Nazira
A lion roared.
Poor villagers huddled together, were on the floor and crushed in fear of the gigantic fire-breathing lion. A threatening and dangerous situation was doomed upon them, with no way out. The muscles of the lion bulged with every careful step it took toward the scared human. The murderous frown demonstrated its anger. It pounced, and the villagers screamed. The lion lunged at one of the men and the screams escalated as quickly as the lion bored its paws down, tearing off a man's guts from the rest of the body.
Haimavati cried out loud unable to watch the lion hurting her people, ripping them apart one after the other. The agonizing pain of those people was hers as well. She felt strangely dislocated from reality. It was insane. The lion's teeth dug down the man's skin, it was as though digging into hers. It chewed on the back of the man's head, and she heard others screaming watching the poor man's terrible fate, and fearing that they were next. This was it, she thought. The villagers were goners, and being a queen, she was unable to help. The situation made certain of it...
Nazira squashed a grunt waking up, her body achy and stiff from lying down on the floor for a deeply affecting couple of hours. The chains, gripping tight around her wrists, scraped against her skin, her energy dissipating away. The smell surprisingly was musty and earthy, indicating Shashi's absence. Taking deep breaths. she opened her eyes and contemptuously stared into the fire in the lantern, flickering on and off as if nodding a greeting.
She smirked to herself at all the intriguing elements of her dreams and stories and recalled what a lumberingly absurd dreadful fantasy all her lives had been.
She remembered the horrors of her past lives and the past of her present. The horrors grew tenfold with every life and led her to fear even the faintest whiff of air. It was all gone now, vaporized instantly with the explosive force of the magic running deep down in her veins.
The reality of her existence defined her as something Paramarashtrians loathed and feared. She was a stray witch, an abomination, a disgrace for not being born in the Clan of Maya. Moreover- she was Zarina Khan's great-granddaughter. But at this point in life, she could do nothing but embrace her magic back. Embrace it a little too vengefully and accept the challenges of not being the Haimavati she had been. Her friends may have given her smiles and laughter, and a purpose to live but how could she deny that it was the magic that boosted an extra sense of consciousness and sentience in her?
She was locked in at some solitary corner of the vast basement, invariably being Shashi's home. Somewhere beneath the wilderness of Sherwood Forest. She had come down here before, searching for Tyrell, and only then she had come to know that this place was highly protected with the use of supplements. Without Shourya and Tyrell losing his magic, nobody could ever find her. None of her friends could find her. Good.
Everything more or less had gone as per the plan so far. Shourya had escorted her to this isolated lair on time as she had meant him to. The magic laid upon him was broken. He was free now. The direct verbal face-off with Shashi seemingly ensured the desired result. The only concern was about keeping the Pride safe and hidden, until its next proper use. The dagger should have been delivered safely back to where it rightfully belonged. In the gathering first flush of the morning, despite being alone, she felt heavily crammed with her accumulating tensions.
There was a sharp lingering pain in the left-hand side of her face and her shoulder. The blow Shashi had struck was giving her extensive pain in the arm, jaw, and slight earache. She took a long breath and frowned to herself, trying to keep her mind off the pain. Her magic could help fix her up, but the more magic she used the more she found herself sloping down with exhaustion. The chains were sturdy and robust and fully functioning. She assumed that these restraints had to be dealt with for a little more while. The wait, however important, seemed interminable.
Time passed. The stillness in the air dragged on and on. The silence was always heavy on her, but her insides were screaming with impatience, beginning to weigh her down. Shourya, she ground her teeth, where are you?
Shourya and his cleverness. Without a shadow of a doubt, she loved him as much as she'd loved Queen Premila and Doctor. If it hadn't been for Doctor, Shourya would have never become her secret guardian. But his twisted cleverness bothered her. There was trust, of course, but there was also a cross to bear. She pressed her anxiety down with some difficulty. Sneaking into his mind earlier was a terrible idea. It had only sown doubt upon him.
Her hands itched, and it wasn't because of the chains. A distraction was calling upon her attention. There were painting tools perched inside the wide-opened trunks. Beside them were the books related to magic, the kind of books that Queen Premila had strictly prohibited her from reading. "Because I said so," the queen would say, using the classic motherly statement as a reply whenever asked.
As if on cue, a shadow crossed over her face. The same large woman entered the prison and shambled towards her, face yet camouflaged and carrying a plastic bowl and a napkin. Thin tendrils of smoke seemed to be curling up from the bowl. Watching the woman bend over, Nazira pulled herself to a sitting position and dragged herself gently toward the wall. The woman sat in front of her and removed her veil from her face, revealing her greying her and pitted face which suggested she'd suffered from acne at some point.
She checked Nazira out, studying the wound on her shoulder, the drops of blood on her dress, and the swelled cheek. Her expression became serious and eager to communicate. She then dipped the napkin inside the bowl filled with warm water, wrung the water out, and brought the napkin closer to Nazira's cheek.
Nazira winced. "What are you doing?" she signaled hurriedly, chains fluctuating mid-air.
The woman put a finger on her lips. "We are not alone," she said and then pointed outside the gate of the prison.
Nazira bent over and observed the entirety of the prison cave for the first time in the stripes of morning sunlight pouring down from somewhere. Beyond the bars, there was a wavy water body in iridescent shades of turquoise, the splashes of water hitting the ramp that connected the prison and landing on the other side. A couple of Shashi's men were seated on the ground, one of them being the twin. They were playing card games, smoking and drinking, and occasionally looking about her. Nazira sighed. Why the surveillance, she thought, weren't they assured that she was here to stay?
Water bubbles floated on the water, popped, and floated again -this happening dramatically too many times, as though someone was breathing underwater and keeping an eye on her. When she felt a warm dab of wet napkin against her cheek, she looked back at the woman. "There's also a scary creature inside the water," the woman said, her lips moving too quickly. Nazira only managed to catch up. "You are surrounded from all sides, and I know you're a mage. You better be in limits."
Is that a warning? Or is the woman genuinely being nice to me?
The wetness of the napkin quickly had a soothing effect on her skin. Nazira wanted it more. The woman soaked the napkin once again and got it back to treat. "Do not mistake this for kindness," the woman said. "You're a guest as long as you keep Shashi happy."
In the process, the veil of her saree went up to her elbows. Nazira inwardly gasped. There were bandages with a stamp of dried blood over them. At once, power surged through her and she infiltrated into the woman's mind. This woman had been providing blood to Shashi in return for food and clothing. How very Shourya of her.
"Are you going to stay here for the rest of your life?" the woman asked, still attempting to soothe the cheek and wipe the blood off her shoulder.
Nazira shrugged. From the corner of her eye, she noticed another man joining the group of guards outside.
"What are you going to do?" the woman asked, "Staying in this cell, I mean. You aren't really considered a prisoner."
Wait until Shashi's pushing up burnt daisies in the gates of hell. Nazira shrugged again.
"You're a very lucky person you know," she said. "You're able to get good nursing care. There are other prisoners Shashi brought in a few days ago. He treats them with utter inhumanity. They are about..." she continued speaking bending her head down to soak the napkin.
"What?" Nazira signaled, making sure that her expression let the woman understand her perplexity.
"I thought you were going to save them. But now I guess not. Shouldn't you be using your magic more wisely?"
It was as though the woman was passing information she wasn't supposed to. "Who are they?" Nazira signaled, quickly. "From which dynasty?"
"I don't understand sign language. Sorry," she said, her eyes taking on a faint look of regret. She took a peek outside the cell and made sure no one was objecting her to spend more time in the cell and exploiting the opportunity. "Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned this to you at all," she continued. "Everyone keeps talking about how powerful you are. They say you're special in an inconceivable way, and that you should be treated like a queen. So I feel compelled to tell you. Those youngsters are in serious bad condition and they need help. They have been here for the past few days, and are only on liquids. Tell me, is it true that a Samagraha is the Rawat's new king?"
Nazira smiled proudly and gave a nod.
"Will he come and save those people?"
If he comes down here, he will find me too, and that's no good. Nazira nodded anyway, this time giving a nervous smile.
The woman's face brightened up. "That gives me hope for a better future. Thank you. I'll go fetch breakfast for you. You must have it, otherwise, it will be my family who'll pay the price."
The gate of the prison opened yet again, and a man entered, clad in Sharad knight's red chainmail suit. Nazira sat up, relishing with glee. It was Shourya. Finally.
He shared a few words with the woman before she gathered her items and urgently departed leaving the two of them alone. He then walked closer to Nazira and crouched in front of her. Before flooding him with questions, she checked on the men keeping guard on her. They were lying still on the floor, their chests rising and falling as though in deep slumber.
"I tricked them into having a sleeping draught," Shourya said. "They won't be waking up until tomorrow."
It wasn't surprising that he'd done that. She wiped the slight dampness off her cheek. "Where were you?" She signaled. "Did everything go well? Did you give it to Hayden? And why are you dressed like that?"
"Yes, I gave it to him," he replied. "And about dress, how else was I supposed to spy on them, without Pruthvi recognizing me?" He kneeled further down and pulled out a bunch of keys from his pockets. He started fiddling with the chains.
She huffed and regarded him with a look of suspicion. She was expecting more information from him. "Without letting him know that it's from me."
"Well, yes."
"And?" She coerced.
"I guess he already has a hunch about what you've done. He's is talking with King Aghasthya right now and drawing up plans. That's all I know."
She gulped down a lungful of air, relief washing over her. However, something still felt wrong, for Shourya did not seem pleased. He quietly fumbled with keys searching for the right one. His face was grim and saggy, eyes resisting meeting hers. It took a few beats to unbind the chains and methodically keep them loosened up. Then he dropped his hands down and looked up sulkily.
She flexed her arms, feeling the drop in the weight, and signaled. "You're mad."
"Surprised?"
"You're not impelled anymore. Magic is broken. Isn't that what matters?"
His gaze cast a tangible pressure on her. He had been having that look on his face since the moment she had started to answer back defiantly. "The deal you made with Shashi," he asked. "That wasn't part of the plan. How dare you, Nazira!"
"Shashi impelling you seemed like an opportunity extending to me. You can't be mad at me for making certain use of it. I did what I could do. It's all up to the Samagraha now."
"And what about Hayden? What you did to him will be considered a felony in the eyes of Panchayat. I can only pray that he forgives you."
"No."
"No, what?"
"He shouldn't be forgiving me, that's the whole point. He better forget about me and so should others."
Shourya shook his head in disbelief. "Do you even know them?"
"I know I'm underestimating them," she admitted. "All they need is someone to show them a cliff and throw a challenge, and they won't be afraid of jumping right off it. That is what I did. I showed them a path to proceed. You have to trust me. This is the only way."
"You're wielding a double-edged sword, Nazira. I'm afraid you're much closer to cutting yourself."
"Don't get started, Shourya," she replied, her throat beginning to pain. "I explained everything to you, didn't I? Things never turn out right with me. And this time I want to make it right. Hayden's a king. There's this obligation to deal with him differently. Besides, he has his friends and Singh, and the entire dynasty who's fond of him. He'll be fine. He must be fine. It's not him that I'm worried about. It's you."
Simply absconding from her friends' lives was the right thing to do, she thought. The number of disruptions she had caused in her earlier lives had only shaken things out of pattern, the experience of all of it had made her come to this conclusion. It was a given fact that her being anywhere near the Formation Samagraha will be a terrible mistake this country cannot afford anymore. The five of them will grow more potent without her. And more importantly, they will live.
Shourya gave a mirthless snigger. "Where would I be without your optimism?"
"Thanks for coming back and giving me an update," she signaled. "You should go now. Run. Hide. Just go anywhere. Live far away from Shashi and...survive."
His facial features softened. "Come with me. Please. You've already stacked the odds in Hayden's favor, you don't have to stay here anymore. Shashi's not around. There's no one around at all to stop us. Escaping can be easy as it can be."
"I can't. I made a deal with Shashi, remember?" she signaled, feeling her eyes moistening. Not to mention, anywhere she went, anywhere at all, Hayden would shake hell and heaven together to hunt her down. Hadn't she literally seen his potential from close range? He would want to know the answers. Deep down in her heart, she knew he deserved an explanation. He would find her and demand answers, politely may be, but fixing her with his usual predatory cold angry stare. No! She cringed. Suddenly it felt safer and easier to live with Shashi. "I must warn you, Shourya," she signaled. "Hayden will come to find you, some way or the other, today if not tomorrow. If he does, you'll mislead him. You'll tell him exactly what I told you to. Promise me."
Shourya sat back, dismissively, making no effort to reply and once again breaking eye contact. There was a faint flicker in his frown. She hated that she was able to tell the difference more than ever. This significant change in her felt highly dramatic but nothing new or surprising. Something was running in his mind again, she figured. Power surged through her- unwillingly, she was getting caught up in her old habits, and began reading his mind, the magic allowing her to process his train of thoughts. It was so wrong to invade this way, yet so easy to predict what he was likely to attempt once he exited the lair. And it was clear, Shourya is going to deceive me.
"Don't cross me," she implored. "Please. Your one wrong move will make Shashi forget about the deal. He will burn this country up. Just do as I told you to."
"You've chosen to go on the wrong track, Nazira," he said. "But I know your heart is in the right place. I'll not do anything that you think is not right for this country. You have my word."
-x-