Chapter 18

Hidden Identities

They were on the move again. Rakt Guru said that waiting was useless. They now had the man who had an idea where their query was. So, they were taking the help of their “new friend”, as he put it.

Two men were sent to Anandmath and another man to Gurukul. They had orders to bring reinforcements if possible. The Mrityusena that had attacked the village, according to this new friend, was more than 100 men strong. And if they were to fight them in their lair, their numbers would have to be considerably higher.

They had been on the road for more than two days now. On the second day, they crossed the supposed area where the man had escaped. There was nothing there now. They did not find any dead bodies of the men who had escaped with him. The man shed some more tears for his friends and they moved on.

It was getting dark on the third day and Chandra was not happy. He was getting a bad feeling about the man. There was something really wrong with him.

“You are still not convinced, are you?” Jayant asked, looking at the expression on his friend’s face.

“No, I am not,” Chandra replied defiantly.

Chandra had allayed his fears to his friend but Jayant was not worried. His argument was solid. The man was under constant vigilance. Though Rakt Guru called him a friend, in the name of his safety, he had put two men as his permanent guards. Those two men were keeping an eye on him day and night.

Devdhar came towards them, riding his horse.

“We will camp here for the night,” he said to them.

“I want to talk to you. Do you have some time?” Chandra asked him.

“Is everything alright?” Devdhar asked, looking concerned.

“Not according to him,” said Jayant.

“What happened?” Devdhar asked again.

“Not now. We will talk after everyone is settled. Alone. Only Jayant, you and I,” Chandra said, looking around. He did not want others to know what he was thinking.

“All right,” Devdhar said. “We will talk after dinner.” He turned to Jayant and said, “And that is your department.” He then winked. Devdhar and Chandra laughed. Jayant scowled at Devdhar as he went down the line to spread the word that they were camping there for the night.

***

By the time the camp was set up in the wild and uncharted forest land, darkness had already covered Gangasagar. A small boat had entered the castle through the canal, which connected it directly to Ganga. The castle was gigantic. It had once been the court of the king of the eastern empire.

When the city fell to the pirates, the most powerful pirate lord had claimed it. It was said that the battle that ensued between the three pirate lords was more barbaric than the previous war. Kapalak had huge forces at his command. He made it an issue of pride for himself. In his madness to claim the castle, he lost most his men. He was a proud man and he played right into the hands of his adversaries. When he lost, he ran. And since then he had been on the run. After he heard the news of his opponents skewered in a spear, he accepted the invitation that came with it.

“The king is waiting for you, My Lord,” said Andhak, who had come to escort Kapalak.

“Lord Andhak, I am humbled by the king’s invitation. And his help,” said Kapalak, bowing.

Andhak bowed in return. “The king wants to give you more. And he will if you accept his friendship.”

“Before you say anything,” said Andhak, when Kapalak tried to speak, “I think the king will say it himself.”

They did not speak. The two men, along with Kapalak’s guards, climbed up the spiral staircase of the once mighty castle, which was now almost in ruins. Kapalak looked all around. “Finally, if everything goes right tonight, this would be mine,” he thought.

The king was sitting in the old throne of the castle. It had once belonged to the proud king Rajan of the eastern empire. He had sat on it in his capital Patali and ordered the killing of thousands all around his kingdom. After his early demise, his son had shifted the capital to Gangasagar. He had left everything behind but kept the throne. “Fool!” the king thought. Sentiments never helped anyone. Even he had been once stung by that venom. “Never again,” he thought.

Andhak entered the room with Kapalak. The king raised his head. The hood was still hiding his face completely.

“My King, Lord Kapalak,” Andhak said and moved out the way.

Kapalak bowed and said, “My King, I am honoured to be invited here.”

“Lord Kapalak, have a seat. Friends don’t bow to each other,” the king said coolly and pointed to a chair on his right.

Andhak sat on the chair on the king’s left. Nakshatra was standing on the king’s left, as usual looking impressive, with two spears pointing above his head.

Kapalak bowed again and sat on the chair on the king’s right. It looked like a friendly environment, there was no denying it. When he sat, Andhak clapped twice and refreshments arrived. The men and women working for the two other pirate lords were now at his command. Everyone except Nakshatra took drinks. The heat in Gangasagar was relentless. Once the refreshments were done, the king spoke.

“Andhak here tells me that it was your dream to claim this castle.”

“Yes, King. It was my army who won the city for the pirates. And those wretched backstabbers threw my out,” said Kapalak.

“I heard that. Andhak told me everything. That is why I decided to take matters in my own hand.” Suddenly his voice became cold. “You see, I have a little issue with people who betray their friends and family.”

“My King, I will say it again. I am truly honoured by this invitation,” Kapalak said. He then took a deep breath and asked the question that had been burning inside him. “I want to ask what I can do for you in return.”

“Lord Kapalak!” the king said and stood up. He continued, “Before our friendship begins, I would like to tell you that I am just occupying this castle for the time being, that is until my work here is done. You can start shifting your things. You will rule Gangasagar from here.” He then turned his back to him. “If you assist me, my work will be finished more quickly.”

Kapalak stood. “You just need to say the word, King. My whole army is at your disposal.”

“I don’t need your army right now,” the king said calmly. “In fact, I need you to remove your army.”

Kapalak was puzzled. “Remove my army? From where?”

“You are right now protecting a man. An old man. An outsider. Not from Gangasagar, I mean.”

“Yes, My King, I am.”

“Just like those two men betrayed you, he betrayed me. And for that I want to punish him,” said the king and turned towards Kapalak. “I want you to deliver him to me just like I delivered those two to you.”

Kapalak looked stunned. He had not expected this.

“My King! The man you are asking for has asked for asylum. I cannot betray him.”

“I knew you would say that. And I respect that too. Like I said before, I have issues with those who betray their friends.”

The king placed his hand on Kapalak’s shoulder. “I have a proposition that will allay your fears and rid you of any guilt that you may have.”

Kapalak could not see it, but under the hood, the king was smiling.

***

“What are you saying?” Devdhar asked with a look of concern on his face.

Chandra had told him what he thought of the man—how his story following the attack did not add up.

“The man was lying about the burning of the other cage. If they can carry one cage with them, they can carry two,” Chandra said confidently, basing his argument on the fact that they were more than 100 men strong. One more carriage would not matter much to them.

“This is a farfetched argument,” Devdhar said. “He might not have seen or heard anything about it. He might be saying what he thought happened.”

“What about the fact that he said they stayed overnight?”

“What about it?” Devdhar asked.

“I saw the area where they had camped. The signs were clear. They had planned to stay, but they did not stay. Even Rakt Guru agrees with me.”

Devdhar shook his head. “Look. I think that you are overthinking this. He is just a villager. After seeing what he must have seen, I can understand if he doesn’t remember things properly.”

“Villager, right? Did he go inside the village to have a look at his house? Did he ask about his family members?”

Chandra looked at Jayant and then Devdhar. “You were there after he told his story. Did he ask about them?”

Devdhar tried to remember. “No, I don’t think so.”

“He was too traumatised to ask about them too?”

“All of them are dead,” said Jayant.

“How do you know that?” Chandra asked, looking at his friend.

“He said it himself. He said his family was dead,” Jayant quickly went on to the defensive.

“So, he was in the market. There was a commotion, people were running for their lives and in that he found out that his family was dead before getting captured.” Chandra was furious now. Why wasn’t anyone seeing what he was seeing, he wondered. Maybe it was something else, apart from all this, that had started the suspicion.

Devdhar looked at the young boy’s frustration and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Listen Chandra, I hear you. And I am glad you came to me with this. I will tell you frankly that right now I don’t agree with you. But I will take care of it. Even if the man is lying, we need him right now. He is the only one who can take us to Kaalkesh. Till then, I will personally keep an eye on him. Even if he is not who he says he is, he won’t be able to do anything. Trust me.”

“Now sleep, both of you. We start early morning,” said Devdhar, looking at everyone sleeping all around. “Look what your food is doing to us. I don’t think these men are going to wake up anytime soon.”

Jayant laughed. Even Chandra felt a little better.

Devdhar then went away to sleep. Jayant pulled his sheet over his head. Chandra tried to sleep, but his sleep was disturbed. Every time he fell asleep, he kept dreaming about all sorts of things. The image of a huge man with wild black hair, large teeth and long pointed nails kept coming to him from the darkness. Then a man kept shouting “demon” many times. He woke up several times, again and again, but all around him there was only darkness and the sounds of people snoring. Devdhar’s statement about his food came to his mind in the end. The last thought before he finally fell asleep was why that food was not working for him.

***

That face had come again in front of eyes. First in the castle and now in the forest. The first time, it was not clear, for it was dark in the castle. But in the forest, he saw him up close. There was something about that face that caught his eye. Though the complete face was different, a few facial contours were unmistakable. They belonged to a face that he had seen many years ago. But he could not find it in the books or place it anywhere else. He decided that, after the second encounter, he had to check the books again. Maybe he was missing something. There was perhaps some link that he had overlooked.

He started turning the pages of the 500-pages book, one by one. And one by one, the faces started appearing in front of him. Faces of kings, their queens, and their children. He examined the faces closely using an oil lamp, trying not to spill oil on them. Once again, he ran through all the pages with no avail. In frustration, he closed the book and stormed out of the room. In the dark corridors, he wanted to strike the wall. He reached his sleeping chambers but he passed the door and went towards the stairs. He wanted to clear his head, and only a walk could help him do so. As he walked, the guards stood upright, silent and watchful in their vigil. Soon he was out in the castle grounds.

The night sky was clear. He could see the stars. Then a movement beyond the castle gates caught his eye. Two riders had arrived. The moment they saw him, they stopped their horses and ran towards him.

“Tell me. Do you have some good news?” Shambhuk asked the men curtly.

They bowed low and one of them said. “My Lord, I am afraid we have some very bad news.”

Shambhuk closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. Like his brother Andhak, he too had a calm demeanour. Even though his eyes were bloodshot, which people mistook for anger, Shambhuk had never shouted in his life, let alone be angry. He was quite frustrated right now because of the failure to identify the boy, yet he kept his emotions to himself.

“What did you find?” he asked calmly.

“We found what happened to our men. Some of the villagers told us that the men of our description were found dead not far away from the village where the old man was giving his sermons,” the other man said.

“Hmm. And there was no sign of the old man?” he stated calmly.

“No, My Lord. But there is something else,” the first man said.

Shambhuk gave him a questioning look.

The man said. “The villagers said the men’s bodies were broken at many places, as if someone or something had broken them with bare hands.”

“Is that so?” To the men’s surprise, Shambhuk smiled. “Finally, some good news,” he said calmly and turned towards the castle, leaving the two bewildered men standing there.

***

Shwet Guru and Vidyut had reached their destination. After two days of nonstop journey, their guide, Pranas had done his job, though reluctantly. In front of their eyes was the ruined city of Sindhudurg. A once proud city, it now contained only broken stone houses and overgrown shrubs and trees.

“This is it?” Vidyut asked, looking unimpressed.

“What were you expecting? Huge castles? Lamps lighting your way?” Pranas mocked.

Vidyut glared at him. Shwet Guru was looking at the massive city in front of him. Its dilapidated condition brought a sense of ill fate with it. Shwet Guru remembered the place very well. It had been a long time, but the memories were still warm.

Anandmath had asked Gurukul for help. There was an uprising in Sindhudurg. The local warden had revolted against them. They said the people were subdued and tortured. Shwet Guru was part of one of the largest forces ever assembled by the then leader of Gurukul. Under the charismatic Guru Angad, they marched west with more than 2,000 men.

On their arrival, a meeting was called with the warden to discuss their options. The warden and his men said that the people of Sindhudurg were with them, and if the Anandmath army entered, they would die to protect their city.

On hearing this, Guru Angad flatly refused to help the Anandmath commander in the war. He said if the people were with him, it was against the Elders’ law. He even offered to help the warden. But the warden politely declined. He said the battle was his and his people’s. He would not have the Elders’ army sacrifice its men for his work. So, their army returned home.

But the city that was once home to one of the greatest populations in Arayavart was now completely ruined. The Anandmath commander was a vicious man who had destroyed the city, only to be killed later, in his own home.

At least that was what the people said. According to stories, it was the warden’s son who had entered the commander’s house with his men and killed his whole family.

And now, somewhere within his ruined home, that son was sitting with Acharya, Shishya and Pancham. Only Lord Ram knew what he was planning.

“This is a big place. Where will we find them?” Vidyut asked the obvious question.

Vidyut and Shwet Guru looked at Pranas.

“Don’t look at me. I brought you here. That is all. I cannot help you find the Lord.”

“Cannot or will not?” Vidyut scowled.

“Did you hear me right? I said cannot. Because I do not know where the Lord’s private chambers are,” said Pranas.

“He is lying!” Vidyut shouted.

“Keep calm,” Shwet Guru told Vidyut. He then turned to Pranas. “Tell us what you know.”

“I was just a foot soldier. We had our own quarters. None of us knows where the Lord lives in this labyrinth.”

“Then who knows about it?” Shwet Guru asked.

“Only one man. The commander of Mrityusena. His name is Rambh.”