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XXI
THE MOCKERY OF FATE
Pavananjay, accompanied by Prahasit, travelling through the sky, arrived at Adityapur. They landed their Viman in a garden outside the city. The two friends, at once, set off towards the palace of Anjana. . Prahasit whispered into the ears of Pavananjay. “We should go to Anjana's chamber unnoticed by anyone”.
"But where is the need for our going there unseen by others? Can we not go there openly! Who can stop us from going there ?” Pavananjay did not like the suggestion made by Prahasit.
"I want to prove that even to-day, no one except you has a place in the heart of Anjana. And inspite of the passage of twenty two years, she is experiencing the same grief and distress on account of the separation from you”. Without waiting for a reply from Pavananjay, Prahasit held his hand and went forward with soft and silent steps.
It was a seven-storeyed palace. The lights were still burning in one chamber; and the brightness fell on the road. Both thought that Anjana was staying in that chamber.
Both were Vidyadhars. By virtue of their supernatural powers, within the twinkling of an eye, they were in the seventh storey of the palace. The door of the chamber was partly shut; it was not bolted from inside. From the door one could see what was going on inside. Not only that; one could also clearly hear the conversation going on inside.
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