with deep regret.  The King came near his son and looked at him with somber eyes for a few moments.  He then gave his son a warm embrace!  This was certainly one of the cherished moments in Aryaman’s life! 

After all these years of abhorrence, finally he had the privilege of cuddling himself in his father’s arms! 

“I am sorry, my son!” Rajaveera mumbled.  He got a very strange feeling as he spoke these words, for seeking an apology was alien to him! 

“Please do not embarrass me, father!”  Aryaman stated emotively and asked, “Tell me, did you actually believe that I was kidnapped by the Devas?”

“Sometimes I used to get this feeling but then I myself did not attach much importance to it!  I agree that I told you this mainly to gain your sympathy for attaining my vested goals.”  Rajaveera admitted with regret.

“Did you make any attempts to search me?”