part0049

Durukti was standing next to the floral-trellised window, watching the sunset. She could barely remember the time when Kali was just a boy, light-skinned and golden-eyed. Always her savior, he would go hungry on days when he felt she was lying about feeling full, just so that he could peacefully eat his bread.

“Yes, I have eaten.”

But Durukti knew he lied for his ribs were protruding, his skin was dull and his face looked absolutely exhausted. He had been travelling from one place to another, hoping to find jobs. He would get to be a miner or a helper at a local tavern, but things wouldn’t be smooth for him and they would kick him out, without even paying him his dues. Things were going against him and Durukti; the world was cruel and innocence had been lost.

And that was when he had begun the life of crime.

Her thoughts were disrupted before she could remember how everything had turned in Kali’s favour. The door opened, with Symrin walking inside, looking apprehensive. She had a letter rolled up as a scroll.

Durukti didn’t have to read. Her face told everything.

“They didn’t respond to our plea,” Durukti said.

“In their defense, my lady, it wasn’t exactly a plea, but more of an order,” Symrin responded.

For such an insensitive and obtuse statement, Durukti would have banished her, but Symrin was right. It wasn’t a plea. It was a horribly conceived, ill-written letter to the chief of Shambala, one of the most prosperous villages in the Keekatpur province. She had wanted to sound like she owned Shambala, she had wanted to enforce her will, but the last thing she wanted was to wage an ill-advised battle against a group of ragtag bumpkins, for their audacity to repudiate against a royal order.

“I wanted this to be a smooth run for us. I didn’t want bloodshed. The very fact that they have rejected this means they are looking for a war.” Durukti came to Symrin’s side. “What do we know about Shambala?”

“Does not include a warrior community and has no armoury. In fact, I’m quite surprised they have rejected it. They are quite cowardly when it comes to the sight of blood and blades or as the stories say. We can go there and frighten them.”

“We need a big army for that.” Durukti pursed her lips. Big army meant a big distraction, which also meant Kali would know and stop it immediately. The last thing he wanted was a civil war and a lot of casualties just for the sake of his health. What he didn’t realise was that Durukti would be more than ready to destroy the world if it meant saving her brother. “I’ll speak to Lord…”

A shadow fell over the floor and Durukti turned to see Vikoko, sweat trickling down her head. She had blood across her breastplate.

Vikoko added. “I have some bad news.”

Durukti rushed to the infirmary that was inside the fort itself. Durukti made her way inside, while Symrin rushed after her. Koko stood outside, frail and frightened.

“Your duty was to protect my brother. What have you done? If he dies, I will exile you.” Durukti spat out the words, anger creating a blinding maelstrom of emotions, hurt and fear within her.

“I apologize for our transgression, my lady…”

Durukti swept her palm up. “Words wouldn’t cure my brother’s wound.”

Right in the centre of a circle of candles, over a mat, was her brother, Kali, laid flat with his back on top and his chest against the floor. The wound was visible, a deep gash that bared his very bones.

“Fortunate,” the shaman said, circling around Kali and then kneeling next to him as he began to use a colourless gel on his wound, “that the cut was close to his spine, but not in his spine.”

She could feel her choking sense of fear alleviate. She wasn’t frightened, but was still worried.

“How long will he stay like this?”

“Give me few days, my lady,” the shaman paused and looked up. “Let his wounds heal naturally rather than expediting the healing process artificially.”

“I want to ask you something.” Durukti walked around the circle of candles that acted as a barrier between her and her naked brother. “Have you heard of Soma?”

“Yes,” the old man nodded. “Extinct medicinal nectar, extrapolated from somalata, used to be found in the cold hills up north.”

“Why is it extinct?”

“The world moves on and leaves behind many of its wonders.” The old man could only muster up these words in a show of helplessness.

“I heard it was inside the stone.”

“Like every medicine, it has different forms, some in stones and some in plants. Either way, you need to suck the nectar out of it.”

Durukti stopped circling, her sandal irritating her sole.

“How difficult is it extracting out of the stone?”

The shaman stopped. “Well, you need to first break it, dissolve it inside…”

“ How difficult ?” she rasped.

The shaman’s eyes widened in fear, as his lips quivered. “Not much, if I have the right tools, but it is impossible to get Somas anymore, since they are extinct.”

“How many days?” Her voice had calmed down. “How many days will it take to make the solution?”

“Perhaps three or less.” The shaman nodded meekly.

“I want you to know,” Durukti stood over the shaman, her shadow crossing his face as he watched her in discomfort, shifting uneasy next to Kali’s body. The light danced on her face, the smell of incense engulfed her nostrils. “That you would be free from your duties when you perform this process and you shall not speak to anyone of this. If you do, by mistake or intentionally, I shall cut your head off with my own bare hands.” Her teeth clenched as she threatened the man. Perhaps, it was the anticipation of the very thought of what she would do, that made her feel that way.

“Keep me updated about his Lordship’s health.”

Durukti left the room and heaved a sigh of relief against the door. Koko and Vikoko were watching her, sweaty and unstable at the moment. She realized she couldn’t show her weak demeanor in front of them, and struggling to her feet, she stood up, chin high and her hands clasped together.

“Redemption comes to those who work for it,” Durukti began, glancing at the twins. Symrin shied away from uttering a single word at the moment, concealing herself in the shadows of the corridor, as Durukti continued, “I want you two to not just guard my brother’s life as if it’s your life, just like you had given a blood oath when he had saved your life, but you will also make sure to do one thing for him.”

“Lie to him,” Durukti said. “Lie that his sister is inside, in her chambers and wishes to see no one since she’s unhappy and filled with grief that she’s unable to save her brother from the circumstances. Lie for me and I shall forgive you.”

The twins blinked. They served Kali but they felt guilty for disappointing Durukti, and they would do everything to return back in her favours.

“Because I won’t be here for a few days, and I will be taking Raktapa’s band of army that he has left stationed here.”

The twins nodded in unison.

“Do you want us to investigate Lord Vasuki, since it was a Naga who had killed our Lord?” Koko asked, since Vikoko was drenched in sweat and mute fear. Durukti shook her head. “That is a political matter which only Kali can work out. For us, we need to make sure he’s in absolute good health.”

And she began to walk away from the twins, Symrin trying to closely walk behind her. “My lady, what happened inside?”

“Realisations.” Durukti had a straight face, eyes trained at the dark corridor.

“What are we going to do now? You are taking Lord Raktapa’s army; is it perhaps the case that you are thinking of going to Shambala after all?”

“I always had,” Durukti said matter-of-factly. But she knew why Symrin had asked her that. Durukti had been failing to take a decision; she looked afraid, upset and doubtful for the simple reason that she would go to Shambala and create disruptions, disruptions that Kali usually smoothed through his political acumen and bargaining diplomacy. “Mark my words, Symrin; nothing can stop me from entering those caves anymore.”