The morning mist still wrapped the forest surrounding Junagarh Palace in a white blanket. The morning star twinkled faintly in the sky, and the birds had just begun to flutter their wings. In front of the main gate of the palace, Prafulla and Snigdha stood ready. Both wore tight-fitting hunting attire, with quivers on their backs and sharp bows and arrows in their hands. Prafulla had decided to set out at this crack of dawn to ensure the safety of the villagers and to find the exact trace of that mysterious rotting tiger. Snigdha, too, had discarded all her princely laziness today and stood by her brother's side, her eyes now reflecting only the pull of duty.
Just as they were about to grab the reins of their horses without wasting another moment, a playful yet weak voice drifted from behind, "Brother! Didi! Where are you leaving me and going?"
Both Prafulla and Snigdha turned back in surprise. They saw Prabhasha rushing down the massive stone stairs of the palace, wrapping her veil around herself. Signs of exhaustion were still visible on her pale face, but her eyes glistened with a strange stubbornness and curiosity.
Snigdha immediately took a step forward and said in a firm yet affectionate tone, "Prabha! Why did you leave your bed and come outside so early in the morning? Your body hasn't fully recovered yet, you are still weak. You won't be able to survive in the forest in this condition. Please go back to your room, sister; we will find a trace of the tiger and return in a flash."
Without listening to a word, Prabhasha came straight and gripped her sister's hands. She threw a tantrum like a little child, "No, Didi! I will not return to the room under any circumstances. You will leave me locked up within the four walls of the palace while I twitch in restlessness all alone? I am absolutely fine now. Believe me, I don't have any fever left in my body!"
Prafulla smiled faintly, placed his hand on his sister's head, and tried to reason with her, "Oh, my crazy sister, understand a little. We aren't going to the garden for amusement. We are going into the depths of the forest where the menace of that rotting tiger has occurred. We are going to uncover the tiger mystery. Danger can strike there at any moment. Will it be right for you to go with this body?"
The phrase 'uncover the tiger mystery'—the moment she heard this, Prabhasha's curiosity intensified a thousand times over. Her eyes widened as she said, "You are going to uncover the tiger mystery? That is my topmost interest, Brother! Where is this rotting tiger coming from, why is it only raiding the villagers' houses, and why on earth does a rotting stench come from its body—do you know how long my heart has been restless to find this out? Please let me go, Didi; I want to see with my own eyes what the real truth behind this mystery is. If you don't take me along, I will flood this place with my tears right here!"
In this sweet bickering between the two sisters and the brother, the morning light seemed to clear up a little more. Before Prabhasha's intense eagerness and stubbornness, both Prafulla and Snigdha were finally forced to concede defeat. Snigdha looked at Prafulla, let out a sigh, and said, "Do you see, Prafulla? No rule of Junagarh Palace works against this girl's stubbornness. She just recovered from a fever last night, and before dawn breaks today, she is off to hunt a tiger!"
Prafulla burst out laughing and said, "Alright, alright. Since she wants to go so badly, there's no point in forbidding her. But Prabha, I will take you on one condition. You must remain between Snigdha and me at all times. You will not take a single step here or there without informing us. No playfulness will be tolerated inside the forest."
Prabhasha jumped with joy and threw her arms around her brother's neck. She said, "Everything will happen exactly as you say, Brother! I will follow behind you two like an absolute good girl."
Snigdha personally went and brought a small but sharp dagger and a lightweight bow for Prabhasha's safety. Fastening Prabhasha's veil properly with utmost tenderness, she said, "Stay alert. The moment you sense any danger, come and hide behind me, remember that." Prabhasha nodded in agreement. A tide of joy washed over her mind. This love from her Didi and Brother, and embarking on this thrilling expedition together, made her forget all the sorrows of her life in an instant.
The three siblings now stepped beyond the boundaries of Junagarh Palace together toward that dense, dark forest. As their three horses cut through the blanket of mist and advanced along the narrow trail inside the forest, none of them knew what terrifying and bizarre truth awaited them behind this tiger mystery. The silence inside the forest seemed to hint at a new danger, but before the courage of three united hearts, even that darkness was forced to give way. As the three siblings ventured deeper into the forest, the surrounding environment changed abruptly. The branches of the colossal trees overhead were so tightly intertwined that not a single ray of sunlight could reach the ground. Even though it was daytime, it felt as though a pitch-black midnight had descended. They forged ahead, cutting through the eerie, suffocating silence of the woods. Suddenly, a massive, ancient stone cave loomed before them.
As they drew closer to the cave, a horrific, unbearable stench of rotting flesh hit their nostrils. The smell was so intense that it made them gag. But what was even more astonishing was that, slicing through the deep darkness of the cave, a reddish, fiery glow was crashing against the rocks outside. It wasn't just light; the blistering heat of the fire inside could be felt all the way out there. From a distance, it appeared as though some tantric sat inside, performing a massive, blazing ritual.
Seeing this terrifying spectacle, both Prafulla and Snigdha froze in their tracks. Their hearts trembled with fear. Clasping Prabhasha's hand in sheer terror, Snigdha said to Prafulla, "Brother! I am feeling terribly scared. What kind of danger have we walked into?" Then, looking at Prabhasha, she said in a tone filled with remorse, "Prabha, why on earth did I bring you along! If only I had forced you to stay back at the palace, you at least wouldn't be caught in this peril. How am I going to save you now?"
Prabhasha, however, was not a girl to back down even if she felt afraid. Firmly gripping her sister's hand, she said, "Why, Didi? Nothing will happen. I told you, if the three of us stay together, we can overcome any danger. But if we had separated, the danger would have multiplied. And what is there to fear? We have Brother Prafulla with us! Come, let's slowly go inside."
Prafulla unsheathed his sword and said, "Yes, watch your step."
The moment the three of them took a single step toward the mouth of the cave, a bizarre sound echoed right from behind them. It sounded like someone was walking on dry leaves with heavy feet—snap, crackle!
"Who's there?"—the moment the three of them turned around together to see who was making that sound on the leaves, someone or some people emerged like black silhouettes from the mouth of the cave, tearing through the darkness. Before they could grasp what was happening, a heavy object struck all three of them forcefully on their heads! In excruciating pain, they saw stars before their eyes. They didn't even get a chance to scream—in a split second, Prafulla, Snigdha, and Prabhasha lost consciousness and collapsed onto the ground. In that darkness of the forest, their unconscious bodies were dragged into the depths of the cave.
After a considerable amount of time, when Snigdha regained consciousness, the surroundings were dimly lit by a faint glow. Her head felt as though it was about to split open from the intense pain. As she tried to open her eyes, she realized she couldn't move. Looking closely, she shuddered in horror—her hands and feet were tightly bound to a stone pillar with thick ropes!
Groaning in agony, she thought to herself, "What is this! Why are my hands and feet tied like this? How did this catastrophe happen? And why is my head throbbing so badly? Oh God, I can't remember anything!" Rolling her eyes around, she saw that a little distance away, Prafulla and Prabhasha were also lying unconscious, bound tightly with ropes. Due to the trauma of the blow to their heads, they hadn't opened their eyes yet.
Standing face-to-face with this extreme peril, a strange and sinister side of Snigdha's mind reared its head again. The very sister for whom her heart was weeping just a while ago was completely forgotten in the fear for her own life. Snigdha began to turn selfish once more. She thought, "Should I leave them here and somehow untie myself and escape alone? But how can I manage alone? If an even greater danger awaits ahead, I will be the one to die alone!"
Right after that, Rupanjan's face flashed across her mind. She began to tell herself, "No, I must survive. Rupanjan is waiting for me. Even if it is just for the sake of Rupanjan's love, I have to return alive from this hell. If I die here now, what will happen to Rupanjan? He won't survive without me! And Prabhasha? Prabhasha has no one in her life right now; she doesn't even have a life partner. Even if she and Prafulla die here, Mother and Father will cry for two days at most, they will suffer for two days, and then everything will go back to normal! But my life will be completely destroyed. It's better that I find an opportunity and slip away from here alone!"
The arrogant Princess of Junagarh Palace assumed her true colors once again when faced with danger. Blowing away the pull of blood like a straw in a single moment, Snigdha now sought only her own path of survival, while Prafulla and Prabhasha remained trapped in the death snare, as motionless as the dead.