“Why did you come out to get captured?”
Tamluk inquired Chitradeep.
“You know ...a dog’s tail always
follows it.” Tamluk laughed at Chitradeep’s sense of humor even in this
situation. The two friends kept walking side by side enjoying each others
company.
Soon they neared the camp as the sun had reached the
horizon. The sound of the mighty Gomti river could not suppress the sound of
the horses’ hooves and the sound of the returning hunting party. The five
shadows had stopped following the hunting party at the end of the jungle upon a
hand signal from Tamluk. They hid themselves at the top of some trees and kept
watch.
A beautiful song came floating in the evening breeze as if
laying a caress on the already beautiful sunset. It had such an enigmatic
appeal that Tamluk could not help himself and instantly took out his flute
which was tucked in his waistband. It took him a moment to understand the flow
of the music and quickly gave accompaniment to it. They were almost upon the
camp. Everybody in the camp who had come out to greet the king and his hunting
party fell silent and enchanted at the same moment. It was an incredible moment
for everybody.
The sun was setting in the background and the sky had taken
a reddish-orange hue with the castles in the sky taking a crimson colour. The
light breeze had the unknown sweet smell of a forest flower. The enigmatic
sound of Tamluk’s flute and the sweet sound of Sreelekha’s voice seemed to cast
a spell on everybody. All eyes were fixed on Tamluk.
Suddenly Sreelekha engrossed in her evening prayer heard the
sound of the flute which she had heard only once before and came running out of
the Royal tent. Immediately her doe like eyes were fixed on Tamluk who was so
much engrossed in playing his flute that he had not noticed Sreelekha. The sun
was setting behind Tamluk and his handsome figure was so engrossed in the music
that it seemed to Sreelekha that Lord Shiva himself had come down on earth to
meet her.
Tamluk brought the music to a befitting end and opened his
eyes. He had not noticed that the vocal music had stopped and they had reached
the camp. When he opened his eyes, he was staring speechlessly into the
beautiful eyes of Sreelekha. It felt to both that they had finally found the
person whom they had been searching for the whole lifetime.
Never before had it happened that Chitradeep had seen his
friend in such a state. Neither had it happened that Sreelekha had not run to
the arms of Bhim Sen when he returned home. Nor had the people seen such a
handsome person in their life. He had to be a prince.
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