I was trying to bring up the conversation whatsoever. Now, atleast now, I wished Doctor took my concerns seriously and deal with me.
Doctor stared deep into my eyes for a few seconds before he said, "You can use Holognome only one single time Hayden and for only ten minutes. So if you want really talk to King Harsh or anyone else you think you want to, it better be the right and important person."
I averted my eyes. He got me there. Only ten minutes might not be enough to talk to King Harsh. May be I could ask why I was given an informal name, Fire of Vengeance. Then I thought what was more important to me right now. What if I want to talk to my mother or my father and ask them why they hid all their past from me like Pruthvi had asked. I blinked my eyes twice trying hard to not to get them filled. I was not as strong as Pruthvi. I couldn't imagine if I could even breathe watching and talking to them again.
"Did you know about the cure?" I asked doctor, trying to change subject before my brain get all broody, "Because you told us it was just a myth."
"I knew, Hayden," he said, "I always knew."
Everyone at once sat bolt upright in their chairs.
"Then why didn't you..."
"Because I was scared of losing Leena. I was scared Aghasthya might lose one of his granddaughters and I am not ready to watch him lose anyone else from his family anymore."
"It was just the matter of a tear," said Celina, shrinking her eyes, "You could have easily taken a drop of tear from Leena and helped your son? I mean, Leena always cries for every other reason, she could have easily..."
"It's not just any tear," interrupted Doctor, "There is a difference. Look kids, this might sound ludicrous to you, but tears are a gift to every one of us. It brings out our inner emotions. Tears are either filled sorrow and or with happiness and the tears used as a cure are the ones filled with sorrow. Reason you ask, tears were first turned into the cure by deities since they unable to watch the first Aquamarine user shedding sorrowful tears for her mother's death. What do you think I have to do to bring out such strong and emotional tears out of Leena?"
"She was required to know about her parents," said Pruthvi grimly, "Only that can bring her genuine sorrowful tears, which now I understand why you didn't tell her. You did the right thing doc."
"Thank you for understanding, Pruthvi."
I rolled my eyes and so did Tyrell. Who knew tears could be so magical! Paramarashtra is truly very, very weird place to live.
"You said there must be a dead body to generate the virus," said Tyrell, "Don't you think we have to find out who that was?"
"I already did. It was Yamini," he said sadly.
Celina gasped. "Yamini is dead?"
Doctor looked down at the table and nodded. "Ira is accomplished in locating most of the people's whereabouts. She was the one who finally located her. Shashi used my friend Yamini to get to King Aghasthya."
My mind raced and I quickly said, "The body that was hanging in the cave. That was Yamini?"
Doctor nodded. I caught Tyrell's eyes who looked back at me in guilt. He has been cracking jokes about her so the guilt was natural.
"What about Anmol?" Celina asked, "Where is he?"
"That's one person I definitely want to meet someday. I don't know where he is yet, somewhere licking Shashi's feet maybe. But I wish to meet him one day and ask him why he betrayed me after everything I did for him."
A sudden silence fell across the room. I chided myself to think that Yamini must have been a traitor like Anmol. I was wrong and I should have tried to find more about her. I did not even care to look at the body that was lying in the cave. The particular silence was killing me and decided to break it.
"King Aghasthya killed his mother?" I asked, "And Shashi wanted to avenge his mother's death by killing Leena?"
"Tarakini!" said Doctor, nodding, "King Harsh's stepmother. She was the lady who made Shashi like how he is being now."
"Why did he kill her?"
He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words.
"She wanted to make her son the next king of Rawat and it was possible only after the death of King Harsh. As many as times they tried their best, King Harsh with the help of Aghasthya always won. So the mother and son decided to kill Aghasthya first and tried to do it in her way."
"Which is?"
"It's complicated. But you are grown up now and I don't mind telling you. She planned to kill Aghasthya by attracting him by her beauty."
"What?" I asked, blinking hard, unable to understand.
"Doctor," said Celina, "Do you mean romantically?"
"Yes."
"Yuk!" exclaimed Tyrell.
I flinched a bit, finally understanding. My head seemed to roll. Pruthvi and Celina both looked sick as well.
"If Tarakini was King Harsh's stepmother," said Tyrell trying to make assumptions again, "and King Harsh was friends with Aghasthya, then isn't Tarakini old for King Aghasthya?"
"That is absolutely right, Tyrell," said Doctor, smirking, "Tarakini was one such person. She maintained such relationships with many men."
"Then why did King Harsh's father marry her?" I asked, perplexed, "If she was a such kind of a woman."
"Like all other men, King Harsh's father fell in love with her charming beauty. Tarakini used him as a puppet as she planned to become rich if he married her. But King Harsh's mother didn't accept his proposal to marry another woman so he had to let go Tarakini. As a result, Tarakini was offended when he told her he couldn't marry her. She planned again. She went on to so low that she pretended to carry his child and threatened him that if he didn't marry her, she would announce publicly about the child and in turn make everyone hate him. Being a king he couldn't let people hate him. He had no other option but to marry her against his first wife wishes."
"It seems like one movie story," commented Tyrell pulling back his frizzed up hair to the back of his ears.
"Well, reality is stranger than a movie, my boy."
"So what happened then?" I asked and totally immersed in the story, "She was not really carrying right?"
"She was not when she got married, but later a month she was really having Shashi. God knows if King Harsh's father was really the father of the child but she got what she wanted. Her son got his name- Thribhuvan."
"So you mean to say," I asked trying to be manipulative, "Shashi may or may not be King Harsh's brother?"
Doctor stared at me again and then said, "Yes, may or may not be...by blood. But what are you really trying to ask me Hayden?"
I moved forward, put my hand on his palm and asked as pleasing as I could, "Is my mother a Thribhuvan? Is Sara Mackay was really Sarakshi Thribhuvan? Is King Harsh my grandfather? Please doctor, tell me. Tell me the truth."
From one corner of my eye, I spotted Celina's curious eyes upon me. But I couldn't bother about it now. I was having the moment of my life. I was, if doctor think was the right time, getting the truth about my mother.
"Yes," said doctor making my heart drop to my knee, "King Harsh Thribhuvan is...was your grandfather."
I fell back shuddering. My throat felt dry and my stomach churned to a maximum speed. So whatever Theodore Hanslay told me was the truth. Somewhere in my heart I knew I didn't want it to be. But now coming out of Doctor's mouth, nothing seemed to change it.
I was, am, truly the grandson of one of the greatest Kings of all time.
"So Shashi is my family?" I asked, my heart sinking, "We are related?"
Temperature seemed to have turned extremely strained. My friends weren't speaking at all. They were too stunned as much as I was but I noticed them glancing at one another without commenting.
"Yes, you are related," said Doctor, "I know this must hard for you..."
"Why am I called Fire of Vengeance?"
I wanted straight answers. No more sympathy, no more compassion. Just straight answers to all my concerns and I wanted everything right now.
"I don't know Hayden," he said breaking my heart.
"You are lying."
"I am not," he said hurriedly, "Don't you think I want to know that? Hayden when the time comes, when everything seems to fall into right places, we both shall know why you are named as such."
I opened my mouth but nothing seemed to come out. I just nodded calmly. But the answer doctor gave me wasn't satisfying. I still needed to know why? I still needed to know why Shashi hates me so much. Is it only because I was King Harsh's grandson? Or could it be something else?
"What is the ritual that Shashi plans to?" Tyrell asked trying to move on.
"That is a very intense dark magic, Tyrell," said doctor, "Only people who have researched in those areas could be aware about it."
"Can Ira know anything about it?"
"She can if she wants to," he said, "But then, it should be her choice because dark magic is not so easy to get hold with. It can even bargain with your life to achieve it."
"Doctor," said Pruthvi, "About my father..."
"You don't have to tell me about your father," doctor said cutting him, "I know everything about him."
"You know?" he asked, "How? And why didn't you tell me?"
"Because even though people called him a coward, neither me, nor King Harsh believed he was one."
Pruthvi frowned. He wasn't seem to be satisfied with the answer.
"King Harsh made the plan to take Zarina's great granddaughter with him and he discussed it with me before he went on to do it. I don't know if he was right to do that, but I always trusted him with whatever he did."
Pruthvi blinked looking sideways.
"People must know about my father," he said, in a low voice, "They must know he was not a coward."
"It doesn't make any difference. You know your father was not one and that is more than enough. Let people think what they want, you cannot change every person's mindset."
"What about my sister?" he asked, "Where is she? Will I ever find her?"
Doctor sat back and folded his hands before he said, "Do you really want her back?"
"Is that suppose to be a trick question?" he asked frowning, "Of course I want her back."
Doctor smirked and said, "Then I assign you with a job. You have to come with me to a place where, I can't tell you right now, I wish we can find your sister."
Pruthvi face glowed to a thousand watts. He looked at all three of us with ecstasy and said, "Seriously, doc?! You want to come with me to bring my sister back?!"
"Yes," he said, smiling, "But you need to have patience because I have still not decided anything about it yet. But if we go, there might be some consequences and you have to only remember that you want your sister back no matter what."
"Sure, whatever," he said shrugging, "I just need my sister back, safe and sound."
"You got yourself a deal."
-x-