"So, how are the people?" Ira asked, picking up a pair of scissors and handing it over to the medic providing me first aid.

Try as I might, but I couldn't remain deadpan as I mustered the reply. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play innocent with me, Hayden Mackay. I know you're not going to Rawat to roam anymore."

I bit my cheek and hissed with pain when the medic apply a cooling balm on my sprained and swollen wrist. "Er...well.."

"Don't even try, hon," Ira said, "Nazira already told me that you've been spending time getting to know them better."

I slumped my shoulders down, unable to believe that she could be the one to give away the major info. "Oh, Nazira has no voice but she gotta big mouth."

"Now don't be so ridiculous. She's such a sweet little girl. Besides, she really admires the gift you've given her the other day."

She waggled her eyebrows, a mocking smile twisted the corners of her lips. I dropped my eyes down and remained silent until the medic dressed my arm.

There was no denial though, I've been visiting them every second day. Although my identity was kept a secret, I was yet welcomed with open arms and warm early morning wishes. Yuvan, who had been a rebellious delinquent, eased up a little and conversed with me, got to know the real me, kept showing off his archery skills. Within a week, that ornery little punk, who once had tried to kill me, became my buddy.

"So, am I going to be your Noble knight? Am I hired?"

"Get smarter first. Finish your education. We shall think about that later."

"Oh screw that. Education is for people with no talent."

With the aid of regular visits to my dynasty, I was able to acquire more knowledge about the clans and their functionality. One such clan that piqued my interest was Clan of Maya, the only dysfunctional clan residing there, and it was due to a shortage of right guidance and tutors. Yuvan had mentioned that they were the only unhappy clan since they have to earn their keep by doing the domestic chores for others.

The attack in Sharad's village two days ago had been brutal. In recent times, it could be the deadliest one that had caused destruction on the unheard scale. A part of the village was largely damaged, with a few people losing their huts and other properties. King Aghasthya suspected if the beasts were getting accustomed to the bonfires and that the trick to deliberately make them melt wasn't working anymore. It seemed to be getting progressively more gruesome, days reverting back when the beasts had first flooded throughout the country. Pruthvi and Leena had complained about the same with King Aghasthya the other day. None of us were ready for another round of hectic work schedules.

Villagers have started to become homeless, who for the moment, were stationed in the infirmaries. Witches and warlocks were asked to generate a few basic resources for them. There was a high need for other kinds of shelters. King Agasthya had been busy to resolve this issue. And for that reason, I'd been waiting to disclose the information about me getting to know the right location of my Dynasty. Now I was in a huge dilemma whether or not to suggest King Aghasthya to let Sharad move to the catacombs until he found a better solution.

Tonight, Pruthvi and Leena were late as usual. Nazira was in her bedroom busy painting. And I was sitting with Ira Zutshi, who seemed to be in a playful mood. And thanks to Nazira, now that the secret was out, I didn't mind to converse about the inklings and concerns I'd been having since Shourya had shown up in my threshold.

"Mrs. Zutshi, I was wondering," I asked, flexing my painful wrist. "That catacomb must be pretty meticulously built. I've been roaming there for months and never heard a darn squeak from underground. They are literally shaking hell and heaven to keep their businesses running."

"Is it?" she said, "It must be the magical supplements keeping them protected and absolutely hushed."

I was aware of these supplements before, but ever actually knew what its usages were. "What kind of supplements?"

"There are a variety of them. One of which is commonly used to keep the given area safely secluded. No one from outside can enter without permission, or know the right location of its existence, or get an impression of its being. Academy was protected that way. And now King Aghasthya may get jealous that it wasn't him but a potential young King has the permission to enter the hidden Dynasty."

I sniggered.

"The other kind is used for the top security prison, or correctional facility, where the prisons are confined and cannot break through them. Absolutely no one can ever figure out what's going on in those places. Even if a disaster occurs and or the area is blown up someway, it might take a substantial amount of time for the supplements to gradually fade away and show the reality. The witches and warlocks actually mass-produce them according to the directions given by the king."

"They can really come in handy until the Gates are used," I said, thinking about Zarina Khan's ill-famous escape. "Right?"

"Well, the Gates are nature's workings. Of course they are more powerful than the supplements artificially and magically made by us. They are really not supposed to be used by everyone, otherwise, it can cause a lot of problems."

I raised my eyebrows, wishing for her to say it. And she did respond. "Yes, I'm talking about everything that happened after Zarina's abscond."

I leaned back, feeling contented on making her bring the topic herself. Now a few relatable questions wouldn't sound absurd. "Mrs. Zutshi, how different was Zarina Khan from you? She was a clairvoyant, that makes her a witch too, right?"

"She was a witch less and a bitch more, which I'm not," Ira replied dismissively, and then softly chuckled. "Mages have their own history, Hayden. They have categories too. Since the time of Lady Chandrika's authority over the sections of the people born with magical abilities, there had been much variety of stories about them. You do know that besides a Diamond user, she was a famous mage too, right?

I nodded, thinking about Tyrell who was forcibly learning dark magic. "Can everyone from the Clan of Maya do the magic stuff?"

"Yes," she replied, nodding and drew her brows together. "And no. You asked me the difference between me and Zarina, so here it is. Zarina wasn't from our clan but from the Clan of Khanets. It's very rare for a person from a different clan to be born with magical abilities, and it is something that shouldn't be happening. It's considered a sin."

"That has something to do with the country's orthodoxy, is it not?"'

"No! It is based on the analysis of events that occurred in the country. Centuries ago, mages born in the different clans were banished from the families because they were the least controllable and highly troublesome to society. As if Almourah's atrocities weren't enough, these mages started a different kind of a fuss. As in, stealing, murdering, using glamour and hallucinations to swindle money from the riches. And before this section became a bigger threat, the High King of that time went against his own rules and ordered to annihilate them once and for all. Their reign of terror ended then and there."

The story gave a slight ticklish sensation. "So Zarina was believed to be such immoral witch, seeing her desire to gain more money."

"Which she was," said Ira, "Mages born anywhere besides the Clan of Maya can never be ethical or honest..."

"It makes me laugh," I said, pressure building up from inside, "That Zarina actually predicted Nazira to be.."

"I kno...w!" Ira drawled, with a high pitched voice. Her expression was worth a watch. "What a lunatic! Believe me, if Nazira was anything as such I would have known. Only a mage can determine the true identity of another. Pruthvi Krishna should be given an award of the century for killing her!"

The smile on my face must be too derisive that she let out a huge bellow of laughter and I laughed with her all the harder.

‐----------------------------------------------------

It was half-past midnight and Pruthvi just got home.

His quietness was the thing that bothered me and Leena the most. He was sitting in the chair, head bent down, elbows on his knees and hands wringing. Every time he returned from patrolling being quiet and with the personality of an introvert, it had always indicated the progress in his mission to figure out the person behind the murders. Leena and I both were giving him time to relax but we weren't going to leave him until he spit things out. I stood nonchalant, hands folded and with a steady breathe to keep myself calm, but I couldn't help but be terrified watching Pruthvi that way. He definitely had something big in his mind. He knew there were expectant gazes down at him, which he was willingly avoiding to meet.

From the corner of my eyes, I watched Nazira walking to the kitchen, holding the bottles of colors in her hand and being all pleased to see the three of us together in the living room. She might have picked up the tense mood amongst us, with her brother being in a no-nonsense condition. She shared a halfhearted smile with Leena and walked away into the kitchen.

Leena dramatically cleared her throat. Pruthvi understood the signal and sighed heavily finally looking up at us. "I saw the person."

"I knew it!" Leena exclaimed.

"More murders?" I asked. Suddenly, somehow I wanted to evade an encounter with the truth about his person pretending to be saving Pruthvi but actually giving him jitters day and night. Because some intuitive hunches indicated who this person could be.

"Who is it?" Leena asked, her voice full of desperation. "Is it someone we know?"

Pruthvi pressed his eyes shut. He had been working on analyzing the ways this person was killing them, trying to figure out from which direction the attack was being made and to decipher the different kinds of smell during the time of attack. "Tonight there was a fight," he said, "a huge one. There were a lot of men spying on me. Let's just say that I picked up the smell again and followed it through. It led me to an abandoned hut. There was a chase. A slight struggle to catch the person and...I came close. Really close. As in 'looking into the eyes from a foot away' close."

"Who is it?" Leena asked, through her gritted teeth.

"I..didn't see the person completely. The lower part of the face was camouflaged."

"Pruthvi...!"

"It's a girl."

Leena gasped, her skin paled as she slowly turned aside to look at me. I continued to remain unfazed, although this time the pressure was building with anger like volcano demanding for a release. A taint of suspicion with Pruthvi's experience giving the soundness of the fact had been our topmost fear. Now there was probably a strong confirmation bias going on with his words.

"Well," I said, feeling my mouth dry, "That could be just anyone."

Pruthvi shook his head, and I hated he did that. "It's a girl...with purple hair."

And the truth was dropped as a massive bombshell.

A sound of glass breaking startled the three of us. "Oh!" Nazira's voice rang in my head. Filled with dread, I watched her hurriedly getting a paper towel and cleaning the paint she had spilled over the floor. I was seized by an urge to quickly walk, hold her hand and talk and talk until everything I loaded off my mind. That might help me to think straight with the uncertainties pouring in my mind. Why was she doing this? Why wasn't she coming back to us? Why hasn't she been responding to us? What was she doing in Uttarameer with Doctor? What could have happened that she decided to go to this length and mass murder? Nazira was slowly walking away, and before I yielded to my urge, Leena's whimper made me withdraw my stare.

"It could still be anyone," I said, unable to bear the awful silence.

Pruthvi gaped aghast. "What! You don't believe me?"

"You just said yourself that her face was camouflaged."

"I think I know her well enough, Hayden," he retorted, standing up strong against me, his orbs turning amber. "It wasn't difficult to recognize her by just looking into her eyes."

Realizing that the night was turning sore, Leena hurriedly stood between both of us. "Don't!" she cried, "We got to figure out what to do about her before we realize it's too late."

I rubbed my nape, knowing that even Leena agreed with him. I was tired with my unresolved thoughts, and had trouble standing knowing the darn truth. The dilemma once again conquered my insides. Should we or not inform this to King Aghasthya. It was so clear that she was murdering them being fully conscious and with willingness. Could there be any freaking law that could save her from sabotaging her own life? Would King Aghasthya protect her like he had Pruthvi? Perhaps having a quality alone time, spending a few hours thinking before the sun dawned, would make me figure things out.

"Let's talk about this tomorrow," I said, my voice harsher than I'd meant it to be. "Get some sleep."