A woman born of a man, a warrior from the land of Yavana
Bow down to Pushyaar, the mother of Rajan Rudra.

****

The whole night Rudra paced up and down in his room, biting his nails and calculating imaginary risks. Indumala didn't sleep too and accompanied him all night, trying to ease his nerves.

"If somehow some enemy comes and kidnaps her from the–"

"There are some hundred and fifty soldiers in the docks."

"Oh yes." Rudra sighed. "She should be safe."

Indumala smiled. "You worry a lot about her. Shows your deep bond."

"Like you and Aryamna?"

"Yes!"

She often wondered how many sides this Rajan had. Sometimes he would curse her and be rude. And sometimes there wouldn't be anyone as sweet as him.

"Mataraj is a mage. Though she rarely uses her skills."

Indumala gaped. "What? Oh my! Did she also train in my guild?"

"I don't know. She never shared. You will know for sure she is powerful when you look at her eyes."

"Eyes?"

"They are special. Even more intimidating than mine."

"Are you a mage?"

Rudra raised a brow. He leaned back on the wall and crossed his arms. "What do you think?"

"From the way you are hinting, I guess you know magic too."

Rudra nodded. "Yes, and–"

"And won't possibly share to keep it as an interesting mystery?"

Rudra rubbed his temples. "Aha! Yes. You got it. It's a mystery." He clapped his hands awkwardly. "Eh, I am better off with a normal sword."

The pain burning his heart spread like wildfire. He was fortunate that she didn't wish to take insight into the matter of his magical skills. "I think it's time. We should go to the lion's gate."

They passed by the servants and guards, a comfortable understanding of silence settled between the two. But the young maiden couldn't keep quiet for a long time. "You have a very fluctuating mood."

Rudra almost tripped. The servants left their work at hand and gathered to help. Luckily, Indumala had held him by the elbow in time. "Easy, easy," she said under her breath. He is alright, she mouthed to the servants. Just a little clumsy.

Rudra rolled his eyes. "You will get used to all my tantrums, tricks and whatever gradually."

"I wonder how Dilrobar tolerates you. She should get sick of being with such a man."

Rudra was immediately attracted to this change of topic. It was, in his perspective, thoroughly interesting, like a splash of rainbow over a garden of drooping sunflowers. His days were after all very boring and colourless, passed in venting out his spleen and antipathy towards the concept of love.

But, this sparked his curiosity. What did Indumala think of them? Ah, of course what most would label him and Dilrobar as; it was very much intentional, but Indumala presented a bold observation.

"You think I am not a good companion?" he asked, a playful smirk on his lips which Indumala missed.

"You are so violent sometimes. It's not what a woman would appreciate romantically, unless she is crazy herself. Or is here for your money and status."

"She definitely isn't here for the luxuries, though she is grateful to me for I fulfill her needs."

Indumala wheezed. She covered her mouth and shook all over.

"What makes it so funny, Indumala?"

"You fulfill her needs. I am sorry, but it sounds so unlike usual needs." Indumala pursed her lips. "Sorry. You need to bear with my dirty mind."

Rudra clenched his fist. Did she even realise where exactly she attacked him? His deepest scar. The place he bandaged every night and still it didn't stop bleeding.

Indumala clicked her tongue. "I crossed a line, didn't I?"

"You did."

"Sorry. Won't repeat."

"Indumala, tell me one thing." He looked into her pretty brown eyes. "Do you think the intimacy of two bodies is a sort of game? That you can share yourself with anyone and everyone?"

"I didn't mean that."

"You, like many more, implied that I am involved in a lecherous relationship."

"It was just a joke."

"I know what you think of me and Dilrobar."

"Isn't that near the truth?"

"Why do you care?"

That hit Indumala like the strike of an infuriated tiger. Why did she care? She couldn't comprehend, but she didn't like that Dilrobar being close with Rudra. The very thought of him engaging in a passionate activity drove her mad.

Indumala didn't want to imagine that scene. It vexed her.

How could someone love this stupid man? And why would someone even love him?

"I am just interested like everyone else, but not that much. We can drop it." Indumala's ears turned red in embarrassment. She could be his bodyguard but not interfere in his bed affairs. It wasn't her job to oversee who slept with him and who didn't. "I just don't like it," she whispered to herself.

"Did you say anything?" Rudra asked.

"No–" She looked up at the Rajan, only to find his eyes having, very clearly, turned wet. It was a thin sheen of water glistening under the sun.

"I am coming in a minute. You go on your own."

It was the first time she saw the Rajan cry.

Did Indumala inadvertently hurt him again?

****

Dilrobar had been standing for almost an hour. The heat was unbearable, scorching her bare arms. She regretted not wearing something full-sleeved.

The guards around her lowered their heads. She found Indumala standing behind her. "Where is the Rajan?" she asked the bodyguard.

The poor girl was standing just under the glare of the tiny white sun. Dilrobar couldn't help but admire the glossy shine of her golden skin. God had indeed made her well. "Come to my left. The sun won't disturb you."

Indumala looked somewhat displeased but obeyed. Dilrobar recalled their last meeting in the room of the Rajan. That day, she had gotten a glimpse of something.

The bodyguard was again covering her back, this time donning a waist length bodice of cotton with wide collars that tightly fitted round her pear-shaped physique.

No one questioned Indumala ever why she took care to cover her back. But they always had some derogatory, demeaning interest on what was behind Dilrobar's veil.

They knew what was there. They knew she had been doomed.

"He has gone to wash his face. Something irritated his eyes," Indumala said.

Dilrobar studied the bodyguard from behind her veil. Beautiful almond-shaped eyes, bright and full of fire. They danced in passion and youthful chaos.

Fire– one element that had so much to do with their lives.

"Has the Mataraj arrived?" Dilrobar couldn't tell much from behind the veil. "Do you think so, Indumala? I can make out a huge crowd of brown figures in the horizon."

Indumala couldn't make a head or tail out of Dilrobar. Why did she have to use the veil?

A sudden epiphany hit her.

The night she was drunk, a woman had come, or some entity beyond Indumala's comprehension.

They said it was her choice.

To be behind the Rajan.

While I will be beside Rudra–

"Hail the Mataraj!"

A palanquin entered through the grand lion's gate. All the soldiers knelt, pasting their foreheads on the ground. Dilrobar stood with her hands joined in front.

Indumala didn't know what to do. The Rajan had still not come.

She searched around for him. When hopes were lost, she decided to kneel down like the soldiers.

"Don't." Dilrobar held her wrist firmly when Indumala had just moved her legs. "You don't need to follow the soldiers. Just keep your head low and remember to greet her politely."

"But I am a warrior." Indumala gripped her hand in return. "I am of their ranks," she pointed to the soldiers. "Why should I not do what they do?"

Dilrobar knew if she had some magic in her eyes two holes would have burnt her veil, piercing Indu in return. She could not divert her attention from this new soul. But if the signs are for good, Indumala should not be some ordinary girl.

She freed Indu. "As you wish."

The mighty bodyguard's head now touched the humble ground.

Dilrobar looked around for Rudra. He had to arrive before Mataraj stepped down. Fortunately, she saw him come running and panting. He was wearing a beautiful yellow tunic, unbuttoned upto his chest, and a simple white dhoti. However, his face was wet and eyes a bit swollen. Probably he washed his face from the waters of the fountain nearby.

Dilrobar smiled. "Look here, your bodyguard was adamant. Said she was of the ranks of the soldiers."

Rudra's gaze widened. A warrior. "Like father, like daughter." He tapped Indumala on the back.

"What?" She turned her head up a little and asked.

"You are in the ranks of my close circle."

The breeze swayed Indu's untied onyx locks. Rudra was tickled by them. He coughed and said with a flustered face, "I know you said you don't want to be my comrade but reality can't be changed. You are my comrade."

Dilrobar snorted, clearing her throat to hide the reaction. She turned her head to the right, pursing lips and promising to not let her heart escape. The questions constituted one unbelievable maze. She had to navigate slowly, and watch carefully. Observe silently.

Indumala got up, dusting her knee-length skirt. "I am sorry about that remark."

"I can't really blame you. I too become a bastard when I am upset, you know that."

Indumala squinted. "You had disrespected me again yesterday."

"I do have a reputation for being notorious."

The palanquin now rested on the ground and a really tall woman came out.

Indumala's heart leapt out of her chest.

Mataraj Pushyaar was tall, just a little less than Rudra and was camphor-white like him, with a wrinkled forehead and a pallid composure. Her hair was as white as snow with a lustre of moonbeams.
But the most striking features were her eyes. They were coloured a deep indigo with lines of wisteria.

"Rise." Mataraj's voice was cracked but commanding. The soldiers got up.

Rudra went to her first. "Maa." He touched her feet.

She blessed him. "Kashi has bewitched me. I enjoyed my stay there."

Her gaze focused behind Rudra. He assumed she wished to see Dilrobar. "Ah, it's been a long time you two didn't have a talk. She has missed you."

Rudra helped Dilrobar walk up to her and the latter touched Mataraj's feet too. "We have missed you."

Still, Mataraj kept looking beyond.

Rudra was perplexed. "What happened, Maa?"

The amethyst pupils glimmered akin to a hunter's knife. They cut through the veil of Fate and Time. "That is your new royal bodyguard, I presume."

The hawk-like gaze of Rudra observed her quivering fingers. "You are frightening her. Don't stare like that."

"I was just surprised."

"Pray tell me why?"

Mataraj refused to answer and proceeded to walk. "Can I accompany?" Dilrobar asked.

"Yes. Take me to my new room– the tower."

"As you please."

"Then I shall come meet you soon, Maa."

Mataraj frowned. "This new recruitment– your bodyguard– seems interesting. Please ask her to meet me after she has had her lunch."

"Well, yes. Sure."

Without another word, the old lady walked with brisk steps and Dilrobar followed close behind with a trail of maids.

Rudra hurried to Indumala. The latter wiped the beads of perspiration with the back of her palm. "Her eyes– I haven't seen anything like that. I don't think she is an ordinary human."

Rudra bit his nails.

"What happened? You seem nervous, Rajan."

"I don't know what to expect."

"Why, something bad happened?"

"No, not really." He scratched his head. The corners of his brows curved down in a slope. "She wishes that you go meet her after lunch."

"Eh?"

"Yes. I don't know why."

A thought crossed her mind and she parted her lips. "Caution," she sibilated as her nose wrinkled. "She wants to test me. Alright, I can take that. I just don't want to look at her directly." She raised her hands in defeat.

"Like I have become used to it, you will too. One day those little uncanny irises will become dearly familiar to you."

"She knows Baba, doesn't she? And you said that she trusts him."

"True. But I feel at unrest, Indumala."

She pulled a funny face. "She is your mother. Can't you read her mind?"

He batted his eyelashes at her. "I am sorry but that's literally impossible."

Her laughter was contagious. How aloof and distant he had imagined he would be, but now he melted. She had her own charm.

Like father, like daughter.

"Sometimes, you are adorable," he blurted.

Indumala felt a pulsating heat rise to her cheeks instantly. Sticking out her tongue, she guffawed."I am a nagging trouble. Ah, anyways, I need to run to lunch."

Her veins were filled with a surge of sweet rejoice.

"Let's go." He smacked her head playfully.

Indumala looked up at the sky. "Maybe we are comrades, the sun and the moon."