Till Death Do Us Part

The faint glow of the setting sun glistened on the ripples of the Jhelum, as the ripples moves away one by one. The wind coming from the North-westerly direction, murmured as they passed through the Chinar leaves. As far as her eyes could see, the banks on both sides of the river Jhelum was green with Eucalyptus and Chinar trees. The fields extending beyond the banks, were aflame with ripened wheat. Cornelia was savouring these few moments of peace with herself, before Cleon would eventually come back with the message that she already apprehended. ‘She stood by the palace window, tall and still, gazing absently at the blurred distance. She had two choices: both unattractive, out of which, she would have to take a decision.’ Her mind flitted back to the horses that she had seen with the pair of horse-traders who had come to the palace grounds the previous morning. The trader had promised to return with a white Arabian horse. Horses were Cornelia’s passion. As a princess, she had by default taken military lessons, and unlike her timid step-sister Loudois, she was very skilled at horse-riding.

Dusk was descending on the valley, like a pall of gloom. Her heart was held hostage, and she felt like she was struggling to break free, just like that pigeon, which was enmeshed in the fine nets covering the terrace. Before she could make a move, Cleon was already by the bird’s side, gently disengaging its claws from the net. The very small golden capsule attached to the bird’s neck, came to both the maidens’ notice almost simultaneously. The looked at each other with amazement, while the white messenger pigeon sat on Cornelia’s shoulder as her white downs glistened whiter in the fading light.

“Prince Antiochus has dispatched general, Hector, with the permission of the Emperor, who will be arriving at the palace by the Jhelum in a couple of days and has asked for the privilege of audience with princess Cornelia, my Lady,” Eugene, the other, lady-in-waiting, bowed. Cornelia’s eyebrows furrowed. The very name of Antiochus, made her blood boil. Antiochus, her eldest step-brother, and Cornelia’s own mother were engaged in an illicit relationship. The Emperor had found his son and his second wife Stretonis in bed, and his weakness had not allowed him to punish either of them. Antiochus was his first born from the Persian princess Apama and he loved him dearly. So instead of punishing them, Emperor Seleucus Nicator had married off his legal second wife, Syrian princess, Stretonis to his eldest son and had given him the governorship of the Babylonian part of the Seleucid empire. Cornelia had never known, what it was like to have a mother. All the motherly love that she had ever received was from, her step mother, Apama, Antiochus and Loudious ‘s mother. The very name of Antiochus and Stretonis brought up varied distasteful memories, it brought bitter bile up her throat, and today, that very Antiochus had, had the audacity to force his choice, ‘Hector’ as her probable suitor. Hector was a general in Seleucus’s army and was loyal to Antiochus. Cornelia, had every reason and the will to rebel against this choice, but it had come to her ears that, an Indian ‘Satrap’ who was not of aristocratic bearings had defeated the great Mauryan emperor Dhanananda, who ruled over the entire North and North Eastern part of India, killed him in a battle with the able guidance of his minister cum mentor, Chanakya, and had sent a messenger to her father’s court, asking for her hand in marriage.

Cornelia was forced to wind up her memories, as it was time to light the lamp at the Temple of Apollo. She was torn by the desire to read the message that the messenger pigeon carried, but her sister Loudois, stepped into her room at that moment. Loudois, picked up the golden cylindrical object from Cleon, and exclaimed in astonishment, “this seems to be a message” and excitedly, she wound the knob on the top of the cylinder, and took out a rolled-up piece of paper. To the amazement of all present, a replica of Cornelia was drawn on the paper, that was all that was there, and it was simply signed off as ‘your secret admirer’.  Loudois, Cleon, Eugene, all stared at Cornelia. Cornelia was even more amazed than the other three. It seemed to be straight out of a fairy tale. The details of her face had been depicted almost perfectly. One thing was quite evident. The sender of the message was not an ordinary person. He seemed to have considerable artistic skills as well as substantial money and power. It was not within the ability of a common man to acquire, tend to and train messenger pigeons, that too with gold cylindrical message capsules.

It was already dark and the tiny lights on the boats plying on the Jhelum. The blind goat herder was playing his flute like every other day, as he walked back to his mud dwelling. Such uncomplicated, existence, Cornelia thought as she yearned for a simpler life. She had craved for love and affection all her life, wished for an uncomplicated way of life, hoped to wake up in the arms of the person who would love her, unreservedly, but she shook her head with a wane smile, it was Not to be! Never to be! She was the princess of the mighty Seleucid Empire, a pawn in the power game. She gathered herself and held Loudois’s hand as the sisters came down the stairs and walked up the steps towards Apollo’s temple.

Emperor Dhanananda, of the great Nanda dynasty, of Pataliputra, had once insulted and thrown out one of his ministers, Acharya Chanakya, who was one the ablest of administrative advisors to Dhanananda, for what he considered as arrogance on the Acharya’s part. Chanakya left the court in search of livelihood but never once did the idea of getting even with mighty emperor leave him. He had once spotted a few boys playing in the fields, one of the boys had dressed up as a king and had regal bearings. Acharya Chanakya’s instincts told him that the child had promise. He enquired about the boy’s antecedents and came to know that his father Sarvartha Siddhi Maurya was the chieftain of a small principality and that his mother’s name was Mura, both of whom had been killed by Mahapadmananda. Chanakya picked up the boy and asked him, “will you be my disciple?” to which, the boy had answered “yes, if you help me kill, Dhanananda.”.

More than a decade had passed and Chandragupta had established the Maurya dynasty in Pataliputra, after routing the Nanda dynasty completely. He had married Durdhara, his cousin. It was evening, and the Nagchampa flowers were in full bloom near the window, outside his chamber. Oil lamps adorned the heavy brass chandelier that hung from the ceiling. The pillars were lightened up with oil lamps placed in their grooves. Chandragupta was resting with his hands behind his head. Mandakini was near his feet, playing the Veena. His mind fluttered to a vision. He was doing the rounds of his empire as a commoner, disguised as a horse-trader. Acharya Chanakya was with him. He was in the habit of executing this exercise intermittently, so as to check on the corruption in his kingdom. They had wandered towards the western flanks of his empire by the Jhelum and had come upon a palace, facing the Jhelum. Chanakya had warned the emperor that it apparently was a Greek palace. It was then that Chandragupta had chanced upon this vision, a vision that he was never to forget. A Greek Goddess in flowing white robe with her curly golden mane was wandering up and down the terrace. The sunlight had washed her entire being and she did not seem human. That vision reminded him of the legend of The Helen of Troy. “This was how, Helen must have seemed to Paris, when he had first chanced upon her, Chandragupta mused. From that day onwards, that light falling on the golden hair of the lady on the terrace never left the Emperor. In his waking hours, in his dreams, that vision lingered in his mind.

The emperor seemed restless and interrupted, the rendition. “Mandakini, do you know of anyone who knows Greek well?” Chandragupta asked as he sat up on the chaise. Just as she was about to answer, Mandakini, saw the reflection of empress Durdhara entering the room. Durdhara was expecting her first child. Mandakini bowed before the royal couple as she left the room. Durdhara seemed very agitated. She had met the spiritual Guru of Chandragupta, an Ajivik seer named Bhadrabahu, who had foretold that, the child that Durdhara was carrying would lose its life because of a cat. “I want you to kill all the cats in your empire, my Lord” Durdhara pleaded to Chandragupta. “Do you hear me, My Lord?” she repeated. Chandragupta was lost in his thoughts, and Durdhara’s sharp words seemed to break his trance. “I shall certainly see that your wishes are carried out, Maharani”, Chandragupta pacified her. “Meanwhile you need to rest as it is quite late.”

After Durdhara left, Chandragupta’s chamber, Mandakini sneaked in again, this time with another lady. “Maharaj” Mandakini, said while pointing out to the new entrant, “this is Shivani, she was captured by Alexander and served in his army as a lady-in-waiting and she knows Greek, quite well.” Shivani prostrated in front of the king.  Chandragupta said, “I need you to do two things for me, Shivani, but before that, I need you to swear complete secrecy, not even the Acharya must know about this.” Shivani stood nervously before her emperor. There was nothing that she would not do for her king. She had been saved by Chandragupta, and now she was leading a comfortable and respectable life in the palace premises. She knelt and looked up at Chandragupta, “your wishes are sacrosanct to me, my king, I shall never divulge your secrets, even if I am faced by death.” “Shivani, I need you to teach me Greek, but before that, right now, I want you to write a letter for me in Greek”. Shivani sat at the foot of the chaise, where Chandragupta sat, with a paper and a duck feather pen in her hand.” Chandragupta started off by “My beloved, from the time, that I have set my eyes on you…”

Cornelia was seated in her royal attire with her ladies in waiting, as General Hector, sent by Prince Antiochus, entered her chamber. He saluted the royal lady and transferred a royal note from the Emperor Seleucus Nicator himself.  The letter stated that, since the times were not favourable and that because a pall of war hung in the air, Seleucus had started withdrawing and consolidating his troops from the far ends of his empire to Seleucia, his capital city, and for the very same reason, he wanted Cornelia and Loudois to return with General Hector to Seleucia in a week’s time. This meant that Cornelia and Loudois had to leave with the entire household within a couple of days. Cornelia was doleful. She loved to stay in this palace, by the Jhelum, far removed from the aristocratic pageant and display of wealth and power. She loved the quiet life by the Jhelum, her morning spent in the gardens, her evenings on the terrace or at times on the royal boat on the Jhelum. She cherished her time spent alone at the temple of Apollo. She doted on Loudois’ daughter Hermes with whom she spent a lot of time and entertained her, as Hermes’ father, Nicomedes another general in Emperor Seleucus’s army was away in Persia. Cornelia wanted to spend her last evening in the royal boat on the Jhelum. The cool breeze soothed her mind. She wistfully looked around the ethereal settings and wished that she would one day, come back here. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she did not notice a white pigeon with a similar gold cylinder tied around its neck, sitting atop the mast. Loudois was the first to notice and it tamely flew down and sat on Loudois’ hand. The message was extracted from the capsule which read, that Cornelia’s secret admirer was enamoured by her beauty. Not a moment passed that he did not think about her and that one day they would surely meet. The message was in Greek and left Cornelia wondering. By this time, she had started taking an interest in the writer of the letter. The anonymity of the writer intrigued her, but she was sure about one thing, that, someone of extremely high calibre was doting on her.

General Hector was attracted to beautiful Cornelia and as the party proceeded towards Seleucia, with Hector at its head, through forests and plains, with heavily armed guards surrounding the convoy, Hector kept up a conversation with Cornelia. Hector had been promised Cornelia’s hand, by Antiochus and he felt that he had already gained right over her. General Hector was famed for his bravery and like most of the Greeks, he was very handsome. His sword glistened as he rode alongside, Cornelia’s horse. The convoy had stopped for lunch, and Loudois, Cornelia and Eugene, along with Loudois’ daughter Hermes were seated beneath a tree. Lunch had been laid out and Hector was about to join them. The murmur of the leaves reminded Cornelia that she had left behind precious memories, perhaps to none of which, she would be able to go back again. She would never know who her secret admirer was, who had observed her so keenly that he had succeeded in drawing her face so flawlessly. Surely, he would never find her again, as she was leaving her location at a very short notice. She sat absent-mindedly and picked at her food. Loudois observed her sad face and urged her to complete her lunch as they still had a long way to go. Meanwhile, hector joined them at the makeshift table and in a blink of an eye, there was a sword to his throat.

All of General Hector’s guards were on the ground, weapon-less and totally helpless. An Indian contingent of highly skilled soldiers had surrounded the entire convoy. Loudois clasped hold of Hermes and Cornelia and held them to her breast while shaking uncontrollably. There was chaos all around. The man who was holding a sword at Hector’s neck, asked all the ladies to calm down, all asked Hector to surrender his weapons. Hector instantly abided by his orders. The man who was holding Hector seemed to be the leader had his face covered by the end of his turban. He spoke softly “I will only need a few minutes with Princess Cornelia”. As Loudois gasped and clutched onto Cornelia even more tightly, the man assured them that no harm would come to any of the ladies. He then lightly took Cornelia’s hand, while another soldier held on to Hector. The man gently guided a shaking Cornelia to a distance and uncovered his face. It was a very handsome face, but the most striking factor in the face was the pair of eyes. The eyes were very deep and said that this person could be relied on. The man spoke as he knelt before Cornelia, “I am Chandragupta Maurya, The Emperor of the Mauryan dynasty, and I have loved you with all my heart, dear Helen, from the time, I have set my eyes on you. I could have taken you away today, this instant, but because I respect you my Princess, I shall take your hands with your father’s consent, either by love or by force”. He added, “from today onwards, you Helen, are betrothed to me”. With these words he stood up, held his Helen close and kissed her hands as the rays of the fading sun remained a mute spectator and a witness to a royal love that would go down in the annals of time.

The rest as they say, is history.

Author: Jayeeta Sen Roy