|| - To Burn the Walls - ||

Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost

- Erol Ozan

_____

The silence was pricking like that just before a storm or like which is followed by a war; the silence that had fallen over Shab was unsettling. Kashi polished her fingers across the arm of her sitar, not touching the strings daunted to hurt the silence that seemed to breathe around her. The lamp Satya had left still burned feebly in the corner, casting a flicker of light that was no match against the regime of shadows. She wondered what had become of the conversation she had forced between Afreen and Satya; hopefully it would end without the two murdering one another.

An insignificant step disturbed the silence. Her eyes flicked towards the direction of the sound uninvited. A shadow moved in the corner, where the wind wrestled with the curtains. The window was open. Had she left it open after her stargazing? Frowning slightly, Kashi sat her instrument aside and went to close the window, briefly glancing at the empty lawn outside now darkened as the wind had extinguished most of the lamps.

The hair at the back of her neck prickled as a wave of static awareness went past. She had to will herself into stillness before the blade was pressed against her throat. The intruder breathed against her ear – ah, not much of a height difference – an opponent who would be easy to take down in a close combat – she made a mental note.
"How disappointing it is to find you rendered helpless so easily, Meghdyuth," the voice that slurred against her skin was sickeningly familiar. The bottom of her stomach dropped as Kashi inhaled sharply. "I had a much more interesting farewell planned for you, but it seems after all there will be no need of such a hassle."

Hesitation in every shape and form was nothing but a shortcut to failure. Kashi knew she would not get another opportunity as this as her enemy delayed its blow engaged in a battle of egos she was not interested in the least to take part in. The well-aimed elbow jabbed at the solar plexus took her attacker by surprise. At the same time Kashi grabbed the wrist of the hand with the blade and twisted it away from her, saving her neck from any form of injury as she turned around to face the contorted face of her nemesis.

"Perhaps, we'll have to go to that interesting farewell after all my dear Noor Banu," Kashi said efficiently managing to keep the hurt away from her tone as she reached out to grab her sword from where it was concealed.

The silver shine of the unsheathed blade highlighted the maniac gleam that flickered in her eyes. Kashi could not think of the woman grabbed in dark and a cruel expression as Noor Banu. But there was no mistaking this time unless she had fallen into a twisted dream designed by McLane. Kashi knew that although the man was capable of many feats he was not one for enchantments. She had been almost mistaken about the woman who she had regarded up until this very moment as her best friend.

Reflecting her movement Noor unsheathed two blades from their resting places against her back, flexing her wrists with twisting movements of malice.

She did not waste her time replying as she launched towards Kashi with a growl fit for a predator and it only intensified when her attack was blocked on midway by Kashi's blade. Brown eyes glared into Kashi's dark ones with enough hatred to set her aflame. An angered foe was a distracted foe, Kashi reminded herself as she fought to keep both of the flashing blades in her sight as she managed to trip a foot in Noor's way. Proving the worth of her training Noor jumped over her foot and at the same time manage to graze across her shoulder. The searing pain blinded Kashi for a moment before she managed to block the next blow aimed at her gut.
The two went back and forth along the patches of shadow and light clinking of blades, muttered curses and frustrated growls accompanying them. Noor had lost one of her blades and Kashi switching between attack and defence did not leave her a moment to fetch it from where it had fallen. Both had sustained cuts, but neither was anywhere near giving up.

"Impressive for a rebel," Noor breathed after a moment, lips tugged in a sneer as Kashi blocked her attack once more. "But disappointing for a royal. To think my father chose you over me..." she added bitterly. "Sadly, this ends here Kashi Bai." She reached behind her to get a handful of sindoor from the plate lying at the prayer corner and smashed it in Kashi's face.

The sting against her eyes was powerful enough for her survival instincts to kick in and close them against the assault of painful air. Kashi stumbled in darkness for a moment slashing her blade aimlessly and a moment was all Noor had needed.

The pain that shot through her abdomen was sharp and brutal. Kashi stumbled backwards with a rasping cry and tripped over something in the darkness. Dark spots danced across her vision before she had collapsed on the ground, tasting dust through her slightly parted lips.

She blinked, forcing her eyes to open with all her might and watched Noor's feet walking away dragging the bloodied sword across the carpeted floor, leaving a trail of dark red as she went for the window. Through her blurred vision she could see someone else barging in through the doors of the antechamber and Noor stopping short as she faced the new – comer. Their exchange made no sense to her anymore as the figures spun unrecognizably. She struggled for breath and her eyelids grew heavier still.

She tried with the least of the energy she possessed to get up and noticed a little pool of darkest red was forming beneath her. Her limbs felt led and her head was swaying. Kashi groaned as she collapsed on her own pool of blood and as her eyelids dropped she noticed a sparkle of light somewhere in the edge of her vision and the ground tumbled beneath her.

**

"Dear sweet lord," Andrew muttered rising from his armchair as a very dishevelled version David McLane barged into the sitting room carrying a bloodied, limp body of a girl he could only imagine being the cursed princess of Chandranagara. Keren clasped a hand over the little scream that escaped her mouth. David uncaring of them both walked across the expense of the room and went into deposit the unconscious, injured figure on Lillian's bed.

"What on earth -!" Was all its owner managed to utter. They crowded at the threshold of the room watching as David wiped his brow absentmindedly.

"Excuse me Ladies," Andrew pushed aside Keren and Lilly to make his way inside. Taking up his responsibility as the doctor that he was but hardly acted as, he checked her pulse and looked up to meet David's inquiring gaze. "Faint but definitely hanging there," he said with a little nod.

"Well thank –"begun Keren to be cut off by her brothers.

"Five hours," he said curtly. "She needs to be able to travel in five hours."

"Surely you must be jesting," Andrew finished with a low chuckle. "She has lost a lot of blood."

"She can rest all she wants afterwards Dr. Kent," Andrew looked a little taken aback as his friend never really used the title of his profession to address him. But it had done what it needed to and grilled the intensity of the situation into Andrew's head. "This might be the only chance Kashi Bai gets of ever leaving her prison unscathed."

Andrew bit back the argument on his tongue and nodded unwillingly.

"I must advise you that it is very, very risky."

"Do you honestly think that I don't know?" David shot back furiously. "But my evaluation tells me that the risk of remaining here is no less. Leaving with Keren is an opportunity that Kashi would not get again. I must remove her when the opportunity has presented itself."

"Please tell me you did not plan this all along." Andrew said slowly, a crease appearing on his forehead as his face darkened. David watched his friend for a moment, debating inwardly whether he was going to respond or not. Then realizing that he was only delaying Andrew from doing anything to aid his cause he sighed and replied.

"I did not plan her to get hurt or for Shab to explode – if that is what you are curious about."

Andrew shook his head, not entirely pleased with his response. But he turned to Lillian and said meaningfully.

"Please fetch my bag Lily I'm afraid you'd have to aid me through this." Lillian nodded briefly and left as Keren folded the sleeves of her dress.

"I can assist as well, if you would let me Dr. Kent," she seemed to follow her brother's example and address him as she made her way inside. "David," Andrew called after the retreating figure. "Sometimes your resolve frightens me."

"When you've seen all that I have my friend," David replied with a rueful smile. "You can't help but fear yourself as well."

**

The heat rippled across her skin and brought forth a memory of yore. She had not been aware it had been still there, buried beneath all the dust worth years of memories spent searching her forgotten roots. The flames raged from all sides, trapping them into a circle that was shrinking with each passing second. In the darkness beyond the flames a hound was howling - or was it a pack of them?

The boy who tugged at her arm was only a few years older. His face was bony - she recalled and his skin dusky. There was something strange about his eyes that stirred her thoughts even when they were widened in fear. There were angry welts around the wrist of the arm that tugged hers, and burns across his bony hand. 

"When I say - you need to run," he told her with all the conviction a fourteen year old would manage at the face of death. 

"Can't -" she breathed. "Fire!"

"Look here," he grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little, giving her no choice but to stare into his captivating eyes once more. "I'm going to throw you over across the flames and you need to run - run without looking back, without stopping, as far as you can go. Understood?"

She nodded and gulped. 

"I won't get burnt?"

"Surely not. Ready?" He asked lifting her off her feet. 

"Hold on - wait!" She screamed and he halted, her feet danging in the midair and their gazes locked. "What about you?"

"I'll catch up, first you need to run," he lied easily although she did not know it then and before she could ask another question and delay him further tossed her over the ring of flames. She screeched, wind and smoke burning in her throat and lungs and her eyes squeezed shut. Heat rippled across her skin and she was convinced she was going to land in the embrace of flames. But no, she hit the heated sand and rolled off creating ripples in the undisturbed sand. 

Kashi's eyes snapped open - breathing hard and a silent scream scratching her throat. It burned for a moment as her blurry eyes focused. Her ribs were burning in pain, her throat protesting for water. Still she did not call out or reach in the darkness to find some water to relieve the thirst. Instead, she tried to hold on to the details of that dream ( or was it a memory) slipping from her mind rather fast. 

The boy who saved her life. The fire, the hounds, the desert - she remembered them all. Then his eyes, what was so fascinating about his eyes? Why did she, in her sleep ridden mind think it was an important detail to remember? His eyes were different from those she usually saw around - they were not brown or black. They glittered in the flames around them in a striking dark grey. Before Kashi had concluded that thought a door to her right opened making her jerk. 

"Hello Sister," said a man merrily. However there was a wicked tilt to his mouth and icy malice in his eyes. It was obvious that he did not mean the rest of his sentence.
"Welcome to Madhavgadh!"

**

We've moved pretty fast I think. And I believe you have a good idea who the boy from Kashi's past could be. I'll see you next Monday with new adventures in a new city. Are you excited? Tell me in the comments. 

Don't forget to vote, votes are my food for writing. 

Thank you for reading!