|| - Back of the mirror - ||

A million words would not bring you back – I know, because I tried

Neither would a million tears – I know, because I cried

________

Darkness breathed in relief as it embraced the motionless shadows of Madhavgadh. The stone pillars surrounding her, stood watching like guards of some ancient secrets and the heavens above simply glowered over the shadows it could not dispel. Gayatri sank into the inviting cool folds of the pool parting a sheet of rose petals and jasmine blossoms. The aroma of the water was intense, partly from the flowers and partly from the sandalwood that coated her skin.

The weight of water felt soothing against her weary shoulders as she breathed in the fragrant air. Gayatri sighed and looked up at the incarnate patterns of stars on the Madavgadh sky and held her breath as she sank into the water. The insignificant sounds of the night hushed at once, filling her ears with the otherworldly silence of underwater. Practice reduced the sting of water on her eyes, so much so that when she closed them it was only a dull throb against her eyelids.

The darkness shifted, melted and solidified. Blotches of dark colour appeared on the empty canvas of pitch black and took forms of more shadows, as the silence reformed itself into voices.

It was a vision of a dingy room, cold and dark like some hidden dungeon. The bricks had soaked up the moisture from the deepest pits of earth and often cracked in places. Cobwebs stretched from one wall to the other, like curtains of some ghostly culture. Chains groaned against the ground as the crawling figure whimpered.

"It wasn't me, father I swear!" A broken voice cried as a whip cracked against flesh.

"Who else had access to the venom?" Akif Fisal Khan's agitated voice demanded. The broken shadow on the ground did not respond, instead it continued to whimper.

"Trust me! Trust me!"

"I should have known," when Khan spoke again, it sounded like a thought being voiced. "That a wild animal cannot be tamed – no matter how well trained a beast remains a beast!"

Gayatri surfaced parting the sheet of flowers once more. Drenched hair remained plastered to the sides of her face, highlighting the vicious glint in her eyes when she opened them.

"McLane...McLane," she muttered absentmindedly. "I should have trusted the boy more."

There were footsteps as Gayatri plucked a wayward jasmine from her hair. The young maid who entered looked positively terrified to break her focus.

"Rani sa*," she fumbled over her words not daring to lift her gaze and look at her.

"What is it?" Gayatri inquired lazily, tossing away the flower she had plucked.

"Lord McLane is here – with his daughter."

Gayatri's eyes narrowed a moment before her lips twisted into a smile. She splashed her hand through the water enjoying that particular thought which occurred to her then.

"It seems I'm not the only one," she added to herself, before dismissing the maid with a hand gesture.

**

The evening was falling casting a rosy hue over the surrounding. There was something wintery about the air and the shell pink sky. Marigolds danced over low hedges that edged the cobbled path leading towards the building that stood not very far from the military training grounds and the eastern parts of the main structure of Chandranagara fort. There was a large aviary containing a couple of colourful parrots that spread their wings and called out greetings as she passed. Some smaller foreign birds that Afreen did not recognize chippered in.

Afreen fiddled with the string of pearl that she wore, making cautious steps towards the commander's residence. There were places that she visited under disguise to avoid suspicion; then there were other places where visiting disguised could raise more doubt. There was nothing peculiar about a courtesan taking a stroll down these paths of Chandranagara. But she was not surprised when her path was obstructed by two red faced and sleep deprived looking guards.

"Commander has refused visitors!" The lager of the two men barked, causing Afreen to raise a painted eyebrow. "He is injured and needs to heal in peace."

"I'm sure a visit from a beautiful friend would speed up the healing process Janab*," Afreen said sweetly, batting her eyelids at the younger and smaller one of the two. The larger man frowned at her.

"Commander doesn't like you!" He pointed out. "He flees at the mere sight of you!"

Afreen sighed having had her fill of the cynical man for the time being.

'Ah well, perhaps he likes me too much to fear an addiction then!" She said cheerily, pushing the two men apart by a gentle nudge of her hands and waltzing her way in. The two guards exchanged a look and followed her protesting and demanding her to stop. Afreen waved a hand at them.

"Make sure you don't let anyone else enter unnoticed while you chase me,' she said cheekily as she pushed her way in the door a maid had just opened on her way out. The two guards stilled for a moment, considering her words. "Good day gentlemen!"

The door snapped shut before the two men could reply.

His skin was as raw as his psyche. There were angry red straps of raw skin down his back that he could neither reach nor examine. The pain and the feverish delirium was something Satyavan could handle well. But he could not get rid of the paranoia he felt. They could reach Kashi Bai, Kashi Bai was in danger.

Sweat beaded across his forehead, glistened down his bare chest, gathering and spilling over his brow as he sat up startled from a ferocious nightmare. The evening light filtered through the closed window carvings and Satyavaan wiped his face with his palm wondering for how long he had slept since being released.

As soon as the sleep was dispelled his thoughts returned to mull darkly over the present situation. He had failed the word given to his dying father; he had failed to protect Kashi Bai. To Satyavan, nothing could hurt more than the sense of failure. He hissed as his injuries made themselves known and stretched his arms over his head, brows frowned still thinking as he went to pour himself a cup of water.

Kashi Bai was no murderer; at least Satyavan was certain of that much. It could only mean one thing that someone else was impersonating Meghdyuth as means of reaching their own ends. His hand was trembling, he realized as he spilled the cool liquid over the angry welts on his wrist. It was no good. Satyavan cursed as he slammed down the cup, spilling a bit more water.

There was a bubble of voices outside, before the door was thrown open. He could only think of one person who would stir up so much drama over one simple visit – and there was no mistaking of that sugary tone. Before he had turned around and demanded her to get out, there was a sharp intake of breathing – a rattle of metal against ground as Afreen stumbled over something and toppled it on the ground.

His mind still too slow to grasp the situation, Satyavan turned around.

Her eyes were wide and her face pale. Her lips trembled as she stared at him. For a moment he thought she was too concerned over his injuries, before it slowly dawned upon him.

"Altaaf..." her lips moved but made no sound as tears pooled in her eyes washing off that first look of disbelief. Afreen whirled around, trying to rush out before anyone had seen her breaking down. Only, Satyavan was always too fast for her.

He held her back by the shoulder and turned her around, pressing her against the door in the process. There was a moment of silence in which they looked at each other and finally Afreen blinked away her tears. They washed off the perfect lines of kohl edging her eyes and she cared no more as her gaze searched for something in his desperately.

"Do you detest me so much," she asked in the end. Her voice had none of its old confidence, it was broken and lost. "After all this time?"

"Always," he breathed pushing away from her and turning around. "You disgust me!"

Afreen wiped her eyes with her wrist in an unconscious movement and breathed in. It took her only a moment to push back all the whirling thoughts and compose herself.

"Kashi Bai send me," she said indifferently. "She wants you to keep an eye on Noor Banu."

'Why?" Satyavan asked, still turned away from her.

"Because Kashi Bai thinks even perfect ladies are capable of dark deeds. Take care of yourself, Satyavan Miyyan. Khuda hafiz!"

She went slamming the door shut after her and Satyavaan watched her walk away from the crack of the door. He swallowed hard and tried to ignore the way her shoulders shook as she tried to supress her sobs.

**

"Ya Allah!" Noor exclaimed as she collided with someone and dropped the basket of rose petals she was carrying.

"Oh lord," groaned Andrew. "Lady, I'm truly sorry!"

He did look sorry, Noor thought to herself as she guessed that was what the words meant. The dishevelled looking foreigner with wide eyes and rose petals in his hair – she shook his head at him. He looked sympathetic but it did not make her job easy. She sat down and started to gather what she had spilled back into the basket. Andrew watched her for another moment and called Gobind, as he too knelt down to help.

Noor was too agitated to notice the way he noted her. Andrew Kent had a discreet way of observing someone. His eyes remained on her face as he gathered the petals and tossed them into the basket. There were dark circles under her eyes and her fingertips were stained yellow. His eyes narrowed as noted the angry red welts around her wrist – as if fingers had dug into her flesh.

Noor stood up to leave with a brisk murmur of 'Shukryaan*!' but he held her back from her long acid green sleeve; the movement made it ride up and expose the bruise more clearly.

"How did you injure yourself?" He asked, trying to look as sincere and harmless as he could. Noor pulled back her arm as if he had stung her and giving him a panicked wide eyed glare, hurried away, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her in her urgency.

Andrew folded his arms across his chest and watched her vanish into the twisting passageway.

"What exactly are you Noor Banu? The beauty or the beast?"
Gobind joined him a moment later, catching the curious expression on Andrew's face.
"Anything you need sir?" He inquired keenly.
Andrew took a moment to tear his eyes off the corridor and turned to Gobind rather absentmindedly.
"You know that balm I brought over Gobind? I think I'd like to send some of it to  a certain someone. See to it will you?

**

||Glossary ||
*Rani sa - Queen 
*Janab - a title like Mr. To address a male.
*Shukriyaan- thank you

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What do you think? Is she Beauty or the Beast? Or something else entirely?

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