SEVEN
In the city of Virata, queen Sudeshna grew very fond of her exquisite flower girl and Panchali was well cared for in the palace. Malini the sairandhri was quite above the jealousies and intrigues that haunt every harem and despite her beauty, all the queen's women liked her.
Eleven peaceful, comfortable months passed. Only once, when he arrived unannounced in his wife's apartment, did king Virata catch a glimpse of Malini. He said breathlessly to his wife, "Who is that sakhi of yours? Send her to me tonight."
"My lord, not her! She is a strange creature, cursed to be apart from her gandharva husbands for a year. But they watch over her, invisibly. If you seduce Malini you will invite your death to you."
Virata was wise enough never to pursue Draupadi, or even ask after her again. But Sudeshna had a brother called Keechaka. He was a fierce kshatriya, the Senapati of Virata's army. When the Pandavas came to the Matsya kingdom, Keechaka, an insatiable conqueror, was away on a campaign. The sons of Pandu had been in Virata for eleven months, when one day Keechaka came home with his legions and ample treasures, the spoils of war.
There was singing and dancing in the streets, a procession and then a banquet in the king's halls. It was early evening when Keechaka managed to tear himself away from the festivity and visit his sister in her apartment. He was much younger than Sudeshna, almost like a son to her and she received him excitedly. They sat together for an hour, while she fed him all the dainties he had loved since he was a boy. Whenever they were together, it was as if they were children again.
It was getting late, time for Keechaka to return to his own palace. He paused at Sudeshna's window and said wistfully, "Your garden is in bloom. How lovely it is and how peaceful, after all the killing I have seen and done this past year."
Sudeshna said, "Why don't you walk back through my garden? There is a small gate below it, you can go that way."
Sniffing the breeze outside and the scents of flowers, Keechaka kissed his sister and went out through the window. It was as if fate called him. He strolled along the garden-paths, alone, stroking soft petals with his warrior's hands. He was pensive, an unusual mood for him. Turning a final corner, he saw the little pavilion at the bottom of Sudeshna's garden, tucked away in a stand of trees. The sun was setting and, framed starkly against its last light, Keechaka saw the most beautiful woman he had ever set eyes on. She stood in the small cloister, her dark face turned toward the sinking sun. She was far away, in a world of her own.
Keechaka looked at her and knew his life would never be the same again. He stood transfixed, staring at the vision before him, knowing himself lost. Sudeshna had given Draupadi freedom of this garden; she came here to be alone with her sorrows and her yearnings. Today, from her window, she had watched Keechaka's triumphal entry into the city. It had stirred memories in her: of how Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva had ridden into Indraprastha during the days of the Rajasuya yagna. Full of nostalgia, she had come here to cry alone.
As she stood watching the sunset, a man's deep voice hailed her, "Who are you?"
Draupadi whirled around to find Keechaka standing at the foot of the steps to the little arbor. His eyes roved over her body in naked adoration. Seeing him look like that, Draupadi ran down the steps on the far side of the pavilion, but Keechaka caught up with her.
He seized her arm and said hoarsely, "Who are you? This is not the first time I have come to my sister's palace, but I have never seen you before. For if I had, my life would have changed forever."
He devoured her with his gaze. Slowly, he whispered, "I never knew any woman could be so beautiful. You are a human woman, aren't you? Or are you a Goddess? Why are you by yourself, without a man? What a terrible waste! Tell me who you are, I want to be your slave."
Draupadi shivered at his touch. She cried, "I am your sister's flower girl Malini. I am a servant here, please let me go. It is not right that a man of your nobility speaks to a mere maid."
"Maid!" he roared. "I will make you my wife. My only wife from now and all the others your slaves. I am Keechaka, the real master of this land. There is no man on earth as strong as I am Malini, though now your beauty makes me dizzy and I feel as weak as a young bird in spring!
Come with me, be my wife. Your slightest whim shall be my command. The king is no king at all; he dare not raise his voice against me. Keechaka rules and you shall be as a queen beside him. I am in love with you, Malini and I realize now that I have never known love before. All my time, all my strength and power shall be as incense at the altar of this love. You are my life from now. I beg you, come with me."
She trembled when she saw he was serious. She wrested her arm from his grasp. She saw his eyes fill and he knelt before her!
Draupadi said, "It is not proper for a kshatriya to speak to a maidservant. You could have any woman in this city. You must have many lovely wives already. My lord, a man should say such things only to his wife.
Besides, you mistake me, Keechaka: I am not a single woman. I have five gandharva husbands, who let me live in queen Sudeshna's palace, saying I would be safe here. They are dangerous and would kill you, if they knew you spoke to me as you have done. I beg you, leave me alone."
She turned to go, but with a cry, he seized her ankle. She said, "You are tying a noose around your neck, mistaking it for a garland of flowers. I warn you, don't play with your life; my husbands are immortals. You are a powerful man in this kingdom. You have a family, wives and children you love and who love you. Don't throw all that away for the sake of this brief madness. I warn you again, Keechaka, if you pursue me my husbands will kill you."
His grip was numb on her foot; Keechaka was like a dreaming man. Draupadi freed herself and fled from the garden. He still knelt there, dazed. Then, slowly, he pulled himself up and walked back to Sudeshna's palace.
She rose in surprise when she saw him. When she saw how he looked, Sudeshna cried, "What happened, Keechaka? Why are you back?"
Keechaka covered his face with his hands and fell on her bed. Anxiously, she cried again, "Has something happened to you, my child? Tell me what it is. You were well when you left here, just moments ago."
Keechaka said nothing for a while; then he sat up. His eyes burning, he asked, "Who is she, Sudeshna? Who is your sairandhri? I have never seen anyone like her before. I must have her for myself, or I will die.
I confessed my love. I offered to marry her, but she ran from me. Ah, my body is on fire and my heart is trying to break out of my chest. Sudeshna, I will die if I don't hold her in my arms!"
Alarmed, Sudeshna sat beside him. She stroked his face and said, "Malini came to me eleven months ago, asking for a year's sanctuary. She is a wonderful young woman, charming and honest as she is beautiful. Yet she is full of some deep sorrow and keeps much to herself, though she serves me well as a flower girl. But Keechaka, she is more than what she seems. She is married to five gandharvas; they have been cursed to be apart from her for a year.
One day, Virata saw her and he also wanted her. But when I warned him about the gandharvas, he was wise enough to leave her alone. You must also forget about Malini. She is mysterious and ominous powers lurk near her.
I have a hundred lovely sakhis. Choose any of them but Malini and I will send her to you tonight. For your very life, Keechaka, forget about the sairandhri."
Keechaka laughed grimly. "How can you ask me to think of another woman after I have seen Malini? My old life is behind me, now that I have seen her; I feel I have been born again. And if I could hold her in my arms, I shall have the kingdom of the Gods! She is a sacred flame and her eyes are like sparks leaping from it. Oh Sudeshna, I don't think you realize what seeing your sairandhri has done to me.
As for the gandharva husbands, you forget I am not an old man like Virata. I am Keechaka! For her I would kill a hundred gandharvas; how can five keep me from having her?
And it seems you know little about women, though you are one yourself. Haven't you seen her eyes, her flaming eyes? She is the kind of woman who cannot bear to be apart from her husband for even a day. I have known many women and she is surely the most exquisite one I ever saw. But I am sure she is the most passionate, as well.
You say she has five husbands and she has been away from them for eleven months. Can you imagine how she yearns for a strong man's embrace? She will be easy to seduce. I must have her, Sudeshna; my life is worthless unless I have Malini. I see her in my arms, already. I hear her sighs, her cries of love."
His sister saw how lost he was. Sudeshna was full of foreboding. But she saw that, if she did not help him, he would pursue Malini on his own. It was a choice between the word of protection she had given the sairandhri and her love for her brother. The queen thought, suppose he is right: perhaps the flower girl will give in to him and eagerly. Who was she, Sudeshna, to stand in his way, when he was so ardent for her?
She said, "I am full of fear for you, but I know you will not rest until you have seduced Malini. Go from here now, Keechaka and I will send her to you soon, for some wine perhaps. Woo her gently and I will be happy if you win her. But oh, my brother, if you fail and she is angry, I tremble for you. I fear her gandharvas, Keechaka, somehow I fear them terribly."
Keechaka jumped up and hugged his sister. "No one loves me like you do! Just send her to me, the rest will be easy."
He ran impatiently from her apartment, already imagining the moment when Malini would be in his bed. No woman he wanted had ever refused Keechaka before. He did not think the flower girl would be an exception. He imagined her very refusal to give in immediately was a sign that she desired him. Keechaka was borne away by a dangerous dream.