Gujri bit her lip and hung her head. She didn't know how to console her mistress on this matter.
Madam Lilavati brought her knees close to her chest and whispered to herself. "If I had known that he would keep looking for her substitutes, I wouldn't have bothered about her life or death matters at that time."
Gujri looked at her mistress in horror. She knelt down immediately and put her hand on her mistress's mouth, foregoing all forms of etiquette. "Madam, you cannot talk about this. You promised that person…"
Gujri's trembling voice penetrated through Lilavati's broken mind and she sobered up immediately.
Pushing away the maid, she stood up a bit unsteadily. "Have them draw up a bath. You may leave the room after that. I want to be alone for a while."
Lilavati spent an hour grooming herself before she finally felt her senses were back in control. Over the years, it was becoming tougher for her to remain coherent at times. She found herself sinking into past memories, happy or sad ones and it was tough to extract herself and come back to reality.
She sat in front of the gilded mirror and looked at her reflection absently. A nearly unlined but sad face peered back at her. Lilavati patted her cheeks and scolded her reflection. "I need to remain strong… at least until my daughters are settled."
A ruthless gleam flashed past her eyes, making her face look distorted for a moment.
"My daughters are the best. They deserve the best. No one can surpass them, no one can beat them," said she in a strange, unrecognisable voice.
A minute later, a loud crashing sound emerged from her room. But no one entered the inner chambers. Her close serving staff was long-used to this behavior, especially so after a visit by the eldest master.
Few kilometers away, Champabadi*
A young woman lay amidst messy sheets in a languid pose. Her bare, thin shoulders were red due to the rough stubble marks of the man who was sitting with his eyes closed across her. The room still held the smell of intense love making which had taken place just a while ago.
"I thought that you would not be visiting this poor girl tonight. You had mentioned last evening that you were extremely busy during the next few days. To tell you the truth, I was heartbroken at the thought of the upcoming lonely nights. That's why this surprise visit is truly wonderful. I will take it as an early birthday gift," the husky voice spoke awkwardly in the Mandhaari language.
It was clear that this was not her mother tongue but it held a foreign charm which was bewitching for the listener.
The girl had been brought here from Adra and her words still held the accent of her native country.
Rudradev stared at the near naked, grey-eyed beauty in front of him. Even though he knew that all courtesans were experts in lying through their teeth, he chose not to expose her. After all, he had been dealing with them for many years now and had accepted a few 'truths' already.
He focussed on the last thing that she had mentioned and asked with some interest. "When is your birthday?"
Aali blinked innocently at her most prized patron and said coquettishly, "Three days from today."
Rudradev inhaled sharply at her answer. Aali was slightly unnerved at the intense stare of the man but held onto her composure.
"Will the master visit me that night?" She asked in a soft voice.
But Rudradev didn't pay attention to her question. He was trying hard to look for signs… any sort of semblance that this face had with 'her'. After all, they seemed to share a lot of things in common. Out of which, the most shocking was the same date of birth.
Was this a coincidence?
He mumbled a reply which sounded neither like a confirmation nor a denial. But Aali didn't let that affect her love and enthusiasm towards him through the night.
Next Morning
The muhurat* for the havan* was supposed to be the end of the first prahar as informed by the priest. Both Kirtidev and Rudradev looked bleary-eyed, albeit for different reasons.
Thankfully the atmosphere was festive enough with the entire family's presence and their lack of enthusiasm went unnoticed.
Despite the cold weather, Kirtidev was dressed only in a yellow silk dhoti and was bare-chested and barefoot. Usually, while sitting for the ceremony, a person was only supposed to wear one single cloth - a saree for women, a dhoti for men.
The dhoti was tied in a different and more elaborate way for the ceremony. It was tucked at five places. These five places were Pancha-mahabhutas – Prithvi (Absolute Earth), Apa (Absolute Water), Tej (Absolute Fire), Vayu (Absolute Air) and Aksash (Absolute Water).
The knot of the dhoti was to be tied at the navel. It was claimed that the area of the navel was something known as the 'Panchak-mandal'.
The Panchaprans (five vital energies) which were concentrated around the center of the navel region were activated due to the continuous pressure from the knot of the dhoti.
Moreover, the folds of the dhoti were tucked at the same place where the knot connected with the Panchak-mandal. These folds apparently transmitted the frequencies connected with the Universe and Panchamahabhutas in the atmosphere.
When his wife was alive, she used to be the one to tie the dhoti before such holy proceedings. Since her death, Kirtidev had learnt the complicated process on his own. He wouldn't let any of his attendants help him. Though there was a prevalent custom in Mandhaar of older men, who became widowers, to take in other women as their companions.
Such a woman would not be given the position of a legal wife nor would her offspring find a place in the official genealogy of the clan, but she could be given any and every responsibility of a wife, depending upon the patriarch of the household.
*Champabadi - Champa means magnolia flower and badi is a name for a place with a fence or boundary, usually an establishment. In this case, it is a small brothel.
*Mahurat - is an auspicious time for an enterprise to begin or for a ceremony to take place.
*Havan - is a fire ritual performed on special occasions by a Hindu priest