THE WORST ENEMY
-4. A Promise

As the jungle man was about to release his arrow, to his utter bewilderment, he found his bow broken in two by another arrow which came from the left.  All of them looked in the direction from where this arrow had come from.  The hearts of Mahirat and his guards were filled with both surprise and glee to see the King himself emerging out of the bush alongwith his massive army!

“Attack!  As far as possible only frighten them, do not kill! That would suffice.” ordered the King and his army rained arrows on the jungle men with such remarkable speed that they did not even get the opportunity to retaliate.  Just as the King had wanted, his troops only tried to terrify them with their arrows and it worked.  Within moments, all of them had fled the scene and thereby, the King and his men hurried to free the Prince and the others who were tied to the trees.  As the King untied his son, he glanced at him and Mahirat looked at him with remorse in his eyes. 

“Come on!  Let’s get out of here!  It’s getting dark!”  Sulochana exhorted his son and the guards. 

As they were going out of the jungle, Mahirat observed some deep red scars in his father’s hand.  “What’s this, father?” 

Even the King was taken aback to see those marks in his hand.  “I do not know when I got these injuries.  This must have happened when I moved aside these thorny bushes to make way through this dense forest.  In my eagerness to reach you, I did not even realise it.” 

Mahirat was moved to hear these words of his father.  He did not show off his emotions and followed the King quietly. 

Soon, they were out of the forest and mounting their respective chariots they raced off to the palace followed by the guards on horseback.

The Queen who was anxiously waiting near the palace gates was relieved to see both the King and her son back safe.  She, too was alarmed to see those red marks on the King’s hands and inquired about it. 

“Oh!  It’s nothing, O Queen!  Let’s go inside and then we can talk.”  said Sulochana. 

The King thanked all the guards for their help and they dispersed.  Thereby, all three of them went to King Sulochana’s apartments. 

“Mahirat!  You go to your chambers and refresh yourself.  Thereafter, you come here!  We need to talk!”  the King told his son.

Mahirat agreed and went away.  After they were seated, Queen Surekha queried, “Tell me, O King!  Where did you find our son?” 

“My hunch was right, Surekha!  He had gone to the Kallari forest for hunting!  I did the right thing by handing over the Durbar proceedings to Viswajeet and going in search for him in that forest.  When I saw him, he and his guards were tied to trees and one fierce-looking jungle man, out of nearly two dozen of them, was about to kill him with an arrow!”  exclaimed Sulochana recollecting those horrifying moments.

“What!  Oh, my god!  We told him not to go to that forest for hunting!  Tell me, what are these marks in your hands? Isn’t it advisable to call over the physician?” 

“No need!” The King told her about it and then observed, “But there’s something I noticed today, Surekha!  For the first time, I saw that there was regret in the eyes of our son over what he had done.  His anger and arrogance was conspicuous by it’s absence.  I feel that he has realised his mistake which he committed today!”

“I pray to God that you are right!” the Queen hoped.

As both of them discussed about their son, they found Mahirat entering the chamber with the palace physician.  The Prince asked him to look at his father’s hands.  The King was surprised at this move of his son and quietly showed his hands to the physician.  On close examination, the physician applied a balm in the infected area which gave the King instantaneous relief.  The King thanked the physician who bid them adieu.  Thereby, Mahirat came near his parents and fell at their feet.  This action of his melted away the grudge his parents had against him for disobeying them and filled their eyes with tears.  They helped him to his feet. 

“Why did you do that for?”  the King asked with wet eyes. 

Mahirat could no longer control his emotions.  Hot tears flowed down his cheeks and he embraced his parents.  “Please pardon me!  All along I have misunderstood you and gave you so much pain and sorrow!  Today I have realised how much you love and care for me!  Please forgive me!  I am sorry!”   

His parents made him sit beside them and consoled him.  “My child, we have forgiven you.  But promise us that henceforth you would never get angry and think with a cool head whenever the situation demands.” 

“I promise, mother.  I will always try to curb my anger.”  assured the Prince. 

“Very good, Mahirat! Day by day we are observing that your anger is escalating which does not augur well for a would-be-ruler like you. I hope that you do keep your promise!”  the King said optimistically. 

“I will, father!  But tell me, when did you come to know that I had been to the Kallari forest for hunting without telling you?”  queried the Prince. 

“When I did not find you in the Durbar, I came to your apartments leaving Viswajeet to handle the proceedings.  On not finding you there I searched for you in the palace and was perturbed not to find you anywhere.  I met your mother and apprised her about your mysterious disappearance.  I also told her that I am going to the Kallari forest for I had my apprehensions about you going there without telling me.  I took a huge army and set out to that forest and, thank God, reached there just on time!”  sighed Sulochana.

Mahirat filled in his parents with all that had happened in that forest.  “Hmmm…” the King said thoughtfully, “ May be those jungle folks thought all of you to be intruders out to conquer their land.  After all, you were armed!  Anyway, whatever be the reasons, let’s forget about all that and get along with life!” 

The Queen spoke up, “I will tell you something else, Mahirat….”