Hayden
"And where did you say she is right now?" Celina asked, desperate.
"Temporarily unaccounted for," I replied.
For the next one-half hour, or a bit longer, I recited the story as swiftly as possible but made sure not to leave out details. They cringed and flinched several times at several instances, myriad emotional expressions crossing their faces, from shock to disappointment to miserable to bewilderment. The only emotion that lacked was compassion, and I couldn't blame them.
When I was done, Celina had her jaw tensed up, as if barely restraining herself from creating a tempest. A cold gust of wind blew across the room anyway. She slowly turned to Tyrell, who shifted uncomfortably in his chair and said in a sobbing voice, "I need to see her!"
"Wait," he said, wearing an unsavory expression, and looked icily at me. "Abilities are pretty tricky to tackle, we're all well aware of that. But that isn't enough reason for you to keep this Pruthvi. He should be the first person to know about this."
"I'm going to speak with him," I replied, failing to mitigate the pressure building in my throat. "As soon as he's done with Makara."
"No, you're not listening. You should have told him already. This is going to be a lot for him to digest in a single day."
"It was a blunder mistake. A severe one at that. With you gone, I was scared of losing him too."
His facial features relaxed, but he still looked saddened. "How do you think he's going to feel now?"
My heart sank. Now I had to look away from the disappointment that he reflected in his eyes.
"But Pruthvi doesn't even remember her being angry at him," Celina said, stretching her arms out and then wincing. "Is that why we lost our memories? So that you don't have to deal with Pruthvi?"
I remained mum and stared off at the corner silently pondering. That had honestly never crossed my mind. Did she really?
"If that's true, then she's helping you," Celina added. "Should I really believe Haimavati is helping you? From what I know, Haimavati doesn't help anyone but herself. But now I'm so confused." The wind blew off the note resting on the table.
Tyrell sat back in his chair, his shoulders slumped. The stern expression that he wore gave me heartache. "Haimavati Roksana is a relative of one of our friends," he said, then suddenly bellowed out laughing. "This is so rad!"
I glanced up at him, beaming, apparently lost for words. His sudden laughter filled the atmosphere with much more anxiety over the prospect of tentative more bad news to come.
Celina flashed him a stare. "Excuse me? Is this Rahu speaking? Because clearly, Tyrell seems to have lost his mind."
"Eh?"
"Haimavati's dangerous, a clever person who gets things done by any means..."
"Hayden saw her from up close, not you," he interjected.
"And he still got stabbed," Celina said pointing an accusing hand at me. "She stabbed a king. Talk about treason."
"Knowing that he's a Samagraha," Tyrell snapped. "Look, while I agree that nobody has the authority to do that, I'm still quite convinced that she had a solid reason."
Tyrell Kissler was defending Nazira Khan. Such an unforeseen development. What was this, his way of expressing gratitude towards her for rescuing him from captivity? The essence of his take matched the few tiny details from Singh's narrative, although the comparison seemed lackluster. But then, what do I know- there's no accounting for taste.
Celina's frown grew surly. She turned completely towards him, slightly lugging the chair around. "Every murderer has a solid reason, but that does not justify anyone's actions."
"She's not just anyone," Tyrell stated firmly. "You're underestimating her legacy. She's one of the four who first ventured into a medium. Her magic is a blend of brilliance and acuteness. Besides, how many could have dared to stand up to Lady Chandrika? She may or may not be dangerous, but she's darn powerful. Trust me, it will be a mistake to get off on the wrong foot with her. And Shashi seems to know that very well given that he's already a step ahead."
Celina's eye, unobscured behind her blinding bangs, glittered with angry tears. "A leopard never changes its spots, and neither does she. Such a clever person, she's already making us have a row."
"There's no point blaming her. She's not ever here."
"I hate to say this, but the blame game is pretty much established in this country. And everyone knows whose great legacy is surrounded by the pointing fingers."
"It's easy to give someone a bad rap because people think they have the floor."
"I suffered through the process Almourah because of her!" Celina yelled, almost crying. The wind blew the note further aside towards the fireplace. She was getting out of control.
Tyrell set his jaw, downright staring at her. "We talked about this last night. Jyran is your culprit. Too bad he could be killed only once. Otherwise..." He stopped there and looked away. Anger and pain did not nearly look nice on his face.
The headache began to tug at the back of my eyes. This argument wasn't going to get anyone anywhere. "That's enough, both of you," I said because Celina could retort. "I did not share all the facts with you to make you argue with each other. Blame me for everything that happened. It's better than seeing my friends arguing."
Celina sat back, crossed her legs, and her hands, lips pouted.
"Do you or do not believe that she's trying to do you a favor?" Tyrell asked as if to seal the topic once and for all.
"I cannot give you an answer, not until I get to have a one-on-one with her." I shook my head, much to my chagrin. "Whatever her intention was, she chose to do it unlawfully, and it needs to be condemned. I did not need any favor from her, not this one at least," I pointed at my wound, and hung my head down, not really wanting them to hear the rest of it. "I just needed her to be my supportive anchor. Though she already was."
Tyrell shrugged. "So what if she ripped your heart out, flung it to the ground, and did a Ganika-Hili on it? Conflicts in relationships are bounds to exist."
I scoffed. "Conflicts, yeah. These things are like coconut trees, waiting for us to walk under them."
Tyrell chuckled while Celina huffed out to snigger and muttered a few words of goodwill in a low voice. However, Pruthvi and Leena's sudden hysterical movement grabbed my attention. They leaned down the rail of the porch and glanced precariously up at the sky. Leena at once screamed, making the three of us startle before she lunged for the staircase and disappeared within seconds. Pruthvi, however, spared a glance inside, waved a beckoning hand at us, and held Hardik with another. Then he quickly ran off down the stairs. Makara followed him. And so did we.
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It was only two hours after the first-morning attack, the premise of the Sharad palace was once again drowned in chaos. Several screams acted as the signal for potential violence to erupt. The frightened citizens, who deserved a breath of fresh air with no lingering threat from Almourah, were once again provoked in need of solid help.
The dark, cold, and murky mist was spattered across the apartments. Beyond the mist, a thick storm cloud cast a deep shadow on much of the palace, blocking the orange hue of the sunlight and jagged flashes of white lightning sheeted across.
The mists slightly pushed apart- and that's when I saw- the clouds were breaking up into tattered fragments and a plethora of creatures had taken over the sky. Creepily two-headed, monstrous, and swift in flight. They flew in circles and long lines and were grouped tightly together. They descended slowly, nearing the earth. The feeling of foreboding grew steadily amongst us. They were going to attack anytime now, anytime, and this feeling was more ferocious than these creatures appearing in such large numbers.
If they all attack at once, this country is done for.
The knights, with muskets in their hands, ran along the five of us and Makara, in a futile attempt to provide help. My friends and I were ready, standing in a circle with the rush of our Formations circulating our arms. Hardik lay stringently flat on the ground, ready for another take-off. Makara stayed a bit distant away, staring up with his face puckered. We waited, and the wait was only meant for the creature to descend a little bit more. Anytime now.
"Be careful when you shoot!" the tallest and the most robust knight ordered, looking over at another set of knights who were clearing up the presence of jostling onlookers from the premise.
What goes up, must come down. No matter the confetti or the bullets full of gunpowder. The hails of bullets rained up towards the sky. Explosions were hurled around. The blasts deflected harmlessly off against that skin presumably made of steel. I caught Pruthvi's eyes. There was a dash of dubiousness in them. He shook my head and wordlessly spoke my mind. It's useless.
The creatures flew hundreds of feet above our heads. Hither and thither. Zig and Zag. To and fro. One of which, with full tilt, glided down from behind us. "Watch out!" A knight shouted, and that made us instinctively hunker down. Loud bangs from the muskets exploded like firecrackers. The creature screeched, loudly enough to wake up the dead, making us all gasp and bend and cover our ears. It quickly changed its direction and soared up right from above our heads, hurling the mist toward its direction and creating tremendous gusts of wind.
That was a scary, darn exhilarating experience that left a 'just ran over by a train' feeling.
Somehow the creatures weren't retaliating and had stopped screeching as well, let alone frying up the country with the storm of fire. It was outrageously weird seeing them being unresponsive. The five of us were standing in a spine-tingling environment, knowing that danger was right up above our heads and the real aggression never came.
The knights stopped firing, and slowly dropped their muskets down. Disappointed and astonished, confused and scared, all at the same time. There was no sign of citizens anymore. The faint din of nearby screams and cries entirely had deadened. The freezing silence settled among us, making the scenario remarkably awkward and stilted, with irrational fear hanging heavily in the air. Tension bubbling. It was going to be difficult to overcome the fear of what might or might not come.
We waited. And the wait was getting less bearable. Nothing ever happened. Creatures only flew casually like scavenging vultures hunting food.
My friends slowly shifted positions; their Formations were put off. We turned around to face each other and stood stiff as a log, silent, for a couple of painful seconds.
"Are we seriously waiting for something to attack?" Leena asked, her voice sounding deeper.
"Shashi's clan," Tyrell said, having his eyes up and squinting around. "He certainly has taken his attention-grabbing outrage to a new extreme."
"So, this is how it's going to be?" Pruthvi said, roughly. "To show his clan first, and threaten Hayden to give up his throne otherwise blast off the entire country?"
Besiegement, I thought. Shashi's custom.
"Or maybe," Celina said, her uncovered eye shining. "Someone cleverly stopped Shashi from using his clan against the country. Someone who's more powerful and has lots of experience at manipulating."
That hit the spot. Leena shot a firm look at her while Pruthvi shuffled uncomfortably, rubbing his nose and giving a once-over at the knights. Tyrell cleared his throat and stared expectantly as if waiting for me to add something to Celina's prospect. I remained quiet and thought profoundly about her. Staring into the void, gently rubbing my nape, and ignoring my friends' whispers.
"Someone seems to have worked things up with the devil," Tyrell mused.
Pruthvi snorted. "Did you seriously call Shashi a devil?"
"Yeah! Why, do you think it's offensive to the devil?"
"Sshhh!" Thankfully Leena shut them up.
I racked my brain, going through yesterday's events and putting them in a new light, trying to extract every possible hint she might have left behind. From the moment she had stabbed me, fast-rewinding to the conversation we had after I arrived at Sharad's Palace.
"It's too late now."
"Time," I exclaimed, words flowing out of my mouth, "That person borrowed our time."
She had been aware of Shashi's plan all along. She knew Shashi was going to release his clan today. And Shourya, as always, had played a mediator. Those hidden imprinted statements on her paintings were proof of them sharing information. She'd left with him and had taken the Pride with her. The Pride- the only weapon considered superior to Almourah, why would Shashi be any less wary of its existence? I dabbed on my jacket to feel the presence of the dagger, the location of which, for some reason, needed to be kept a secret. Wait, did she strike a deal with Shashi that involved the dagger? Damn Nazira, how far are you willing to go?
"Go back to the apartment," I said to the four of them. "And please wait for me there. I'll be back soon."
Pruthvi's frown grew deeper, but I ignored his perplexity and took a step away from them when Leena suddenly hedged me. "Where are you going?" she asked. "Pruthvi and I... we need some clarifications."
"You've got to excuse me, Leena. The clock's ticking," I said, pointing a finger at the creatures above and in what I hoped was a voice of modest authority. "We better get cracking before Shashi returns with double the ferocity. But before anything, I should go relay information with King Aghasthya."
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