They brought me through the golden-framed threshold. The ceiling looked as if from the high vault of a luminous cavern. After a while, they lowered my body onto a hard and cold surface. The bed seemed to glow in jade-green color.
"Mother," I whispered weakly.
The sound of trickling water reverberated from the stone walls. I could still hear music humming from the outside.
The whole chamber was cold and lit with a greenish ethereal glow. I smelled flowers and incense in the cold freshness of the icy air.
The place was so cold that I shivered. There was misty vapor brushing against my skin every now and then. Despite it all, my body still raged with high fever and felt limp with numbness.
"Nikita, my love," Amarisa's melodious voice sounded close by. I opened my eyes wider to find her. She was kneeling at my bedside and touching my face longingly. The princess sobbed and continued in teary broken words. "Was it not grief enough in my worried wait since you sailed away to sea? Now you returned to me and yet here you are in agony. Please be well soon and relieve me from my taunting sorrow."
I wanted to spare her beautiful face from those hateful tears, but my limbs were powerless and my voice was lost.
"Amarisa, dear," a male voice spoke, which surprised me since I didn't expect the King's company there. "You shall rest assured. If ever anyone was under the fostering care of the gods, it was her."
"We must leave the girl now, daughter," Queen Indradevi said, sounding poised and calm as ever. "Our ancestral spirit will soon respond to the offering and chanting hymns. There is no need for you to worry yourself sick too."
"But what if she won't be well again, mother? What if she's still hurting?"
"Hear us, good child," this time it was my mother who spoke. I knew by the sound of her voice that Amarisa's grief was tantamount to hers. "Doubt not the spirit of our holy land. Do entail in our prayers for her healing. I believe the Naga Spirit shall come in due time."
Amarisa reluctantly moved away from me. But before she did, her soft hand caressed my cheek one more time.
Then another set of gentle hands pulled the blanket over my limp body. A warm kind hand placed on my forehead. I could see my mother's face better now.
"O Spirit of the Naga, I pray to you, please save my beloved child," she said softly that only I could hear. "Be gracious and kind to me and bestow us a healing of your elixir. My daughter is terribly ill. I shall vow to you a yearly fast and handsome offering. May you answer my prayer now and restore her health."
After having finished her chant, she kissed my forehead and then moved away as well.
"Mother..." I tried to call her back, but she was gone.
No sooner than when I heard the chamber doors closed that I began to sink back into my own darkness. Time was slipping endlessly like the flowing sand. Yet inside this stone chamber, everything felt timeless and still.
My eyes stared blankly at the high ceiling of the tower. I was drifting between uneasy slumber and wakefulness.
Then all around me, I felt a crawling silk. It was cold and sleek and moving like smooth snake scales against my skin. Even in my half-conscious state, I knew it was a giant snake curling and slithering over my listless body.
No, not a snake, a serpent.
I would have been thrown into my old mortal fit of fright, but my panic wasn't there in my senile condition. The serpent wrapping itself around my body felt heavy like piles of iron chains.
Then I heard seething sound liberating every once in a while. My heart drummed in my ears. Through the slits of my drowsy eyes, the scales gleamed like a rainbow.
At last, I was lifted off the bed to a seated position. My eyelids gently peeled open on their own.
Sitting on the bed with me was a young woman. At first, I thought it was Amarisa. She looked exactly like my princess, except the glowing aura around her body.
There was a distinct difference though. This maiden had a human form joined with a serpent lower half. She stared at my face with glowing green eyes. Her long hair was as black as night. It cascaded down to her naked body. Her presence could send a wild madness to anyone's heart, but mine was too weak to be touched by such divinity.
"O ill-fated one," the green-eyed maiden spoke, her voice was like hypnotizing spells. "So lovely yet so pitiful."
Her serpent tail fell away from my body like undone clothes. She came to hold me in her arms, letting my head rest against her soft bosom. My nerves tingled from our contact, which reminded me of Amarisa.
How strange?
Then the serpent maiden took my bandaged hand in hers. My fingers were swollen red and bleeding through the cloth. Slowly, she unwrapped the stained fabric and raised my damaged palm to her parted lips.
Two sharp stings pierced into my flesh, and I knew it was from the maiden's teeth.
I winced in sheer pain. My body tensed in her arms. But then she released me again. She bled out the dark blood from my wound.
Soon the ruined skin faded like a shadow. My burned patches were now replaced anew. The sharp twinge was gone as my hand began to heal again.
"My venom will cancel the poison in your veins," the young woman said. "It was fortunate that you have been blessed by a celestial being, lest your form would have been long gone like dust in the wind."
I began to feel a lot better, but the weakness still remained.
"You..." I tried to speak. "Are you...the Naga Spirit?"
"Yes, I am," she said. "I have been desirous of meeting you—the stranger of another realm. I received your mother's prayer and came to see a handsome girl laying in Rajyasri's chamber. Now that I have done seeing, a surge feeling of affinity has bloomed within my heart. I am delighted to see a familiar face again, but saddened that your life shall face so much more misery."
I wanted to open my mouth and ask what she meant, but I couldn't.
The serpent maiden ended her talk and made me drink a purple glowing liquid from a small crystal vial. I didn't know why I trusted this Naga woman, but I drank earnestly, and after I finished, the strength of a thousand elephants seeped through my entire being.
The power of her remedy mounted upon me, overwhelming all my senses. I gasped at the flowing energy rushing beneath my skin and binding in my bones. With a gasp, I sat upright on my own and looked at myself in a surprised relief.
"I believe your health is fully restored," the maiden said to me with an approval smile.
"Oh thank you!" I breathed, still amazed at my fast recovery. I was staring at my hand, which was completely healed. I felt so much better as if I had never been wounded. And so much stronger, too.
The Naga Spirit was indeed a miracle.
"O ill-fated one, what act of haste have you done to injure yourself so severely?"
I turned to her. She did look the same as my princess.
"I was on a quest to find the Rainbow Fish, my lady," I told her. "I was burned by its fire scale. I thought I was dying, but now I am fine and healthy again because of your caring hands. I thank you for your kindness."
"Nothing to be thankful for, dear one, all the Nagas possess such healing ability," she said and smiled.
"Have you been living here all alone?" I asked curiously. "What are you exactly?"
"I'm a spirit as you have heard," she said. "I used to be immortal, but not anymore."
"Why?" I said. "So you're dead now? What happened?"
"I left my family a very long time ago," she said. "Now my essence remains here to protect this land."
I had heard of the different races of the Naga. They dwelled in the water, the earth, and the ether. All were born from Kadru, the mother of a thousand serpent deities. Ananta Sesha was the first and foremost, a loyal servant of Lord Vishnu. Then there was Vasuki, the Naga King who churned the Ocean of Milk with the Devas. Later being Airavata and Taksaka and many others. I wondered which family she descended from.
"Who are you, my lady?" I said. "You look too familiar to someone I know."
The Naga woman smiled and reached out to brush a strand of hair from my face.
"My name is Suma," she told me. "I am the daughter of a serpent king who owns this land."
"Oh, were you the one who married a foreign prince?" I said. "I thought it was only a myth!"
"The tale of our union combines fact with fiction. It was meant to reinforce the oneness of my people," Suma said. "My mortal husband was from the line of the Lunar Dynasty known as Chandravansha. It was one of the four houses of the Kshatriya Varna, the warrior–ruling caste. His bloodline was descended from the moon god himself."
I gasped.
"I never knew that! Please tell me more," I said. "Did the Naga King, your father, accept your marriage?"
"Of course, he had to. We were fated lovers from our other past lives," she said and looked at me nostalgically. "But I had to give up my immortality once I married a human. Before my husband set sail and came to this land, there was nothing but heaven-wide water and a holy tree up a golden hill. My father drained the water by swallowing it then gave this beautiful land as our wedding gift. Together, we founded the first kingdom. When my dear husband had gone to rest, my father begged me to return to our world, yet I devoted myself to protect my husband's legacy. For almost a thousand years, my spirit remains here."
Her green eyes glowed brighter as she spoke of her past. I smiled though it was strange that I felt the pit of my stomach churning. What kind of serpent power had possessed me that I almost felt the longing for this maiden too? I felt disgusted with myself, but she looked a lot like my beloved princess, who had wept so heavily at my bedside a moment ago.
"My lady...er...forgive me, but you resemble my beloved princess so much."
The Naga princess dropped her gaze as if in sadness.
"When I died, my father grieved and vowed to never lose another child to any human ever again. But now it seems the Fate is against most wishes as ever."
"What does it mean?"
"Because you are here now," she said, her tone grew sadder.
"I don't understand. What matter does my being here have to do with anything?"
"Your life is in grave danger," Suma said. "The gods are taking turns testing your worth. Some want to help you, others want you to fail, but I must warn the one that leads you to tragic loss is the love you cherish the most."
"I beg your pardon?" I cried in astonishment. "Why?"
"To turn the Wheel of Destiny and set it in motion," she said and looked grief-stricken at me. "That is all I am allowed to tell you."
A frown marred my face as I tried to think. When I was in heaven, Lady Kemira also spoke of a similar mystery.
Who did I love the most?
The answer was obvious. I loved Amarisa. Even after what happened to me—even after what I had with other maidens, I was still in love with my princess. She was the one I cherished the most.
What the Naga princess said felt like a riddle wrapped in enigma one after another. Were they trying to manipulate me and persuade me to leave my princess, whom I valued above all? What would happen if I remained with Amarisa? I stared at the serpent woman with a rising fear.
The Naga princess gazed at me like she could hear my thoughts.
"Everything in this world change and pass by, some after many years, some overnight," she said as if to console me. "I know you love her so dearly. I could feel your passion reaching through me as though we were one again."
"I don't understand," I whispered.
The Naga maiden's glowing eyes then bore into mine. Was it love I saw on her beauteous face? If so, I didn’t know what to think.
Then serpent maiden came to encompass me in her arms.
"Nikita," the Naga princess said as she stroked my hair. "Amarisa is my reincarnation."
CHAPTER 48
The heralds sounded in the rosy-lighted morning. Their ringing tones signaled the end of the old day. I sat on the stone bed waiting for the chamber doors to open again.
Then a golden light split through the darkness as my fair dainty princess entered the temple. She hurried inside with an anxious look upon her features. Her piercing dark eyes widened in profound relief once she saw me. A sheer delight crossed our faces at the same time. I stood and smiled, causing her tears to fall afresh over the rims of those carved lashes.
"Nikita..." Amarisa breathed.
"Your Highness," I greeted her back. She rushed towards me with uncontrollable joy. I opened my arms to welcome her.
"Oh Nikita, Delighter of my soul! I'm utterly glad you're well again!" she cried. "I was so afflicted by the burden of my pains, but seeing you back in all goodness and health, the pains ebbed and had swiftly gone! Thank heavens, now you have truly returned to me!"
She buried her face into my neck and began to sob. I stroked her hair as she tightened her hold around my waist.
"Worry no more, Amarisa," I said and held her back with the same longing. "I'm now cured and all fine. Look, there's no more pain."
Amarisa drew herself away to look at my face. Her sparkling eyes searched for mine. Her hands reached up to touch my cheek gently. She then brushed her delicate fingers over my shoulders and my arms as if seeing me there wasn't convincing enough for her. After a while, she took my once-injured hand and turned it over to inspect the change.
She was astounded by the curing miracle. Amarisa smiled again. She bent over to place her soft lips on my healed palm as though to chase away all the remaining ache.
I watched Amarisa even more closely. She was indeed the ample replica of the Naga princess from last night. The serpent woman had appeared to me like in a dream and also disappeared the same way.
I remembered before she left, the spirit maiden kissed me on the forehead and whispered almost in grief that the life I had been living now was only a fragile bubble in the cosmic stream. Everything was shaped by the Karma of my other lifetimes.
‘The one who is your lover in this life might perhaps have been your beloved in the past, but so are those you hate as your karma has woven with theirs,’ she had told me grimly. ‘Throughout my years of being in this mortal realm, all pleasures that arise in the world are bound to end. They are merely sources of your pains. You must not be attached to them.’
It was hard to understand what she said. Her words were stinging and penetrating with too much omen and despair that I couldn't even grasp her wisdom yet.
If Amarisa was actually the reincarnation of the Naga princess, then someone must be her past lover —someone who was great and noble, and not guilty and pretentious like me.
Amarisa should belong to that person. I was just a vaguest-fated girl, who had fallen from the sky as a token for a sacrifice and therefore unfitted to be her life partner.
I had secretly betrayed her love and trust by taking other lovers. How could I shamelessly claim this pure woman as mine?
Maybe, the Naga maiden had come to me not only to heal but also to sway my heart from Amarisa. Maybe, I wasn't the true match of the dainty princess.
One unsettling thought attracted many more to come. They rolled down like avalanches over me, and I had to herd my mind back from this aimless wandering. Amarisa was still absorbed in my presence and did little notice.
I wiped her tear-stained face and gave a gentle kiss on her cheek, whispering sweet nothing to calm her down.
Then we heard other footsteps entering the chamber. We turned to find some of my avatar friends in the hall. Tusita, Vorac and Atith were there. They let out a chorus of relieved sighs.
"Thank lord father!" Atith said, smiling. "I knew the glow of hope would return to us. You're back all charming and bright again!"
After I told them that I was saved by the serpent spirit and everything was fine, Tusita nodded to me as if to say it was time to leave the temple. The smell of incense smoke and jasmine scent drifted in the morning breeze. All night long they must have been praying for my healing. I was self-conscious to cause them so much trouble.
Then I thought of my mo
ther. She would certainly be here to see me, yet there was no sight of her.
With a surge of intuition, an unusual inkling rose from the pit of my stomach.
"Where's my..." I turned to Amarisa but stopped myself in time. "I meant...where are your parents?"
The princess's smile faded instantly. I felt this indescribable hunch in my gut. Her eyes lifted to my face, and a new wave of worrisome etched on her visage again.
"They have gone back to the palace quite urgently," she said in an unmistakably troubled voice.
"Do tell me what happened," I said.
"Queen Mother Jayara has fallen ill," she said. "It was mainly from exhaustion after hours of praying."
"Oh no!" I gasped. My heart clenched with worries. "Bring me to her now. Please, I want to see her!"
I struggled to move, but I couldn't find my balance. My knees were still wobbly.
"Not yet, Nikita," Vorac said to calm me down. "You will see her again when it's allowed."
Amarisa carefully probed me up as my body still felt odd to me. Atith took my other arm to keep me upright.
"I want to see her," I said, "Please."
Everyone seemed surprised by my outburst of concern.
"You need more resting and a hearty meal and holy drink," Tusita said. "They will let you see the Queen when you're able to. There's no need to worry."
Amarisa nodded to me in agreement.
"Queen Mother will be fine, Nikita," she said. "I promise that we will bring you to her upon her wake."
Her words eased my unsettling heart.
They walked me outside. Later I was told that Tepi and the rest of the avatars had accompanied the royals back to the palace.
"My lady!" Kesar appeared by my side, but she stopped herself from coming any closer to me while Amarisa was there.
I looked at the Kennari and gave a soothing smile to tell her I was fine. Then I caught the look on Amarisa's face as she looked at us. I knew jealousy was unexpected and strange to the princess. The bond I forged with Kesar was far different from any maidens and surely it must have shown. Amarisa was wise more or less like her birth mother, the scholar Queen. She too noticed unsaid things, but the royal maiden was too innocent to know how to interpret it. I felt cruel to her. I was ashamed of being the cause of her confusion.
Daughter of the Naga Page 39
