(Book 6) Hayden Mackay and The Third-Eye of the Pancharatna

10.2. Step over the Game

The snake crawled around Naag's waist and swept its head up, positioning its well-developed treacherous eyes to stare venomously at Haima. Sssss! It hissed, flicking its tongue out, and its head rapidly shot forward at her. Haima however kept her cool, without getting triggered by its sense of hostility. She was already a bundle of nerves with all hopes lost. She didn't need a limbless swine to remind her who had foiled her attempts to maintain the authority over the throne.

"Stop! She's not a threat." Naag hedged and forcibly dragged its hood aside, making it crawl around his waist again. "Apologies Milady. He is devoted to Lady Chandrika."

"So are you."

Naag put his hands behind his back, assuming his knightly position. "Constellia don't have a choice."

"Everyone must have a choice, no matter a Constellia," she said and put her belongings down on the table. "Does Lady Chandrika know that you're breathing the same air as I?"

"Yes," he said, "She sent me here to have a word with you. Milady, you have always been kind and considerate with me despite your animosity with Lady Chandrika. I am thankful to you for that. Please do not regard this as a slight but we cannot allow ourselves to go against the morals and ethics of a Constellia. You spoke of having a choice. And we chose to submit ourselves to our master's will."

Don't I already know that? "What's your point?"

"I'm here to speak for Singh," he said. "He is hurt, disappointed, and confused. He doesn't know the difference between right and wrong anymore. He is caught up in this discord between you and the Cornelian user. So as a solution for this..." He paused for a few moments, his sunken expression displaying disappointment at what he was about to say. "I will not allow him to meet you in private anymore. Lady Chandrika doesn't want me to. I'm sorry but...it has to stop."

She gritted her teeth, anguish bubbling at the back of her throat. Why? Why must I lose him too? "I only share a fair counsel with Singh. He's been a good friend of late, the only friend who still trusts me, and I him. Naag, don't you see what's happening? This is another cheap trick to prolong his suffering. You cannot let your Master do this to him?"

"There is no other way."

"Isn't there?" she asked, and stared sharply at Naag, mind quickly processing. It was Naag, the leader of all Constellia, standing in front of her. An opportunity had come knocking, giving a vent to the instincts she thought she'd lost. Her heart had flatlined for a few days, but now it seemed the beats have returned, giving her insides a good clean out. She smiled inwardly and leaned against the table. "You could stand up against the injustice that's been happening to you and Singh," she said. "You could reach out and protect each other. You could, for once, do the right thing, Naag. And blindly following your Master's footsteps is not it."

Sssss..! The snake hissed again.

"I told you she's not a threat!" Naag growled. He looked back up at Haima, his bushy brows gathering too close and there was a streak of wrinkle over the forehead. "As I mentioned, I cannot go against my Master's wish."

"Just spare a moment and hear me out," she said and used her magic to check if anyone was around listening to their conversation. "Yajna shouldn't be absolute. Period. Lady Chandrika is not only focused on giving her son what he desires, but she is after something that could destroy the country on the whole."

Naag stared, disgruntled. "No, she's not."

Haima smiled. "You're naïve, Naag. Perhaps if you pay more attention to your master's massive mean streak, you'll know how exploitive her nature is. And you of all people shouldn't take this lightly."