The King asked Juan to stay away from Sara for a few days
till she became fully all right, so as to not be the cause of any further
trauma to her. As the agonizing days
went by slowly, Juan took care of his ailing mother, who was delirious with joy
on seeing him again; and nursed her to good health again. He then informed her about all that he had
undergone in the past few years. Several
times through that detailed narration, her eyes welled up with pride, happiness
and sorrow in turns. It was as if she
had gone through all his trials and tribulations. For Juan, it was a cathartic
experience, one that he had really needed.
He felt as if he was at the crossroads of life again, just as he had
been, when he had first set off for Regina, to participate in the contest to
win the fair Princess’ hand! Little had
he known then, that destiny would test him such a lot. He had failed the King’s test, much to his
dismay, won over the hearts of not just one, but 2 beautiful damsels and
undergone a personal transformation at the shrine! The last experience belied words.
He had lived in
an enchanted and secluded world filled with peace and contentment for 3 whole
years and had lost all desire for material wealth and accomplishment of any
kind! He didn’t want to marry the
Princess now, he didn’t want to Lord over Regina as a King and neither hankered
for wealth, power or prestige. All that
he wanted now was to go back to his humble abode with the 2 women he loved most
in the world now; his mother and Myara.
But he realized that it was easier said than done. He now had an even more grueling test in
store for him.
He had to
convince Myara of his intentions, politely tell off the King and escape from
the wantonness of the ailing Princess Sara who had set her heart on making him
hers, like a coveted toy. Really, how
long could her fascination with him last, he wondered! After all, rich kids were never short of
supply of toys to amuse and entertain them; which they discarded callously,
once their fancy faded, like the moon giving way to the sun in the mornings!
Yes, Sara was
obsessed with him, but wasn’t the King too, considering that he had requested
him to stay there till the Princess fully recovered, which could be, no one
knew when! Had he escaped one prison to
land up in another? The difference being;
from austerity to royalty!
Would he never be able to live a life on his
own terms? He felt frustrated and
miserable.
His mother on
the other hand, was very happy to live in comfortable surroundings for a
change. Here she didn’t have to worry
about where their next meal would come from, nor slog endlessly without
reprieve. She secretly hoped that her
son would marry Sara one day and become the King of Regina. She was just being a normal mother, who
desired simply the very best for her only son.
Juan had
confided in her, his dilemma over Myara’s refusal to accept his love and his
desire to settle down in his village again.
But his ambitious mother nursed ambitions to see him rule over the
Kingdom and desired to be known all over, as the King’s mother! She didn’t desire luxury; she only wanted her
son to be an achiever. Having nearly
reached his goal, she considered it stupid on his part to want to throw it all
away. She didn’t want his ordeal of the
past few years to go in vain!
She had tried
to reason it out with Juan, only to be met with a stubborn silence. He wouldn’t even talk back to her; she knew
that and just ended up raving, ranting, wailing and cursing their destiny!
She was
grateful to Myara for bringing her son back from that place of no return, the
shrine, but resented her for ‘ensnaring’ her son in return! She wanted him to
live a life of luxury after all the struggle and hardship that he had suffered
in his childhood. She decided to
persuade Myara to reject Juan and extricate herself from his future life.
One day, she
went to Myara’s house. Myara was pleased
to see her; “Sit down mother. I’m happy
to see that you’ve become fit and strong now.
I’m sure that seeing your long-lost son has given you the impetus to
become well again. What will you have?”
“My son!” said
Juan’s mother.
“Excuse me?”
inquired Myara, shocked.
“You heard it
right. I want my son back. Please don’t give him the idea that you
desire him, if you want him to succeed in life.
If you are his true well-wisher, you’ll do as I say. I’ll be always grateful to you for bringing
me here and re-uniting me with my son, but he’s destined for bigger things in
life. Please let him marry Sara and
become the King of Regina. You may
consider me to be selfish, but if a mother’s best wishes for her only son are
selfish, so be it. I don’t care what
anyone thinks about me. But promise me
that you’ll din good sense into him.”
Through the
tears that threatened to blind her, Myara said “I promise, on Juan’s life since
I love him so much. Trust me; I’ll never go back on my word. I’ll do all I can, to make him marry Sara.”
“I’m sorry,”
said Juan’s mother with tears coursing down her cheeks. Yes Myara was truly a noble girl. Brave, kind and generous. Why she
couldn’t have been Sara, she thought as she made her way home, at peace with
herself.
As she wrote
that sentence, Martha felt very annoyed with herself. She had indeed promised Sara that she’d unite
her with Juan, but she hadn’t even imagined that she’d have to break the stoic
Myara’s heart for that purpose! She
(Martha) had become the vamp in that love story. Even then, as an author, she was amazed at
the way her story was proceeding at break-neck pace, with sudden twists in the
plot and never-ending intrigue. She put
down her pen, sat back in her chair and wondered how her story would finally
end!
To be continued....
The copyright of this novel is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
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