Ch29 When Gauri Became Kali #3
Dadima gasped sharply, her body nearly giving out as she sank downward, only for Dadaji to catch her in time.
Pratap's voice trembled violently. "Guruji... whose fate are you speaking of?"
For one endless second, silence loomed.
Then came the answer that shattered them all.
"Vardhanpur's future... the heir to the royal throne after you... Rudraksh."
It felt as though time itself had frozen.
Dadima's tears spilled instantly.
Dadaji's face turned pale.
And for the first time in years, true fear entered Pratap Vardhan's eyes.
But Guruji's words were far from over.
"This death shadow is not ordinary, Ranasa," he said gravely. "Even my powers cannot fully sever it."
Pratap's entire being stiffened.
Then Guruji revealed the only fragile thread of hope
"Only one person now possesses the power to challenge this fate... the woman who wears Rudraksh's name in her sindoor."
All three stood in stunned silence.
"However," Guruji continued, his tone growing even deeper, "that power will awaken only if Rudraksh's wife is wholly devoted to him body, mind, and soul."
Dadima folded her trembling hands, her lips silently chanting Mahadev's name.
"Only her true love... her complete surrender... her sacred bond as his wife... can pull Rudraksh back from the jaws of death."
The words struck deeper than any weapon ever could.
Because this was no longer merely about danger.
This was destiny.
A divine trial.
The call ended, but its aftermath left the three elders standing in unbearable silence, their hearts drowning beneath the weight of what they had just learned.
Dadima's frail hands trembled as tears streamed endlessly down her aged cheeks. Her voice cracked beneath the crushing weight of fear and grief.
"I don't know what sin my Rudraksh is paying for... since the day he was born, his fate has only been filled with sorrow, danger, and shadows of death. Why has happiness always stayed so far from my child?"
Her broken words pierced every heart present.
Dadaji, though equally shaken, placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, forcing strength into a voice burdened by worry.
"Have faith in Mahadev... nothing will happen to our Rudraksh. Shiv ji will protect him."
Yet even he could not completely silence the fear lurking within him.
Pratap, however, stood utterly motionless. His body remained there, but his soul felt as though it had been hollowed out by dread. Inside him raged a storm of unbearable helplessness.
Why, Bhagwan... why? First, You took away Shikha...
my love, my life, my reason to breathe. And now why are You after my son too?
What wrong have I done to deserve this? It would have been better if You had taken me instead...
At least then I would not have to stand here as a helpless father, forced to watch death hover over my child once again...
For the first time in years, Pratap Vardhan did not feel like a king, nor a ruler only a shattered father.
On the other side of the grand temple, Rivanya stood before the sacred idols of Shiv and Parvati, her folded hands trembling slightly as she prayed with every fragment of her soul for her husband's safety.
She knew nothing of Maha Guruji's horrifying prophecy.
Her innocent heart only understood one thing Rudraksh had to be safe.
Beside her, Dhara remained a pillar of support, trying desperately to soothe her growing anxiety.
"Rivu... trust me, jiju will come. He has to come."
But despite Dhara's reassurance, Rivanya's heart refused to settle. A strange fear gripped her tighter with every passing second.
Nearby, Pratap turned toward Dadaji and Dadima, his voice low but firm.
"Kakisa... Kakasa... no one will tell Rivanya about this. Not a single word. I cannot even imagine what that poor girl will go through if she learns the truth."
Dadima gathered herself with immense difficulty, wiping away her tears.
"Yes... I do not even have the courage to tell her. Now everything rests in Mahakal's hands alone. Only He can cut this deadly fate threatening my Rudraksh."
Before anyone could say more, Pandit ji approached with solemn urgency.
"The auspicious time has arrived. We must begin the puja."
Pratap, Dadaji, and Dadima quickly masked their devastation behind composed expressions before rejoining the family.
Pandit ji glanced around once more.
"Rudraksh still hasn't arrived?"
Pratap answered, though every word felt heavier than stone.
"Pandit ji... Rudraksh may be delayed. Today's puja will be performed by my daughter-in-law, Rivanya. Please begin."
The words struck Rivanya with the force of a silent storm.
Though she remained outwardly composed, her face visibly fell.
Her greatest fear had come true.
Rudraksh hadn't come.
A thousand painful thoughts invaded her heart at once.
He really didn't come... Does he hate me that much? That even for our first Shivratri puja... he couldn't stand beside me?
The ache in her chest deepened unbearably. Tears welled in her eyes before slipping free, but Rivanya quickly wiped them away before anyone could notice.
Unfortunately everyone already had.
Sandeep's fists clenched tightly as he watched his daughter silently breaking. Rage burned fiercely inside him. To him, Rivanya was too precious, too pure to endure such pain. His heart could not forgive Rudraksh in that moment.
Vasudha's own motherly heart shattered alongside her daughter's. Yet her helplessness was her cruelest punishment she could do nothing except watch.
Meanwhile, Vyom, Dev, and Raaj were consumed by panic. Their networks had spread across the city in a desperate attempt to find Rudraksh. Every passing second without news worsened Vyom's dread.
Please Mahadev... let my fears be wrong. Let Rudraksh not be where I think he is...
And amidst sacred chants, holy fire, and powerful mantras, the grand Shivratri puja finally began.
Rivanya sat alone before the havan kund.
Alone.
Her exhausted eyes searched endlessly for the one person whose place was meant to be beside her. The husband she had unknowingly begun to care for far more deeply than she herself had realized.
Today, his absence shattered something delicate inside her heart.
For the very first time, Rivanya experienced the devastating ache of emotional heartbreak raw, silent, and soul-deep.
Because somewhere along this journey... without even realizing it...
Her heart had already begun to belong to Rudraksh.
Every sacred ritual of the puja had been completed by Rivanya alone. Every mantra, every offering, every prayer that should have been performed beside her husband had instead been carried by her trembling hands in solitude. And now, the final and most divine part remained the aarti.
As everyone rose to their feet, the temple came alive with an overwhelming spiritual force.
One hundred and eight pandits began chanting powerful Vedic mantras in unison, their voices echoing through the grand mandir with such intensity that it felt as though the heavens themselves had descended upon earth.
The sound of shankh, temple bells, and damrus reverberated through every corner, creating an atmosphere so divine that no worldly sound could penetrate it.
It felt as though Lord Shiv Himself was present.
Yet amidst all this sacred grandeur, Rivanya's heart was drowning in pain.
With the aarti thali trembling in her delicate hands, her soul bled with questions no one could answer.
What was my fault?
Why had Rudraksh punished her with such unbearable pain?
Even this marriage had not happened by her choice, yet she had accepted his sindoor with devotion, proudly adorning his name on her forehead.
She had embraced the black-beaded mangalsutra around her neck as the sacred thread of her destiny.
She had accepted him, his name, and their bond wholeheartedly...
But what had she received in return?
Hatred?
Distance?
Endless waiting?
Her heart ached, but today, alongside the pain, something else had awakened within her a volcano of self-respect and suppressed anger.
Because how long could someone keep breaking silently?
She, too, had dignity. She, too, had limits.
Yet despite the storm within her, tears remained trapped in her eyes the same tears that now felt like they had become a permanent part of her existence.
The aarti began.
The sacred flames danced before Mahadev, while the deafening sounds of bells, conches, and damrus shook the temple walls. The pandits' elevated chants filled the air with spiritual fire, and everyone present became immersed in devotion.
And then...
Through the thunder of divine sounds, Rivanya heard something else.
A faint sound.
A voice.
A presence.
A strange yet deeply familiar ache touched her heart.
At first, she thought it was merely her imagination... another cruel illusion created by her desperate longing.
But then she heard it again.
Soft.
Painful.
Broken.
A voice calling her name.
"...Rivanya..."
This time, her heart froze.
Without thinking, Rivanya instinctively turned around, the aarti thali still in her hands. The crowd behind her was thick, obstructing her view, but with desperate eyes, she searched through the sea of faces until her gaze finally landed on him.
And in that single moment...
Her world stopped.
Standing there, barely able to remain upright... was Rudraksh.
His entire body was drenched in blood.
A bullet had torn through his shoulder.
His clothes were stained crimson.
He stood there, wounded, pale, and visibly staggering yet despite his unbearable condition, his gray-black eyes were fixed only on her.
And he was smiling.
A broken, painful smile... as though silently telling her.
I kept my promise... I came back.
The aarti thali slipped from Rivanya's hands instantly.
The burning camphor scattered onto the marble floor below, flames licking dangerously around her feet, even touching her skin but Rivanya felt nothing.
Nothing at all.
Because in that moment, her entire being had shattered.