The darkness of the forest had grown even denser by now. The reddish light of the sacrificial fire emanating from the mouth of the cave made the bizarre silhouette of the tantric appear even more mystical and terrifying in that pitch-black darkness. After indulging in that strange yogic posture and dancing alone for a while, the tantric darted back inside the cave. But he did not remain inside for long. A moment later, he stepped outside again, treading stealthily like a thief.
This time, the craziness in his demeanor had subsided significantly. Standing at the mouth of the cave, he shielded his eyes with his right hand over his forehead, trying to scan the surroundings of the forest meticulously. Gearing into the distant dark trees, he muttered to himself in a tone of satisfaction, "Uff! The night has advanced quite a bit. The surroundings are absolutely serene. This is the real opportunity!"
No sooner had the tantric finished his words than a guard clad in the royal attire of the Junagarh Palace emerged hurriedly, brushing aside the dense bushes beside the cave. Sitting on the high canopy of the tree, when Prafulla and Prabhasha saw the face of that guard from above, it felt as though a massive thunderbolt had shattered over their heads! Frozen like stone statues in terror and astonishment, they placed their hands on their foreheads. For, this guard was none other than that specific guard of the Junagarh Palace who had suddenly started screaming and abusing everyone in an bizarre manner when the issue of the tiger menace was raised in the royal court that day!
Prafulla could not believe his own eyes. He thought to himself, "Catastrophe! Seeing his bizarre screaming and abusing in the royal court that day, I could not comprehend in the slightest that such a massive conspiracy lay hidden behind it! Had we not come here today, we would have never known that this wretched guard is the mastermind behind this entire tiger mystery and the misdeeds of the tantric!"
But there was much more left to their astonishment. The moment the guard came and stood on the courtyard of the cave, the tantric wearing that red saree and the necklace of human skulls smiled from ear to ear and advanced, swaying his hips. Then, in utter longing, the two of them embraced each other tightly. In deep love and passion, they wrapped their arms around each other's necks and began to kiss each other forcefully. Witnessing their intimacy in the absolute solitude of that dark forest night, the brother and sister atop the tree felt as though their breath was about to choke!
After the kiss ended, the tantric caressed the guard's cheek and said in a deeply mystical, feminine, and endearing tone, "Ah my gold! It is so good that you took the trouble to come here in the dead of night. You are indeed the finest guard of my Junagarh Palace, my most beloved person! It is because of you that I have obtained all the secret news of the palace, all the maps, and the moment-to-moment movements of the royal family so easily. Had you not been there, would I have ever found the audacity to destroy this Junagarh?"
Hearing the tantric's words, the guard smiled subtly. Readjusting the pleats of his saree, the tantric then flew into a rage and said in a masculine voice once again, "By the way, what is that devil Prafulla doing sitting in the palace right now? And that mound of devilry, that number one witch of a girl—that Prabhasha! Seeing your shouting in the court that day, she grew suspicious and almost dragged you by the tuft of your hair for a trial! She was on the verge of extracting all the truth of our conspiracy! What a situation, I tell you! I feel that if I ever catch those two siblings alone in this forest, I will capture them and leave them to rot alive, just like those rotting tigers!"
Prafulla and Prabhasha could clearly hear these foul conversations and threats. A fire of intense agony was burning within Prafulla's chest. Looking at Prabhasha, he began to whisper in a deeply heartbroken voice, "Look at the situation, Prabha! This is the very guard whom I had entrusted with the absolute responsibility of the security of the Junagarh Palace with the supreme faith of a father! I thought he would protect our kingdom from all perils. Yes, he shouted a bit in the court that day, hurled abuses, but I thought his head had grown hot due to the pressure of work. But that he would ultimately join hands with this outsider tantric to commit such treachery and betrayal against me and the innocent people of my entire Junagarh kingdom—I could not have imagined this even in death! Fie, fie, fie! This guard ultimately became the companion of this terrifying tantric to stab us in the back?"
Prabhasha was watching that embrace and frequent kissing of the tantric and the guard with deep concentration in the darkness. Even though her sharp and modern mind was startled by this sight, she understood the matter. Turning toward Prafulla, she whispered, "Yes Brother! All kinds of love exist in this world. Deep love happens between a man and a man nowadays too, right! I think that is why this tantric, despite being a man, wears a bright red saree-blouse, and roams around throwing tantrums and acting fragile like a woman! Perhaps, though born a male, he has inwardly assumed a feminine form, and the guard of our royal palace has fallen in love with that very form of his! But Brother, one thing is simply not entering my head—how will these two men make a home together in the future? How will they have children? What a strange thing, the two of them are embracing each other and kissing so lustfully! I just cannot fathom, Brother, how such a foul conspiracy in their minds and such deep love in their bodies—how are both possible together?"
Placing his hand on Prabhasha's head, Prafulla explained in a calm voice, "Yes Prabha, what you are saying might be true. In the current era, everything is possible. Because the emotions of a human mind do not follow any rules or gender. One cannot force the feelings of the mind; anyone can fall in love with any human being. To whom one will give their heart is entirely their personal right. It is absolutely improper for us to make any ugly comments regarding this love or to nose into their personal matters, sister."
Hearing her brother's liberal wisdom, Prabhasha nodded her head and said, "Yes Brother, you are absolutely right. Who will love whom is entirely their own business; we have no right to speak on that. But my real question and rage lie elsewhere! Loving someone is no crime, but why did this guard betray our sacred kingdom of Junagarh in the name of love? Why is he, driven by his blind love, joining hands with the conspiracy of this hypocrite tantric to harm our innocent villagers, and bringing such rotting tigers to everyone's houses? We must find out the reason behind this political conspiracy and harm first, Brother. For that, we must sit silently and lie in wait on top of this tree for a little longer."
Making her eyes fierce, Prabhasha looked at the tantric and the guard and said, "Let them speak of their love and conspiracy as much as they want. A little later, when they become completely off-guard, the two of us will leap down from this tree in a single bound. Then, catching this treacherous guard and the hypocrite tantric red-handed, we will throw them straight into that dark subterranean prison of the palace! That's it, then all the nuisances of Junagarh will be resolved in a single flash. After that, let the two of them love each other to their heart's content behind the iron bars of that dark prison, make a home there, and sit there laughing as much as they want! We won't have any objections then, what do you say, Brother?"
Hearing his sister's stern and discerning decision, Prafulla smiled softly in the darkness and nodded in agreement. The brother and sister now gripped the hilts of their swords even tighter, so that the lover and traitor duo below could not escape their sight in any manner. Down on the courtyard, the fire of desire and the tide of romance were flowing high at that moment. After embracing each other tightly and sharing a deep kiss, the tantric and the guard loosened their grip a little. Staring at the bright red saree on the tantric's body, the guard curled his lip in disapproval and said, "What is this, Janu? Why are you still wearing this hideous red saree? Shed it, remove it this instant! I absolutely dislike you wearing this saree. I have personally bought a brilliant new outfit for you, wear that and let me see!"
Hearing these words, the tantric was absolutely overjoyed! Placing his two hands on his cheeks, he danced around in that exact feminine demeanor and exclaimed, "Ui Ma! Are you speaking the truth, honey? You have brought a new outfit for me? Let me see, let me see... Ui Ma, Ui Ma, Ui Ma! Extract it quickly, let me see what kind of dress my hero has brought for me!"
The guard pulled out a quite gorgeous, silken ghagra-choli along with a veil from the pouch on his waist and handed it over to the tantric. Taking it in his hands, the tantric spread it before his eyes. Seeing the glittering work on the ghagra, he became ecstatic with affection and said, "Oh dear father! How beautiful the outfit looks! You are truly my best hero, an absolute superhero! But tell me one thing, honey, whose gorgeous dress is this? From whom did you procure it?"
The guard flashed a cunning smile and said, "Whose else could it be! It belongs to that leader of devils, Princess Prabhasha! I sneaked into the inner chambers of the royal palace and slowly stole these dresses right under her nose for you. Wear it once and see how it fits you! Go, change into it quickly from inside the cave!"
Seeing her cherished royal attire in the hands of that hideous tantric from the high canopy of the tree, Prabhasha's eyes turned as red as a hibiscus flower in sheer rage. Gritting her teeth, she stared at Prafulla and said sharply, "Did you see, Brother? Did you see the sheer audacity of this traitor? He entered my room and stole my incredibly expensive royal dresses! Today he has stolen my dress, who knows if these two combined will physically usurp our entire Junagarh Palace one day!"
Placing a hand on his sister's head to comfort her, Prafulla whispered, "Yes Prabha, you are absolutely right. Judging by their gestures, it seems they have plotted all these filthy plans just to capture our royal palace. Do not worry at all, sister; if he took one of your dresses, let him be. I will buy you many more brand-new dresses, far more splendid than this one, tomorrow itself. For now, contain your rage and just watch their circus!"
Puffing out her cheeks a bit, Prabhasha said, "Alright, what else can be done! Now let's see what disaster that madman wreaks upon the dress!"
After a short while, the tantric emerged from inside the cave wearing that stolen ghagra-choli. Clad in Prabhasha's beautiful attire, he swayed his hips side to side, placed the veil over his head, and said coquettishly, "Ui Ma! Oi Ma! Look at me, honey, how do I look? Ui Ui... tell me how it suits me!"
Witnessing this excessive coquetry of the tantric, the guard scolded him in a sharp whisper, "Quiet down! Don't keep doing that 'Ui Ma, Ui Ma' all the time, someone might hear us! However, to speak the truth, you look absolutely like a fairy, incredibly beautiful in this outfit!"
Hearing this, just as the tantric was blushing with immense shyness, the guard turned a bit grave, scanned the surroundings, and said, "Listen now, put an end to this drama of yours. Don't you remember, the night has advanced quite a bit? This is the real time! Right now, all the villagers of the Junagarh kingdom are sound asleep in deep slumber. Come on, come on... without delaying any further, let's seize this opportunity to drop a few more rotting tigers at everyone's houses!"
The tantric suddenly placed a hand on his forehead, starting a massive drama. Making his eyes wide and round, he said, "Oh mother! What rotting tigers, honey? I have completely forgotten everything! What were we going to do again?"
Annoyed, the guard said, "Why did you forget? You aren't intentionally playing a drama with me in the dead of night, are you?"
Giggling heartily, the tantric gave a light shove to the guard's chest and said, "Oh honey, whether I play a drama or not—tell me our actual plan once more from your own mouth! I love hearing the words of our deadly conspiracy from your mouth so much!"
The guard then puffed out his chest and began to speak with arrogance, "Alright, listen then! Our real plan is to usurp that entire Junagarh Palace in a single stroke! That is precisely why we roam around from village to village every night dropping dead, rotting tigers, so that tormented by that terrifying stench and the fear of the tigers, and failing to salvage anything, all the villagers along with the royal family will abandon this palace and flee the kingdom one day! And when the villagers flee the kingdom in terror, you and I... the two of us together will become the king and queen of that vacant royal palace! Then, sitting side by side on the royal throne, the two of us will eat expensive grapes to our heart's content! Hahaha! What a brilliant mind I have, don't you think? No other soul in this world knows this except you and me!"
Hearing this deadly and flawless conspiracy, the tantric was absolutely overflowing with joy. Holding the guard's hand and giving a jerk to his waist, he began to sing— "Tukur tukus! Tukur tukus! Our plan is completely success, tukur tukus!"
The two mystical and treacherous lovebirds then kept time together with that song, chanting "Tukur tukus, tukur tukus", and swaying their hips in a dance as they entered back into the darkness inside the cave. Sitting atop the tree, Prafulla and Prabhasha finally caught their real plan red-handed and heard it with their own ears, understanding everything with absolute, crystal-clear clarity.