"Who are Pranav and Dinesh's allies that we could target?" asked Vasudev.

"Plenty, but we could aim for one, Purushottaman, Kattuparamban and Ganeshan", said Sreekumar, naming some of Kalarikkal allies.

"Let us concentrate on them rather than their allies", said Mahadevan.

"No, I want to erode their base before I attack them. Collect our men and one by one we will burn their houses" replied Vasudev.

***

Screams of men, women and children rend the air as flames engulfed homes of Kalarikkal supporters. People rushed to put off the flames, but those were old houses, made of stone, tiles and wooden rafters. The rafters burned and collapsed the roof onto the houses, destroying them. Seeing the horror unleashed by himself, did not feel the sense of happiness that Vasudev thought he will get. Mahadevan and Vasudev were standing at a distance looking at the destruction they caused.

"Is this what you wanted?" asked Mahadevan.

Vasudev refused to acknowledge the question. Then they heard Sreekumar instructing one of the men, "Get that Purushottaman's girl".

Mahadevan turned to Vasudev and said, "He is just using our emotions to get his needs. We will have to face the music when this all ends".

Vasudev turned to Mahadevan and said, "What is done, is done. We can only move forward taking responsibility of this. I shouldn't have doubted Visnhuettan's decision when he let go of him, because now I have to do the same. Make sure that the girl doesn't fall in his hands".

He then went to Sreekumar who was standing behind them watching everything like a fireworks show; "Leave now. If I find you in this village I will break your bones".

Sreekumar left in anger with his men. Vasudev directed his men to help the rescue mission and then went to another part of the village where Kalarikkal granary was and with his men burnt it down.

***

Aniruddhan was taking care of Vishnu for the time being in the hospital. Devika could not stay for long since the children were so young and missed her. As Anidruddhan was helping Vishnu sit up early in the morning, Shanmukhan master knocked at the door.

"Maashe (Master, as in school-master), please come in", said Vishnu.

"Vishnu, how are you?" asked a rather tired looking Master.

"I am fine, what brings you here so early today?" he asked him.

"I wanted to see how you are, and also had something to talk about" he replied Shanmukhan master.

"What's the matter Maashe?" asked Vishnu, concerned at his tired and worried face.

"I know that Kalarikkal people are at fault for what happened to you, but burning down houses of inncoent people cannot be justified", he said.

"What!" exclaimed Vishnu.

Shanmukhan master recounted the events of yesterday to him, angering Vishnu.

"Maashe, I never approved any of this", said Vishnu.

"Then please stop it. No one deserves to have their homes destroyed", said Master.

"I will do the needful", said Vishnu and Shanmukhan master left.

"Get Vasudev here", said Vishnu.

"I will do that", said Aniruddhan and went out to the sentries to inform Vasudev to come to the hospital. There was no news from Vasudev and around mid morning a surprise visitor was at Vishnu's door; his sister Gopika. She stood there, dressed in a silk saree, waiting to see him, with tear filled eyes.

"Gopikamole, why are you standing there? Come inside", said Aniruddhan.

"How is ettan?" she asked with a trembling voice.

"He is fine, lost a lot of blood in the fight. He had breakfast and slept off", said Aniruddhan.

"Amma said ettathi can't stay here because of the kids, I will stay with him until night. You go home Aniruddhetta" she said to him.

"Are you sure?" asked Aniruddhan.

"Of course, but please come back by 9, I also have to go back to my baby", she said.

"Alright mole", said Aniruddhan and left.

Gopika sat on a chair next to Vishnu, looking at his tired, bloodless face, his wound, the cuts and bruises he sustained when he fell to the ground. In the afternoon, lunch was brought in and she gently woke him up. When Vishnu opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Gopika.

"Gopika, you are here!" he said.

"Sorry etta, I could not come earlier. I had to get someone to watch the baby", she said tearfully.

"Why are you crying? I am fine. You were not affected this much when the damn tree fell on me!", he said to lighten the mood.

"That was an accident, this was deliberate", she said.

"This was also an accident. I do not think Dinesh wanted to do anything to me, it was in the spur of the moment. He misunderstood that I was trying to harm Pranav while I was actually trying to help him", he said to her.

"What?" she asked in surprise.

Vishnu recounted the events of the fateful day to her and she went from surprised to angry.

"Do you know what that stupid Sreekumar is telling around?" she asked him.

"What?" asked Vishnu. He was unable to tell anyone before since he was too weak to talk.

"He was saying to everyone that he was fighting Pranav and you went in to rescue him and got knifed by Dinesh. He was also saying that he was the one who brought you to hospital!" she said.

"That bloody..." Vishnu could not curse in front of his sister.

One of the sentries came into the room and said, "Sir, the police is here to take your statement".

Vishnu nodded to let them in.

A tall, well built man Sub inspector in khakhi uniform came into the room followed by two constables.

"I am S.I Raheem Koduvally. I have come to take you statement for what happened to you so that we can arrest the culprits", he said to him.

Vishnu gave him a statement absolving Pranav and Dinesh. After that S. I Raheem said to him, "Do you know what your family had done yesterday? They are lucky that the victims refused to give any statements, otherwise they would have faced the consequences for their actions. Who do you think you all are for taking law and order in your hands?"

"I will talk to them", said Vishnu.

The police left after sometime and Gopika helped Vishnu eat and when he lied down they looked at each other in silence.

After a few minutes, he said to her, "I am sorry for what I did to Jacob".

Gopika pursed her lips and looked out of the fourth floor window to the sky outside, then said with a tinge of sadness, "what was done is done. At least you saved him. He has his own life and I have mine now".

"I talked to him the week before my marriage", he said to her. Gopika turned to him in surprise.

"I wanted to ask his forgiveness", he said.

"You did? Why?" she asked her brother, who was always been a proud man.

"I knew exactly what must have passed through him, I too had to give up someone..." he stopped.

"What? You were in love with someone? What happened to her?" she asked curiously.

"I had to let go so that Vasudev or Mahadevan would not have been tasked to get rid of her" he said.

Gopika nodded, "I understand". Then she curiously asked him, "Who was she?"

"I don't want to say. It could ruin her life", he said to her.

"You think I would say that to anyone? I have kept all the secrets of our family", she said to him.

"She is now the wife of Pranav", said Vishnu.

Gopika looked in utter shock at him and the realization dawned on her, "That's why you tried to save him!".

"I promised her that whatever happens I will not let him get harmed", he said to her.

"What was so special about her?" asked Gopika.

"She was the one who saved me when the tree fell. But she had saved me in ways even she doesn't know" he replied.

Gopika nodded understandingly and asked him "Do you still have feelings for her?"

"I will always have a soft corner for her, but I belong to Devika and the kids. There is no one in the world I love more than them", he replied.

Noon proceeded to evening and then to night. At around 8 PM Vasudev finally arrived to see Vishnu.

Gopika was sitting on the chair next to Vishnu and the door opened and Vasudev entered.

"Why did you call me etta?" he asked.

"What is happening Deva? Stop this right now. You have caused enough chaos", said Vishnu.

"Etta, I was taking revenge for you", replied Vasudev.

"Who asked you? You should have told me before you did something this drastic. It is not your burden to take revenge for me, I am still the man I always have been. I have lived, worked and sacrificed for this family, so don't disrespect me by disobeying my command", said Vishnu.

Vasudev was angered by what Vishnu said. Already he was feeling guilty for doing what he had done yesterday and on top of that the person for whom he had done it was getting upset at him. "I have sacrificed for this family too. I had to give up the girl I loved because Achachan will not approve just because her parents are divorced", shouted Vasudev.

Vishnu and Gopika looked at each other and they burst out into a sarcastic laugh, shocking Vasudev.

"You think you are the only one? You are the only self-sacrificing man in the family to maintain the facade of this happy, homogeneous group?" asked Vishnu while Gopika smirked.

"My sister", Vishnu said pointing to Gopika, "Do you know what I had to do to her in the name of the family? I beat up the man she loved and left him on the railway tracks to die, only because Achachan told me to. Haven't you ever wondered why she didn't speak to me? That's the reason and no one knew, because we are a family that love each other".

Vasudev looked stunned.

"You know what happened to me? I fell in love with the most wonderful woman who knew me like the back of her hand. I had to leave her because eventually you would have beaten her up and laid her on a railway track like I did. But unlike me, I don't know if you would go back and save her because she was the love of your brother's life. So tell me, little brother, what sacrifices are you talking about? Do you think I like being in this family where everything is about name and revenge? My wife doesn't know if I will come back when I go out. Do you think that she and our kids deserve that? I kept you out of this hell because I don't want you to make choices like; should I be murdering the people my brothers and sisters love or should I be murdering my enemies. I only asked your help when I desperately needed. I did not know that you would take to this life like a duck to the water. Families consist of people and when we forget the needs, wants and desires of the people and focus only on the name of the family, it becomes nothing but a business. Before you went out on this rampage, did you even once ask me what I wanted?" said Vishnu.

He then proceeded to tell him what happened the night he got injured. Vasudev looked lost, the ruthless chaos he had unveiled hanging heavily in his heart.

"Negotiate with Pranav, because I don't want to see you struggle with the evils of this business later on. I will hate to see you live a life of regret", said Vishnu.

Vasudev nodded and left.

At around 9 PM, Aniruddhan came back and said to Gopika, "Kunje, your driver is downstairs".

Gopika took leave of Vishnu and Vishnu asked Aniruddhan to escort her to the car.

Finally things would fall back into place thought Vishnu as he tried to relax in the pain he felt. The night was cold and the air was heavy with moisture, it was going to rain for the first time in months. The door opened and Pranav stepped in, shocking Vishnu.

"Are you here to kill me?" asked Vishnu.

"Why would I want to kill someone who saved my life and got injured in the process?" asked Vishnu.

"Then why are you here?" asked Vishnu.

"Shanmukhan master told me that you wanted me to negotiate with Vasudev" said Pranav.

"Yes", replied Vishnu.

"Why did you save me? And why do I have a feeling that it has something to do with my wife?" asked Pranav.

Vishnu stayed silent.

"She said you were their tenant, but why would you, a mere tenant of her grandfather, go above and beyond that acquaintanceship?" asked Pranav, his voice low and deliberate.

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