Week 11 Story: "The Affair"

"Stolen Kiss". Source: Pixabay

My dearest Nikumbha,
Today I overhead pa discussing my swayamvara. He seems so quick to find a suitor best matched to his standards from a kingdom beyond Dwarka, and I believe his mind is set on one of the Pandavas. Does he not know that they are married to one women? Why would I want to share my husband with another woman, who would certainly always come first? And how could she not, for I hear her soul is like wildfire, and her beauty just as untamable. Pa hasn't even asked where my heart lies or what I care about, but I shouldn't be surprised at this point. He wants to begin preparations for the ceremony after the cruise with grandfather Krishna in two days time.
You must come for me then.
The city will be barely guarded at that time, with its most valiant warriors drinking themselves silly on a boat far out to sea. It will be the perfect opportunity to sneak in and out without a trace. I will begin preparing for your arrival and will meet you out in the gardens that I described to you in my last letter. You must be quick and agile, and be very careful of the old sages who will be keeping watch over the kingdom. They may not be able to see well, but they will sense that something is amiss if we are not careful. You should use your invisibility to enter the kingdom and only reveal yourself to me. We can turn invisible together and steal away in the night. You told me once you could turn into a great golden bird and I would love for nothing more than to see that.
It has been far too long since I last saw you, my love, and sometimes I do dream of you. The sages say that the greatest love begins with dreams. However, I have to say my greatest sadness has been that I cannot share this with anyone. If ma were ever to know I had fallen in love with you...
And grandfather Krishna would certainly disown me. For how could his own granddaughter care for one of his enemies? They do not know you like I do. Your kindness and patience, and how you managed to still speak to me after what my uncle did to your brother. You know for that I am eternally sorry.
I must wrap this up my love. Grandfather Krishna had wanted to see me before they leave for the cruise, but I must make sure he suspects nothing. I will be waiting for you in the garden in two days.
Yours always,
Bhanumati

Reference: Krishna and Rukmini, Amar Chitra Katha. [Printed Comic]

*Author's Note: For the Week 11 Reading, I chose to read one of the Krishna comics entitled "Bhanumati: Granddaughter of Krishna". In it, Bhanumati is cursed at a young age to be kidnapped by one of Krishna's foes by a bad-tempered sage, and this comes to pass when she is much older, just around the time her father is looking to find her a hubby. However, he wants to hold her swayamvara after a cruise that Krishna and some of his family are going on. In that time, Dwarka is left relatively unguarded and Bhanumati is kidnapped by Nikumbha, the demon brother of Vajranbha who was vanquished by one of Krishna's sons. When he kidnaps her, he turns invisible to stealthily get her out of the kingdom and then, when chased by Krishna and his allies, transforms into a golden bird to fly faster. In the end, Nikumbha is defeated, and Bhanumati is saved. In the comic, Bhanumati doesn't have much autonomy and much of the story involves her, but is already decided for her (such as being cursed from before to be kidnapped and then in the end, she is married off to one of the Pandavas). Here in my retelling, I wanted to not only give her more of a voice but suggest that the kidnapping was her own idea. In the comic, her curious and somewhat mischievous behaviour is what brings her to bump into the sage who cursed her, so I wanted more of that person who wandered off and does her own thing to come out in this story.