SANYOGGHAD, NORTH OF SHIKHARPUR BORDERS
The mounted man looked keenly at Aaryan, his eyes narrowed against the sun. He took in the rest of the surrounding scene and when his eyes alighted on a visibly distraught Siya, they rested on her for long moments. He turned back to Aaryan but demanded an explanation from the man Aaryan had lashed in retaliation. The man shakily recounted the events preceding his Captain's arrival, embellishing matters to make Aaryan seem like an insolent rebel challenging their authority without just cause. The man listened without comment or much outward reaction. He was boyishly handsome, not very tall, but slim and quite dapper, despite his soldierly garb. However, his eyes were odd. They were a very pale hazel, and so cold that they resembled frost-drenched ferns on a winter morning. His features, whilst fine enough, had early traces of dissipation marking them, particularly under his artic eyes and around the almost too smooth planes of his cheeks and chin. Something about him hinted at his enjoyment of over much of the finer things, and perhaps the not so fine, in life. Still refusing to acknowledge Aaryan, who stood similarly impassive, he spoke to his men.
"Bring him to the camp. I will question him there." His voice was like his eyes - it had a biting quality to it, but was underlain by a subtle clarion quality, hinting at shrillness in moments of extreme agitation. Aaryan shot Siya a warning look, as if to tell her not to react, and as more men with drawn swords surrounded Aaryan, he stepped forward himself. The newcomer turned to the man holding Siya.
"And the lady too of course."
Aaryan interjected at once, "She cannot help you. I am willing to come and answer your queries but an army base can hardly be fitting for an innocent woman?"
The man had a slight twist to his thin lips and a speculative gleam in his eyes as he looked between the two.
"But she travels with you, no? So she must come, I am afraid. As for innocence, I can only establish yours, and hers by association, after we speak and I satisfy myself. You need not worry, I will take very good care of her whilst we speak to you."
Anger simmered in Aaryan's eyes but he knew it was futile to protest. As Siya tried to shrug off the guard holding her, the rider spoke again.
"And how did this man arrive? Where is his horse? Please fetch him too."
Aaryan once more spoke, "He probably ran off as I was distracted by the commotion and left him unattended whilst feeding him."
His captor was not dissuaded. "Well, let us see, shall we. You fed him, you say? Where were you? My men might have to search the village to find this horse and of course the more we stay and search, the more things we may discover." He flung that with a significant look at the gathered crowd, who were all sullen faced and mostly looking away in fright. "Does anyone know the whereabouts of this man's horse?"
No one replied, despite the man Aaryan had bought the fodder from being part of the assemblage. The man raised his brows.
"Very well, then". He directed his men to search and bring him any horses they saw, causing some of the townspeople to look at each other in concern. In hardly minutes, an angrily neighing Veer was dragged along by two men trying to keep away from his hooves. Seeing Veer, the man's gaze sharpened and he carefully looked at Aaryan. As the men passed Aaryan, Veer reared with his ears flattened, and caught one of the soldiers squarely in the chest, raising shouts of alarm and some of the armed guard to rush forward, but they were checked by a command from the mounted man. Aaryan was by Veer in a trice, patting his neck and speaking softly to him, whispering something to him. Aaryan wondered if he could mount quickly enough and draw his bow or sword, but there were too many with swords at his back and besides Siya was being held. Aaryan softly directed Veer to be led by a few more nervous looking soldiers, the leader looking on with a slight smirk. When it seemed they would set off, he had one more instruction. Indicating Siya, he asked for her to be mounted on his horse.
Aaryan immediately reacted with unhidden anger in his eyes and in the taut lines of his body.
"My wife will walk with me!"
"Your wife?" the man replied. "She doesn't seem to sport any 'sindoor'*? Also her head is covered but she is not in full veil, all rather unusual."
Aaryan's gaze was flinty and his voice dangerously cold.
"Nevertheless, she is mine."
The smirk on the leader's face deepened and Siya interjected, her eyes wide and her voice slightly shaky, but clear.
"I will walk."
The man turned to look at her, his eyes raking her slender form, making Aaryan purse his lips tighter.
"My dear lady, you look gently bred, despite this man's and your own garb. I cannot allow a lady to walk to my camp. You need not fear. We will be there soon but I have to ensure your safety and comfort and so you must ride with me. I insist."
As Aaryan tried to move, he felt cold steel press into him once more and he met the man's knowing gaze, his eyes flaring. Yet, there was nothing to be done. At yet another advisory from the man, Aaryan was searched and an impressive collection of knives and darts retrieved from his person, causing the rider to raise his brows and nod sagely. An obviously reluctant Siya cast quick glances at Aaryan, seeming to draw strength from what she saw his eyes. She was soon sat atop the Captain's horse, holding herself as aloof as possible. The armed column filed away with Siya riding pillion in front of the strange man, who kept his horse close to Aaryan, who had to go on foot.
Siya felt fear lick at her inwardly but she tried to be as calm as she could, knowing that any error on her part could put them in even more grave danger. Despite it being unclear what this stranger's intentions were at present, there was an undercurrent of threat that she sensed. Whether it only arose as the man wanted to just question them as he had said, or whether he would mete out even more punishment to Aaryan for his defiance, she was not sure of, but there was something about him that made her uncomfortable. However, she tried to reassure herself that he did not know who Aaryan was, and she fervently prayed that they would be let off once the man had satisfied himself that they were simply importune travellers who had been at the wrong place at the wrong time and victim to Aaryan's over zealous sense of rightness. She wondered if this man would listen to her if she tried to explain the circumstances to him. He seemed to be treating her like a woman from the upper classes, although that worried Siya as he may not have been as fooled by their homespun clothes as she hoped. She also did not like his proximity on the horse. Aaryan himself kept a wary eye on the rider and her. The man was talking to her, his voice easily, and perhaps deliberately, carrying to Aaryan.
"What is your name, Lady?"
Siya scrambled around for an alias, knowing the folly of confessing her real name. She had been praying a second ago, and had thought of Lord Rama, so blurted out,
"Ermm, I am, erm.. Maithili**, Sir."
"Very pretty. And the name of your....travelling companion?" He left a slight pause before describing Aaryan as such, causing Siya to be even more flustered. Aaryan tried to reassure her with his eyes to stay grounded.
"He is...errm, his name is Vikram." Siya felt this was passable enough and was thinking of a likely trader-like surname but the man only smiled and did not comment any further. She wondered if she should ask him who he was but thought better of it, remembering that she was to be a scared plebian woman, and not of royal lineage. Their pace was slow enough to allow the walking party to keep up.
The cogs in Aaryan's brain whirred at breakneck speed. Out of all the people he would have expected to see here, the man escorting them was the unlikeliest.
Why would Rana Vijayendra's heir and eldest son, Devendra Singh Rathore, allied to the Shekhawats and Udawats, and holders of one part of the quadruplicate Nagabhata Map, be at the fringes of Shekhawat territory with an unmarked force? He is on the trail I set so carefully to flush out the traitor but the traitor is Raunak, so what does Devendra do here, away from his own lands? Is he involved with Raunak somehow? Or is he on some sort of totally different mission? Has he recognised me? I will have to be very careful, but I need to understand what Devendra is playing at. Something is clearly not right. And I really do not like the interest he is taking in Siya".
The last thought made ire rise in him again, and he tried to bring himself under control, knowing that he would need his wits about him to decipher a way out of their predicament. As the faint outline of what must be Devendra's base came into view, he spurred his horse forward, shouting a command to his men to bring Aaryan as soon as possible. He ignored the startled anger on Aaryan's face to ride ahead, as a panicked Siya looked back at Aaryan with wide and frightened eyes. Aaryan wished he could conjure up a sword, but it was of little use and he doubled his pace, earning a cuff from one of his brutish guard.
Soon they were at the hastily pitched barracks and with his general's eye, Aaryan quickly scanned the area to file away the set up of the encampment, the thickest parts of the defenses, and noting the decrepit, but mostly standing, building he had been told by the villager was occupied by the army commander. The building had been constructed as a base fort and had once been the bastion of his own mother's family, before they had bequeathed management of the area to the Shekhawats. Now its neglected and slightly blackened structure jutted in the landscape, a remnant of more glorious times. They were greeted by a smaller cordon who indicated that Devendra had left instructions for Aaryan and without much ado, he was marched to the inside of the part collapsed edifice, to a chamber presumably set up as Devendra's. The place seemed to double as a place of both work and part rest - not uncommon for warring generals waging battles. There were tall archways of solidly carved wood still standing, and a large table in the middle, with an assortment of weapons, maps and other papers littered on it. There was a central portico almost dividing the room with a curtain strung up on each side. Aaryan assumed that this would be drawn to allow rest where a section was set up with a thick collection of rugs and mattresses and cushions, as a makeshift living area as they had made in the Haveli.
He was tied with his arms raised above his head to some metal rings hanging from the archway, a gnawing concern taking hold of him at what this implied. He had thought Devendra would at least speak to him first but this did not spell a precipitous omen. Rather quickly, his arms were secured with thick ropes, tightly bound and even thought he tried to bunch his muscles in a way that could allow him some flex to loosen the knots later, he knew the fastenings would probably hold. He tried to gauge the strength of the rings but they seemed firm and he wondered if other helpless souls had been held here for not so salubrious forms of questioning. He anxiously looked around to see where Siya could be.
* Vermillion
** Maithili is another name for Sita, the wife of the Hindu God, Rama, just as Siya itself is.
Author's Note: Hands up those who thought in the last part that the newcomer (i.e. mounted rider) was going to be Raunak? Instead, we have Devendra and we shall read more in the next part but things are looking rather tricky for now? Needless to say, we have a slightly changed equation here with the saga taking place and I do hope you all find it interesting! Please keep voting and commenting, it really does help and I am very grateful if you do so:) Lots of love x