Anamika - Rebirth of the first wife

Chapter 37 - Verdict

Hereafter, Ranasa(Pratap's father) will be referred as Baabasa,  Ranisa(Pratap's mother) will be referred as Maasa and Jaiwanta Bai will be called by Pratap and Anamika as Badi Maasa.

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The next morning came and it was the first day of Pratap as the King. And his father had already decided to stay away from state affairs and spend time with his grandchildren, unless necessary like the emergency war. Now Jaiwanta bai also entered their lives, so Padmanab has his time fully occupied to enjoy his retirement life. In the court, all the ministers warmly welcomed Pratap and Anamika as this is their first day as King and Queen. Since this is the first day, Anamika didn't take the designated seat for the Queen that is behind the transparent screen and sat along with Pratap. And the first case they handled was that of Meenavathi and Saudamini. Both the culprits were brought to the court with chains on them, one without hands and tired eyes which screamed all the torture she endured during her time in the jail while the other doesn't have any wounds on her body but was trembling in fear. Both of them knew about what happened to their husband and father respectively.

Seeing them once again infront of them, Pratap once again fumed in anger and Anamika was looking at Meenavathi with cold eyes which made her shiver. Right now all Meenavathi wanted was death and Anamika knew that very well through her body language, which made her determined to never give that to her enemy. Pratap looked at Anamika once and calmed himself down and announced in the court, "Minister, Proceed with the allegations". The minister stood up and read the scroll that describes the crimes committed by the culprit which includes, "Attempt to murder Ranasa's mother(Rathnavathi), Attempt to murder Ranisa(Anamika), Attempt to murder our Rajkumar (Prince) Abhimanyu and Rajkumari (Princess) Pratiksha, Attempt to dethrone the royal family by not letting the royal couple to conceive and murder of the royal heir. These allegations were either caught red handed or confessed by their ally, the royal kitchen's assistant cook Mohini".  Mohini was already executed for her crimes and Anamika took complete responsibility of Mohini's child as well.

Pratap curled his hands and said, "For all these crimes, Meenavathi should be executed in the midst of the people. But as the one who impacted the most due to these crimes, I want my Ranisa to decide her fate and I will accept whatever her decision will be". Pratap has full trust on Anamika that she won't go soft on the accused as he had seen her anger beforehand. Nodding at him, Anamika announced, "I have known of their crimes for almost a year now. But I waited till I could prove her crimes infront of the entire Kingdom so that when there is a situation of war, People would understand that it is not baseless. Now that everything is out in the open, I want Meenavathi to serve lifetime imprisonment in the underground basement with only one time meal a day. Take her out of here". Meenavathi was sure that she will get death sentence and that's why she was shocked with the judgement and couldn't accept it.

When guards came to take her out, she screamed to kill her immediately. Meenavathi regrets her actions not because it was wrong but because she didn't suceed. Underground basement is the place where only dangerous criminals were kept and there were no criminals kept in there for decades.  The ministers and others present in the court shivered at their Ranisa's verdict for she was only seen as a stern administrator and soft queen who interacted with common people gently. Now seeing this side of their Ranisa, they reminded themselves that they shouldn't do something that harms the Kingdom or her children. Once Meenavathi was dragged out by thr guards, only Saudamini was standing there, shivering in the fear of her upcoming punishment. Pratap waited for Anamika to announce her judgement again, when Anamika turned towards him and said, "Ranasa! As far as we have discovered, Saudamini was not part of any of her mother's crimes. Sure she was a puppet of her mother and did whatever she was asked by her mother but she didn't commit any of the crimes listed out by the minister. So I think we should release her". Pratap was about to interrupt her, when Anamika continued, "But She should be banned from the Kingdom and anywhere near our royal family members".

Anamika sure has some mercy for innocent people but not to the extent where she would keep a snake nearby her and let it jeopardize her life. From her previous lifetime, she knows that Saudamini has an unhealthy obsession towards Pratap. So even if Pratap is loyal towards her in this lifetime, she didn't want to take any risk of Saudamini doing any backhanded methods. Like the one the mother-daughter duo planned for Pratap with a dinner. Pratap though unwilling, agreed with his wife and said, "Guards! Leave her outside our boundary and near the entrance of her Father's kingdom which is now under our authority. May be she can have a life there with some known faces and relatives". With that Saudamini was packed off and she didn't resist. Later Pratap announced that they will be building a tavern in memory of their unborn child. Slowly both of them came to terms with their loss of the first child and learn to have some good memories for him/her, although imaginary.  With that the court came to an end and everyone dispersed.

All the guests departed yesterday except Sunaina(Anamika's mother) and Malhar Rao. Today morning, Malhar departed after discussing with Pratap regarding his war expedition. Malhar mentioned that they are under the Peshwa's rule, so if Pratap defeated the Peshwa then automatically their province will also come under his rule. And since Peshwa didn't help their province with his army, to fight off the mughals, Malhar wouldn't come for their defence when Pratap fights with them.  Pratap and Malhar both were relieved that they don't have to strain their friendship in the name of war. Malhar invited both Anamika and Pratap for his wedding as the war has ended, to which they congratulated Malhar and agreed to send their gifts since Pratap would be busy in war preparations and Anamika shouldn't travel much.

When Pratap and Anamika entered their chamber after the brain draining session of the court, they saw that their children were busy with their grandfather, two paternal grandmothers and one maternal grandmother. Given that Dadisa had already left for Kashi, these people wanted to spend  most of their time with their grandchildren. Now they are very small, so only a few hours could be spent away from their mother. Seeing Anamika and Pratap, these grandparents went away as the children need to be fed. Pratap and Anamika bantered about their children as now they are becoming active and sleep less during daytime.

On the other hand, Rathnavathi (Pratap's mother) could spend sometime with her husband, Padmanab only during their combined visits to their grandchildren. Otherwise his time will be occupied with Jaiwanta Bai and she couldn't even complain about it, for she had all his time till now. And she could only spend her retirement time with her grandchildren who are her only solace.

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Precap: Leap

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