Son of Mah

xxiii. a stormy night

The rains had just started. Amidst the downpour, the stealthy cover of the night envelloped the castle in a shade of midnight blue. Owls hooted atop apple trees and slithering snakes glided through the thick mesh of bushes. In the abandoned garden behind the palace, Adonis and Firdaus met for an important discussion.

Each had kept themselves cloaked in order to not be recognised. Their attire blended with the darkness of the night. Dried leaves were sewn into the cloth to make the camouflage better.

They were both hooded. In order to confirm if it was indeed Adonis, Firdaus said the code word. "Khorshed."

Came the reply, "Mah."

Thus the identities were established. The two lifted their hoods and revealed their faces.

"Was it necessary to kill him?" Firdaus asked.

The youngest melophoroi gave him a look of disgust. He scrunched his nose and clenched his teeth. "I can't believe that you are speaking like a coward. You are the second melophoroi, with more experience and respect than me."

Firdaus clicked his tongue. "You don't understand. He was one of them."

"You had trained me enough to ensure I would be brave to face a day like this. I wasn't so courageous and bloodthirsty! I was a broken lad from the streets. I was defensive and afraid. You made me keep faith in myself and the Shah. Or else"–Adonis massaged the bridge of his nose–"so many folk had lost hope on the Shah."

Firdaus shut his eyes. "So it was right, you say, to kill Caspar?"

"It was. I admit it is a consequence of my own mistake. I had spoken too much about our plans while being drunk. And he heard it all." Adonis gritted his teeth and glared at the stars. "That pea-brain was jumping to tell everything to Parmenion. I realised then and there what a grave mistake I had committed." Adonis hovered above the selection of words
"Only choice left was to kill him."

"The Shah thinks we killed a well-wisher. He doesn't know we uprooted a thorn."

"The Shah is stuck in such an intricate web of lies and deceit."

"Sometimes I feel if everything is destined and we are mere pawns in the game," Firdaus mused. "I never knew I was going to be siding with the Shah and secretly protect him. But here I am, doing what is necessary to keep the candle of his life burning bright."

"Heartbreak has its own way of healing and redeeming."

Firdaus closed his wet eyes and recalled the smiling face of Khushboo. He could still feel her rosy smell waft to his nose. It was guarded well in his memory. "I was helping Parmenion do his nasty deeds. Never did I know that my own beloved would be asked to marry the Shah. Parmenion knew something was going on between me and Khusboo but he never tried to stop the marriage." Firdaus stiffened at the roar of the stormy rain. "He thought he was testing me."