The sky over the Junagarh palace had been overcast since morning. An ominous omen seemed to wander through the stifling air. Arohi in disguise (Snigdha) had risen early, pacing the garden with Prabhasha in her arms, but her gaze was fixed on the main gate of the palace. She knew today was one of the hardest days of her life. Today, she would witness the cremation of her own 'corpse' with her own eyes.
Suddenly, a commotion was heard outside the palace. A group of people, wailing, approached the palace carrying a bier on their shoulders. Leading them in white attire was the Queen Mother of Kanchangarh (Arohi's mother). As the guards blocked the way, the Queen Mother shrieked, "Make way! Inform the Prince of Junagarh that his unfortunate wife is no longer in this world! Princess Arohi of Kanchangarh is dead!"
This news lashed against the palace walls like a whip. Aditya, the Maharaja, and the Queen Mother rushed out in haste. Sushila (Subarnalata) also peeked through her bedroom window. A demonic smile of victory was in her eyes— "Finally, the thorn is removed!"
The bier was lowered in the palace courtyard. The body was covered in a white cloth. Trembling, the Queen Mother pulled back the shroud. Through the illusion of the magic mirror, the corpse looked exactly like Arohi. It looked as if Arohi was sleeping in peace. When Aditya saw that face, his scream seemed to tear the sky apart. He slumped to his knees beside the body.
"Arohi! No! You cannot leave me!" Aditya broke down in tears. As he tried to hold Arohi's hands, he found them cold as ice. He cried out, "Why did you leave me? Why did you end everything with just a letter?"
The disguised Arohi (Snigdha) stood in a corner. Seeing her husband weeping like this made her heart shatter. she felt like rushing forward, hugging Aditya, and saying— "Aditya, I am not dead! I am right here beside you!" But she steeled herself like a stone. She saw Sushila come downstairs. Sushila sat beside Aditya, stroking his head and starting to fake-cry, "Oh, please calm down! Perhaps Sister couldn't bear our happiness and ended herself. How much I wanted to bring her back!"
Sushila was saying to herself—
"Ah! Such peace! The nuisance is gone. Now this corpse needs to be put into the furnace quickly so that no evidence remains. Arohi, go to your grave, and your kingdom is now in my bed!"
The Queen Mother of Junagarh collapsed onto Arohi's body. "My child! Did you leave us out of a misunderstanding? You were the light of this palace! Today, this house has turned dark." She looked at Sushila with intense hatred and said, "It is because of you that my daughter left in resentment! Since the day you arrived, misfortune has haunted this palace!"
Sushila then shed magical tears and said to the Maharaja, "Father! Mother always thinks I am the guilty one. Sister died of her own sorrow; how is that my fault? Did I drive her away?" The grief-stricken Maharaja tried to console the Queen Mother.
The Queen Mother of Kanchangarh (Arohi's mother) spoke in a formidable voice, "Maharaja, my daughter's last wish was that her last rites be performed on this very soil of Junagarh. She is the daughter-in-law of this lineage. We have come here awaiting your permission."
Sobbing, Aditya said, "Mother, we will bid farewell to Arohi with full royal honors. She belonged to this palace, and she will remain here forever."
A pyre was prepared by the riverside of the palace. Arohi (Snigdha), holding Prabhasha, stood hidden in the crowd watching everything. Looking at her own pyre, she felt as if she had truly died. She saw Aditya applying sandalwood to Arohi's (the corpse's) forehead with his own hands. When the leaping flames of the fire roared up, Arohi's tears could no longer be contained.
Sushila smirked internally at the flames of the pyre. She thought she was now unopposed. But at that very moment, a miracle occurred. A burning piece of wood suddenly flew from the pyre and caught the hem of Sushila's saree. Sushila screamed in terror. The disguised Arohi quickly rushed forward and poured water to extinguish the fire. Sushila looked at Snigdha (Arohi) with angry eyes. Arohi lowered her head and said, "Small Queen Mother, be careful! May no harm come to you."
After the cremation, when everyone returned to the palace, a deathly silence like a graveyard prevailed. Before leaving, the Queen Mother of Kanchangarh glanced once at Arohi (Snigdha). With a look, she signaled, "Be careful, my child."
At night, when the palace was quiet, Sushila sat in her room pouring wine into a silver glass. Standing before the mirror, she said, "Finally! Even the last trace of Arohi has turned to ash today. Now, not even a leaf shall stir in this kingdom without my command."
Meanwhile, Arohi sat in her small room, looking out the window toward the river where the smoke from the pyre was still visible. She said to herself—
"Sushila, do you think you have won today? But you do not know that from today, the name Arohi will snatch away all your peace. I have entered this palace as a maid to destroy you. When Prafulla and Snigdha return, I will trample your decorated garden. From today, a new war begins."The fire of the pyre had died down, but a fire of guilt had begun to blaze fiercely within Aditya's mind. After returning from the cremation ground at night, the entire palace was as silent as a graveyard. There was no sleep in Aditya's eyes. He sat alone in his bedchamber. Beside him, Subarnalata was sleeping soundly. It was already one o'clock in the morning.
Arohi's calm, dead face kept flashing in Aditya's mind. Suddenly, he remembered that letter—the one stating that Arohi had eloped with another man and that the child in her womb was not Aditya's. Aditya took out that old, worn-out letter from the drawer. In his fit of rage, he hadn't looked at it closely that day, but today he sat down to match every stroke of the letters with deep concentration.
The palace records contained many manuscripts written by Arohi's own hand. By the light of the lamp, Aditya placed Arohi's genuine handwriting and the writing of that letter side by side. Suddenly, his hands began to tremble. He saw that while Arohi's original writing had a strange softness, the strokes in the letter were very harsh in some places. Looking closely, he noticed that the way Arohi formed her characters was slightly different in the letter. It was a minor flaw, unnoticeable to the ordinary eye, but clear when viewed through the lens of guilt.
Sweat gathered on Aditya's forehead. Does this mean the letter was a lie? Does it mean Arohi was innocent? Just then, he recalled that on the very night Arohi left the palace, Shilajit and his daughter had broken out of prison and escaped. Aditya had thought they fled out of fear, but today everything seemed to align. He thought, surely Shilajit and his daughter orchestrated this conspiracy to tarnish Arohi's name.
Aditya slumped onto the floor. Tears began to flow incessantly from his eyes. He started whispering to himself—
"Oh God! What have I done? Blinded by rage, I distrusted Arohi? I cast her out with a false accusation and brought an unknown girl (Subarnalata) into my home? Oh Arohi, where are you? Where is that child? Did my blood ever come into this world? Or did it go with you to the land of no return?"
Aditya could not remain still for another moment. Before the first light of dawn broke, he galloped away on his horse toward Kanchangarh. He arrived at the Kanchangarh palace in the early morning, covered in dust. The Queen Mother was praying in the temple then. Aditya fell at her feet.
"Mother! Forgive me! I understand everything today. Arohi was innocent. That letter was a forgery, Mother! Tell me, what happened to Arohi's child? Where is my child?" There was a cry of desperation in Aditya's voice. He didn't even know that he had twins.
The Queen Mother looked at Aditya with a calm gaze. She knew Arohi was in Junagarh in disguise, but she did not want to ruin Arohi's plan. She only said, "Aditya, your children are healthy. They have gone to the Guru's hermitage now. For five years, they will undergo rigorous education—learning warfare and occult arts. You will not be able to see them even if you wish to."
Aditya was startled. "Children? Does that mean I have more than one child, Mother?"
The Queen Mother smiled faintly, maintaining the mystery. "Just know that your children are well. I will not give you their names or identities right now. You will find out for yourself when the time comes."
Aditya insisted, "Mother, at least tell me if it's a boy or a girl! I am their father; do I not have the right to know?"
The Queen Mother said firmly, "No, Aditya. No one is allowed to enter the Guru's hermitage before five years are up. Even I cannot go there myself."
Aditya sighed and said, "I understand, Mother; this is the punishment for my sin. But why did Arohi leave me? Why didn't she tell me the truth?"
The Queen Mother sighed and replied, "Because that Shilajit and his daughter made Arohi swear upon your child to keep her silent. She was forced to leave the palace so that no harm would come to your child. They perhaps forgot to tell her not to tell me in Kanchangarh, so Arohi told the whole truth only to me. She wanted you to believe her on your own, but you didn't."
Burning with remorse, Aditya said, "What a great mistake I have made! And this Subarnalata... for whose beauty I went mad, today I see she isn't even human. She sometimes barks like a dog, thumps her chest like a gorilla—I don't understand what she wants to do. Mother, I don't want to return to Junagarh anymore."
The Queen Mother reassured him, saying, "You must return now, Aditya. Have patience. After five years, when your children return, you will get back all your lost happiness. Now go, take care of your kingdom."
Aditya returned to Junagarh with a broken heart. As he entered the palace, he saw from a distance that new maid (Arohi disguised as Snigdha) playing in the garden with Prabhasha. Aditya's heart wailed in grief. He did not know that the very Arohi whose 'corpse' he had just cremated was now guarding his household right under his nose, disguised as a maid.