SYNOPSIS- Startling Revelation
The Dreaded ConspirAcy - 14
Story so far:
Queen Padmavati suspected Vedant to be the main conspirator. After all, it was he who had gone after the person who had bribed Vedant, the horse-keeper, and no one knew what had happened between them when the person committed suicide. Raghunathan did not favour her thinking and informed Biksham about this. The minister did not comment and asked for some time to think over it. Later, the King informed the Queen that Vedant was an orphan who used to teach maths to children. The King was impressed by his deep knowledge in this subject and had appointed him to keep an account of the palace treasury.
Vedant always performed his duty with utmost dedication and sincerity and thus the King always reposed trust in him.
Just then, a person Sukhram sought an audience with the King. He wanted to admit a sin he had committed!
In this chapter 'Startling Revelation': Sukhram revealed that it was indeed Vikrant who was the conspirator! Vikrant had showed him the passage when the King and his family were out on a vacation and asked him to stay there till the time was opportune for kidnapping Vijaya! Vikrant had asked Sukhram to be careful after opening the lid of the passage from the jungle end. Once it was opened and the lid put back, it was not possible to open it. Then, the only option was to again enter the passage from the King's chamber. He instructed Vedant to come out only for getting some fresh air and eat fruits and keep the lid open during this time. He also asked Sukhram to be near the lid so that the latter can hear the minister call to him when the time for kidnapping the child came! On the day of reckoning, Vikrant had come to the jungle and asked Sukhram to open the lid. He then instructed him to kidnap Vijaya take him to the jungle and kill him there! Read on for more...
THE DREADED CONSPIRACY
14. Startling Revelation
Sukhram narrated an event, which the King and the others listened with rapt attention.
** When the King had gone out for a fifteen day vacation, one evening Sukhram was asked to wait near the jungle of Kameshti by his master, Vikrant.
As Sukhram was waiting for his master, he arrived and asked him to follow him in the jungle. After walking for some distance, Vikrant stopped and pointed to the ground,
“Look, Sukhram! Observe the ground here! It is very muddy out here unlike the other path of this jungle.” Sukhram nodded in agreement.
“Tomorrow you will have to come here and wait for me in the morning!” Vikrant’s aide agreed.
The next day, Sukhram did not find much difficulty in locating the spot where Vikrant had asked to wait for him. He had observed that muddy area very well the other day. After a short while, he was baffled to see a lid being opened and Vikrant coming out from the opening below!
The King’s minister beamed at Sukhram, “Surprised to see me coming from here? Well! There is a secret passage here to this jungle from the King’s chamber. I want you to come inside with me.” Sukhram followed his master, who was holding a mashaal in his hand, and went to the end of the passage.
After they had reached the end, Vikrant pointed out to the golden platform on which the idol of Lord Vithalla stood. “If I move this platform with full force, a part of the wall would open and we can enter inside the King’s chamber!” Vikrant went near the wall and kept his ears close to it. “I cannot hear any noises inside. This means that there is no one just as I had expected.” he observed and then pushed the golden platform with all his might.
The platform moved a full circle without making any sound and the wall opened! “There! You see another similar statue out there?” Vikrant asked Sukhram who was dazzled to see all this. After all, what did his master want of him? Vikrant explained to him in detail of the operations of the passage and then told him what he had to do. “Sukhram, the King has gone out for a trip.
Next week he will be back and on the day he returns I will come to see you. Till that time, you will have to stay in this passage, Sukhram! You can occasionally come out to get fresh air and eat fruits which grow in abundance in the Kamesti jungle, but ensure that you do not close the lid after you come out. Once you do that, you cannot enter the passage from the jungle end.
Also, stay at the end of the passage so that you can hear when I call out to you for opening the lid.” Sukhram agreed and Vikrant came out of the passage from it’s opening at the King’s chamber.
For the next one week, Sukhram stayed inside that chamber coming out, as Vikrant had allowed him, to get air and eat fruits. As he was used to staying in an enclosed atmosphere, he did not have any difficulty in sleeping inside the passage after closing the lid.
One week later, as Sukhram was sitting on one of the steps at the end of the passage, he heard his master calling out to him, “Sukhram! Sukhram!” He, immediately got up and opened the lid and allowed his mater, who had come there riding on his horse, to enter in. Sukhram could see that Vikrant’s face appeared pensive.
“You must be wondering as to what work I want you to accomplish, Sukhram! Let me reveal that to you now! The King has returned from his fifteen-day trip. I am aware that he sleeps with his family in the very chamber that leads to this secret passage. What I want you to do is to go to his chamber in the middle of the night today when everyone is asleep, kidnap his son, kill him in the Kamesthi jungle and burn him to ashes!”
Sukhram was dumb-founded to hear this! Vikrant continued with rage in his eyes, “Initially, I had planned that you will only bring Vijaya out of the secret chamber and I shall be waiting for you outside. Thereby, I will do the job of killing him.
Unfortunately, the King wants to send me away today for some administrative work. I can prolong this job but I do not want to do that. I know I can trust you, Sukhram! Will you do this much for me?”
Knowing that his master would never take “no” for an answer, Sukhram agreed against his wishes.
“Good! Be every careful, Sukhram! Before moving that golden platform just keep your ears to the wall and see if everything is quiet. Just in case you are caught, you will do to yourself what you are going to do to Vijaya!” Vikrant cautioned.
Vikrant handed Sukhram a tiny bottle and cloth, “After you reach the King’s chamber, just put a few drops of this liquid from the bottle in that cloth and bring it close to the child’s nose. He will be unconscious.”
Sukhram agreed and then Vikrant came out of the chamber from the jungle end, mounted his horse and took his leave.
As was instructed, Sukhram reached the other end of the chamber in the dead of the night and after satisfying himself that there was no activity going on inside the King’s chamber pushed the golden platform with much difficulty.
The platform moved a full circle and Sukhram could see the King and Queen peacefully asleep with their son beside them. He made Vijaya unconscious just as Vikrant had told him to do, took the child in his arms only to put him to the ground while closing the chamber, and then swiftly moved to the Kameshti jungle to accomplish his dreaded task. But then, as is now evident, Sukhram did not kill Vijaya.
Why? Also, how did the Prince land in the Tataka jungle?
(To Continue)
