This time, urgency remained in Sulochana’s eyes, but beside it stood a new calm.
Kumudvati wound herself around her more firmly.
The horse ran once more.
---
By the time they reached the pond of the ruined temple of Shiva, the eastern sky was about to turn pale.
Sharabhanga was already waiting there.
Concern filled his face.
But the moment he saw them, deep relief passed through him.
“Quickly,” he said.
Sulochana and Kumudvati entered the pond.
It was the hour between the fading of moonlight and the birth of the first light of dawn—the moment when the world seems to hold its breath.
The water was cold.
The light of the vow-lamp reflected upon its surface.
Together, they submerged.
Beneath the water, Sulochana felt as though every part of her body were dissolving into letters.
Within her, she heard the breaking of Chaturaka’s bond.
The remaining mist of Chaturika’s herb dissolved into the water.
Sharabhanga’s mantra.
The vow.
Kumudvati’s acceptance.
Mandakrodha’s curse-blessing.
All of them joined into a single current and rewrote the form of her body.
When they rose from the water—
Sulochana was gone.
In her place stood Sulochanudu.
The same beauty.
The same eyes.
The same rhythm of breath.
But the softness of the feminine form had become heroic strength.
His shoulders had broadened.
The majesty of the warrior had returned to his bearing.
Yet the life he had lived as Sulochana had softened his gaze.
He was Sulochanudu.
But not a Sulochanudu who had forgotten Sulochana.
Kumudvati looked at him.
Tears filled her eyes.
Joy.
Reverence.
Love recognising him once more.
“Revered master…” she said, turning towards Sharabhanga behind them.
Sharabhanga looked at them both and slowly exhaled.
“Mandakrodha’s curse has touched you,” he said.
Sulochanudu looked at him in surprise.
Through divine vision, Sharabhanga had understood everything that had happened—the old curse of Mandakrodha, the new blessing within the curse, and the yearly transformation.
“This is not the end,” he said. “It is the beginning of the second secret.”
---
That very day, Saumyasena and his queen arrived in Panchanada.
Along with the news of Trigangeya’s victory in battle, they had also received word that their son had been rescued.
A secret council was convened within the royal palace.
Only these were present:
Vikramasena.
Dharinidevi.
Saumyasena.
His queen.
Sharabhanga.
The minister.
Sulochanudu.
Kumudvati.
Sharabhanga first explained Mandakrodha’s recent curse-blessing.
Saumyasena closed his eyes for a moment.
Pain from an old memory crossed his face.
Vikramasena looked at him.
Another shadow, standing silently between them for decades, began to move.
Sharabhanga spoke:
“Your Majesties, this is not merely a second secret born as the solution to the first. Its roots lie in your youth.”
Vikramasena raised his head.
Saumyasena remained silent.
Dharinidevi asked in surprise,
“Revered master?”
Sharabhanga began to explain.
“Do you remember the years when both of you studied in my hermitage?
“Saumyasena had already begun learning the Art of Shapeshifting.
“One day, in the recklessness of youth, he transformed himself into a beautiful young woman in order to tease Vikramasena and led him into the forest.
“It was a game of hiding.
“Laughter.
“The foolishness of youth.”
Vikramasena’s face turned pale.
Saumyasena lowered his head.
“Without knowing it, the two of you disturbed the austerities of Sage Mandakrodha.
“In anger, he cursed Saumyasena:
“‘Like you, your son too shall take the form of a woman.’
“And he cursed Vikramasena:
“‘Your daughter, upon reaching youth, shall take the form of a man.’”
Dharinidevi’s lips trembled.
“That is why…” she whispered.
Sharabhanga nodded.
“That is why you lived for many years in fear.
“You feared that Kumudvati would transform into a man upon reaching maturity.
“Saumyasena silently suffered over the future of his son.
“And Vikramasena—”
Here, Sharabhanga looked at him.
“Your contempt was not truly directed at Saumyasena’s weakness.
“It was directed at the feminine form in which you once saw him.
“You transformed the discomfort of your youth into pride.
“That pride grew into a wall between the two kingdoms.”
Vikramasena lowered his head.
Silence filled the council.
Saumyasena spoke gently.
“Vikrama, my recklessness that day was the first fault. I changed form merely to tease you. Only much later did I understand that assuming a form is not a game.”
Tears gathered in Vikramasena’s eyes.
“I stopped seeing you as my friend. I saw only the memory of that incident. That was my arrogance.”
Sharabhanga continued:
“I could not remove these two curses separately.
“So I sought to resolve them within a single pattern.
“Sulochanudu’s Art of Shapeshifting and Kumudvati’s destiny had to meet one another.
“If they joined, the curse would become transformation rather than destruction.
“That is why I sent Sulochanudu into Panchanada in the form of Sulochana.
“That is why Kumudvati had to meet her.
“Without love, sacred discipline, and acceptance, the curse would have remained only a curse.”
Vikramasena looked at Sulochanudu.
Then at Kumudvati.
“You mean my daughter…”
Sharabhanga completed the thought gently.
“She will not lose herself completely.
“Nor will Sulochanudu.
“Now, through Mandakrodha’s blessing within the curse, both will experience transformation in a yearly cycle.
“For one year, one will remain in masculine form while the other remains feminine.
“Then they will exchange.
“This secret must be protected, because the world is not yet prepared to understand it.
“But you must not regard it as shame.”
Dharinidevi drew Kumudvati into her arms.
Saumyasena’s queen placed her hand upon Sulochanudu’s head.
Sulochanudu bowed.
Kumudvati stepped forward and took his hand.
“At first, I saw Sulochana as my teacher.
“Then I saw Sulochanudu as a secret.
“Now, beyond both, I see a single soul.
“Father, whatever form our bond takes, it remains a bond of dharma.”
Sulochanudu looked at her.
“Kumudvati, if this cycle becomes a burden to you—”
“A burden is a burden only when one person is made to carry it alone,” she said. “When we carry it together, it becomes life.”
Vikramasena closed his eyes.
Years of fear, pride, contempt, and hidden pain dissolved into a long breath.
“This secret will be protected,” he said.
Saumyasena stepped forward.
“There will be no wall between our kingdoms any longer.”
Vikramasena took his hand.
“The wall was within me.
“Today, it has fallen.”
---
Sharabhanga blessed Sulochanudu and Kumudvati.
“The beauty of Sulochana’s body, witnessed in the royal court, was not an illusion.
“It was the perfection of the Art of Shapeshifting.
“Chaturaka tried to turn it into a prison.
“Mandakrodha transformed it into a blessing within a curse.
“But the Sulochanudu who now stands before us—and the life that will flow again and again as Sulochana—is the form of the soul, greater than magic itself.”
Kumudvati bowed her head.
Sulochanudu took her hand.
That day, not only was friendship restored between Panchanada and Trigangeya, but the hidden fear within two royal families also found resolution.
Yet the secret remained a secret.
To the world, they were a heroic royal couple.
To their kingdoms, protectors.
To their lineage, heirs.
To one another, they were husbands, wives, witnesses, and forms of the same shared truth.
---
Grandmother paused the story there for a moment.
We all looked at the cloth in her hands.
Its design now resembled two rivers flowing into one another.
On one side was a bow.
On the other, a sword.
Between them were two flowers.
Around those flowers, a golden thread turned in a circle like the cycle of years.
My eldest sister asked softly,
“Grandmother, is it a curse or a blessing?”
Grandmother smiled.
“What a person cannot carry alone is a curse. When two people carry it with love, it becomes a blessing.”
My younger sister asked,
“So Sulochana is Sulochanudu at one time, and Sulochana at another?”
“Yes,” Grandmother said. “But though the name and form may change, the heart does not.”
I asked,
“Is that why the story is called The Secret?”
Grandmother placed her hand upon my head.
“Yes, child.
“A secret is not a hidden lie.
“It is a truth that is not revealed before its proper time.
“Only those who protect it with honour can understand its meaning.”
She tied the final knot.
The embroidery upon the cloth was complete.
End of Part Seven
Discussion (0)