Mathew comes back

The kingdom was peaceful for 10 years. Your father Promfer ruled the kingdom just and wise. Thomas was the advising minister to him. Your father married Embrill. She was the daughter of the Minister Krennell. After a year your brother and sister were born. They were twins. They were named George and Margret. Your siblings I should say were intelligent and had unique abilities. No one knew except me,your mother and a few others. George can take the right decision. Well, he was a kind of strategist. He can know what people think and what will be the right decision. Margret can read any ancient literature. She can decipher the hidden meaning. After 8 years you were born. On a day when roses blossomed and the rain Gods welcomed and birds chirped you were born. It was a beautiful day. We knew you were special like your brother and sister but there was not enough time for us to find out what exactly your abilities are.
"And what are my abilities??" asked Polly
"I will tell that part later Prescilla, let me first complete what happened"
"Oh sorry again. Please continue"
A year after you were born Mathew returned. The boy who ran away. The boy who was considered killer of the queen. King Promfer was furious seeing the boy. He was no longer a boy. A handsome young man with evil in his heart.He was dressed in a black flowing gown. His hair was thrown back and he had a black cane in his hand. The top of cane had a small skull shaped figure. There was an aura about him. The guards feared to go near him. A court was assembled. It was known knowledge that he was the queen's killer.

King Promfer said angrily " Did you poison the queen?"

And at that moment he hit the ground with the stump and fiercely roared "No one questions me". A green light seem to emanate from the skull's eye. People in the court were terrified.

"Arrest him" the king ordered to the guards.

All the guards moved away from him and the king was shocked. Mathew moved towards the king and looked in his eye and said "you will do as I say."

It was a siege and no one was able to do anything about it.

The king was hypnotized. From that day onwards it was Mathew who ruled the country. The king merely became his mouthpiece.

I tried to look into his past but there was nothing I can see after he went to the forest. And I am not able to look into his future.

"Why were you not able to look into his future?" asked Polly
"Hmm, even I am not sure Prescilla. It involves the darkest of darkest magic to make the future disappear. Or else there is a possibility. But that thought terrifies me beyond belief. "
"What is it Lady Tensila?" asked Polly
"I cannot see the future of a person who is dead. Dead have no future. Either Mathew is dead or else he should have pledged his soul to the devil. " said Tensila.

"Pledged to the devil?? Does that mean he works for Devil? Grandpa had told me about God and Devil. Mathew must be very bad."
"I know not for sure what has happened but one thing is for sure. Yes,Mathew had become evil."
"But why did not you stop him?? You are the lady of time"
"Hmm, I am the lady of time Prescilla, not a magician. Moreover my powers are limited to the seeking of time. I do have 5 grants given by my father the Sun God to use it while I am in earth. I have used two of them in Strombton. One was for your safety I made myself into a doll and kept you in my protective circle.Another was for the safety of your siblings."
"What happened to them?"
"After the siege the kingdom suffered in the hands of Mathew. There was only one rule and that was of Mathew. But he did not rule the country directly. I am not sure of why he did not rule himself. Your father was still the king. No one can predict what was going on in Mathew's mind. But I saw the future of your siblings and yourself and saw you people imprisoned. So I advised Embrill to take your brother and sister to the Kenneth Tribes who lived far far away. I was sure that Mathew will not be able to find out. And I ensured that I will take care of you. I wanted your brother and sister to be able to fight Mathew. And they needed time for that. Your mother disguised herself and the children and left the palace one night. No one in the palace was to know about it. But something happened on the way. They got lost. There was someone in the palace who knew they were leaving. Something stopped them from reaching the Kenneth Tribes. The only possible explanation is Mathew has cursed them with "Sygnomer curse". "
"What is that?"
"It is a dark magic which causes the person to drift and forget their destination and purpose. It was a tactics used in war field on the enemy."
"What? So were you not able to find out about them from looking into their future. ?"
"Priscilla dear, do you think I would not have tried that. I have left no stone unturned. But I am not able to find them. "
"But who told Mathew about their leaving in palace?"
"I tried finding that also but I was not able to look into Mathew's past.But next day Mathew was very furious. "
"Why was he furious?He got what he wanted right?"
"No dear. He did not want them lost. He wanted them under his control. He tortured your father and when he did not get any suitable reply from him he turned him into stone."
"Stone?? Means father is dead??"
"That depends on the kind of magic he used on him."
"Now what are we going to do."
"You are the only hope for Stombton Priscilla. You will have to unite the family and bring happiness in Stombton."
"Me???????????"

The doll story-3

Next day when the servants went to your grandmother's chamber, they found her in a pool of blood. It was horrible. She was hale and healthy when she went to bed. No one was able to explain. I came to know of the news and reached the palace. I observed her face was bluish. She had been poisoned,that much I was sure.
"Lady Tensila, sorry to interrupt you. But you are the lady of time, can't you know everything?" asked Polly.
Lady Tensila smiled. "You are smart Priscilla. But the answer to your question is no. I belong with the Gods in the heaven. I am here in Strombton as a favor for your Grandmother. I will tell you some other day why I came to earth. My powers in earth are limited. In short I can manipulate with events of the future. But with past I cannot do much. That is the reason I advised Queen Embrill,your mother that its safe that you be sent to future, an era which Mathew cannot find out."
"Then can't you see the future and tell what will happen to Mathew? "
"Oh Dear Priscilla, you are impatient as well. But you should understand that I am no fortune teller. My job is to maintain all activities that happen are balancing to Mother Earth. I was created to support Mother Earth. I have traveled though time and informed Mother Earth of the activities happening in past and future that can destroy life on earth and kill her children . The course of a person's action can vary and so can his future. A man may be traveling though a route. He may come across a midsection where there can be two different routes leading to the same place. If he takes a route to his left he may come across a different fate and if he takes the right he may come across a different one. But the route he takes is his own decision. And in the case of Mathew he can manipulate people and things. So seeing his future is like searching a drop of water in the ocean. Likewise if I go on searching the future of Mathew I may get lost going through the different courses his life may take. I will never find out the real one."
"Oh, sorry for interrrupting. You were telling about finding Grandmother dead." said Polly.
Lady Tensila smiled. "It is alright Prescilla. Yes, I was sure she was poisoned. It must have been a deadly herb that killed the queen. The whole kingdom was mourning. King Promfer and Thomas were very broken. In the ceremony all were present except Mathew. I doubted that Mathew had something to do with the poisoning. I checked for him in the entire kingdom. I looked into his past and found him entering the royal kitchen and mixing a portion in the Queen's drink. This confirmed my doubts. I went looking for Mathew throughout the palace. But I never found him. Only a note left by him was found saying he was very sad about his grandmother's death and he was leaving the kingdom. A few days after he left the palace I looked into his past again. I saw him entering the forests of Kimbery and walking. He had absolutely nothing in his possession but he looked confident and very sure of himself. After a certain point I was not able to see him. The forests of Kimbery had a magical element in them because of a wily socerer named Dragister. I assumed that Mathew had gone to meet him. Thomas was very heartbroken. First he lost his wife and now his son disappeared. It was ten long years. Everyone thought that Mathew died in the forests. "
But he did not.

The doll story-2

Polly was very confused and she was tired. She just wanted to go home. She wanted to see her grandpa. He must be so worried.
"Prescilla, lets go. There is lot more to discuss. "
Polly walked slowly with the lady.She did not have a choice. They walked down the hill. The palace looked majestic. There were several guards surrounding the fort. Most of the guards shook their head in recognition of the lady Tensila. She must have known them. Some of them looked at her,she must be so out of the place. But no one asked anything.
As they entered the palace there were few ladies. They were dressed uniformally so Polly assumed that they should be working in the palace. Tensila called out to one of the maids.
"Christine, I want you to be the Governess and caretaker of Lady Prescilla. Take the help of few helps if you need them."
"Lady Prescilla!!! Oh my God. This is a pleasure. We have been so amiss without you princess. I hope you will solve all our problems. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Christine, head of staff and housekeeping. My great grandmother was the caretaker of her highness the queen when she was a child. I mean your grandmother.Lady Tensila , I must say this is a pleasure."
"Christine, I know you will be the best for the child. But for now get the princess ready as soon as possible. I need to discuss a lot with the princess.And watch out for the guards."
"Yes, lady." said Christine.
"What about the guards?" asked Polly
"Many of the guards are loyal towards the kingdom. But there are a few who work for the sorcerer. We need to be careful."
Polly followed the governess to the room. It was a big room,three times the size of the house where she and her grandpa lived. There was a huge mirror, a bed enough to accommodate the whole of Julie's family and lot many things which Polly was not able to identify what they were. There were also two more maids who held their head down and had a tray in each of their hand.
"Princess, this is your room. If it seems smaller we can change the room."
"No, no this is absolutely fine."
"Ok Princess. These two, Carline and Stepane will help you take bath.They are your personal help. I will oversee if everything is alright."
Ohhh so this is the maid's maid,Polly understood.
Polly kindly excused them from helping her take bath. She can do this much herself.
She was given a white dress with a lot of fittings. It was a beautiful dress with lot of designs and patterns which she had never seen. The maids helped her with her dress, then braided her hair and then did a little of coloring to her eyes and then cheek.Finally she was ready.
She went to the main hall.The lady was waiting there. She seemed a little restless.
"Sit down Prescilla. It must have been quite a shock for you. But things are as such haphazard here."
"Lady Tensila, tell me why did I come here or rather why was I brought here?"
"The story starts during the time when your grandmother was the queen. The king was a person with no respect for anyone. He was very arrogant and cruel. He had an affair with the chamber maid and she was conceived. The queen found about this and took the chambermaid under her custody. The maid bore a male child and she passed away. The child was named Thomas .The queen brought him up like her own child. After several years the queen had a child of her own, your father, Prince Promfer. The queen still liked Thomas. She considered him as her own son.
After few years the king passed away. And the question came to who will be the next king. The queen considered making Thomas as the king but he rejected it right away saying he never can earn the trust of the people and his brother Promfer is the ideal choice for the crown. But Promfer was still a minor so the queen decided that Promfer will become a king when he will turn 18 years old and till then Thomas will rule in the name of Promfer. It was this time Thomas met a lady and fell in love. The lady was not of royal blood but she was kind hearted and they both married. Within a year of their marriage she bore a child, Mathew. She also like Thomas birth mother passed away after giving birth to the child. Thomas was very heart broken. But he loved the child. Mathew was an extraordinary child. He showed all signs of royal blood. Unlike his father he was able to command and there was an attitude in him which made people fear. When Mathew was nine years, Promfer was crowed the king. There was a sudden change in the attitude of Mathew. The queen called the child and talked to him. She was quite upset when the talk ended. The queen called me and confided in me that Mathew's heart is quite dark. She told me as I remember. "He is quite vicious for his age. I did not except this from Thomas's son. He terrifies me. I am not quite sure of what I should do with him. Tensila, tell me can you do something about him?"
I told the queen that changing the past is something like going against the Gods which I will not be able to do. But I promised her that should something happen I will see that the future does not favour Mathew.
Then the next day the most terrible thing happened.

to be contd...

The doll story -contd

Polly got up and was unable to believe her eyes. There stood a dazzling palace with a big fortress and red flags throughout the palace. It looked right out of her posters. She realized a hand placed over her shoulder. She turned and looked behind. The most beautiful lady with a flowing long dress in the lightest shade of green stood behind. Her cheeks were pinkish and she had golden hair and a small tiara over her head. She was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. Polly thought that the lady was an angel. But aren't angels supposed to be dressed in white??
She had seen the angel pictures in books. Then Polly was confused.
"You look confused my child".
Polly heard a voice. So the lady was real.
"Am I not dead?"
"No Priscilla, you are not dead. We will not allow you die" the lady said.
"Priscilla?? We?? I am not Priscilla and I do not understand what you are talking about. I am supposedly dreaming. My grandpa will be back anytime. "
"Oh dear you are in a shock.Lets go to the palace and freshen you up.Then we shall talk."
"Oh please. Let me go back to my grandpa. He must be worrying about me."
"Do not worry Prescilla. Your grandpa will not worry. Trust me."
"But for God's sake, I am not Prescilla. Stop calling me by that name."
" Polly, if you like that name.But you were born with the name Prescilla."
"Birth name? I do not get what you are talking about. But who are you? Where am I?"
"To answer your questions. Yes, Prescilla is your birth name. I am the Lady of time. My name is Tensila. You are in the Strombton the kingdom of your father. "
" Kingdom of my father? Please tell me this is a joke. "
"It is not princess. You are Priscilla, the lady of hope and the unwinder of mysteries. In short you are the 'problem solver' ".
"Problem solver? But I have never been to a school."
"Knowledge does not come from places alone princess. Schools are in the time where you came from. In here there are tutors who can bring out the best in you."
"But why am I here? If I belong here why was I there with my grandpa? Grandpa always told me that my parents are with God. "
"You are here because you have responsibilities towards your kingdom. We have been waiting for a long time when you will pick the dolls and play with them. Your friend Julie was always there. So you ignored the dolls. I found a way to send Julie out to her aunt's house. Finally you picked the lady doll and told that she is your guide. So I am here with you and I am your guide."
Polly was shocked beyond words. Yes the lady truly resembles the doll she had in her hand before the house split into two. She remembered holding the doll in one hand while falling down. It must have dropped out of her hands when she fall. So the doll became the lady? This cannot be true. But today nothing seemed quite normal.
"Prescilla.. Sorry, Polly lets go to the palace. This time of the year the sorcerer does not come to the palace.Its quite safe as well. "
"But you haven't told me why I am here?"
"You are here because you need to tell us where your brother and sister are?"
"My brother and sister? And how will I tell where they are? This is completely ridiculous.


to be contd

The doll story

There was once a little girl who was very pretty that everyone called her dollface. Her name was Polly. By nature she was very sweet except when some one called her "dollface".Polly lived by the river with her grandfather. Her grandfather told her stories of far and wide. Polly used to get so immersed in the stories that she will think herself of the main character of the story.
Her grandfather went to forest daily to pick woods and they lived by selling the woods in the market. One day as the grandfather went out for the daily work he called out to Polly " Dollface I am going to work".
"Grandpa, do not call me dollface. I do not like that name. " She made a big face.
"Sorry sweetheart I forgot about that. These kids around here keep calling that name, got to warn these kids." He grinned to himself. "I have made egg bacon and sausages. Have it and be at home, I will just be in time".
" OK grandpa.Take care in the woods. Come back soon."
When her grandpa went for work Polly used to go to play with her friend Julie. But now Julie had gone to her aunt's home in England.
Polly felt bored. She had a small collection of dolls which her grandpa had bought her for christmas and every birthday of hers. How much she longed for her parents every birthday. When Julie used to tell that her mother made her cake,pudding Polly used to feel bad that she had nothing to tell.
Her grandpa did not know what a small girl might like for a toy. He brought her warrior, queen, king, socerer, sword, dairy,armchair, a beautiful lady,cradle. The cradle was empty. When she asked her grandpa, he told her " It was meant to be empty" with a sadness in his voice.
Polly decided to play with her toys and gathered them together. "Today we are alone at home, lets play a game. Let the king be king and queen be queen and I am the little princess. " She drew a palace on the floor and kept the king and queen. She took the beautiful lady and pointed to her. You will be my guide. As soon as she said the following words the house started rotating and split into two. Polly thought there was an earthquake and her grandpa had told her a lot about earthquakes. She tried to hold on to nearest pillar. Her hands started aching and she was not able to hold anymore. She fell into the darkness. It was deep deep darkness. She was screaming and falling down. There was a loud thud. Polly had reached the bottom. Her eyes were full of tears. She thought she had died as many in the village used to tell that little Paul who lived nearby had an accident and died. Polly lay in the ground. A gentle hand touched her. Polly got up and opened her eyes. She shrieked. "This cannot be true. Where am I? Am I dreaming? Grandpa please come. Where are you?"

to be contd

20/3

20/3 is not date, nor is it some measurement, nor some street number. It is the one of the articles given in our constitution. Article 20(3).
20. Protection in respect of conviction for offences
(3) No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.

Is this a boon or bane???
The article says that the accused cannot be compelled to be a witness against himself. But suppose if a murder is commited and the law would want to prove the accused guilty. How can they until they have a solid witness??When there are no witness and we don't find the dead man walking to give himself as the witness, the last resort would be to use the accused as witness. So they go for lie detectors and other phsycological analysis. So this is a bane for law forces if we have to follow according to the article.
In the present scenario where the people try to find loop holes in our law bodies and constitution this is definitely a bane!!!!! The Indian society has witnessed many cases where poor innocent people are locked behind bars, made to spend their lifetime in jails losing all their plesure of life and their future just because they were born poor, brought up ignorant and meek before the extraordinary law. Its not new that when there is a crime committed and the right criminal not found or in some cases if the criminal is an influenced person the innocent person is being forced to take up responsibilty of it. In that case the innocent does not have power or person to support him and loses not just years but his life. Keeping this in mind our constitution makers made such an article. So in a developing country like India where the powerful always try to see the loopholes this article is definitely a boon!!!

The meeting

The meeting which I thought would be normal was not so!!!! Me basically new to the team was not sure of any major issues. It was a Friday and hopes were high of the forth coming weekend. The rampo started. Our team is a small one and from our side myself and my lead were there. The room as in a high tech s/w comapany was made full ac more than usual. My boss was there. So the total people from our side was three. oops .. very small one.
The other side where our issue was to be discussed was a huge one. But only one from the other side was present(one who can make up the rest)
So the fun started. My boss and the other side man(lets name him x) started arguing some point. The Mr. X was saying some invalid point again and again. I was in one corner watching the fun.
Suddenly my lead(call him y) got up. I also woke up from my temporary dreaming.
He took the marker and started making some points 1,2 in the white board. I was all time watching all fun. Then my boss was looking at his watch again and again. Mr x asked in a polite tone, "r u getting late". My boss said "yup, I have an appointment". Mr x said "oh, that's ok, but we will make it some day, but until u come we wont come to a conclusion". My boss said "that's ok, but you both (i.e Mr x and y) can discuss the issue for now. Saying this he left.
Then the major part of the story came in. Mr x and Mr y were discussing a point again and again and it was a heated argument.
And me sitting in one corner watching the fight of two educated men.
Mr x says " this is according to procedure"
Mr y says " I don't know this, you can better ask my boss, am not the suitable person to explain this"
The argument went on for another half hour and me jus turning my head from one to another to see who's argument was better. I was imagining myself as a judge listening to the argument of two lawyers but alas I did'nt have the autority to take this decision.
At last Mr x banged the desk and I understood the meeting has ended.
Finally the result was that there was no conclusion. Suddenly Mr y pointed to me and said, "you can ask even her, she ll too agree on my point". I was dumbstruck. I dint know the exactly what the matter was, and I understood very few terms. Then Mr x came as my rescuer saying,"she is just a beginner I don't want to put her in an uncomforable position."
So thus I was saved for the day. And the meeting did not have any fruitful result.