part0089

Durukti knew that a boy like Kalki, splendidly powerful in his own right, couldn’t die so easily. Kali wanted to make her believe this premise, perhaps trying to take away her hopes that there was a hero coming to save her. But Durukti didn’t need a hero. She had to be careful. Regardless of Kalki leaving her with a stark raving madman, whom she once knew as her brother, she didn’t hate Kalki. She had to show she hated him so that she could evade Kali’s suspicions.

He wasn’t the same man anymore. He acted differently these days. He felt different too. And worst of all, he looked different. The once golden-eyed boy with wavy hair was replaced with a bald man, with skin that matched the colour of coals. Was it the effect of the Somas?

Sure, she wished Kalki could have taken her away. And there was still a certain part within her that wanted to slap him. But he had a different path to go on and she had a different path to travel. She couldn’t force it on him.

“If there is one person who can help Kali right now, it is you. Save him. And change him if you can,” Kalki had said to her.

Ah. Change was futile now. Chaos had engulfed Kali’s mind. He had forced Vedanta down from the throne by threatening to kill Urvashi if he did not abdicate peacefully. Power had corrupted him to the core. Once he had wanted nothing but peace, but now Kali didn’t care. He would crush and topple anyone who blocked his way. He had betrayed the very men he had entered into the agreement with, turning acrimonious towards his own sister. Durukti didn’t feel guilty. There was nothing she had done wrong or at least she felt she hadn’t. She wanted to run away, but escaping wasn’t the answer. Docile manipulators live long, and she planned to do that. And yes, she would try to change him while she stayed silent. Oh yes, she would. It hurt her to see him this way. It killed her every day. She wanted to go back and be with Kali, in the way he used to be, away from the civilization, in a happy ending that now seemed far-fetched.

The skies offered nothing but darkness. The stars didn’t glimmer. The winds were easy and light, just softly coursing over her skin. The almost burnt out candle made her realise that she had given her dress to Symrin for washing, as she intended to wear it the next day. She left her chamber, looking for Symrin. She had been her trusted aide and friend for a while now, and even though Kali’s transformation had begun after imbibing the Somas, as suggested by her, she could have hardly known the effects it would have on Kali.

She walked casually along the dark corridors. She hadn’t seen Symrin since the coronation.

Oh how awful it was, the coronation! Some were glad, while most had openly hated Kali. He had made a lot of enemies today.

She saw some soldiers, Manavs, who were standing and discussing with each other about the current king and how everything was disrupted in the current political milieu. On seeing Durukti, they shut up immediately.

Durukti didn’t pay heed to their nonsensical gossip. She came to the point. “Have you seen my handmaiden?”

“Uh, my lady, we last saw her in her room,” one of them coughed up the answer.

Durukti nodded as she left the men, walking to Symrin’s quarter, which was away from the main building and inside the smaller one in Kali’s fort. Durukti reached the corridor, which was curiously lacking guards. The walls were made of roughly hewn stone, while the floor was covered with the lingering shadows that appeared from the fire lamps that lit the pathway on both sides. She finally reached Symrin’s room, when she heard something. There were voices. Surely one of them was Symrin, but the other…it was strange sounding. It was of a man.

Symrin hadn’t told Durukti about any man in her life and yet…

She didn’t wait. She slowly pushed the door open, and peered inside the room. It was dark, with only two small candles throwing weak light over the room. The windows were curtained, and not much was visible, except Symrin, who was kneeling down, her hands clasped together. Durukti couldn’t open the door further, for if she did, Symrin would get to know of her presence. Light illuminated Symrin, with long fingers of shadow dancing on her pale skin.

The energy or the power, coming off from the man or whatever it was, had a certain aura. Durukti wanted to see who it was, and it was her every right, but she wanted to hear what they were talking about first.

“Good work, my child,” the voice spoke, sounding like it belonged to an old man and yet there was a tangible youthful inflection and cadence to it.

“Thank you, Master.” Symrin lowered her head. “Everything worked out as per the plan. The White Horse is on his way to the North, with your uncle.”

“Indeed,” the voice rasped. “It’s like dominos. You hit one and everything falls in place.”

“Just like how you told me to tell Durukti about that story of my so-called father and the man who was looking for his wife’s cure.”

“Yes. It worked, didn’t it?” he paused. “It wasn’t a story, however.”

“It surely worked,” she grinned. “Who was that man, Master?”

“Who else? Kalki’s father.”

“You met him?” Her voice quipped.

“Of course.” The shadows flickered. “It was me who forced him to take the Somas from the cave.”

Symrin swallowed. Durukti could see that she was about to say something she would regret. “I’m afraid, Master,” Symrin began, “I hope Kali didn’t see me when I read the cards in the bazaar.”

“Don’t worry, you were disguised well,” he said, “but choose your assassins carefully next time. We were fortunate the Naga was killed before he could reveal who had hired him.”

“But it worked in our favor. Vasuki was the casualty of the entire misunderstanding.”

The voice rasped, “Do not be excited about deaths, Symrin. What we do, is for a bigger cause.”

“Why don’t you just help your uncle, Master? After all, you both want the same thing.”

“No.” Sadness corroded his tone. “He didn’t want this Age to have a battle like last time. But I did. I have no choice and now that I have triggered this, he has no choice but to do what he didn’t want to do.”

Symrin meekly nodded. “You have been working really hard, Master, from the time you poisoned Kali to get him ill, so that Durukti wouldn’t have any choice, but to get the Somas for him.”

“Much before that,” he paused, his voice wheezing. “You can say I had molded both of them without them even knowing about it.”

“But how did you know it was Kali who would be Adharm?”

“I had used the Eye of Brahma. I can see the past, the present and the future, and I saw what kind of chaos was to be brought on. Only an Adharm can do so,” he said. “I apologize, child, for I did not explain all of this to you before, since we did not have enough time and also because I was uncertain whether you would give these details away.”

“No, please. Do not apologize, Master, I beg of you. Though the Eye…” Symrin’s eyes widened with delight, “where is it, Master?”

“Not with me, as I am now waiting for the White Horse. I had used it a long time back during the Breaking to see if everything was in place and I had seen glimmers of who would be Dharm and who would be Adharm in the future.”

“Be careful, my lord,” she pleaded.

And Durukti couldn’t hold back any longer. She had to see the person who was manipulating everyone in the scene, causing everyone harm. She slowly opened the door further, carefully positioning her face and craning her neck forward, so she saw the light which emanated from the man. But little could be seen of the man himself. He surely was a reflection. But how was he able to communicate then? What sorcery is this?