At those words, something strange shifted within me.
I was not afraid.
I did not grow angry.
I did not feel deceived.
Yet a new door opened within the nameless feeling that had always circled Sulochana in my heart.
He explained everything he could.
Trigangeya.
Panchanada.
The command of the revered sage.
The Art of Shapeshifting.
Why he had assumed that form.
Not everything—but as much as could be revealed at the time.
“This secret,” Sulochanudu said, “must not be told to anyone without the permission of the revered sage. Not even to your mother. Not even to your father. I am here for a purpose greater than teaching dance. When the proper time arrives, the revered sage himself will bring the truth to light.”
I swore to keep his word.
We did not speak for the rest of that night.
Before dawn, as the moonlight faded and sunlight began to rise, he once again took the form of Sulochana.
When my companions awoke, the person before them was the dance teacher Sulochana.
The following day, we all returned to the inner palace.
From that day onward, my teacher was no longer a mystery to me.
But protecting that mystery became my sacred vow.
---
When Kumudvati finished speaking, a profound silence settled over the chamber.
Vikramasena looked towards Sulochana.
Until then, he had seen a dance teacher.
A warrior in the royal court.
Now, before him lay the prince of Trigangeya—the son of Saumyasena, and a hidden bridge between two kingdoms.
Tears glimmered in Dharinidevi’s eyes.
Perhaps anger could have risen within her.
Perhaps pain at having been made part of a secret she did not fully understand.
But before all of that stood the truth that Sulochana had saved her daughter from the tiger, from Prachanda, and from many dangers still unknown.
Vikramasena turned towards Sharabhanga.
“Revered master, is this true?”
Sharabhanga nodded.
“It is true, Your Majesty. Sulochana is the prince of Trigangeya. The son of Saumyasena. My beloved disciple.”
At the name Saumyasena, an old memory appeared upon Vikramasena’s face.
The two kings had once been fellow students.
They had studied in the same gurukula.
But later, royal pride, old misunderstandings, and mutual disregard had created distance between them.
“Saumyasena’s son…” Vikramasena said slowly.
The minister spoke gently.
“Your Majesty, this secret was not concealed for deception. It was concealed for alliance.”
Vikramasena did not reply.
But the hardness in his eyes dissolved into concern.
“But now?” Dharinidevi asked. “Because of Chaturaka’s spell…”
Sharabhanga’s expression grew heavy.
“Yes. Chaturaka has bound the Art of Shapeshifting and sealed Sulochana’s true form. This body is now becoming fixed as Sulochana. It is not a natural transformation. It is a forced magical bond.”
At that moment, Sulochana moved.
Kumudvati bent over her at once.
“Sulochana…”
Sulochana slowly opened her eyes.
First, she saw the glow of the lamps.
Then Kumudvati’s face.
Then Sharabhanga.
Then the king and queen.
She attempted to rise, but her body was still weak.
Kumudvati supported her.
“What happened?” Sulochana asked softly.
Sharabhanga came closer.
“Chaturaka has fully begun his enchantment. He learned your secret and used it as a weapon against you.”
Sulochana lowered her head at once.
The question of whether Kumudvati had revealed her secret flashed in her eyes.
Kumudvati silently held her hand.
Sharabhanga spoke.
“The king and queen can no longer be kept from the truth. Kumudvati told them.”
Sulochana’s face turned red.
There was embarrassment in that flush.
Pain.
The distress of watching a secret slip from her own hands.
Before words came, tears gathered in her eyes.
“Your Majesty…” she began.
Vikramasena raised his hand and stopped her.
“Perhaps I am the one who must ask forgiveness now. You were brought as a prisoner into my court. My commander has been revealed as a traitor. You saved my daughter twice.”
Dharinidevi stepped forward and placed her hand upon Sulochana’s forehead.
“You are not merely my daughter’s teacher. You are her protector as well. If the burden of concealing the secret was yours, then the duty of understanding it is ours.”
Sulochana’s eyes filled further.
Suddenly, Kumudvati embraced her with affection.
Within that embrace was the gratitude of a disciple.
The devotion of a companion.
The determination to protect all three at once—the Sulochana she had always known, the Sulochanudu she had seen upon the moonstone platform, and the Sulochana now suffering beneath the enchantment.
At first, Sulochana remained rigid.
Then slowly, she melted into the embrace.
“Kumudvati,” she whispered.
“You are not alone,” Kumudvati said.
---
After some time, Sharabhanga looked at them all and spoke gravely.
“A decision must be made now. I cannot break Chaturaka’s enchantment directly.”
Vikramasena asked,
“Why, revered master? Is your magical power weaker than his?”
Sharabhanga answered plainly.
“Magic is not a contest of strength, Your Majesty. Chaturaka and I studied under the same teacher. The path he mastered within the science of magic was never fully mine. I remained rooted in righteous austerity. He became skilled in magical domination.
“If I confront his spell through the same method, Sulochana’s body itself will become the battlefield. That would be dangerous.”
“Then what path remains?” Dharinidevi asked.
Sharabhanga turned towards Sulochana.
“I cannot strike down magic with magic. But time may be rewritten through a sacred vow.”
Everyone in the chamber searched for the meaning of his words.
“Chaturaka’s spell has begun to make Sulochana’s form permanent. It is not an illusion lasting only a moment. It is a bond placed upon form, breath, the vital essences of the body, and consciousness itself.
“Strength alone cannot sever it.
“Patience is required.
“Medicine is required.
“A sacred vow is required.
“And above all—Sulochana’s own will is required.”
Sulochana slowly rose and sat upright.
“Command me, revered master.”
Sharabhanga said,
“You and Kumudvati must live secretly for forty days in the ruined temple of Shiva. It is the same place where the moonstone platform stands.
“There, you must undertake a sacred discipline.
“Each day, you must take prescribed medicines.
“You must practise controlled breathing.
“You must chant mantras.
“You must perform bodily disciplines formed from the gestures of dance.
“There will be fasting, fruit-based meals, and periods of silence—all according to strict rules.”
Kumudvati asked at once,
“Why must I go, revered master?”
“Because you were the first witness to the secret of Sulochana’s assumed form. You saw his true body upon the moonstone platform.
“Your mind did not fear him.
“It did not reject him.
“It protected the truth.
“Now that same mind must stand as witness to the vow.”
Sulochana looked towards Kumudvati.
There was fear in her gaze.
“Kumudvati, this will be difficult.”
“It will be even more difficult if you face it alone.”
Sharabhanga continued.
“On the final night of the forty days, the two of you must make a secret vow of marriage while both still appear as women.”
Vikramasena rose suddenly.
“A marriage as women?”
Sharabhanga remained calm.
“As long as the form remains bound by Chaturaka’s spell, the truth can exist only within.
“Before bringing that truth outward, you must not wage war against the form.
“You must turn it into a witness.
“Sulochana’s feminine form must not remain merely a prison. Within the sacred marriage rite, it must become a witness.
“Kumudvati must not reject that form.
“She must accept it.
“That acceptance will cause the enchantment to lose its direction.”
Fear and hope mingled in Dharinidevi’s eyes.
“And after that?”
“At the moment the vow is completed, Sulochana will awaken once more as Sulochanudu, together with his former powers. Chaturaka’s bond will lose its hold upon time.”
Sulochana folded her hands.
Sharabhanga sat before her.
His voice deepened.
“Sulochana, listen carefully.
“Chaturaka’s spell has bound your form.
“I cannot break that bond immediately.
“But I can place a limit upon its duration.
“Your body must submit to the medicine.
“Your mind must remain steady in the vow.
“Your breath must remain bound to the mantra.
“Then the curse will not hold you.
“Your endurance will hold the curse in check.”
The words remained in the chamber like a mantra.
Sulochana closed her eyes.
Pain crossed her face for a moment.
Chaturaka’s curse—that she might remain Sulochana forever—frightened her.
But even more troubling was the thought of drawing Kumudvati into the danger with her.
“Do not pull Kumudvati into this, revered master,” she said.
Kumudvati immediately stepped before her.
“You are not pulling me into anything. I am choosing where I stand.”
“Kumudvati…”
“You stood before the tiger.
“You stood before Prachanda.
“Now I will stand before the enchantment.”
Sharabhanga looked at them both.
For a moment, a gentle pride appeared upon his face.
“Then the vow will begin tonight.
“You must not remain in the palace. Chaturaka’s ears are still close.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Queen—this must not become known to the kingdom.
“Announce that Sulochana is resting.
“Say that Kumudvati is staying in the queen mother’s residence for reasons of health.
“Their true location will be the ruined temple of Shiva.”
Vikramasena drew a deep breath.
“Am I sending my daughter into a secret vow? Am I placing my kingdom upon the courage of a young woman?”
Sharabhanga replied,
“Your Majesty, you are not placing the kingdom upon the courage of a young woman.
“You are placing it upon dharma.
“This time, dharma has taken form in the hands of Kumudvati and Sulochana.”
Vikramasena looked at his daughter.
“Is your resolve firm?”
“Father, I am a disciple. I was born a princess. If necessary, I will stand as a companion in the vow.”
Dharinidevi stepped forward and embraced Kumudvati.
Her tears fell into her daughter’s braid.
“You are my daughter. But today, I see the future of Panchanada within you.”
Sulochana lowered her head at the sight.
The queen turned towards her and drew her into her embrace as well.
“We saw you as a young woman. Now we know that you are a prince. But between those two forms, one thing has never changed—the heart with which you protected our daughter.
“That is what we trust.”
Sulochana’s throat tightened.
“Your Majesty…”
“In whatever form you stand, you are not a source of shame. Chaturaka’s coercion is the shame.
“Defeat it.”
Those words lit a new lamp within Sulochana.
---
That very night, secret preparations were made.
In the third watch of the night, the rear gate of the royal palace opened in silence.
There were no lamps.
Only moonlight.
Sharabhanga walked ahead.
Behind him came Sulochana and Kumudvati.
Both wore simple garments appropriate for a sacred vow.
Few ornaments.
Much silence.
The old, unshaken courage was no longer present in Sulochana’s steps.
Yet a new resolve had been born within them.
Kumudvati walked beside her.
Between them was a silence stronger than speech.
In the distance, the ruined temple of Shiva appeared as a dark shape.
The moonstone platform gleamed white, as though it had been waiting for them.
Sharabhanga stopped before the sanctum and said,
“Here begins the battle of forty days.
“The enemy is not outside.
“The spell is within.
“The weapon is not the sword.
“It is the breath.
“Victory will not come in a single moment.
“Each day, one link of the chain will melt.”
Sulochana bowed her head.
Kumudvati took her hand.
That night, the lamp of the sacred vow was lit within the ruined temple of Shiva.
Grandmother stopped the story there.
We all looked at the cloth in her hands.
Until then, she had embroidered a flower, a bow, a black shadow, and a saffron line.
Now, with white thread, she was stitching a moonlit platform.
Upon that platform, two small flowers appeared to rest side by side.
“Grandmother,” I asked, “is a sacred vow also a kind of battle?”
Grandmother smiled.
“Some battles are won with swords. Others are won by standing firm without losing one’s breath.”
My eldest sister asked softly,
“Will Sulochana become Sulochanudu again?”
Grandmother pushed the needle through the cloth and slowly drew the thread.
“The thread has not yet fully returned, children. But the knot has been tied.
“If the knot holds true, the embroidery will endure.”
End of Part Four (To Be Continued)
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