Stung by the words of Anangasena Raja Bhartrihari sometimes tried to stay in the court for a bit longer time against his wish. Then, he would rush to the palace to be in the arms of his beloved. The queen did not betray any cooling down from her side. She welcomed Raja as before although inwardly she did not feel excited like before at seeing him.
It was past midnight. The queen turned her head and looked at sleeping face of her husband Raja Bhartrihari. He was fast asleep. Anangsena gently lifted his hand off and put it down on the bed. She softly said something to him. He did not respond and kept snoring. Queen Anangasena deftly left the bed without disturbing the king or making any noise. In another chamber she washed herself and daubed her body with perfume before dressing up. She then walked out of the palace chamber and went into the adjoining garden.
She walked stealthily towards a fountain by the side of which there stood a statue and a male figure nearby. The queen caught the sight of the male figure in dim moonlight and dashed towards it. The figure took her in his arms. The queen had taken a paramour.
The paramour complained about the delay in her coming out to meet her. The queen apologized and said she could come only when Raja went to sleep. Dark shadow smiled. He whispered something to the queen.
She said, “Don’t call me queen. I may be queen for the king and the subjects but for you I am just a lover, a woman crazy for you. Call me Anang.”
“All right, Anang. Does king suspect anything?”
“I don’t think he ever will be. He is blind in passion for me. Some men are like that. I keep him satisfied and his commonsense remains buried in my thighs.” The queen giggled.
The man laughed and pinched her saying, “You are a wicked woman.”
“Well Sunder, it is too late. I must go now. I will try to come as soon as I am able to put Raja to sleep tomorrow.”
“Don’t make me wait for long. I always fear some guard may catch me lurking here in the royal garden. I will be in trouble.”
“There is a good news,” the queen informed, “The day after tomorrow the king will go to attend to some ceremony in the neighbouring kingdom. I won’t go on some excuse. A lot of fun we shall have.”
“What excuse you would make?”
“I will fall ill tomorrow…” The queen giggled mischievously.
The paramour said, “But if the king loves you so much he may not go to the ceremony without you. Or he may take you along anyway.”
“You need not worry. Rest assured I will be with you anyhow,” the queen said conspicuously.
Then the queen disappeared into the darkness of the palace interior.
The paramour of the queen, so called Sunder was infact master of the royal stable. He was a handsome youngman who possessed well proportioned muscular body. Queen Anangasena was a good horse rider. One day she noticed Sunder and his body excited her. She had fallen for the young man. The queen started scheming.
One day she sent a confidant maid to the stable in the night when Bhartrihari had been detained out of capital and summoned Sunder to her bed chamber. Without mincing words Anangasena made a frank proposal to him to be her lover.
The proposal came as an unexpected development to Sunder. It was dilemma for him. To accept or not to accept? The royals were arrogant and very fickle people. No one could ever fathom their mind. Refusal could attract the ire of the queen and he could be implicated in some serious crime attracting execution. The acceptance was also a dangerous prospect. As a lover of the queen he was sure to be caught sooner or later and then the king would certainly get him executed. The death was the end result in any way. But going by the wish of the queen would get him some grace period and good time. He may even earn some rewards for his family.
So, Sunder accepted to be the lover of Queen Anangasena. That was the safest way. There also was a distant possibility that their affair may never come to light or something could happen to bring the affair to end in some way.
At that time Sunder was himself involved in a love affair of his own. He was deeply in love with a palace maid and was hoping to raise a family with her. As far as the lover of the queen was concerned he would be play acting for his own life. Now he would be leading a two timing life. Sunder could not tell the queen about his true love, the palace maid. And the latter could not be confided with his secret of being the queen’s lover in duress because the girl would never accept it whatever the cost. He was trapped in an impossible situation. However best he may try he could not get out of it. So, he left himself in the hands of his fate.