"Right on time," Shourya Pradhan said folding his hands when the lights behind him closed. He looked exactly like the last they had seen, bulkier and fully covered with black robes.

"Pruthvi," said Leena, her voice shaking, "I think that's..."

"It's so good to see you Tanishka," Shourya continued, "Or should I say- Tanya."

Pruthvi's mouth dropped. Of course, it was her. He should hit himself for totally forgetting about Hayden's aunt living in Sharad's palace. Tanishka Thribhuvan and Shourya were having a twenty-plus-year-old unbidden history. Hayden's aunt childish mistake was the reason for Shourya to possess the kinetic power called Thereokinesis. And according to Hayden, Shourya hated to be unnatural and that he couldn't forgive his childhood friend for what he had gone through. And why not, wasn't it because of her that Shourya had to work for Shashi Thribhuvan?

"Oh my god!" Leena whispered, in trepidation, her breathe turning heavier as she watched the reconciling of the two old friends. The cool pleasant temperature now suddenly began to heat up.

"Is it?" Tanya asked dully, as she slowly pulled down the blanket from her head.

"Oh, you have no idea," replied Shourya, tilting his head and keeping his face expressionless. Maruthi settled on his shoulder and surprisingly stayed calm till the end of the conversation. "Of course, you look different than the last I saw you. You have grown old and you do not look royal anymore."

"Maybe the day you began tormenting me, was the day I lost my royalty."

"I tormented you?" Shourya scoffed, "I just wanted a chance to meet you for a small help, to just give me with some food and water. that's all. But just like everybody else you thought I was a monster in a killing spree. You know what, I don't want to talk about it or recollect the past anymore. I am so done with it. It's been more than twenty years now Tanishka, and I am used to living this way."

"Even I don't want to talk about it," said Tanya, her voice unapologetic, "But Hayden is all I am left with and I cannot let him be angry at me. He thinks it's my fault that you..."

Shourya sniggered. "You know why I always admired Sarakshi more than you? She was never too proud of her status, unlike you are. She desired to live a life of a common man and she is still living in the form of her son. Hayden Mackay doesn't only look like her, he also carries her heart, doesn't he?"

Pruthvi and Leena glanced at each other, as Leena gripped her hand around boy friend's arm. This wasn't going too well. With the tone Shourya was speaking, Pruthvi was sure Tanya had to do a lot better to seek his forgiveness.

"Shourya, what do I have to do to convince you?" said Tanya, "There should be something in the world that will make you forgive me. Name the price."

"She is crazy!" Leena whispered, gritting her teeth and Pruthvi couldn't accept more.

"Hmm," said Shourya, pursing his lips, "Looks like royalty in you didn't die yet."

"That's not how I meant."

"Cut the crap," Shourya said immediately now turning extremely serious, "As mentioned in the note I sent with Maruthi, let's just get to it. This is a business meeting, strictly business. You tell me everything I want to know and in return, you get what you want, for instance, forgiveness."

"What do you want to know?" said Tanya, her voice sounding confident.

"How were the relations between Rawat and Narula dynasties at the time when King Harsh was alive?"

Pruthvi took a step forward involuntarily. He was very well aware that both of them could be in trouble if they showed themselves to either Shourya or Tanya and in addition, he cannot, in any way, hinder their conversation. It did not seem personal anymore. It seemed something more, something that may or may not was relevant to Shashi Thribhuvan.

"Hostile," said Tanya, "Sara always used to tell me how the feuds between both dynasties had lead to the downfall of Dakshinpur's power over Paramarashtra. Kings of Narula Dynasty in those days were never in favor of declaring Dakshinpur as the capital province."

"How did it end?" Shourya asked. "Did they ever find a closure to this feud?"

"Yes, with my father agreeing to marry the princess, my mother, they finally found the solution." said Tanya, "It was a conditional marriage. Everyone including my father thought that by uniting the two kingdoms into a single family, there could be a settlement for this hostility. But Dakshinpur still had to give up its growing power, in return for not having Narula Dynasty wage war against Rawat anymore. There was too much bloodbath, and my father had it enough. It was a collective decision made by Rawat and Sharad."

"What do you mean by everyone thought? Didn't it happen as planned?"

"Unfortunately, it did not. Years later, after Paramarashtra shook up with widespread fear of Shashi Thribhuvan's unimaginable atrocities, the conflicts between the two provinces surfaced. They blamed my father for what the country was facing. They strongly opinionated that King of Rawat dynasty is worthless and demanded abdication."

"Why is he even asking this?" Leena asked, "Why does he care?"

"Just wait," Pruthi hedged, "I think we shall know the answers soon."

"Even after King Harsh captured Shashi?" Shourya asked his voice stating a quality of surprise, as much as Pruthvi and Leena were.

"Lots happened after Shashi was captured, and his immediate escape," Tanya replied setting her rag straight, "Differences arose yet again. Kings of Madhyakshetra restarted to demand abdication. Panchayat almost agreed to this. But my father asked for time, he claimed for an appeal and urged for a chance. And during that time, he came to know, through Zarina, about Shashi's real intentions for leaning towards dark magic, and that it was in order to possess Samagraha power. And since then my father did nothing but to search and send the suspected Samagraha to another country."

Pruthvi and Leena glanced at each other.

"Of course," said Shourya in a low voice slightly filled with guilt, "King Harsh was going through so much during that time, why would he even listen to a boy, who was a no-one, crying for some help."

He halted there, staring blankly at his old friend and Pruthvi wished to peek into his brain to see what he was thinking. Shourya took a few seconds time before he asked, "So the Gargs, your mother's family, is it true that they wanted to acquire Dakshinpur to themselves? Is that the main reason for this feud?"

"Yes, I guess it is so. But only the Rawat Dynasty."

"Who helped Shashi escape?"

"What?" she asked, "I don't remember...yes, Sara told me it was Uncle Yodhin, Rawat's knight commander. Dear lord, I never could have thought the one I used to play with could turn out something like that. But Sara wasn't sure about it when she told me this because even my father wasn't."

She paused there waiting for Shourya to speak, but he didn't Tanya went on. "Shourya, why do you need this information?"

"I cannot tell you." He replied, bluntly.

"Why not?"

"Because Pruthvi and Leena might be living in the palace. And if you bump into them and spill beans...."

He halted again, and long breath. Leena's grip against Pruthvi's hand tightened as soon as their names were brought up in the discussion.

"Pruthvi and Leena?" Tanya asked, "Hayden's friends?"

"Yes."

"There are here already? I haven't seen them yet."

Pruthvi noticed that Shourya was staring blankly at Tanya, as if he was thinking deeply of something else to say.

"They have nowhere else to go," Shourya said words casually flowing out of his mouth, his gaze unaltered, "and Sharad's palace is definitely the only place for them to live."

"But what do they have to do with this?"

"Not they. Only Pruthvi Krishna." He paused there, now bringing on that typical smirk on his face Pruthvi and Leena both were acquainted with. It appeared on his face only whenever he played a snitch.

Shourya tilted his head again and said, "Yodhin Ojha, correct? Heard a lot about this man. Traitor, yeah right."

"Pruthvi, he knows something about that man," Leena said, curiously almost jumping on her toes.

"Tanishka," continued Shourya, "if you really need to do something for me, please do me a last favor. If you get to meet either Pruthvi or Leena, just tell them not to visit the Temple of Chandrika at Doulat Haat. I repeat- ask them never to be anywhere near the temple. They might find something really important that they shouldn't, especially to Pruthvi."

Holding onto that smirk on his face, Shourya leisurely lifted his hand and rubbed it gently against his nose.

"Oh my god!" explained Leena, digging her nails deep into Pruthvi's arm, "He smelled us, didn't he?"

"He so did," Pruthvi whispered, waiting for Shourya to look at them if he really knew there were there, standing beside the bushes.

"But I don't understand," Tanishka asked, "Why should I tell them to not to go? What's the purpose?"

"Just pass on the information. I am sure they will figure it out, or they might already have."

Now that it wasn't a secret that both of them were eavesdropping, Pruthvi intended to show himself and ask him if he was having any more useful information regarding the warning he had given him. Instinctively he took a step forward, but then quickly stepped back, annoyed.

"Well, I have to leave now." Shourya said, taking out a small glass bottle out of his robes, "Tell Hayden, there's nothing left between us to forgive you. We are good, but that doesn't mean we can be friends again. So let's just move on with our lives."

Pruthvi pulled Leena aside, deep inside towards the bushes when the lights emerged, and not wanting Tanya to spot them in the moment when she turned around to walk back to the palace.

As soon as she was out of sight, Pruthvi and Leena looked at each other, both of them heavily breathing and preoccupied in their own contemplations.

"Shourya is asking us to go to The Temple, right?" Leena asked, her eyes beginning to shine.

"We asked him to help us find Tyrell and I think that is what he is doing because I cannot think of any other reason," said Pruthvi, getting excited for finally finding a clue to get one step closer to finish their job, "That day Tyrell opened Gates to Dakshinpur. He is definitely hiding here. Leena, let's pack our bags again. We are going on a trip to visit the Temple of Chandrika."

-x-