All of you must already know that before Maharahi becomes the royal family's physician, she was a witch. But before she was a witch, she was an apprentice, like me. She served Lord Nugartak, the master of black magic.
Lord Nugartak had plenty of apprentices, but the two most capable were Maharahi and another girl named Ambra Wajaning. They 'graduated' from being his apprentices to be his associates in no time. Maharahi practiced in Gadilengka, Ambra Wajaning in Pupur while Lord Nugartak stayed in Situwaru.
After a few years, Lord Nugartak rose to power in Situwaru. He no longer served the wealthy and powerful men; he became the wealthy and powerful men. His magic allowed him to rule over the entire island through mind-control.
When Maharahi visited him, she was impressed. Everything that happened in Situwaru could only happen with Lord Nugartak's permission. He was playing god the entire time.
She didn't object at first. The people of Situwaru somehow had it coming for them. They were greedy, deceitful, shrewd. The typical people who would hire black magic wielder like Lord Nugartak. But when she found out the ingredients to create such wide and lasting magic, she began to rethink the whole plan.
"What were the ingredients?" asked Hismar, interrupting Saka Subarsang's story.
"Ooh, guess time!" said Kinalu. "Is it something to do with soul?"
"Children," blurted Amanji.
"Correct," said Saka Subarsang.
"Dammit, Amanji!" protested Kinalu. "You're no fun."
It's true. The main ingredient is the fresh brain of children. The potion was dumped on the rivers, being consumed by the whole region. Can you imagine? Those people drank the brain of their own kids.
By the time Maharahi visited the island, the remaining children were kept like cattle. People were forced to have babies for the next batch. So when he needed to renew the potion every few weeks, Lord Nugartak would already have everything he required.
Maharahi, who was invited to help him take over Klenep, ended up fighting her former master to free those children. Of course she lost. Badly. But she survived, saved by what she described as a grubby, grumpy girl who was really bad at tending her wounds. This grubby and grumpy girl was Princess Sayarinah, the soon to be Queen Kanyawitan.
The princess came to Situwaru to investigate the series of mysterious disappearance of her former representatives. Everyone in her group drank the poisoned water except her, because she couldn't drink any other water than the one that comes from the spring in Mount Kalas.
"Oh, right, it's because of the itch, isn't it?" this time it's Prince Basandaya who interrupted the story. Saka Subarsang nodded. The Prince then turned to the others. "Maharahi told me this story once, when I was stung by a bee. Queen Kanyawitan had what we now call allergy. Her old physician had prescribed her the spring water of Mount Kalas to stop her from scratching her body all the time. Said it has natural antihistamine agent."
Since she's the only one who didn't drink the water, she had to hide from... well, basically everyone. I don't remember the reason, but Maharahi and the Princess then had a fight. It was so bad that Maharahi cast a spell on her, but it backfired. Turned out, the Princess was wearing a piece of jewel that caused black magic to revert to its caster. And that jewel was the Bragya diamond.
Or at least that's what was received by the aristocrats, hence the Bragya diamond pandemonium. Maharahi believes it was because she was in a terrible form after being defeated by the master of black magic. She doesn't believe a gemstone can do such a potent form of protection. Only a white sorcerer can protect someone like that.
However, when used by Maharahi, the diamond did make her ten times stronger. So, the Princess ordered her people to create a special helmet made entirely of Bragya diamond for Maharahi. She then led an army of pegasus-riding soldiers, white sorcerers and janak kurat fighters into Situwaru.
One of the janak kurat fighters was the legendary Wir Brigtamuri. He gouged Ambra Wajaning's eye and ultimately defeated her using the technique that only he mastered at the time, the Devouring Dragon. This technique allowed him to absorb the power of his opponent, making them as powerless as common people.
Maharahi killed Lord Nugartak and restored Situwaru back to normal. Feeling responsible for the damage, she decided to cast herself away. But Princess Sayarinah insisted that Maharahi owed her life to her, so she must spend her life serving her. It sounded bad when I said it, but it was actually a ruse to keep her alive from the people of Situwaru and Gadilengka who wanted to persecute her over her abuse of black arts.
Princess Sayarinah assumed the throne and became Queen Kanyawitan, while Maharahi turned into a white sorceress, abandoned her old name and cured the Queen's allergy. She became the royal physician and dedicates her life for the royal family, even decades after the Queen has passed away.
Not a single word was breathed for the whole two minutes after Saka Subarsang finished his story. They were still immersed in the epic origin of Maharahi. And that image of a grubby, grumpy girl with skin allergy leading an army while riding a pegasus was something that would be etched in their mind for a long time.
"But," Jantra Kawa was the first to react, "that doesn't explain how she stays young all this time."
"Oh, I don't know anything about that part," answered Saka Subarsang, followed by a disappointed groan from his audience. "But however she's done it, it's nothing like you accuse her to do. She has left the black arts a lifetime ago. Her magic is only used to protect the royal family from any attack using the black arts."
"Which is why the only way to harm the royal family is by hiring assassins such as the Silent Vipers," added Jantra Kawa. "Which is also why the personal guards of each family member must master janak kurat to overpower their raktan ngawu."
"Wow, so the royal family is untouchable, both from the mystical and physical harm," Darga was in awe.
"Hang on," Hismar turned back to Saka Subarsang. "Does that mean Maharahi is currently protecting the royal family as well as retaining her youth at the same time? Isn't that required an immense power?"
"It's got to be the Bragya diamond," said Amanji. "She still has the helmet, doesn't she?"
"Then she should be wearing it all the time and turns back to her old self when she takes it off," theorized Prince Basandaya. "Instead, she's wearing that funny twig thing."
"Have you seen the helmet in her hall, Brother Saka?" asked Hismar.
"No," Saka Subarsang shook his head. "I never asked about it either. Perhaps she returned it to the Queen."
Meanwhile, Maharahi had finished looking after the Queen Dowager. Knowing that Saka Subarsang was not in her building, she went to the basement to treat herself a nice hot bath. Enjoying the vanilla scented water, she began rubbing her smooth fair skin to get rid of the sweat and dirt from the day of work. And that's when she noticed the wrinkle on her hand.
Maharahi glanced at the door upstairs. When she was sure no one was coming in, she stepped outside the bathtub. As the water dripped from her naked body to the floor, she raised her hand up high. With the movement of her hand, the filled bathtub was slowly lifted in the air. Under the tub, on the concrete floor, a piece of lid was slid to the side, revealing a metal box inside a hole. The metal box floated toward her. When she opened it, her face was lit up by the pink glow of the Bragya diamond helmet. There was only half of it left.
She broke off a small piece, returned the metal box back in the hole and placed the bathtub where it belonged. The piece was crushed into dust in her hand. A glass of water floated into her other hand. As she reentered the bathtub, she put the Bragya diamond dust into the glass of water. And while she soaked herself in the warm water, she drank the whole glass. Like a miracle, the wrinkle on her hand instantly disappeared, rejuvenating her skin to its flawless state.
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