Adventures Of Baghmati

Oblivious of the fact that King Bishwajeet had been captured and was no more in this world, his queen, Bagmati, and some of his closed ministers were waiting for his return. They believed that he would soon return with a lot of colourful gems and other precious stones from the valley of death, but when one by one ,many days passed, and the king did not return, it occurred to her that something might have happened with him. Perhaps, he had fallen in some difficulty or had been captured by his enemy, or by now, he would have come back to his capital She loved her very much. In fact, the king was everything for her. She was his life and he was hers. It was the first time when Biswajeet had been away from her for so many days. She decided to talk to Tamas, the commander-in-chief of Asimgarh's army and the closed person to her husband. She sent him a message through one of her attendants, who soon returned with a message from Tamas stating that he was on an important mission, and that no sooner did his mission complete then he'd be at her service. He requested her to give him some days.

Queen Baghmati wanted an immediate meeting with Tamas to talk to him about her husband's disappearance, but when she got his message, she decided to wait till the right time came. She asked her attendant whether she had any idea of the important work he had undertaken, at which she expressed her inability and slipped into silence. The thought of her husband had pushed her into the verge of desolation, and now she wanted a companion to share her sad state of mind, but there was none who could dare to sit and have a talk with her. Everyone was afraid of her mood. as no one could say when and on what thing it would change. A few days ago, she had got one of her male attendants thrown in the enclosure of hungry dogs. So, those who were aware of her capricious moods always tried to keep a safe distance from her.

Baghmati, lost in the memory of her husband, found herself diving deep into her past life. She was the only offspring of Nagmani, the king of Asimgarh, and so she was the only successor of her father. Keeping this in mind, she had been trained in everything that would be required to rule over her kingdom. She was excellent in sword-fighting. She could move her sword with the speed of lightning and would defeat anyone in no time. In archery, she was just amazing. She could shoot at anything just by hearing the sound coming from it. Not only in the art of warfare but in the other things fit of the feminine gender like singing and dance also she was matchless in the entire kingdom.

On one occasion, when Nagmani was on a hunting spree in the hills and jungles of Asimgarh, he lost his way and entered the densest part of the jungle and fell in the hands of the tribal communities living there for centuries, and would have been killed if someone among them had not recognized him as the king of Asimgarh. Here in the kingdom, the royal members, as well as the well-wishers of the king, were in deep sadness. Reports from the top army officials were conforming to the fact of king is still living in some unknown part of the jungle which was still unknown to them, or perhaps they were unable to reach there.

One day Bagmati, in a state of sadness, was along moving in the terrace of her palace brooding about how to know about her father, just at that time, a feathered arrow with a leaf attached in the middle hit the ground in front of her with a sound of whizz. It would have easily escaped her attention if her ears had not been alert.

She took off the leaf which for many had nothing except a few black dots and was to be discarded as a useless thing. Most of the ministers and king's well-wishers were ready to forget this incident as an act of flippancy except one, a minister and most loyal friend of the king. He told the court presided over by Baghmati herself that once many years ago when he and the king were still very young chasing a wild boar entered the unknown territory and were surrounded by the tribals of the Kakatoa hills.

"We're young that time and so, we two when together, could fight any army, " he said to the princess and successor to the king, " The place and environment though known and familiar to them, they could not stand before us for long and soon hundreds headless tribles were lying all around us."

Bagmaati came down from the throne, and in while she was standing before Samar Singh." Baba, can you say anything about these black dots ?" she said putting the leaf on his palm. Samar Singh who had been part of many adventures with the king opened the leaf and smiled to see the black dots. on it and put it in the leather bag hanging from his waist. " Hon'able Princess, as you're the future ruler of this kingdom; I feel honoured and obliged to have been entrusted with such an important case as this one which directly concerns with the safety of our king. ' As for now, I'd like to depart with your kind permission with a promise to see you soon with the correct information of the king." Saying this, Samar Singh left the court and went to his abode.

No one saw Samar Singh for two days. The princess came to the court and would wait for him, but with the fall of evening, her hopes failed and she would return to her palace with a heavy heart.

Two days had passed, the third day was also about to slip in a few moments when one of the female attendants, Mira, who was very intimate with the princess came into the court. Their eyes met, then Mira coming out of the court went towards her small cottage. After some time, the princess also came out of the court and very carefully without giving anyone the air of what was going on went into Mira's cottage and was surprised to see old Samar Singh, who it seemed was waiting for her to hand over her the report of his investigation.

According to the investigation of Samar Singh, the leaf when observed in the background of the red light of the fire, presented a map of that part of the jungle where the king might have been kept in captive, and the large dots pointed the spots through which they contact them. There were seven large dots in all suggesting the seven entry points or seven days' time given to them. He also added that some royal members' hands also might be behind this kidnapping, Hence, as a future ruler of the kingdom, it was the test of her might and mind both.

"My concern in this case, "Your Highness!" is very clear, and it's that if you want to get your father back, keep the royal army away from it, as some of them are also involved in it. They will depose you from power."

That evening Tamas came to see her, but complying with Samar Singh's instructions, she had him told that when she felt good she herself would contact him, and till then he was not required in the service of the princess. However, if his service was required, he would be informed of that.

In the dead hours of the same night when all were fast asleep, two shadows appeared from the castle and moved towards Mira's cottage, where two strong horses were already waiting for them. In no time, they mounted on the horses and moved towards a towards the small statue of some deity built in a corner of the boundary- wall and carefully turned it in a particular position, and in no time a trap-door in that corner of the boundary opened up through which they went out of the out, closed the trap-door in the same way, and soon disappeared in the darkness. They kept on riding for several hours in the darkness of the night and just a few moments before the sunrise found themselves in front of a cottage from where soon emerged a figure, which took them in leaving the horses outside. The same figure again came out of that cottage, but this time he did not go in nor did any other person came out, but closed it from outside and taking the horses with him walked towards the helmet situated only a few miles west to it.

Baghmati and Samar Singh both were excellent warriors. The former was young, strong and agile. She could move her sword with the speed of lightning and behead several opponents just with one stroke. She could shoot just by hearing the sound and the arrow would the exact point without fail. The latter, though old, had enough vigour and agility, and was enough for an entire army.

In the middle of the day, when the sun was in its full glory, Samar Singh again turned the stone statue which was placed in the middle of the cottage for giving it the look of a temple, and as he did this a passage appeared in the ground. Both of them, quickly went into it which was a long and dark tunnel, but at certain places, there were torches which they required to light before moving ahead. Samar Singh was well aware of the fact that its other end would open in the jungle not far from the first point indicated in the leaf. At about midnight, their journey came to an end when the sounds of beating drums struck their ears. They understood that their destination was close by, and according to their plan, it was the time to fall on the tribals, as they would be sleepy and would produce the least resistance.

In a while, Baghmati and Samar Singh both fell on the tribals, and before they could understand anything, most of their men were killed. They were only two, but within a few hours Bokaal, the chief of the jungle king was under their capture. He, via a secret way, led them to a cave which, from all sides, was surrounded by a trench of black waters, which was full of alligators and snakes. They were trying to reach them and make them their food, but the trench being deep, they were unable to do that. Taking pity on them, Samar Singh kicked Bokaal into the trench, where the crocodiles and alligators didn't waste their time in making him their breakfast.

Baghmati then leaving Samar Singh at the entrance, went into the cave. In the innermost part of it, some human-like creatures half naked and half-covered with leaves and feathers, men and women both, looking fearsome, were dancing around a fire in a strange way with the sound of drums, and after completing each circle, they all paused and raising their hands in a particular direction of the cave made a strange and sharp noise with their mouth. It appeared to Baghmati that these people were heavily drunk and had been perhaps performing some religious activity. Thinking it not good to waste her time, she pierced each one of them. When it was sure that no one was left, she moved into that part of the cave which was still hidden and towards which, the tribals were offering their prayers.

As Baghmati stepped in, suddenly the ground from under her feet gave away and she fell into a dark well. It was her sheer miscalculation. She tried much to get out of it and save her father, but all her efforts seemed to fail.