Nandini lifted the plate into her hands, and then kept it down again. She couldn't go back into the drawing room and face him coolly, she just couldn't.  She wished she had the courage to go back and confront him, and tell him that he couldn't order her around after - after ? 

 But all she actually wanted to do was evaporate through the back door and curl up in her room and never come out and face him again. She sighed, and for the umpteenth time she wondered how one person could have the ability to make her feel safe and happy in one moment, and so vulnerable and confused in the next.

 "Are you actually baking bread in there?" a grumpy male voice asked loudly.

 "I'm coming," she answered quickly, all thoughts of confrontations driven out of her mind by the impatience in his tone. She picked up the plate, praying fervently that she be able to meet his eyes without blushing like an idiot. 

 Just before she stepped into the room, she heard Prithvi's cell phone ring. Thanking god for the intervention, she entered the room to see him abruptly sit up straight on the sofa.

 "She's here?" he asked enthusiastically. "You've brought her finally!"

 Nandini stared at him as he rose to his feet. Who had come? Which 'she' was he talking about? And why was he looking so pleased, she wondered uncomfortably.

 He walked to the door, opened it impatiently and strode to the gate. Feeling curious, Nandini kept the plate on the table and followed him outside without thinking. 

 "Where are you right now? Alright, take a right and then a left. You'll reach a lifeless locality which has a temple in the middle. Then look at the extreme right corner in front of the temple," he instructed, "and you'll see two houses that look like they were built in the last century and might fall down anytime. The one on the right is mine."

 "If this place and this house are so terrible, then you should go ahead with your plan to move elsewhere," Nandini said crossly as he switched off the phone and looked into the distance. 

 "Why haven't you gone home as yet?" he asked absentmindedly, not taking his eyes from the spot where the mysterious visitor was going to materialise.

 "You said you wanted to eat something and I made a sandwich for you," she said indignantly, aggravated at his preoccupation.

 "I did? Well, I'm not hungry anymore so you can eat it yourself if you want to take the risk," he said distantly.

 "I don't want to have it," 

 "Good decision," 

 "Who are you waiting for," she asked on an angry impulse, getting more annoyed by the minute at the way his eyes seemed to be fixed on the road. 

 "That's none of your business," he retorted indifferently, glancing around at her. Of course, she thought angrily. She was still slightly shaken by what had taken place just a short while ago, but it had only been another bit of fun for him to lighten the day.

 And then at the sound of a large vehicle, he spun around and they saw a huge truck slowly making its way into the square. It stopped near the temple, and a man jumped out and looked around. Then his eyes finally fell on them and he quickly climbed back into the truck and the vehicle reached the gate in a few minutes.

  Prithvi grinned and swung the gate open and walked towards the truck. The man who had previously got down near the temple, once again disembarked and hurried to him, looking very apologetic. Then both moved towards the back of the truck, and a few minutes later, the workers who had been seated inside had offloaded something completely covered in some plush fabric. 

 It was a bike, Nandini realized, as part of the cloth rode up, revealing the tyres. She watched in amusement as Prithvi eagerly tugged away the covering and unveiled a gleaming vehicle. She didn't know anything about automobiles, but even to her uninformed eyes, it seemed like a magnificent vehicle. The talkative delivery man also fell silent and stared longingly at the bike. 

 Prithvi fondly ran his hand on the shining handlebars, and then began moving it inside the courtyard and the other man also followed him silently. Nandini moved backwards and stood against the wall dividing the two houses as the men and the vehicle made their way inside the gate. 

 Prithvi parked it at a spot directly opposite the door, and looking very pleased and contented, he went down on one knee and began examining it for any damage caused by the long transit.

 "We were very careful with it, sir," the delivery man said sincerely, "You will not find a single scratch on the bike."

 "For your sake I hope not. Here, keep this," he said vaguely, taking out a few notes from his pocket and holding it out with one hand, without looking up or pausing in his scrutiny of the vehicle. 

 "All the payments have already been made, sir," the man said timidly, though he was staring at the money passionately.

 "I know. Share it among yourselves."

 "Thank you so much, sir," the man said wholeheartedly, and then sighed, "Your bike is amongst the best I have ever seen. It is absolutely spectacular." 

"I know," Prithvi grinned.

Nandini looked in slight resentment from his pleased expression to the bike. He had appeared quite contented when he had held the rifle in his hands the other day, but she had never seen him look so pleased. And he seemed to have totally forgotten her presence; she might have vanished into thin air for all he cared.

 She hesitated for some time, and then began walking towards the little gate in the wall. As she stepped into the courtyard of her house, the corner of her dress got caught on the slender branch of one of the thorny foliage at the edge of the plant-bed. 

 Perceiving the tiny sounds of Nandini's anklets, the delivery man had looked around as she crossed the gate. And now, as she gently tried to free her dress without tearing it, the man gawked at her, captivated at the sight of the stunning girl. His face held the same expression with which he had gazed at the bike and then at the money. Nandini managed to free the cloth and then made her way into the house.

 "If you don't get out in another second, you'll have to find someone to pay for your hospitalization." 

 Snapping out of his stupor at the menacing statement, the man spun around.  Prithvi had risen to his feet, and was regarding him with extremely cold eyes. Gulping at the unmistakably violent threat in the boy's gaze, he mumbled something incoherent and fled towards the truck.

 ******************  

Sarojini looked at the dupatta again with a heavy feeling in her heart. The stain was clearly visible and she could tell that her daughter had tried very hard to get rid of it from the way the fabric had almost worn out in the area. And Sarojini knew why she hadn't asked for help....

It had been almost a decade since Nandini's father had passed away. Siddharth...whose life had revolved around his daughter, even after Prakash had been born. Had he been alive, she knew Nandini would have always had only the best of clothes and jewellery. But he wasn't with them anymore, and his daughter now struggled to hide the fact that many of her dresses were old and should have been thrown away long ago.

Every time she broached the topic of new dresses, Nandini would somehow manage to convince her to spend the money on new clothes or other items for her grandfather and Prakash. Thankfully, Sarojini had been able to save most of her jewellery at least for her daughter. When it was time for her marriage, there wouldn't be any cause for concern on that front at least…unless life played another of its cruel tricks on her family.

I haven't been able to do anything for her, Siddharth, she thought silently. I have failed you, haven't I?  

The door opened and Sarojini snapped out of her thoughts to see her daughter slowly walking into the room, looking curiously disturbed.

"Nandini, wait."  

Nandini turned to see mother sitting on the sofa with one of her dupattas in her lap.

"Come and sit with me for a while," Sarojini said, patting the sofa.

Nandini smiled and plonked herself down next to her mother, wondering what was coming as her mother seemed unusually serious. The dupatta in her lap was the one that had been ruined by Prithvi. Was she going to ask about the stain....

"I tried very hard to get that stain out, ma," she said anxiously. "But it just won't go. I tried washing it so many times but -

"That's all for the good," her mother said lightly. "I was going to ask you to discard it myself. It has become too old and jaded."

Nandini looked at her in bewilderment. "But ma, I'm sure I can use for another year. It's not that bad."

"No, it has to go and so do many of your other dresses. Today we'll go through your cupboard and decide which dresses have to be given up. And tomorrow you will go shopping with your friends and buy at least three new dresses."

 "Three new dresses! But I really don't need anything new, ma," Nandini insisted. "The ones that I have are really nice."

"You have been telling me that every time I've asked you to go shopping for more than a year. I will not listen to anything now. And apart from three normal dresses, I also want you to buy one for a special occasion. We have a wedding to attend after three weeks. When you were helping Sumer Singhji, Chawla uncle had come to invite us for Aarti's marriage."  

"Aarti di is getting married? That's so exciting!" Nandini squealed.

Sarojini smiled and nodded. "And that's why I want you to buy a special dress and matching jewellery too."

"No ma, it will become too expensive," she said desperately.   "You don't have to worry about that. I've been saving money to buy you dresses for some time now. And the rent money we've received has improved our situation so much. So I want you to go shopping with your friends and enjoy yourself tomorrow. And Nandini," she added strictly, "This time you will not spend the money to buy something for your brother, grandfather or me like you usually do. Okay?"  

"But -"  

"No more excuses. Tomorrow is your day to enjoy and have fun. And no more dull shades. I want to see you in all bright colours....all the colours of happiness," Sarojini smiled affectionately, pulling her into a hug.

 *************************************

"HELP!"  

"My lord! My brother! Save me from these bloodthirsty wretches."  

At the unfortunately familiar voice, Prithvi directed the bike to the side of the road and came to a halt under a large tree. He dismounted in a fluid movement and looked around to see a plump, round-faced young man dressed in a khadi kurta and pyjama with a cotton bag on one shoulder running towards him as fast as he could with a deformed leg, panting heavily. There was a small mob of angry men close at his heels, most of them armed with sticks and one even holding an axe.

 "Damn!" Prithvi muttered, and then sighed and took out his wallet from the pocket of his jeans in preparation for the drama that he knew was going to happen shortly.   The running man finally reached him and with a loud splat prostrated at his feet.

"Save! Please!" the man gasped.

 Prithvi looked at him in disgust and then bent down to haul him up roughly by the neck of his robe.

 'What have you done this time?' he asked icily, glaring at the man's red and sweaty face and still holding him brutally by the neck. He had round eyes, chubby cheeks and one of his legs seemed to be shorter than the other.

 "Nothing! Don't believe anything they say! Its lies, all lies!" the man yelled hysterically as the gang of men came within an arm's distance.

 "Catch him!" one of the pursuers yelled, and they formed a semi-circle around Prithvi and their potential victim, who for some reason was looking infinitely more courageous all of a sudden.

 Prithvi released his hold on the man's neck and shoved him to his side.  

"Move aside, and hand over that thief to us," the man in the middle shrieked, raising his finger threateningly at Prithvi.

Prithvi didn't answer, but his eyes moved from the hand to the elderly man's face casually. And something in his steady gaze compelled the man to slowly lower his arm and move back slightly. A swift silence fell on the group, and the members exchanged questioning glances at their leader's sudden unease.  

"You have no idea how much that idea appeals to me," Prithvi said dryly, breaking the strained stillness. "But before I do that, just for curiosity sake, I'd like to know his crime."

"I didn't do anything, lord. Don't believe anything -," the supposed criminal started shouting, but stopped instantly as he caught Prithvi's eyes.

"This scoundrel cheated us! He said he would multiply our gold if we gave him some money," a man holding a stout stick said. "We believed the rascal and gave him a lot of our gold and then -"

"My name is Sankatmochan Tripathi," the fugitive said proudly, "You don't need to substitute it with foul words every time you speak of me."

"Those abuses are very mild forms of what you deserve," Prithvi said roughly, and he turned to the spokesperson of the gang. "Continue with your account," he commanded quietly.

"The crook did some trick in front of our eyes and gave us a big box full of jewellery. It was only a few hours after he had left our house that we realized that not only had he given us artificial jewellery, he had also switched all the original gold we had given him with fake items. Luckily, we found out his truth before he could flee our region and so managed to get back our gold. But the rogue had already spent the money we gave him as fees and we want that back."

Looking revolted, Prithvi turned to Sankatmochan. "Is there no limit to how low you can fall?"

"But these people are no pious souls themselves," Sankatmochan said in an aggrieved tone, looking like a sulky child. "They move from town to town, cheating people by selling them spurious goods at the market place and then run away before their customers come back. I was doing a good deed by helping them get rid of all that money earned through immoral means."

"The next time you get the urge to do a good deed of this sort, I will personally skin you alive," Prithvi said acidly, though a hardness had entered his gaze as he looked at the gang of men again.

"We have spoken enough," the leader of the gang announced. "Now give us that man or else ?"  

"Else what?" Prithvi enquired politely.

The aged man shuffled on his feet, trying to think of a good enough threat, but he was starting to feel queerly perturbed at the calmness in the young boy's face in the face of so many adversaries.

"That's right, you cowards. Else what?" Sankatmochan shouted heroically. "Giving me so many threats, weren't you? Now I dare you to repeat even one of those threats to my brother Prithviraj."

"Shut up, Mochi," Prithvi bit out. "Or I'll join them in pounding you into pulp. How much money did he swindle?" he asked, turning to the group's leader.

The man quoted a high amount.

"You don't deserve to get anything back if you were idiotic and greedy enough to believe this moron's nonsense. And if what this fool said about your activities is true, then it would have been my pleasure to ensure that all of you go to jail," Prithvi said coldly, taking money out of his wallet. "But I don't want trash like you lingering here any longer. So take this money and get out of this area right now."

"What did you say?" the man with the axe yelled, even as the old man grabbed the money and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Do you have a hearing problem? I said all of you are idiotic and greedy and belong in jail," Prithvi repeated slowly and loudly. Behind him, Sankatmochan sniggered.

**************************

Walking home, Nandini shifted the numerous bags to her other hand, feeling tired but happy. She had insisted that Nishi's car should drop her on the highway, and not at the gate of her house. The road was quite empty as it was the middle of the day. She would need to walk for another 10 minutes to reach home.

She had spent the last 4 hours shopping in the town's main market place with her best friends. It had been very crowded and hot, but they had enjoyed themselves a great deal, walking around talking and laughing through the hustle and bustle of the swarming area. She had purchased bright colours as per her mother's as well as her friends' instructions, even though she herself usually preferred softer shades.

Quite a bit of the money her mother had given had been expended on the new dresses, but she had managed to save some bit to buy three novels for her grandfather, two toys for her brother and a sari for her mother. While scolding her for not buying new clothes for more than a year, her mother had conveniently forgotten that she herself hadn't brought a new sari for just as long. She knew she was going to get reprimanded, but she also knew how to mollycoddle her mother into forgiving her, Nandini thought and smiled.

For the dress that she planned to wear to the wedding, she had purchased a lehenga choli of the deepest, rosy pink. There was very mild and subtle gold threadwork on the satin cloth and its delicate gauzy duppata, and all three of them had been enthralled at its beauty. Content to just look at it, Nandini had no intention to enquire about its price, confident that it would be far above her limited budget. But Vrinda had insisted that they ask at least. And to her joyful disbelief, it wasn't as expensive as she had assumed because the shop had been clearing out the old stock, and therefore, was offering heavy discounts. And she had found perfectly matching earrings, necklace and bangles too, she reminisced with pleasure.

She was sure she would regret spending the money later. But just for now….just for this moment...she was happy.

She had shifted the bags to her other hand to wipe the sheen of sweat off her face, when the sounds of some voices raised in anger reached her ears. She rotated on the spot, trying to locate the source. And her heart almost failed in fear.

Far away, in the shade of one of the large trees that lined the side of the road, Prithvi was standing calmly facing a mob of men armed with sticks, and even axes. A young and stout man with a rudraksh chain around his neck and a cloth bag strung on one shoulder, was standing slightly behind him. Nandini noticed with a pang that he was crippled and kept shifting on the spot to maintain his balance. A small crowd of idle onlookers had also gathered on the spot.

Forgetting her exhaustion in an instant, she began running towards the ominous scene, feeling chilled despite the strong sun. And then she stopped again in horror as the man holding the axe advanced on Prithvi.

But a second later, even as she watched in astonishment, the attacker fell to the ground with a thud, the axe skidding out of his limp hands. How had Prithvi moved so fast? She hadn't even seen him hit the man....

Open-mouthed, everyone looked from the prone figure to Prithvi's relaxed disposition as the plump man chortled heartily. Then two of the gang tentatively moved forward and hoisted up the injured man, and Nandini winced as she realized that he had become unconscious, though there wasn't any blood on his face or clothes. The awestruck onlookers whispered into each other's ears. Then the armed men slowly turned around and left, holding up their wounded relative, and the onlookers also dispersed gradually.

Nandini closed her eyes for a moment and sent a silent thanks to the heavens. But in the next instant, her relief turned into dismay as Prithvi turned around and caught the crippled man by the neck of his kurta.  Aghast at the inhuman behaviour, she hurried towards him to stop him.

"What are you doing here?" Prithvi asked Sankatmochan angrily.

"It had been so long since I had been in your royal presence, so my heart wished to ensure that you are doing well," Sankatmochan beamed. "After all, I am your humble servant, living only to -"

"That's enough," Prithvi snarled. "What happened to the job I had found for you?"

"My place is at your feet. I decided to leave the mundane jobs to other less fortunate souls, who do not have the privilege to serve you."   "Will you shut -"

"This is no way to treat someone like him, Prithvi. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Maintaining his grip on Sankatmochan's neck, Prithvi turned to face a very angry girl. "Just what I needed," he said sarcastically, not bothering to relax his stranglehold. "One nuisance after the other."

"Prithvi, you're strangling him," Nandini said, horrified. "Don't hold his neck like that, please."

"I agree with this heavenly damsel," Sankatmochan said chokingly, "Though it would be an honour to die at your hands, I would like to die after having lunch as I haven't eaten anything since morning."

Nandini stared at the man in perplexity. Had he just called her a heavenly damsel? And what did he mean by saying that it would be an honour to die at Prithvi's hands? Did they know each other from before?

With an indecipherable mutter, Prithvi let go of him with force. Sankatmochan lurched a little, then stood up straight, patted his well oiled hair and straightened his clothes.

"Are you alright?" Nandini asked compassionately.

"Sankatmochan Tripathi is always alright," Santkatmochan smiled reassuringly, and Prithvi muttered something foul under his breath. "Please don't let your delicate heart be in any pain because of me."  

Nandini smiled uncertainly at his peculiar way of speech and then looked at Prithvi anxiously. "Who were those men? Why were they coming to attack you? And why were you trying to strangle this man? How could you be so cruel?" she asked indignantly.

"Don't waste your concern on this trash," Prithvi said shortly in response to the accusation in her gaze. "If I had my way, I would have gladly handed him over to those people."

"But why were they after him? And do you know him from before?"

"Know me! Of course he knows me!" the man said with a wide smile, not missing the sudden warning in Prithvi's glance.

"I am Prithvi's brother, oh beautiful maiden."

"You're his brother?" Nandini gasped, and turned to see Prithvi rolling his eyes in derision. "Why didn't you tell me you have another brother apart from Indrajit?" she asked him angrily.

"Indrajit? How do you know that villain? And he is no brother of Prithvi," Sankatmochan said scornfully. "Brotherly bonds are not formed by blood alone. I may not be related to Prithvi by blood, but I alone am his true brother, not Indrajit. Isn't that so, Prithvi?"

"Could you give me a moment to decide if I want a homicidal maniac or a rotten conman as a brother," Prithvi asked sardonically.

"Conman?" Nandini repeated, astounded.   Sankatmochan laughed weakly. "My dearest brother is as humorous as ever. Anyway, oh splendor of the morning, I am glad I came to visit this brother of mine, else I would never have set my eyes on an island of such radiant loveliness as yourself," he beamed and limped towards her.

Alarmed at the dreamy look on his face, Nandini speedily backed away, but the next instant Sankatmochan was howling in pain as a hand caught him violently by the scruff of his neck and he was brutally lifted and shoved against the bark of the tree.

"I didn't save you from their hands to kill you with my own," Prithvi said through gritted teeth, white-faced with fury.

"I didn't know she was your woman," Sankatmochan wailed. "If I had, I wouldn't have dared to even look at her, oh master of all three worlds. From this moment on, I swear that she is the sister of my heart."

Nandini felt blood rush to her face. What was the man saying.....

"My what! Are you insane?" Prithvi spluttered, letting go of Sankatmochan unexpectedly so that he slid down the bark to the ground.

"She is not my anything. She - she just lives next door and thinks that gives her the right to interfere in my life, that's all," he added dismissively. 

 Nandini looked at him silently, but he refused to meet her hurt gaze. "He's right. I just live next door to him. We aren't even friends," she said quietly, as Sankatmochan scrambled up to his uneven feet. "I'll leave now; you both must have a lot to catch up on."

As she walked away, Prithvi finally looked in her direction....

Sankatmochan shuffled his way to Prithvi's side and looked at the slender outline of the girl and then at the boy standing motionless next to him, who was watching her depart with an unreadable expression....

After a moment, he smiled shrewdly....then composed his face again and  asked, "Brother, may I ask your permission for something?"

"What?" Prithvi asked inattentively.

"If she is not your woman as you have so clearly stated," Sankatmochan asked slyly, "then could you give me a chance to win her heart, to make her my -"

"One word. Just one more word. And your legs will be the same size once again," Prithvi said stonily, turning towards him.

"I did not mean to offend you, oh all-powerful warrior," Sankatmochan said with wide eyes. "I am a mere speck of dust on your mighty feet, I'm only a -"

"Shut up," Prithvi snapped and began striding towards his stationary bike. "Now get on the bike before I give into the temptation to ride it over you."

"Giving into temptation.....that's exactly what you need to do, my little brother," Sankatmochan murmured under his breath, and then limped his way to the bike and climbed onto the seat behind Prithvi with little difficulty.

"Don't fool yourself into thinking this is over," Prithvi said grimly, as he kick-started the bike. "I'm only letting you enter the house so I can have time to decide the most painful way to kill you."

"Like I have always said, to die at your hands would be an honour beyond my wildest dreams, my lord," Sankatmochan declared pompously. Prithvi snorted derisively.

Sankatmochan smiled to himself. His little brother needed time to decide his fate. But Sankatmochan had already chosen his personal plan of action, thanks to the rather interesting scene he had witnessed between that enchanting girl.....he hadn't even learnt her name….and his brother.

The plan would be put into effect beginning tomorrow. Because Sankatmochan always believed in postponing until tomorrow, what could be done today.

But starting tomorrow, unknown to his beloved brother, he was going to pull off the greatest feat in mankind's history......well, maybe that was a little bit of an exaggeration. Though it would certainly be an incredible miracle if he achieved his mission.

He was going to - no, he wouldn't say it aloud....what if the plan got jinxed....

And he would not let anyone or anything ruin his brilliant idea, because it was concerned with the happiness and peace of the person he worshipped above all the others…..above the gods even…..

It had to do with Prithvi....

************************