Invincible beasts standing in front of his eyes mocked him again and again over his failure. As Manik caught his breath looking at the giant mountain, he could feel sweat beads sliding down his temple. Sun was harsh and his eyes ached as white of snow met with golden of sun. It was blinding. He looked back at his tired convoy. It was a day since they had started their quest. He wanted to walk away alone but then those people back there didn't have any reason to stay back either. 

So there they were. In middle of nowhere heading towards somewhere. 

"They will catch up," Aabid bhai said reaching him. 

"Every group has capable men," He added looking at thoughtful Manik. 

"I am not leading anyone," Manik replied roughly, "They are on their own."

As he reached on top of that impassable mountain, he looked down. Other side narrated tale of his failure. He realized how it would take days to get out of those insurmountable mountains. He could see a steep valley and a dense forest. His heart ached thinking about where would she be. He still wasn't able to believe that he had lost her. It all was still sounding rubbish. 

He looked back at tired faces who were still trying to reach the rooftop of that mountain. His blood boiled looking at that tail. He didn't want to drag anyone along. It was beyond his understanding why those people were following him blindly. 

In fit of anger, Manik took a huge leap in steep slope and slid down the snow to reach the mouth of forest. He looked up to see few people gaping him in hope. 

"Do not follow me," He shouted to those faces. 

"I will lead you to your deaths," Manik uttered bitterly and strode inside the forest. He was more than frustrated. All what concerned him was Aashi and he had sorted that out. Aabid had promised to look after her and he had no heart to worry about others. He could offer nothing. All he knew that He could not let anyone slow him down. 

_______________________

White.

That's how it looked till the end of where her eyes could see. Sunshine loved her flesh as she walked in alley of white flowers. She twirled wearing that lacy skirt. It had to be a dream, she blinked her eyes for a few times. Then that scent touched her nostrils making her anxious than ever. She knew that scent. Turning around, she saw him standing there. He still smelt like a pine tree. He still looked as rouge as uphill. Only difference was she knew him now. She smiled broadly and leaped towards him. He smiled slightly and she knew he meant world by that little curve on his lips. Gush of warmth ran through her veins as she ascended that slope to reach him. He stood there waiting for her. It had to be reality, she murmured as he came closer with each step she took. She kept striding but distance seemed never-ending. She frowned a bit as her vision started to blur and he started to look like abstract. She struggled. She could feel it in her body while she tried to hold on. That dream was slipping out of her grip. 

Truck screeched as it halted. Nandini's head collided with hardboard once again and she hissed. Nausea hit her like a tornado and she emptied the water she had a few minutes back. Coughing for a minute, she tried to come at term with her reality. It wasn't the first time she had dreamed of him in last few hours. She had hovered between dream and reality, and every time reality had slapped her hard for being a divergent. 

Door of trailer finally opened and light punished her eyes so harshly that she yelped. Her eyes seemed to be on fire as fresh air invaded them. Before she could even dare to open them again, two pairs of hands lifted her from forearms and she swayed like a corpse. She had no energy left. That missing sensation of moving truck stung her pores. 

"Carefully, you idiot," She heard some man yelling.  

She tried to open her eyes ignoring that burning sensation. She could see three to four figures standing at a distance. Her eyes lids fell again leaving her to struggle.  She heard them all talking. Their voices seemed to come from faraway. She was put on surface and that's when her head felt like spinning lying on that cold hard ground. Motion sickness hit her again and she tried to throw mere air out as her stomach didn't hold anything else. She cried feeling that sick. 

She opened her eyes and saw those men approaching her. In a fraction of second, she was again carried by them but this time she didn't return to that trailer. She tried to look around only to find some cold white. No, it wasn't snow. They were walls. She was in come confined area. 

"To the doctor," Third man said and then halted. Two of them who was carrying her walked rapidly towards somewhere. She could see sky above. It was blue. Soon, that sky turned into a ceiling, a very fancy one. Those men put her on table as they entered a huge room. Smell of it made her stomach twist painfully. She couldn't throw up anymore. It was medicine around. 

"Hello, Ms Murthy," A face appeared just over her smiling sweetly. 

Something pricked her arm and she hissed. 

"You need to sleep," That man spoke as Nandini felt her vision blur again. 

______________________________________

Wall-clock bonged as another hour came to end. 

Mr Murthy sat in middle of big fancy room. He looked at each thing as if he couldn't recognize a single one of them. He quivered each time that clock rang. It was sometime he was brought into this big room. There was a huge table in middle of it, a window beside which opened to a beautiful landscape. Chair he was sitting on had these metal carvings. He touched it amused. He was given a bath today. He was made to wear these fancy cloths. They said he had a meeting with the boss.He didn't know what did that mean. He no longer knew what was going around. He played with hem of his coat as he waited there for someone to arrive. He kept murmuring something which he no longer could word. All he had developed was a habit to murmur some words all the time but he couldn't spell them anymore. He couldn't say them aloud. He didn't know what it meant. He had lost the sound of it, he didn't recognize them. Drugs had made his mind numb.

"Dini..Nan...dii..ni..na..ndi..ni," He kept chanting under his breath as he looked around scared. 

Then the door opened and before he could turn around to see who it was, someone walked past him. He flinched at the pace. That man reached across the room to his table like a bolt. 

As he turned around, he peeped into Mr Murthy's eyes. His face had this subtle smile but his eyes were brutal. Mr Murthy could feel the horror. He gulped. That man had worn a uniform while his face was covered in this well trimmed beard. His face was white as snow and his eyes were grey. He had to be the boss. 

"Recognized me, Mr Murthy?" That man asked in his deep dead voice. His face so settled, but his voice could send shivers down one's spine. 

"I guess not," He chuckled darkly while Mr Murthy tried to hold arm of chair tightly. 

"My men have been quite rough on you, haven't they?" He asked coming closer. 

Mr Murthy shrunk to one side of chair as that man walked to him. 

"But bad days are over," He uttered leaning down. 

"Guess what who is here," He murmured in Mr Murthy's ear. 

Mr Murthy gulped as he saw that man fiddling with gun in his belt. 

"Nand..ini..di..niii," Mr Murthy started to murmur that string audibly. It was his stress-buster. 

"Right. Nandini," That man uttered. His gravelly voice burst into a low chuckle as he straightened up. 

"She is here," He informed and Mr Murthy seemed to have whatsoever no effect of words spoken. His eyes were still glued to gun in that man's belt. 

"Well I guess, too much of information to take," He said after a pause. Little did he know that Mr Murthy didn't even know sound of the word 'Nandini'. It was just another word for him, though he had tried to remember this one word but drugs had made him forget everything. 

"You'll be meeting your daughter, Mr Murthy," That man said aloud walking back to his chair. 

"She is finally where she belongs to," He said settling into his giant chair. 

"And now we need to do a lot of paperwork," He added. 

"But that can wait, first we need to welcome the princess," He said with tinge of excitement. 

"I shall personally bring her to you," He promised while Mr Murthy got lost in web of his own abstract thoughts. He hadn't understood a thing.  

"Take him," That man said and two men marched inside the room. 

______________________________________

Nandini opened her eyes, her head seemed much lighter while her skin mingled with heat of some soft fabric. She counted her breath to four before she got grip over reality. Jumping on bed, she got up only to find herself in a big room. She was alone. She looked around. It was a room with no windows. 

She ran to door and tried to unbolt it but it was a futile attempt. It was locked. She didn't know where she was. All she remembered was words of that man who said she needed to sleep. 

Where she was? 

She could feel sweat forming on her forehead while her eyes roamed across the well furnished room. It was some lavish place, It wasn't any camp. She looked at her cloths which were no longer dirty or a mess. She was changed into a robe. Her each pore rose in anxiety. 

"Hello, Ms Murthy," She flinched as she heard a feminine voice. She looked at the girl who was wearing a maid uniform. She was pushing a trolley which had food. 

"It's good to see you awake," She chirped sweetly while making a way towards Nandini. 

"Who are you?" Nandini asked stepping behind the big sofa. 

"I am at your service. Call me Annie," That girl replied sweetly. Nandini watched her setting the food on table quietly. 

"What is this place?" Nandini asked trying to cut the clutter in her mind. She needed to know where she was. She knew the army which resided in camps but It wasn't some camp. 

"You are home," That girl replied offering Nandini a cup of tea. 

"This isn't home," Nandini murmured trying to deal with shivers her weak body was going through. 

"Your father has sent me," That girl dropped the words like bomb. 

It took fine few minutes to Nandini to register what she had said. 

"My father," She exclaimed. She could feel gush of emotions hitting her. She knew she couldn't believe it but she couldn't stop her heart from feeling the joy of hearing his name. 

"You are lying," Nandini went against the deceiving joy. 

"I am not," That girl said putting the cup back on table. She walked to Nandini while Nandini took another step back. 

"He is here. He is the one who had sent those men to bring you here," That girl replied. 

"You need to eat something," That girl held Nandini's hand and started to walk her towards couch. Nandini being lost in revealed piece of information followed her. 

"He missed you so much," That girl cooed further and Nandini couldn't even realize when wet of her eyes reached her cheeks. 

"He wanted you here," That girl sweetly told the fake story while making a morsel. 

"I am sure his men treated you well, Ms Murthy," She overdid it and that mention brought Nandini out of little web. Face of Manik and that gunshot flashed in her mind and Nandini grabbed the butter knife from the table. 

Gathering that girl who was sitting on knees in front of her in tight clasp, Nandini put that knife on her neck. 

"Stop lying," Nandini said gritting her teeth. 

"My father would never set a camp on fire," She said confidently. 

"Spill it out," Nandini demanded pressing the knife on that girl's neck. 

"Didn't anyone tell you Princess that butter knife doesn't cut?" That girl asked simpering. 

Next was something Nandini couldn't even register. She felt sharp pain in her thigh and her grip around that girl's neck loosened. That girl dragged her to bed while Nandini tried to keep herself responsive. 

"Sleep, Princess," That was last sentence she heard before she closed her eyes. 

"Manik," She murmured in half sleep as her mind tried to fight with sedative. 

____________________________________

Flurries obstructed Manik's vision as he walked amid snowstorm. It was dark and he was still stuck in that impassable valley. His heart was thumping loud and he knew it wasn't because of that storm. She needed him, He could feel. Manik reached the road after much efforts. It was safe to walk on roads instead of tough mountains at night. 

It was getting almost impossible to walk against the storm and Manik could feel his body giving up. His muscles were giving up. He screamed aloud to let out the helplessness. After halting for a minute, he again started his quest. He couldn't take break. She was alone there. He didn't even know what that brutal army would do to her. 

As he walked all lost in his messed up mind, he didn't even realize when two headlights flashed right in front of him. Snowy flurries had made visibility almost zero.  Manik swiftly tried to get off the road while driver of that vehicle too applied the brakes. That truck screeched loudest while Manik too gained his balance. He turned around to see taillights of that trailer flashing amid storm. Manik angrily strode towards the driver's window. Getting on it, he opened the door. He grabbed the collar of driver harshly. 

"Manik," Man on other side shouted to stop him. 

"It's me," That man switched on the cabin light with quivering hands. 

Manik gaped that scared face and registered it was Aryan. 

"It's me, It's me," Aryan said horrified. 

Manik's grip over his coat loosened a bit and he backed off. 

Manik came out of trailer and walked away. He needed to calm down. His mind could see no face. He was too furious. 

He heard door of trailer getting shut and Aryan walked to him. 

"Nandini?" Aryan asked lowly as if already dreading the answer. 

Manik glared him and Aryan gulped. 

"Something happened, right?" He asked quivering. He hadn't come out of shock of that little accident and on top of that all his doubts were taking shape. 

Manik didn't answer but kept panting. He was hardly being able to contain his rage. He was angry and he didn't even know what Aryan had done to fan it. 

"Where is everyone else, Manik?" Aryan again asked lowly and this time Manik grabbed his collar to drag him to nearby hill. Aryan's back collided with cold wall of hill and he hissed. 

"You knew it, didn't you?" Manik asked spitting fire. 

Aryan tried to utter something but he could feel his throat giving up. 

"I didn't," Aryan answered. 

"Please listen.." Aryan continued but Manik held his neck tight. 

"Where were you all this while?" He demanded the confession. Aryan chocked and Manik loosened his grip a bit. 

"She was the only one I got and you couldn't see it," Manik spat while digging his nails onto Aryan's flesh. 

"You sent that army," Manik accused and Aryan shook his head. 

"Believe me, I didn't," Aryan pleaded. 

Manik kept on piercing his flesh and Aryan yelped. Aryan pushed Manik with all his might. Manik lost the balance a bit but again struck him like bolt. 

"If I had done it, I wouldn't have come back," Aryan reasoned the bull. Manik was no less than a bull when he was angry. 

"It was not me but someone else," Aryan tried to reveal the key part so that Manik listens to him. And it worked. 

Manik backed off a bit and gaped Aryan. 

"It was chief and Harshit," Aryan revealed and Manik froze in his place. 

_______________________________________

Morning brought fireworks. 

Nandini walked amid a carnival with drumbeats deafening her ears. She looked around to find herself in middle of a fort which was painted white. Each tile under her feet spoke for its glory as she tried to meet the pace of adjacent officers. She was being taken somewhere. She looked up to see those tall towers. It was a castle. And within that castle, it was a town where people had happily accepted the new law. 

As she registered each that detail, doors of a big hall got opened after rhythmic symphony. Two women held her arms to drag her further. She walked inside a huge assembly hall only to find a number of people settled in their seats. They all looked wealthy. She looked ahead and saw a man sitting in middle of a long table. Beside him, a few other simpering men were sitting. Decor of hall was festive. It was like there was going to be a celebration. But of what? She wondered.

And All of sudden, all the music stopped playing. Nandini looked around and saw everyone looking at her keenly. That man stood up from his throne and walked to her.

"Ms Murthy," He greeted trying to hold her hand. Nandini flinched back and that man chuckled. 

"I have promised your father I would walk you to him," That man said tilting his head. Nandini was still confused why mention of his father was being made again and again. 

That man took her hand forcefully and started to walk her towards dais. 

"Bring him in," Nandini heard that man instructing the man beside. 

Nandini got dragged to the dais and when she turned around, her world stopped. A man was walking towards her and that man was...

...Her father.

"Papa," She murmured palming her mouth. She tried to run towards him but grip on her arm didn't let her move. 

"Papa," She called him aloud and Mr Murthy didn't even look up. He was walking slowly with help of two men gazing floor. He had turned so weak. His face had blue marks. He had grown a beard. He looked nothing like she knew. Her heart ached seeing him in that condition. 

"Let me go," Nandini spat. 

"Wait, my dear," That man said. 

Mr Murthy stood at distance where those men left him. Another man brought a table in front of him. 

"Look what I have brought to you, Mr Murthy," That man said simpering. Mr Murthy didn't budge but kept playing with corner of table. 

"Look up when I am talking to you," That man yelled and Mr Murthy quivered in his place. 

Nandini gaped that man in shock. 

"Papaaa," She called her father. Her tears had no bound. She was seeing him after so long and the way he was standing there, she already knew something was not right. 

Mr Murthy looked up and there Nandini sighed when her father looked into her eyes. 

"Your Nandini is here," That man said freeing her. 

Nandini ran to her father and hugged him as tight as she could. 

"I missed you, I missed you so much," She said in between hiccups. 

She felt touch of her father on her shoulders as he extracted her from himself. He gaped her teary face for a minute with no affinity at all. His eyes tried to stay at her angelic face but she could see no emotion in them. 

"Who are you?" He asked and Nandini could feel world slipping. 

Hall filled with gasps and she stood there dumbfound at what she heard. 

_______________________________

Manik walked between his own convoy as he searched that one face. People looked at him as if he had lost his mind as he pierced through them. And amid of that little crowd, a yelp echoed when Manik punched Harshit. 

"You did this," Manik yelled while punching Harshit. 

"You sold her," He shouted and punched Harshit so hard that he landed on rocks. 

People made a huddle but none tried to stop Manik. Few were afraid and few knew what was this all about. Aryan had drove Manik back after he had told him how Harshit had sent Aryan with half of unit to Abbas. 

"You brought that army here," Manik yelled further kicking him in gut. 

"You traded her," He shouted kicking him further. 

Harshad cut the crowd to reach them. Pushing Manik back, Harshad stood between Manik and Harshit. 

"Stay out," Manik pushed Harshad away and again pounced on Harshit. 

"You son of a bitch," Manik grabbed blooded Harshit from ground. 

"Leave him," Harshad barged in again. 

"STAY AWAY" Manik yelled pushing Harshad again. 

"Why did you do this?" Manik asked a pained Harshit. Harshit not for once looked into Manik's eyes. 

"I am sorry," Harshit murmured and Manik punched him again. 

"She won't come back with your sorry," He yelled hoarsely. His voice broke as he uttered that. 

"What had she done to you?" He asked getting a hold on Harshit's neck. 

"You would die," Manik announced and gasps filled the air. Harshad pulled Manik away using all his strength. Few other men too barged in. 

"Listen to me," Harshad pleaded Manik but got shushed by a punch. His lip bled as he took that heavy punch. 

"I know they had done wrong," Harshad yelled making it audible for fuming Manik. 

"You too did this," Manik accused getting closer to Harshad but Aabid held him tight to prevent the clash. 

"I would never do that," Harshad said trying to mean it. 

"I would never shake hands with that army," He said while eyeing his own brother. Harshad was beyond hurt after knowing how his father and brother had made a deal with that army.

"You knew it, didn't you?" Manik asked holding Harshad's collar while Harshit started to cry. He was on his knees and his yelps told the story of his guilt. 

"I did," Harshad confessed, "I got to know about it yesterday."

"Forgive them," Harshad pleaded looking down. All his pride had come crashing down with that one deed of his father. 

"They are only one I have," He pleaded further. 

"And she was the only one I had," Manik retorted. 

"We will get her back," Aabid tried to calm a agonized Manik. His rage had no bound. 

There was silence of dead for few minutes. Manik walked to a tree catching his calm while Harshad stood there cursing his own family. His family had let down everyone. It's because of them, a lot of people lost life and Nandini was gone. 

"Abbas and I got worried when you people didn't reach the decided point. So I came to check on you people," Aryan broke the silence. 

"We had our doubts when Chief had sent me to Abbas with half unit. And all those doubts came true," He continued. 

"We never knew Chief was going to replace that half of unit with army-men," He finished with tinge of regret. 

Silence again took over the valley. None spoke, Time had brought him back to where he had started. He needed to gulp the betrayal before starting again. 

_______________

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Unedited*