Play In Darkness (Eng/END)

39. I'm With You

India, 1763, Rajputana Udai Singh Palace

***

The golden light of the sun rose from the eastern horizon, becoming the backdrop for the arrival of a group of soldiers and their king, Rajputana Udai Singh. Riding his white horse and wearing metal armor and helmet, Rajputana looked mighty to lead his troops. The victory of Rajputana was welcomed by everyone. The townspeople greeted them with cheers and dances to happy songs. The servants, concubines, and wives of Rajputana gathered in the front yard of the palace, their faces beaming awaiting the appearance of their king. The wives brought diya with fires lit and trays filled with various colorful flowers, running to be at the very front of the line.

Arrived at the palace courtyard and saw the women Rajputana was very excited. All his fatigue after passing through the war for days disappeared instantly. A big smile appeared on his face. In his eyes, there was only one face plastered, namely the face of his lover, Chandni. However, of the many women who greeted him, he did not find the face he missed. When everyone had greeted him and prepared to take him to the great banquet room, he didn't flinch and his eyes wandered.

"My lord, is there something wrong?" asked a woman with red and gold rays, one of Rajputana's wives. Her name is Anuradha.

"Where's my Chandni?" Raj asked without turning to his wife. The faces of the wives and concubines immediately hardened to hear that.

Anuradha took Rajputana's hand at once. "Ah, maybe she needs a little more time to get ready to welcome you, My Lord. Come on, my lord, let's go to the banquet first, many people are waiting there to immediately celebrate my lord's victory," persuaded Anuradha. Someone who comes to war must be very tired and hungry. She will make Rajputana drunk and forget about Chandni.

Raj shakes Anuradha's hand. He felt worried that something was wrong. "Call Chandni!" he said loudly, but no one moved. Even everyone fell silent.

"Call Chandni!" repeated Raj. Still nothing moving. He made big strides and decided to find his Chandni himself. Anuradha half runs beside him and pulls his hand. "Let the servants search for her, my lord, now there is something more important than Chandni!" the woman whined, angering Raj and shaking her hand so that she fell.

Rajputana's heart was restless. The shadow of the person he loved ran to avoid him. He searched several rooms and into theirs, but could not find the figure he was looking for. His feet stepped into the garden as if he heard her voice calling him. His heart was beating fast ready to get out of his chest cavity and the heart stopped beating when he saw a body lying under a banyan tree. He knew that the dress had originally been yellow. He hoped that his eyes saw the wrong way, for the dress was red with blood.

Maybe he was too tired to sleepwalking and had nightmares. Rajputana's steps were stiff and heavy approaching the body. He fell to his knees at Chandni's side and his hands were shaking trying to reach her, but he didn't know where to touch her. He hopes that the body in front of him is not the body of his lover.

Am I still on the battlefield? The question crossed his mind. The one body that was before him this time was more tragic than the hundreds of wounds and corpses lying on the battlefield. As he got closer he could clearly see her beautiful face which was now white as cotton. Her gleaming eyes were now closed but not sleeping. Smooth curves formed on her cheeks as if she were smiling. Raj could even see the tear marks drying. The wound opened in her stomach and the remaining umbilical cord protruded from it. The blood was black because it had clotted.

It was supposed to be a sunny morning, bathed in warm sunshine, but Raj felt his body was ice cold. The pain was as if a long, dull sword sliced through his body, sliced open his chest, and pulled his heart out. Without feeling the tears running down his cheeks. Was there any point in him winning the battle if he came back alive only to be dead in his soul?

His hands that have killed hundreds of humans, now embrace the frozen bodies of her lover's of the heart and mind. With a soft sob and trembling lips, he kissed Chandni on the forehead then whispered in her ear, "Mere chaand, main tumhaare saath hoon." My Chandni, I am with you. "Hamesha aur hamesha." Always and forever.

Two white-winged beings standing by Rajputana's side. A handsome young man with gray hair and a thin face, his partner is a young man with black hair. They are officers from the Death Division who have higher authority than Devdas, tasked with cleaning up the mess created by the lower-ranking staff. "He can't die because of Devdas' spell," said the black haired man.

"Oh, that's easy," said the gray-haired man. He deflected Devdas mantra with the incantation, "This man will not die from physical causes, but he will die from heartache."

The two then looked at the grieving couple. "Devdas broke all the rules because of these two people, I don't believe he could be that stupid because of a human. If the situation were the opposite, I doubt whether humans would make the same sacrifice for him," muttered the black-haired man.

"We'll see. Devdas will be sent to earth and become a human. Eternity will make him tormented and lonely, as well as allow him to meet these two people."

"Two persons?" The black hair was astonished. "I thought only one person was sent reincarnation for Devdas."

"Oh, I added Rajputana to the list," said the gray-haired man, patting his partner's shoulder. "You know, humans like the presence of a third person. The third person always makes the atmosphere festive. Especially if the third person is not just anyone, hehehe ...."

The black hair looked doubtful at his comrade's ignorant face, then the two of them sped off and left the place. The place where Rajputana found his dead lover in such a pathetic event. The man lost two people at once. Her lover and their baby.

From that day on, Rajputana lost his will to live. He can't die on the battlefield even if he has his body exposed to the enemy's attack. He is still alive, but inside is dead. Three years later, Rajputana died at a relatively young age, 30 years old, due to loneliness and illness.

His longing and love were so strong that his soul was reincarnated and he was reborn as Imdad Hussain. His promise to reunite him with his heart and mind lover, Chandni, or who is reborn as Delisha.

*

India, November 2010.

*

The figure of a red robe appeared from behind the darkness of the night in the courtyard of the Khuda Jaane Orphanage. The night was late and very cold because the wind was blowing hard and drizzling rain. The tiny baby, who is still covered in blood and the rest of the umbilical cord, falls asleep in her arms because of the transportation between the times she does. The figure opened its hood, revealing wavy golden-brown hair. The dim light on the porch of the orphanage brightened her young face. Her gray eyes stared gently at the baby in her arms. "I will not let you die in a vain, little girl," she muttered as she opened her robe and then wrapped the baby in it.

"In this day and age you will live a better life," she said again, placing the baby soundly at the door of the orphanage. She gently stroked the baby's crown which was covered in thick black hair and said again, "Don't worry, you'll see your father, soon!" The gray-eyed girl was banging on the door to wake the occupants. When the lights inside were turned on, she knew someone was awake. She rushed to leave the place by disappearing into another dimension of time.

The white-haired mistress with a chubby face pressed the blanket over her shoulders and peered out the door. She was a little surprised that she didn't find anyone in the yard. But when she looked down, she saw a tiny baby in a red cloth wrapped peacefully asleep. She was shocked, picked up the baby, and exclaimed cheerfully, "Oh my God, what a beautiful baby, you deserve to be a queen!" she praised. She brought the baby into the room and cleaned it. The baby who just came into the world a few moments ago was still asleep and was wrapped in a soft and warm cloth. The mistress who picked it up said while stroking the tiny baby's hair. "From now on your name is Rani!"