A bewitching wee hour of the morning. Pitch black apartment. The surreal quietness, similar to a graveyard. The intensity of exhaustion from last night's truth causing a dizzy effect. A walk from my bedroom to the kitchen to have a strong coffee felt forever. Midway through the walkway, a sudden glimmer of light forced me to stop. A feeling of dubiousness arose. I turned my heels and walked towards the source of the radiance. It was coming from the living room. There I found Nazira, in her pink ethnic wear, lightening the lantern.

"Nazira, what are you doing here? Isn't it too early?" I asked disbelieved, and as though she would hear my voice.

Her face shone with the brightness. Her eyes, lined with thick black kohl, twinkled. Her perfectly sculpted lips...how exquisitely beautiful she looked. But the feeling of intense serenity had surrounded her. She didn't notice me approaching. She just didn't know I was there with her in the living room, amidst all the dead-on silence.

She turned around, and stepped towards the entrance door. She walked, slowly and gradually, not caring about the threats posed by Shourya and the beasts. Her silky hair, that seemed to have grown a few inches longer, dangled behind her with the stride.

"Nazira, wait!" I said, feeling my heart beating faster than I could remember. "Don't go!"

She opened the door and abruptly paused, closed her eyes and inhaling deeply to savor the fresh morning wind. I didn't know why but I stood rooted to the floor. I didn't hurry and pull her back. I was shell-shocked to my core. Her stepping outside the house didn't bother me as much as the picturesque scenery flashed as I peered outside, the scenery she was facing at.

The darkness on one side shadowed a part of her and brightness on the other glistened her skin. Sun and moon together in the sky, at either side of her head. The eternal darkness, with a sudden blast of the thunder splitting through the sky. The sense of evilness in the form of hissing snakes and snarling grisly monsters, brilliant stars twinkling shuddered with fear. The other side had the sun risen with casual elegance. The peacefulness, and the feeling of compassion. The dazzling hues of the rainbow. The flock of flamingos flying away. A fine number of colorful butterflies and fireflies making the porch extremely appealing to behold.

In the moment of my complete amazement, Nazira slowly turned back around and looked directly at me - her face as grim as she had been a minute ago, although her eyes were filled with tears. Her lips parted and she spoke, "It's time for you to wake up!"

"Hayden! Hayden!"

I almost got knocked out of my bed, hearing Leena's shrill demanding voice that seemed like a sudden rush of bullets firing through my window. "Ow!" I moaned as my head throbbed, vision blurry and took a moment to realize that once again I had forgotten all about the dream.

"He's waking up so late these days!" Pruthvi grumbled and banged the door twice. "Hey, Mackay! Come and see what we've got here."

That made me jump out of bed in a naive hope to see Celina or Tyrell. Before the morbid curiosity got the best of me, I opened the door. "What is it?" I asked, my voice wobbly.

He lifted his hand up showing me a few sealed opaque envelopes. "Panchayat has replied to your letter."

-------------------------------

With sudden excitement and anticipation nestling in my stomach, I threw myself into the chair in the living room. Pruthvi and Leena sat at either side of me, their expressions emphasizing the anxiety.

I was holding three letters, two of them were neat and yellowish with a stamp of Panchayat, an intricate asterisk, imprinted at the center. The other one only had the address of our apartment with crabbed handwriting scribbled with red ink. I put that aside for the moment since the two with the High King's stamp held my enthusiasm. I tore it open, my hands shivering with more than cold. I read it out loud to make it accessible to my friends as well.

To,

Leena Savant
Pruthvi Krishna
Hayden Mackay

We are writing in response to your appeal under the Official Sanction Act of 1965. It is hereby decided that this request is neither accepted nor declined. After thorough consideration, the Higher Officials have come to unanimous agreement that additional reasoning and fundamental points are necessary in order to further investigate your appeal. Therefore, you are summoned to attend the Panchayat in person and stand as a defendant to state your appeal directly to the High King. Your case will be conducted on December 30th, 2009.

Regards,
Panchayat.

"That's a bummer," said Pruthvi, unconvinced.

"At least they didn't reject it."

He made a face. "Who are you and what did you do to my friend?"

I smiled at him, feeling neither happy nor disappointed with the reply I had been waiting to hear for months. We were still given a chance, and I tried to stay put with the steely resolve. The second letter with the stamp was highly undefinable. I read it. And finally realized that it wasn't another bolt from the blue. Ashwant had made me get acquainted with this implicit deceptiveness to come. But little did I know that my fight for gaining better control of power wasn't going to stop with one acceptance letter.

To

Hayden Mackay

In regards to the Codicil of Will written and sealed by Late King Harsh Thribhuvan, the Narula Dynasty's King Bhupathi Garg, as a plaintiff has lodged a complaint against you for not showing yourself to claim the property and purposely delaying the finalization of the deed. The complaint further states that the Codicil is bogus and illegally amended. Proves have been submitted that signifies King Harsh had himself written off the property to King Bhupathi Garg and you have no rights on them. You are hereby summoned to attend Panchayat and state your point of view. The trial shall take place on December 30th, 2009.

Regards

Panchayat.

"So Nazira was right," Leena said, as soon as I stopped reading, "Bhupathi will take possession of everything if you decline."

"He is not going to get a penny," I said, with conviction. "Everything is mine."

"Everything everything? All of it?" Pruthvi asked, stressing on his words. And his question was related to the private talk we had the day I'd met the people of my dynasty. "Remember, you can't accept a part and decline the other. It must all go together."

I nodded firmly, keeping the letter aside and staring at the third and the final one, but not actually seeing it. My mind did not cease to race with thoughts. "Leena, I need to talk to Lithika. Can you arrange a meeting?"

She blinked, unsure. "That's fine, I can do that. But, what for?"

I disregarded her question, my mind reeling with a plan I had made earlier and discussed with Ashwant. I was given about ten days and it better be done within the available time. I knew it was a risky move and if failed, it would cost many lives. However, I felt I was given no choice and instead concentrate on the bigger picture. "Actually I need to talk to both of y'all sisters," I said, and ignored Pruthvi and Leena sharing a glance.

The last envelope in my hand was crooked and entirely different from the other two, as if someone had written it in a hurry, threw it in the face of Harakara and ran away having no intention to disclose the identity. There were slight blood marks here and there. On keenly noticing, even the address was written with blood.

Pruthvi cracked his fingers in a gesture of showing his impatience.

Hesitatingly, I tore the envelope and read whatever was inside. I was dumbfounded beyond belief. The letter consisted of a single sentence that didn't make any sense.

"FIND THE PRIDE."

I gaped at it in incredulity, flipped the paper hoping to see anything more than just that. "No name, no nothing!" I said slightly hacked off. "How are we supposed to..."

"Hayden," Pruthvi said, his voice sounded so gruff that my insides froze with fright. "It's from Tyrell."

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