The family reunion
The next day,two guards and Shashank came to escort Hasini . "The king wants to meet you in private,please come with us ",said Shashank. Hasini followed them ,she was nervous as her cover had blown out,the king will interrogate her now,what answer will she give? So she asked Prince Shashank" How did you know I am a woman? ".
"I saw you change "
" What ?!! How can you be so pervert ?"
" Yah ! From now on you have to tolerate this pervert for life ",teased Shashank
" Excuse me" ,said Hasini
" N ..no..nothing ,you will know soon,surprises are waiting for you now,go the king is waiting " ,saying so Shashank opened the door of the royal room.
"Me alone ? ",asked Hasini
" Yes,I will enter the room with some guests later on ",replied Shashank.
Hasini entered the huge lit up room ,the king was sitting on his bed with tearing eyes,as she entered,he came running to her and held her hands "Dear,where are you from? where is your family,your mother?What is your name? "
"My lord ,since you asked many questions at once,which answer first do you prefer first",replied Hasini boldly.
"Hmmm correct I am a bit anxious now,Your name first ",replied the king.
" My name is Hasini my lord.I live in a small village near the Iravati (river) bank,my family consists of me and my mother,she is old,we do not have any men in our family,women are still barred from doing good jobs and earning money,so i disguised as a man and came to the capital to earn good money my lord,other than that i do not have any malicious intentions,please forgive me if i hurt you ",saying Hasini kneeled in front of the king.
" Arise dear, actually I am the one who must beg for mercy from you Hasini. Please forgive your father for the pain you had went through all these years .You are my own daughter and princess of Iravati yet you lived the life of a beggar,please forgive your father,please forgive me",saying so the king started weeping holding Hasini's hands. Hasini was previously in pain seeing the king weep,she did not expect this scene to happen in the king's chamber, and now hearing king's words ,she became awestricken,she asked anxiously, " How come i be your daughter my lord? My father died in an accident after I was born".
" I know,its natural for your mother Heera to give this explanation about your father ,its completely my fault,during my wife's pregnancy ,my wife needed medical herbs that was not found anywhere,i went to the forest to search for the herbs,i lost way in the forest and spent the night on a tree,the next morning i met a beautiful poor lady gathering woods ,i instantly fell in love with her and confessed her,she who is your mother took me to her small hut in forest ,gave me food and shelter,we both were in love and then nature followed,we were living peacefully in the forest ,few months later we found out Heera was pregnant and then after some more months she gave birth to a beautiful fair daughter who was you my child,since you brought happiness to us and the gloomy forest ,I named you Hasini ( meaning one who brings happiness). I wished no one ever could find us ,but a week later the soldiers who were searching for me found me and asked me to return to the palace. I could have taken you and your mother along with me but I was scared of being made fun of by my ministers .I promised your mother I will come to take both of you and left for the palace. I then shared this secret with my wife and brother ,they both allowed me to take your mother in. But as i visited the hut,I was shocked the hut was burned,the trees were all burnt,i asked the locals they said a forest fire broke out a few days ago. I was devastated , I blamed myself the whole life that i could not save my child even being a king. Please forgive your father my child ",replied the weeping king.Hasini started crying hearing this " No this cannot be,my father did not leave us,he saved us from the fire ,killing himself ,this is what mom said me ".
Soon the door behind opened ,Heera- Hasini's mother,Queen Maya,Princess Anjali (Arjun's sister) and Prince Shashank entered the Chamber. Heera cried " I lied you child,I am sorry for keeping you away from father's love ,I thought your father never came for us,I have mistaken thinking the king never needed us as he has his own wife and children ".Queen Maya hugged Heera,consoling her she said, " Don't cry Sister ,now you and your daughter becomes a part of our royal family,thanks to Prince Shashank our broken family is now complete ,no worries,don't cry".
'Shashank ?! 'Hasini 's ears struck 'How can Shashank know about the Iravati royal family's secret!?' thought Hasini.