The intensity of the afternoon sun had not yet faded when the air of Junagarh Palace grew heavy with a horrific, rotting stench. The smell was so potent and vile that it felt as if a thousand dead animals had been piled together. From the domestic help to the soldiers, everyone inside the palace began running to and fro, pressing handkerchiefs against their noses. No one had ever experienced such a foul odor within the royal walls before.
Hearing the news, Prafulla rushed out of his room, followed by Snigdha and Prabhasha, their faces etched with terror. Since Mother Arohi and Father Aditya were away on a six-month trade mission, the entire responsibility of the palace now rested on these three siblings. With a frown of worry, Prafulla shouted, "Where is this rotting smell coming from? Has everyone lost their senses? Has the entire royal residence turned into a dustbin?"
Wrinkling her nose, Prabhasha said, "Brother, it seems the smell is coming from the back garden. Let's go check."
As the three of them hurried to the backyard, what they saw made their blood run cold. In a corner of the garden lay a massive tiger, dead. Its flesh was rotting away, and at that gruesome sight, Snigdha covered her eyes with both hands in fear.
Trembling with rage, Prafulla said, "This isn't a recent event! This tiger must have been rotting here since last night; otherwise, it wouldn't smell this bad. But the biggest question is—the main gates of the palace have been closed since last night, and there is barbed wire on the walls—how did this wild beast get inside? And even if it did, why did no one notice it?"
Prafulla's patience finally snapped. He let out a roar like a tiger himself, "Guards! Where are you all? Are you dead, or are you sitting there with cotton stuffed in your ears?"
Hearing Prafulla's call, four or five guards came forward, trembling. Their leader said in a quivering voice, "Prince, we kept watch all night, but we heard no sound of a tiger entering..."
Prafulla lunged forward and grabbed the head guard by his collar. Gritting his teeth, he hissed, "You heard no sound? Then did this dead tiger drop here from the sky? Have you lost your eyesight, or were you sleeping after smoking opium at night? Do you even keep watch, or are you just sitting around counting your salary and taking bribes? You are all nothing but a bunch of bribed scoundrels! If this tiger had eaten you alive while it was healthy, would we have survived? You were kept here to guard us, or to take news of our deaths?"
Prabhasha chipped in from the side, "Brother, fire them. Instead of sticks in their hands, they should be made to wear tinted glasses and lungis and dance in the market. A 'Lungi Dance' might finally open their stagnant brains. Is palace security a joke to them?"
Prafulla shoved the guards away and screamed, "Listen! Remove this rotting tiger from here this instant. Clean the surroundings, light the incense. And if I don't find out by tomorrow morning how this tiger got here, I will drive a stake through each of your heads and actually make you do the Lungi Dance in front of the jail! Get out of here, you worthless lot!"
The guards began their work, fearing for their lives. But a doubt remained in Prafulla's mind. He felt that this was no ordinary incident. The tiger hadn't come here to die on its own; someone must have placed it here systematically. But who had such audacity? And why would they do such a filthy thing? Snigdha and Prabhasha looked at each other; the dark clouds of an unknown omen were beginning to gather in everyone's mind.
The atmosphere of the palace was so grim that Prabhasha couldn't digest her sister's secretive behavior either. She thought, "Let Didi return; I will interrogate her strictly today." With a restless mind, Prabhasha wandered toward the garden. Colorful seasonal flowers were blooming everywhere. Just as she reached for a blood-red rose, a scream echoed from the direction of the palace's main gate. A poor villager had arrived in haste and was crying at the feet of the guards.
The villager wailed, "Mercy, please let me in just once! A great injustice has been done to me; I seek justice!"
The arrogant guard on duty shoved the man and said, "Go, go! There's no one important here right now. King Aditya and Queen Arohi are away for six months. No justice will be served now. Get away from the gate!"
As these words reached Prabhasha's ears, her blood boiled. She was already burning with thoughts of Sushila and her sister; she could not tolerate the guard's insolence on top of it. She kicked the ground with such force that the garden seemed to shake.
Prabhasha rushed to the gate and grabbed the guard by his hair. Gritting her teeth, she said, "You have this much audacity? In my kingdom, you treat a seeker of justice like this? Were you kept here to guard or to play the goon?"
Before the guard could comprehend anything, Prabhasha yanked him by the hair and threw him to the ground. Then, grabbing him by one leg, she began dragging him toward the palace. The man was groaning in pain and begging for forgiveness, but today, Prabhasha was made of stone. She addressed the helpless villager, "You come with me too! Let's see whose justice isn't served today!"
Prabhasha dragged the guard by his leg with one hand while shielding the villager with the other, heading straight for the courtroom. Prafulla was sitting on the throne, lost in worry. Seeing his sister in this vengeful "Ranachandi" avatar, he too was startled.
Prabhasha kicked the guard and threw him at Prafulla's feet. The guard lay curled on the floor in agony. Prabhasha looked at Prafulla and shouted, "Brother! Behold the actions of your pet dogs! Do they think they can do whatever they want just because Father and Mother Arohi aren't here? A villager came seeking justice, and this devil insulted him and chased him away! Have their limbs grown too long? Or is it time for their heads to be chewed off?"
Prafulla looked at the villager in surprise. Prabhasha grabbed the guard's hair again, gave it a shake, and said, "Give this scoundrel a severe punishment right now, Brother! And listen to this man. If justice isn't served today, I will personally rip this guard's leg off and feed it to the dogs!"
Seeing Prabhasha's glaring eyes and fierce aura, the rest of the guards in the courtroom shrank back in fear. Prafulla realized that in the mood Prabhasha was in today, if he didn't calm her down, there would be bloodshed in the palace. In the history of Junagarh Palace, no one had ever seen this side of Princess Prabhasha before.