|| - Eyes of an Enemy -II ||

Love has its place, as does hate

Peace has its place as does war...

- Meir Kahane

Fear was a fine whip to cower one into submission. Similarly it was a terrible poison if one wishes to keep using it again and again. For there comes a limit, when fear stops sucking on courage and starts to push one towards violent retribution. Noor Banu he saw was no longer crippled by her fears and that alone was enough to make Andrew chase after her. He did not pause to analyse the meaning of his actions or to interpret his need to save her before she committed an irreversible crime. Instead he pushed himself through the crowd that had swallowed all traces of her petite frame in dark clothing.

He managed to corner her before she had sneaked into the main part of the fortress, grabbing her shoulder he trapped her against a dump stone wall beneath an archway leading towards the stables. The shadows veiled any traces of their presence in that overlooked nook and the only beams of light danced across Noor's upturned face. Her eyes were rebellious when she looked up at Andrew who was trying to catch his breath.

"Don't do it," he said flatly causing her eyes to widen a little.

"Do what?" There was only a trace of hesitance in her tone.

He released his hold on her and stepped back, putting a respectful space between them. Noor hung her head, fiddling with the tasselled end of her purdah as she waited for him to answer. It was as if she had drawn a veil over her initial rebellious persona transforming back into the role of the demure lady. But her posture remained stiff, her lips pursed and shoulders taught as if tension coiled around her spine, ready to spring into action with the slightest of triggers. Andrew ran a hand through his hair – a habit he had borrowed from his friend – and looked at her meaningfully.

"The venom you bought, who is it meant for?" Instead of an answer, he questioned her in return.

There was a startled shiver in her body as she looked into his eyes, her mouth opened slightly before she closed it and blinked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," she said in the end. Her tone was polite and small. "You might have mistaken me for somebody else. Where on earth could I buy poison when I haven't stepped out of the fortress?"

"Is that how you're going to play, lady Noor?" He did not raise his voice but his choice of words was enough to make her resolve tremble. "Then there's nothing more I could do but wish you luck and wish that you have enough courage to see it to the end – the doom you called upon yourself."

He stepped around her and left, leaving her stranded beneath the shadowy archway. Noor sucked in a breath and spoke in a low voice that one could have mistaken for a rustle of the wind.

"It won't be the first time I took someone's life," she muttered and Andrew stopped on his tracks.

"Isn't the guilt already enough to throttle you?" He asked without turning to face her.

"You are responsible for this!" Her voice rose with a tint of accusation. "Had you never brought her back I would not have to –"

"Cover your tracks? Is that what you are trying to do? Stop the investigations triggered by Kashi's arrival before they discover your lie?"

He turned around and watched how tears drained down her face, drenching her closed eyelashes.

"I must do what I must to survive," she confessed after a moment and wiped her tears furiously. "You don't get to judge me for that!" The words she bit out had left an aftertaste of resentment as Noor left, brushing past Andrew who was still pondering upon her statement. He was confused himself whether he wanted to protect her target or Noor herself from the roaring fire of suppressed fury within her.

**

"Play with me David," the timber of his father's voice had always been dark. "Once in a while a man gets bored playing chess on his own."

His study was drowning in darkness. The only fragments of light had pooled around the chessboard laid out in front of lord McLane. The man sitting on his armchair had a ghostly shadow creeping over his face; the white queen held by the neck between his index and middle fingers.

It was not an invitation. David knew better than to mistake his friendly tone as forgiveness. His actions today were far from forgivable and David knew the interrogation was yet to begin. He took another moment to take the seat opposite his father and subject himself to the older man's scrutiny.

James finished laying the board and looked up at David, his lips pursed.

"How is the princess?" And the game had begun.

Calculation simmered in the blue depth of his father's eyes and David found his gaze cold enough to freeze his own. He did not blink as he spoke.

"She will survive." He attempted to sound nonchalant about it and realized how unconvincing it sounded to his own ears.

He had changed meticulously out of his wet clothes, shedding layer by layer the clothes seeped in with the danger that had surrounded Kashi few hours back. But peeling off the experience had not been that easy. For one dark moment he had imagined losing her to those wicked flames and found himself throttled by the possibility. Even now as his mind recollected the events a fine sheen of perspire broke through his skin. David was acutely aware of his father's eyes on him and exhaled slowly trying to gather himself.

James did not commit on his condition. Instead in a matter of three moves his queen was already out in open.

"If you look at it like that, the queen is but another piece," he said slowly waiting for David to make his move. David looked up and found the old man's eyes on him again, his chin resting on his clasped fingertips. "You cannot win if your game is centred on the wrong piece."

"In order to protect the weak, the strong has to be sacrificed – isn't that the basis of chess?" David replied as he tried to block James' queen with his layout.

"A weak king and a strong queen," mused James idly tossing away one of David's pawns with his queen. "My game is centred on a weak king." And yours on a strong queen... The words he did not utter hung in the pause that followed.

David knew they were no longer discussing about the pieces laid out in front of them, but about the game they had been playing for over a decade.

"You have changed David."

Have I? He mused. Has he finally forgiven himself for choosing someone else over his mother? Has he finally forgiven his mother for choosing to die for him, instead of saving herself? Has he finally forgiven himself for living in spite of his mistakes?

James sighed.

"She was the sacrifice that starts the war. Gayatri had planned it for long. Khan would lose his claim to Chandranagara while Gayatri can blame the death on him. She would have launched an attack to avenge her stepdaughter's death."

David did not reply.

"Your interference was uncalled for."

"Rani Gayatri is deceiving you," said David cautiously.

"She did not lie."

"A half-truth is as empty as a lie." Knowing he had gained enough attention David continued to speak. "You thought Khan would come thundering as soon as we took Kashi Bai away. But instead he sent an assassin. What does that mean?" Since he did not get a response David answered himself. "Kashi Bai holds no value to him anymore."

"All the more reason to eliminate her..."

"But Afreen could have killed her all this while. Why didn't she? By staying close to Kashi Bai and establishing a new connection with Kuwar Shivjit, what is it that she is trying to confirm? Why does Khan no longer value Kashi, but instead wants to stop someone else from using her? Does that mean –"

"He has found an alternate route." James completed his thought. "In one move, Gayatri gets power, throne and revenge."

"There is a reason why she is called the dark queen."

James watched him; the ice of his gaze remained unchanged.

"So you meant to spoil her motives not mine?"

"I was thwarting her in hindering you – father..." he added the last word after a thought. A corner of lord McLane's lip curled.

"Still the boy I saved?" He chuckled amusedly.

David did not look at him as he pushed one of his pawns a step forward.

"Devendra is buried with his mother. I haven't forgotten who led them there."

"Tell me David, what is your next move?"

The gray eyes met the blue ones and the silence stretched. A slow smile played across David's lips.

"Let me make a queen out of my pawn."

He recalled it suddenly as the desert sun burned the back of his neck and the wind whipped him across the face. His father had almost doubted on his motives after saving Kashi from Afreen. David wondered reflecting back to their conversation how much time he had bought for himself. He was still working out how honest he had been with his father and how far he is willing to play with his pawns.

"An oblivious pawn..." He muttered to himself watching Kashi's silhouette appearing in the distance.

**

Hooray I'm back from exile!🎉 Here's a chapter to celebrate that.
This chapter is full of different kinds of evil. There's Noor who is trying to survive, there's Shivjit chasing his mother's ambition, there's McLane who wants control and then there's David who is punishing all...including himself. 

Who could you relate with, and why? Tell me in the comments. 

Don't forget that little star below!

Thank you for reading!

PS: edited to add, I wrote this sometime in September before I went on exam exile. The banner above was made by the ever awesome @lucky03m, I didn't get a chance to show it off before. Thank you Lucky!