Alone in the study, Indrajit studied the financial statements of his real estate properties with tremendous boredom. His mind wasn't in it, and for once, neither was it obsessing about the sword. Another interesting matter was squealing for his attention.

He had just raised a thin finger to press the button on his table, which would summon one of the servants, when two timorous knocks sounded at the door.

Indrajit smiled soullessly and tossed the papers aside.

The day was about to liven up.

"Come in," he permitted silkily.

Kundan Singh peeped nervously into the room, and then shuffled inside with reluctant steps. When he reached the desk, he bowed deeply.

"You've come in very late today, and you look very tired. Didn't you sleep well last night?" Indrajit queried concernedly.

"I – yes, my sleep was disturbed, your highness. My – my hip has been giving some trouble," Kundan Singh replied diffidently as he straightened up.

"You're sure your hip was the reason? Not a late night trip to see Vikrant?" Indrajit demanded malevolently.

Kundan Singh stopped breathing as chilling terror gripped his innards. A second later, he had raced around the desk with the supposedly bad hip and crumpled at Indrajit's feet.

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" he beseeched. "I will never make this mistake agai -"

"You went to see him despite knowing that I cannot stand him," Indrajit said thoughtfully, utterly unmoved. "That was very, very brave of you. Extremely foolish, but brave nonetheless."

"But he wanted your help for a good reason," Kundan Singh mumbled timidly, cowering in fear even as he spoke. There was a queer shadow on his master's face that was scaring him.

Indrajit sneered. "He wanted my help because he knows many of my father's powerful but dim-witted friends keep a protective eye on Prithvi and they would destroy Vikrant if he tried to harm that son of a *****. He thinks my backing would save him from their vengeance. But what he doesn't get is that I detest him and would gladly put a bullet in him myself."

"I did not know you feel so strongly against him, your highness," Kundan Singh lied. "But I swear I've only told him that the best way to take revenge on Prithvi would be to attack that girl we've seen with him. Now surely you don't think I was wrong in approaching that man without your knowledge," he said pathetically.

Indrajit impassively studied the pile grovelling on the ground. It would be so easy to ask the other guards to flog him senseless. Or even to take the whip himself and tear the skin off the ******'s back.

It would be very easy and totally expected.

Boring…

Wouldn't a small tweak in an established pattern make life so much more interesting…

"That was a very intelligent move," he said admiringly, causing an astounded Kundan Singh to scramble up in relief and happiness. "So intelligent, in fact, that you have my permission to go with them and point out that girl yourself. But enlighten Vikrant that if one drop of Prithvi's blood falls on the ground, his head will roll," he informed languidly.

His gaze didn't waver as it met the completely staggered and resentful expression on his servant's face.

"You did not mishear," Indrajit curled his lip. "I loathe Prithvi. But I'm the only one who has the right to shed his blood….and to end his life," he incised with brutal finality.

As much as he hated the thought of it, his father's blood ran in Prithvi's veins too. So if Prithvi died, it would only be at his hands. If he failed to kill Prithvi, he wouldn't let anyone else do it either….

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

Kadambari hastened along the road to her house, puffing with the effort of walking so quickly. Her gait really was quite vigorous considering that she was a very stout woman with two wobbling chins and definitely on the way to getting a third. She had to reach home, take a bath and leave immediately for the religious discourse that was going on in the village temple. With any luck, her incompetent juniors would not create too big a mess of high tea at the palace.

All the villagers would have already assembled there. She had missed the beginning of the function. But if she left home soon, she would be able to take part in the occasion for the remaining hour and then she would distribute the delicacies she had prepared as part of the prasad.

As she made the turning that led to her house, Kadambari looked inquisitively at the unknown man walking towards her from the direction of her locked house and a strange pang made her slow down instantly.

There was something devastatingly familiar about the young man's features.

But it couldn't be him. It couldn't, Kadambari told herself forcefully. She wasn't that lucky and she didn't deserve to be either. She hadn't been able to protect him on the one day that he had needed her the most. She had been dragged away by the other servants while the king had been thrashing him. She had pushed them and freed herself but then her husband had pulled her aside and locked her up in one of the rooms in the servant quarters to stop her from interfering. He had not let her venture out for three whole days….and by then, her little lord was gone…

He would look something like this lad now, she thought in anguish.

She realised with a start that the man had also slowed down and was looking at her with some intriguingly strong emotion. It was probably disgust at being stared at by a stranger, she gathered embarrassedly. She looked away and waddled past him as fast as she could.

An admiring whistle made her stop.

Stiffening, she turned around and looked at the young man very suspiciously. Then her narrowed brown eyes surveyed the nearby surroundings. No - there were no young ladies nearby who could have elicited that despicable response from the man.

Had he whistled at her?

She stared at him again. The haughty censure in her face was famous for making junior cooks in the palace kitchen shake in their boots. But it had no impact whatsoever on this man. He returned her gaze brazenly and made no attempt to walk away in embarrassment.

"Did you whistle at me?" she demanded austerely.

"Couldn't help it. You're just too beautiful," he said appreciatively.

Kadambari swelled up with disbelieving rage at the shameless response. "How dare you talk to me like that? I'm old enough to be your mother!"

"What does age have to do with my feelings for you?" he protested.

"You evil, wicked – don't you have a mother and sister at home?" she yelled, her chins wobbling indignantly.

"No, so think of all the fun we could have," he winked.

Aghast at the indecent overture, she shook her fists and shrieked, "You'll have fun in prison when I send you there! The police will beat you up so badly that you'll never misbehave with a woman again."

Prithvi smiled down impudently at the affronted, portly woman who barely came up to his chest.

"I would prefer a thrashing from your sweet hands," he said gallantly, and sadly added, "Though it is really very cruel of you to threaten me with prison when I've travelled so far just for you."

She stared at him with a new fear. He looked perfectly normal but maybe he was a mental case! The streets were practically empty and there was no one to help!

"For me?" she asked nervously, slowly drawing away in preparation to run screaming for help through the village streets even if it gave her a heart attack.

"That's right….I only came to see you, choti maa," Prithvi grinned.

A paralyzing shock drained all colour from Kadambari's fair, plump cheeks. She looked up at Prithvi vacantly for a few minutes. Then she closed her eyes tightly and shook her head to clear it.

This was a dream. A beautiful dream that was impossible.

But when she opened her eyes, he was still standing in front of her, with mischief twinkling in his black eyes.

Kadambari slowly walked towards him with unblinking eyes, afraid he would vanish any second.

Once she had reached him, she tearfully looked up at his fair face.

"You're lying, just like you did back then," she managed to whisper sternly before her throat clogged up.

All of a sudden, she found herself being engulfed in an affectionate bear hug that lifted her off the ground.

She hugged him tightly and wept.

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

"Your majesty, he – he called himself Prithvi – and he said he wants y-you to come to that large t-tree just outside the village in an hour. H-he said you know the s-spot," Bhairav stammered, shaking uncontrollably in front of the king. It was difficult to talk with a split cheek in front of the revered figure but he didn't dare stop speaking for fear of enduring more pain at the hands of the stranger.

He didn't know what exactly had happened. He remembered that the man had insulted him. Bhairav had angrily advanced on him with a raised fist, but in a second, he had fallen backwards with a thud on the uneven ground. Through the horrible throbbing on the side of his face, he had listened to the strangely commanding young man and his stupefied brain had absorbed every word. And with a burst of terror, he had understood that he had made a terrible mistake. If this person could send a summons so authoritatively to the king, he had to be someone very important….

Bhairav had numbly risen to his feet and run to the palace gates, where he had learnt to his dismay that King Rajyavardhan Singh had gone off to some unknown place with Manohar. He hadn't moved but had continued standing at the gates, intending to wait for as long as it took for the king to return.

To his infinite relief, Rajyavardhan Singh had returned in half an hour in his Rolls-Royce, with his bodyguards following closely in another luxury car. Bhairav had hysterically gesticulated to the driver to stop outside the gates, and then had found himself standing in front of the king, fumbling with words because of nerves. Not even in his worst nightmares had he imagined that his first opportunity to speak to the king would arise in such wretched circumstances.

Now he watched timidly as Rajyavardhan Singh exchanged a decidedly nervous look with Manohar.

"He wouldn't have called me to that place if he wasn't angry. He would have come straight to the palace," the king muttered anxiously. "But why is he angry? Has he heard something about….the search?"

The scarcely contained panic in the last question transmitted itself to Manohar, but he had to pretend a calm he did not feel to reassure the king. And yet, there really was no way anyone except the king and himself would know anything about it.

"No, that's impossible, your majesty. I'm confident that no one else has any inkling," he whispered back.

Bhairav couldn't hear what the men were saying but he suddenly realised that he hadn't revealed the whole message in his nervousness.

He coughed weakly to catch their attention and then quickly said, "Your majesty, h-he said I must remind you that you had sent a man to Sh-Shamli some time ago with an interesting message. He said he wants to express his - his gratitude for the gesture," he mumbled miserably, and wiped away the blood running down the side of his mouth. "He also wants you to bring along the guard you had sent with the message."

There was a muffled shriek.

Bhairav turned perplexedly to see one of the guards sprinting away towards the other end of the village with nearly superhuman speed.

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

Manohar respectfully held open the door of the car. The king disembarked slowly and looked around to verify that no villagers were around. Satisfied that there would be no spectators, he reluctantly began strolling towards the tree with the help of his jewelled cane.

The old man's pasty, gaunt cheeks became paler as he neared the lush shade of the branches and his veined hands clenched hard on the handle of the cane.

Rajyavardhan Singh knew exactly why his grandson had summoned him to this spot.

This was the place where he had irreversibly destroyed any possibility of securing forgiveness from Prithvi. The place where he had cruelly severed the already brittle ties between them.

He cringed as he remembered the moment he had given Prithvi the terrible news. Callous satisfaction had filled him on seeing the child turn ashen with horror, and he'd felt strangely avenged when the crying, traumatized boy had begged distraughtly to be allowed to see his mother. But he had simply kicked Prithvi aside and asked his guards to restrain the boy and his friend until -

"No better place to meet again, don't you agree?" a mocking voice asked.

Rajyavardhan drew in a rattled breath and turned with a bizarre mixture of excitement and alarm to see his grandson in the flesh after so many years.

With a heart exploding with pride, he avidly studied the exceptionally handsome face, the innate arrogance engraved on the coolly unmoved features ….

...the arctic anger radiating from every line of the tough frame.

At a distance away, Manohar, whose respectful bow had been completely disregarded by Prithvi, was also warily observing the very same characteristics. The unnerving atmosphere made him wonder if the king's decision to meet Prithvi without bodyguards was right. But if the men had been here and they interfered and hurt Prithvi in any way, the king would slaughter Manohar first and the bodyguards later.

The best thing would be to stay as far away from this meeting as possible, look away and pretend he couldn't hear or see anything, Manohar decided and repositioned himself accordingly.

The king contorted his face into a welcoming smile.

"Put your teeth back in. You look too much like an ape as it is," Prithvi said indolently as he walked with unhurried steps to stand directly beside the king.

He gazed up at the tree, and after a treacherous moment of silence, interestedly mused, "This is where I sat for two days, waiting for my mother. This is where you were kind enough to come yourself so you could tell me personally that she had killed herself and left behind a letter that said I was the reason. She had chosen to take her own life than gaze at me for another moment, because I looked too much like the man who had destroyed her life. And you generously added that I wouldn't be allowed to see her for the last time or carry out the last rites," Prithvi reminisced with a calm casualness that the king found more frightening that any outpouring of emotions.

Rajyavardhan tried to mentally shrug off the mounting weight of despair.

There was nothing he could do about the past. But the future could still be moulded according to his plans. He just had to somehow convince Prithvi that he was a different person now.

He cleared his throat and affectionately said, "I've been hoping that you would come to see me."

"I've been hoping that you would die in extreme pain, but we rarely get what we want," Prithvi replied indifferently, finally turning to face his grandfather.

The old man flinched at the corrosive hate and disgust underlying the words that were uttered so dispassionately. But he couldn't give up the attempt to continue the conversation on neutral lines.

"I usually never travel without security – but as you can see, I didn't bring any guards for this meeting. Because I trust you completely," he beamed pompously.

"Your trust is entirely misplaced," Prithvi reassured derisively. "Anyways, you could bring an entire army along, and they still wouldn't be able to stop me from ripping your heart out if I wanted to."

Cold sweat broke out on Rajyavardhan's forehead.

Suddenly, the issue of the girl in Shamli appeared to be the safest topic of conversation.

He tried to introduce a soothing, persuasive shade to his tone when he spoke again. "The guard told me you were upset about the message I sent for that girl. But she needed to understand some things. Though I must admit I don't understand why you've always chosen to associate with such…ordinary people from the time you were a child," he said on a reproving note.

"You are the filthiest ******* on earth. After you, everyone I meet seems to be saddled with a halo and wings," Prithvi shrugged.

Ugly red patches formed on the king's weathered skin. No one – No One – had spoken to him like this in remembered history. But he stifled the wrath. He was willing to endure the worst if it helped him to secure Prithvi's forgiveness and affection.

Ignoring the insult, he frostily said, "That girl may belong to the priestly class but that doesn't give her the status or background to even mingle with you!  You are the scion of this royal family!"

"And I've been trying to get over that shame for years now," Prithvi confided seriously.

An aggressive gleam entered the king's rheumy eyes. "You can ridicule your background, but I will not let you forget it. And I will certainly not let you form any serious relationship with that girl or her family, nor will I allow them to get their claws into you" he stated belligerently.

Prithvi smiled amusedly.

"You will not 'let' me? You're actually insane enough to think you have some sort of say in my life?"

Rajyavardhan stiffened in humiliation.

"What I suggested was the best way for you to get rid of this infatuation!" he rasped. "If that foolish girl is unwilling to become your mistress, just take her to any hotel for a night and get over this -

A strangled gasp escaped him as a powerful hand wrapped around his neck and tightened brutally.

Prithvi softly said, "Do you know why you're still alive? It is because someone told me that a long time ago you had stopped my mother from attempting suicide."

Rajyavardhan writhed in panic to break the iron grip around his throat.

"I find that very hard to believe," Prithvi admitted. "But it is the slightest possibility that you may have saved her life once that has kept me from gutting you all these years."

"Stop it! I can't breathe!" the king wheezed frantically.

But the choked words didn't cause any alteration n the chillingly indifferent visage of his grandson.

"Stop snivelling and listen," Prithvi growled. "My patience is exhausted. I'm warning you for the first and last time - Keep your filthy ideas and your moronic guards away from Nandini and her family. If I see tears in her eyes just one more time because of you, I'll bury you alive," he murmured with a terrifying softness.

Rajyavardhan's face had begun to turn a grisly blue. ""I promise! I give you my word! I will not send anyone else or harm that girl or her family!" he spluttered.

An excruciatingly long second later, his neck was released and he was thrust backwards. He swayed on quaking legs, gasping for air and clutching his purple throat.

Prithvi looked at him with undisguised aversion for a moment, then swivelled around and levelled his gaze on the middle-aged man standing far away with his back to them.

He walked in the direction of the immobile figure, and stopped a few feet from him.

 "Manohar," he summoned curtly.

Manohar winced and turned towards the royal personage.

"Your highness," he muttered with a dry mouth and bowed very low.

"Which idiot did you send to Shamli?" Prithvi asked coldly.

Manohar tried to keep his voice steady as he answered. "Digvijay. He ran away when he heard that you've come to talk about this." He gulped, and then feverishly added, "Please forgive me, your highness! I was only following the king's orders! Please – I will not repeat the mistake!"

He wanted to add that he had given the king a highly modified version of the girl's furious response, but Rajyavardhan Singh was slowly approaching them and he didn't dare to reveal his subterfuge.

Prithvi studied him coolly. "You'll live longer if you do that."

Manohar breathed in relief as the formidable scrutiny was lifted, and the young prince turned to leave.

Rajyvardhan Singh desolately watched his grandson striding away from him, and the hoarse plea erupted out of his bruised throat.

"Prithvi, don't go - stay here with me!" he said desperately. "Forgive me for all that happened in the past! I'll give you everything you want…..everything I have…..I'll give it to you this instant."

Prithvi paused mid-step and spun around to face his grandfather with an unreadable expression. "I would have forgiven you for trying to kill me when I was still in the cradle, ripping my skin off every other day, starving me whenever you felt like it and punishing me for crimes I hadn't committed," he said jadedly. "I might even have forgiven you for not letting me see her before the cremation and refusing to let me perform the last rites."

There was no hostility in his voice, only an intense weariness that revealed traces of a silent, deep-rooted grief that had not diminished with time…of old wounds that were still raw and fresh…

The king lowered his head and stared at the ground. He whispered, "Yes – Yes, I am guilty of everything you've  -"

"Everything could have been forgiven, if you'd hurt only me and spared her the pain. But you ill-treated her as much as you could when she was alive….and I will never forgive you for that," Prithvi condemned quietly. "I didn't know my face was pushing her to the brink of death," he said in a pain-roughened voice, "but you made her life hell on purpose."

Rajyavardhan pleadingly said, "I know I've done so much wrong but -"

"So what I want," Prithvi cut in harshly, "is for you to die a little each day. Just like she did."

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

Several minutes had ticked past since Prithvi had turned and stalked away.

Manohar gently called out to the king for the third time to rouse him.

But Rajyavardhan Singh continued to stand lifelessly under the verdant arms of the tree, staring unseeingly into the distance with stricken eyes.

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

Nishi, Rishabh and Vrinda looked at each other and then at their ashen friend who was standing with her back pressing against the wall, as if wishing that it would absorb her.

"Nandini, it's okay. How much difference does a day make?" Nishi said soothingly.

"Yeah, so what if they've brought forward the drama by one day. I know you're prepared and you'll not face any problems," Vrinda inserted.

"I think it's good that they preponed your drama! The stress will get over sooner," Rishabh contributed cheerfully.

Nandini snapped out of the gloom-induced silence to glare at her smug male friend.

"Of course you think it's good! You've got another day to prepare," she accused. "Why! Why did they have to reschedule the date!" she groaned, wishing with silent despair that Prithvi was around.

Where could he be at this moment…would he have met his grandfather by now….what would he have said...

Temporarily distracted from the thought of the play, she prayed hard for the hundredth time that day that the meeting should not have turned ugly.

 "I know just what will take your mind off this news!" Vrinda said decisively. "Nandini, come with us! There is a palm reader in one of the tents on the grounds. We went to her some time back and -"

"She's amazing," Nishi gushed breathlessly.

"You girls are so stupid to believe in all that. All these people are frauds," Rishabh denounced.

"No, she's not!" Vrinda said hotly. "If you don't believe in it, just sit here and rot. We're going!"

"I can't. The final rehearsals will start soon," Nandini said reluctantly.

"We'll be back before that! Come on!" Nishi urged.

"Yeah, there may not be many people at the tent right now. We can see her and come back within 10 minutes," Vrinda assured.

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

"Your highness, would you like to eat this -"

"Prithvi," he corrected sternly.

"But your highness, I -"

"Do you want me to stop calling you choti maa," he demanded with a scowling impatience that was so familiar that Kadambari nearly gave in to tears again.

For the past hour, she had alternated between crying and laughing, still finding it difficult to believe that he really was in front of her.

She was so overwrought that she hadn't even thought to ask him why he had come back or where he had disappeared for a short while when she was busy cooking. She would ask him all those questions later. First, she wanted to sit with him and listen to every thing that had happened in his life since the time they had been separated.

There was so much she wanted to know about his life, so many things she wanted to talk to him about. But then she also wanted to immediately prepare all those dishes that he had enjoyed as a child and were still his favourites.

Taking pity on her befuddled condition, Prithvi had hoisted himself nonchalantly onto the platform of her cosy kitchen, contentedly demolishing the stack of delicacies she had prepared for the religious function, while she rained down a barrage of questions on his head.

"You're the best cook ever," he said with a heartfelt sigh during a moment when she had stopped to draw breath.

She beamed at the praise, and then continued with the interrogation.

"So what is Shamli like? And the people? Do you live in a big house? Does Sankatmochan still live with you? And your college? You're studying something about rockets, aren't you?" she asked eagerly, simultaneously preparing three dishes without pausing for a beat.

"Ok, now you're starting to give someone competition," Prithvi grinned.

She instantly sensed that he was talking about the girl that she had heard Princess Rajeshwari talking about.

Rajeshwari, she thought with a start. She had to tell him about his cousin sister!

The phone lying near Prithvi started buzzing, imprisoning the words on her tongue. She added it to the list of topics she wanted to talk to him about and happily returned her attention to cooking.

After she had fed him to her heart's content, she would show him all the bits and pieces from his childhood that she had persevered carefully, especially his toys, all of which he had made himself after simply observing the carpenters, sculptors and other workmen who frequented the palace for minor work now and then. She had kept them in pristine condition for all these years in the forlorn hope that he would return one day and she would show them to him. And he would know that she had thought of him every single day.

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

Prithvi picked up the sleek phone with some surprise, as there hadn't been any network on the device for a long while now. Then he glanced at the name flashing on the screen of his phone, and stilled instantly.

He looked tentatively at the rotund woman bustling around him. Silently, he alighted from the platform and walked out of the kitchen into the small but comfortable living room which was dominated by a large, garlanded portrait of a moustached man.

Only once he was out of earshot did he answer the persistent ringing.

"What?" Prithvi snapped tautly by way of greeting.

"Vikrant is out to hunt that ridiculous girlfriend of yours on Kundan Singh's advice. His men will be reaching Shamli tomorrow and Kundan plans to act as their tour guide," Indrajit drawled without any preamble. "Jiva will follow them and he'll keep you informed of their movements."

Immobilised with shock, Prithvi didn't respond instantly. Then his jawline hardened with ferocious tension.

"Don't misunderstand this gesture. I still hate you and want you dead," Indrajit rasped viciously into the deafening silence at the other end.

"Thanks for the touching reminder," Prithvi retorted vaguely as his mind worked at furious speed.

"Yet I don't want him to succeed at anything. Because for some reason, I find that man even more loathsome than you," Indrajit muttered, with a faint note of bored surprise at the realisation. He maliciously added, "But you'll have to do something for me in return for -"

 "Anything," Prithvi interrupted quietly.

Indrajit's eyes glimmered spitefully. "I want you to break every bone in Kundan's body," he bit out vindictively.

The spectre of a harsh smile flitted across Prithvi's face.

"With pleasure," he murmured roughly.

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

Indrajit kept the phone back on the desk and looked at Jiva who was standing in full attention, awaiting orders.

"Like I said, take three men and follow Kundan. If they only harm the girl, don't bother. But if they - " Indrajit stopped and leaned back in the chair pensively.

It had been very long since meaningless, bloody violence had spiced up his life….

"On second thoughts, I think I'll have a look at this circus myself," he said slowly.

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

Uncaring of the bubbling dish on the gas stove behind her, Kadambari looked up at Prithvi with swiftly dampening eyes, feeling horribly distressed.

"You have to leave? But you just came! Cant you stay for some more time," she requested piteously.

 "I wanted to, but I really need to go back immediately," Prithvi said gently. "But I have your phone number now and I'll write down my own number for you so you can -"

 "I have your phone number," Kadambari mumbled awkwardly, brushing away the tears.  "Some months ago, I had fallen very sick, and in an unconscious state, I kept asking for you. One of the cooks bribed a guard, and after a lot of trouble, somehow got the phone number of your neighbour's house in Shamli. My niece - she is a school teacher in a nearby village - called up that number. She said she spoke to a girl and got your mobile number."

Prithvi frowned slightly even as her words sparked a memory of an evening in Ayodhya….

"Why didn't she or anyone else call me up and tell me you were ill?" he demanded angrily.

Kadambari bent her head. "I had regained consciousness by then, and I forbid everyone from phoning you. Because I – I was afraid that you would have forgotten me and I wouldn't have been able to bear that," she whispered weakly.

Immense guilt suddenly clouded Prithvi's gaze as he looked at the woman who had always showered him with the unconditional love of a mother.

He warmly clasped her pudgy forearms. "I'm sorry I didn't come before. This place – the memories – I just wanted to try and forget," he muttered uncomfortably. "But I'll come back here someday and I'll take you along with me. It's a very small house," he said hesitantly. "Not even as large as the palace kitchen. But if that's okay with you -"

Before he could continue, Kadamabri pulled down his head and pressed a kiss on his forehead. Then she hugged him and promptly burst into tears again.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said dryly, patting her back comfortingly.

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

Still slightly out of breath, Nandini waited uncertainly as the solemn woman sitting opposite her studied her palm.

Her face was burning from having endured the stares of male and female students because of her costume as she had hurried from the auditorium to this tent decorated with mystical symbols. The fortune teller was also dressed mysteriously in a flowing purple gown, a black turban, many bead necklaces and several rings on her fingers.

"You were leading quite an uneventful life, but things changed drastically in the past few months. Am I right?"

"Yes," Nandini concurred in surprise.

"You're in love with someone!" the woman announced triumphantly.

Nandini mumbled an affirmative as her friends giggled.

"He's your soul-mate," the woman said simply. "Whatever is happening right now is pre-destined. But the coming months will be very crucial. On the whole, and especially during the next few years, be careful before letting any negative emotions or your temper dictate your actions. One wrong decision can ruin everything. That's all I can say. So do you have any questions?"

Feeling both delighted and alarmed by the statements made by the woman, Nandini took a moment to mull over the various thoughts swarming in her mind.

"Will everyone in my – everyone I love - be okay? I mean, health-wise? And I hope there are no accidents or anything to worry about," she said anxiously.

"I don't see any major cause for concern regarding your immediate family members. As for the others, it is difficult to say. I would need to read their palms to predict anything properly. You can bring – the person – and I'll tell you everything you need to know."

There was no chance of that happening, Nandini thought and sighed.

Then she hopefully asked, "Will I be able to study further after graduation?" 

"Yes."

Pleased, she enquired, "Will I be able to work after completing my studies?"

"God! Can't you just ask her the main question?!" Vrinda scolded, and then turned to the woman eagerly, "When will she get married?"

"Vrinda!" Nandini said exasperatedly.

"At the right time," the woman said evasively.

"How many children will she have?"

"Nishi!" Nandini scolded.

"Four sons- minimum!" the woman said promptly.

"Four sons!" Nandini repeated, stunned.

"Ever heard of family planning, Nandini?" Nishi chuckled.

"But this is lovely! I'm going to have two daughters and I'll think about getting them married to two of your sons! But if only if they inherit their father's looks!" Vrinda giggled.

"Will you both stop it?" Nandini protested with a shy laugh, and turned back towards the palm reader. "Thank you so much!" she smiled.

She was just rising to her feet when the woman leaned ahead to keep a manicured hand over hers, and softly said, "Listen…..broken hearts do mend. For every hour of pain, God blesses us with a hundred hours of happiness."

Nandini gazed at her in wary confusion, irresolute about what to make of the statements, but uneasily conscious of the odd spasm that had squeezed her heart at the words.

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

It was a beautiful sunny day. Although the heat bore down on the earth, a cool breeze eased all discomfort. The campus ground was buzzing with hoards of students from several colleges. There was something to attract everyone's interest. Exciting art exhibitions, electrifying performances of rock bands, thrilling quiz competitions, adrenaline-boosting sports events…. 

Most students seemed to be agog with feverish exhilaration and Nishi had a difficult time manoeuvring her way through the boisterous crowds with the drink in hand. Once she reached the stairway, however, she had the whole space to herself. She ran up the stairs to the deserted first floor. For an instant, she thought she saw someone flitting into a room at the very end of the long corridor. She stopped momentarily, then assumed she had imagined it. She continued on her way and walked into a classroom where two other girls were sitting.

Nishi kept the bottled soft drink on the desk in front of a pale-looking Nandini.

"Here, have this. Yes, I know you don't like aerated drinks," Nishi forestalled her question as she sat down on the bench in front. "This is just a plain fruit-flavoured juice. It's not cold either."

Nandini gratefully murmured a thanks and took a long sip through the straw. The mango juice gave considerable relief to her parched throat, but her insides continued to churn with unadulterated panic.

She had hardly slept last night, and had forced herself to step out of the house with great difficulty. By the time she had gotten ready, with costume, makeup and jewellery, she was already well on the way to becoming a mental wreck. But it was the size of the audience in the hall, where currently dance programmes were going on, that had unnerved her completely.

Vrinda and Nishi had coaxed her into coming upstairs, away from the chaos to get some peace and calm her down. They were trying to act composedly but she knew they were just as scared as she was, and their ill-concealed anxiety was making the whole ordeal more difficult to bear.

"Nandini, we have full faith in you," Vrinda said in a quivering voice.

"Did you see the crowd in the auditorium! I'll not be able to perform with all those people watching me!" Nandini shivered.

"You'll do fine," Nishi insisted shakily.

 "I'm going to forget everything," Nandini whispered in dread.

"No, stop saying that! You'll be fine in some time. Come, let's go back to your dressing room," Vrinda said cajolingly.

"Give me some time," Nandini pleaded. "I - I want to – I need to be alone for some time. I'll come down soon. If you don't see me in half an hour, just come back here and drag me along," she said despondently.

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

Dhiren smiled in satisfaction as he watched the two girls leaving the classroom.

Finally.

He had kept close to the drama club since yesterday morning, waiting for an opportunity to corner Nandini. But her stupid friends seemed to be hovering around her all the time. Then today, by a stroke of luck, he'd seen the three females coming out of the dressing room and walking through the crowded corridors. Some impulse had made him follow them as they made their way upstairs to the deserted classrooms.

He'd seen them go inside one of the rooms. He had walked ahead and lounged just outside a room at the end of the corridor, waiting and hoping that the other two girls would leave. There was an unsettling moment when one of the friends had returned with some drink and he'd swiftly withdrawn into the room to avoid being seen. He'd waited for a few minutes before returning to his spot, and had been just in time to see the exit of the girlfriends.

Nandini was all alone now. But he would wait for a couple of minutes to make sure the friends wouldn't hear anything.

He was taking a huge risk, but he didn't think he'd last another night without enjoying her beautiful body. His courage was bolstered by the fact that he hadn't seen Prithvi in the campus since yesterday. It would have helped even more if Abhay and Nilesh had agreed to wait outside the room to warn him if anyone came along. But both his so-called friends had refused point blank to stand guard. The *******s had refused last time too, when he'd set his sights on that first year girl in his own engineering college.

Fortunately, everything had gone according to plan back then. And even better, that female had been too ashamed to complain about him. She had silently quit college and he'd never heard anything about it again.

Looked like Nandini would be the next one to leave the campus, or even the town, forever.

He smiled again.

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

Vrinda saw him first. She seized Nishi's hand convulsively.

"Hey wait! There's Prithvi!"

In the midst of waiting for a rock band to pass and give them space, Nishi followed her besotted gaze and saw the tall, striking figure impatiently striding towards the auditorium, his eyes sharply scanning every face in the vicinity.

"You think he'll be able to bring down Nandini's tension?" Nishi asked doubtfully.

"He looks more and more handsome every time I see him," Vrinda marvelled wistfully, plainly lost in her own world.

And she wasn't the only female to sigh. Several female heads were closely following his arrogant progress with an unholy shine in the eyes.

"Am I imagining it or are people automatically clearing a way for him?" Nishi asked, mystified.

"Not your imagination, they are actually - Oh My God! He's looking at us! He is coming this way! Maybe he'll talk to us today," Vrinda trilled excitedly.

Nishi felt a moment of apprehension.

Prithvi had indeed spotted them and was walking in their direction, but she definitely knew that Vrinda's joyous thrill was unfounded. Because with that scowl on his face and the aggressive dynamism of his strides, he had the semblance of an angry lion surging ahead to bite the head off its prey.

"Hi!" Vrinda said breathlessly as he neared them.

 "Where is she?" Prithvi asked tersely, visibly out of breath.

The bite in his voice made both of them recoil.

"Nandini!" he clarified irately, when neither responded immediately. "Where is she?"

"First floor! Fourth room on the left," Nishi replied quickly.

He stalked away with such swiftness that it took them a minute to regroup their thoughts.

"Why is he so desperate to see her?" Nishi pondered uncertainly.

"The magic of love?" Vrinda suggested dreamily.

Nishi shook her head. "No, something else is going on. Let's go and make sure everything is okay."

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

Dhiren ambled into the classroom, exercising great care to avoid making any noise. With malevolent triumph, he stared at the girl sitting all alone. Her face in her hands, her elbows resting on the bench.

Nandini looked up at the small sound to see Dhiren closing the doors. Her body turned cold as an unknown fear bubbled up like a pool of acid in her stomach.

She stood up immediately and moved into the narrow space between the desks.

"What are you doing? Unlock that door!" she snapped, trying to conceal the sick dread spreading rapidly in the pit of her stomach.

Dhiren's eyes slid over the beautiful girl in a blatant sexual appraisal. She had looked gorgeous enough yesterday without any embellishments. Today, with light make-up highlighting the perfection of her features, and pretty artificial jewellery adorning her slender neck, lush black hair and delicate hands, she was temptation personified.

"I'll unlock it, but let's become friends before that," he smirked.

She felt a wave of revulsion as lecherous eyes roamed over her body.

"Friends?" she spat disgustedly. "I don't want to even know someone as repulsive as you,"

Annoyed, he raised an arm to seize her face.

She hit away the burly hand and retraced her steps instinctively. "Don't touch me!" she warned sharply.

"Yeah, don't give in easily. I'll enjoy it more that way!" he jeered, and without warning, his fingers clamped around her wrist to pull her closer.

The mere touch of his clammy hand made bile rise in her throat…..and destroyed the suffocating blanket of fear that had enveloped her.

As feral anger reared its emboldening head, Nandini wrenched her hand free and slapped Dhiren hard. The unpredictably violent blow sent him crashing backwards into the desks on the left.

Without waiting for another instant, she began hurrying to the door.

Furious, Dhiren clambered back onto his feet and lunged again to grab hold of the dupatta trailing behind the dress.

"You'll pay for that!" he snarled, attempting to drag back her struggling body.

In towering fury, Nandini whirled around and hit him across the face again. He swore awfully and attempted to violently pull her closer to plant his wet mouth on hers.

Outraged, she kicked at his shins and scratched wildly at his face and eyes, drawing blood with her nails.

Yelling curses, Dhiren pushed her away and she winced as she fell onto a bench.

On the top of the wooden structure, an empty bottle stood trembling because of the jolt.

The desperate thought had just struck her when Dhiren's hand roughly gripped her arm. As he twisted her around with a mad fervour, she managed to grab at the mouth of the bottle.

Before he could dodge the blow, she brought the bottle smashing down on the top of his head. The base of the bottle cracked as it struck against the skull.

Dhiren screamed and clutched at his head.

Shaking, Nandini backed away and then turned and stormed towards the door, still clutching the bottle. She undid the lock with quivering hands and dashed down the corridor as fast as she could. She was nearing the stairway when she heard the sound of someone thundering up the steps.

Then a male figure came hurtling around the wall and she lurched to a stop.

Prithvi halted abruptly at the same moment. Fighting for breath, he gazed at her in a staggered silence, forcing himself to calm down. She was safe….safe…

Nandini looked back in just as much of a daze, trembling with the force of many conflicting emotions.

Both in shock. Both their faces sapped of colour. Both struggling to regain their breath as murderous tension slowly seeped out of their bodies.

They stared at each other in absolute silence across several feet, unaware that the same sensation of pure, glorious relief was making them feel light-headed.

The bottle fell from her hand onto the floor with a loud clunk. Prithvi tore his eyes from her curiously flustered face and looked at the incongruous object with knit brows.

Feeling acutely overwhelmed, Nandini began to rush to him, but just then, another noise made her twirl around.

Dhiren was tottering out of the classroom with a horribly scratched face and blood oozing down his forehead, yowling "I'll kill you, you *****!"

Prithvi went dangerously still as the pieces came together in a flash.

"I'll kill you first, you dirty animal!" Nandini shouted angrily.

Behind her, Prithvi's face turned white with fury, even as some part of his mind registered idly that he had never known a rage as violent and overpowering as this.

Dhiren advanced menacingly towards her, swabbing at the trickles of blood that were obstructing his eyesight. The thumping pain in his head was egging him on to rip the **** into shreds. Then he froze, with his now clear vision transfixed on the frightening male standing behind Nandini.

Prithvi stirred slightly.

Dhiren didn't wait for another second. With a weak, choking sound, he spun and dashed back into the classroom and slammed the doors shut.

Seething, Nandini drew in a breath to yell again but two slightly unsteady hands caught her by the shoulders and turned her around.

Prithvi intently studied her flushed face and calmly asked, "What happened?"

"He came into the – I was alone - he tried to – he tried to assault me!" she burst out heatedly.

The fingers on Nandini's shoulders tightened for a moment as Prithvi struggled with the blistering knot in his chest. Then the pressure eased, and he tenderly drew her closer.

Nishi and Vrinda came bounding around the wall and stopped short with embarrassment on seeing the couple in an evidently intimate moment. They were panting slightly, having been badly impeded by the same crowd that had miraculously parted for Prithvi.

 "You're okay?" he asked quietly, looking at Nandini with gentle eyes.

She nodded. "I'm fine. I just wish I'd broken his head open!" she answered fiercely, throwing an enraged look at the locked classroom.

Even through the red-hot anger that was pounding through him, Prithvi felt a moment of astonishment that it was not fear but rage that was making her tremble.

"Nandini, what happened?"  Vrinda asked hesitantly, unable to bear the suspense any longer.

Startled at the intrusion, Nandini looked around to see her puzzled friends. Prithvi's hands instantly fell away, and he moved aside to let them approach her while he walked towards the shut classroom. He heard her repeat the events to her friends and their answering gasps and cries of anger and shock, but he didn't pause on his way to the locked doors.

Prithvi had just halted in front of the doors when his phone began buzzing. He'd been waiting for this call for a long while now. With a guarded glance at the frenziedly conversing girls, he answered the call.

"How much longer?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, your highness," Jiva said urgently. "We were passing through the hills and the network -"

"How - much - longer?"

"4 hours at the least, your highness."

He cut the call without another word and heard Nishi fume, "We should call everyone up here and drag him out and thrash him!"

"Yes, we should throw him to the crowd and let them tear him apart!" Vrinda concurred vehemently.

"No, I think the best thing would be to talk to the principal. He'll know how to deal with this beast," Nandini said determinedly, battling to stay calm. "We'll lock the door from the outside so he doesn't escape."

"You don't need to."

She turned in surprise towards Prithvi.

"You go ahead and talk to the principal. I'll stand here and make sure he doesn't leave," he said seriously.

Nandini stared at him closely, and sharp concern gradually began to override the anger. The serenity with which he was behaving was unusual enough. But it was his overall appearance that was troubling her. She hadn't noticed it immediately because of the agitation, but now she could see that there was a mild pallor on his face and he looked very exhausted.

"Why do you look so tired? Were you travelling all night? Or are you unwell?" she asked worriedly.

Both Vrinda and Nishi looked at Prithvi attentively and individually wondered what Nandini was fretting about. The guy was practically bursting with fitness and didn't look tired from any angle.

Confirming their thoughts, Prithvi smoothly said, "Never been better. Don't waste time, go and meet the principal."

"Nandini, let's go!" Vrinda said, tugging at her arm.

Nandini couldn't get rid of the uneasiness in her chest. There really was something very suspicious about Prithvi's unnaturally calm demeanour.

"You're not going to – do anything, are you?" she asked him warily, unconsciously resisting Vrinda's attempts to draw her towards the stairs.

"What can I possibly do when he has locked the door from the inside?" Prithvi asked innocently.

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

Prithvi waited patiently until he could no longer hear the sounds of the girls' footsteps or murmurs. Then he turned to the door, black eyes glittering with suppressed wrath.

His foot launched out with shattering force. The doors blasted open, with one side torn off its hinges.

Dhiren lay sprawled on the floor, face down. Plainly, he had been sitting tight against the doors to hinder any attempts to open it.

Prithvi walked in and kicked him onto his back. "Get up," he commanded.

Terrified, Dhiren scrambled backwards and stood up with his fists positioned defensively, praying hysterically on the inside.

"Look, she's already busted my face and head! That's – that's punishment enough!" he blubbered in panic.

"Oh no no….Don't demean yourself like that!" Prithvi demurred softly. "These tiny injuries are nowhere close to what you deserve."

Dhiren shuddered a little with fright. He had seen the coldly incensed side of Prithvi once before, and it had been petrifying enough. But this time, the primal anger in his opponent was so tangible that it seemed to be another living, breathing presence in the room.

With the desperate hope of disorienting Prithvi with a sudden attack, Dhiren forcefully raised a fist to strike, and then screeched as the bones of his arm broke into two.

"As I was saying…You deserve so much more pain," Prithvi drawled.

Frantic to escape, Dhiren attempted a sudden dive towards the door. But in the next second, he howled and floundered as a brutal kick to his knee sent lightning bolts of pain through his nerves.

Then he was being hauled upright by the collar to look at hard features ablaze with fury.

A fist landed with bone-crunching force to the side of Dhiren's face. Two yellowing teeth and a jet of blood sprayed out of his mouth as he lurched to one side.

A muscular hand dragged him back violently.

Two more punches came at lightning speed, shattering Dhiren's nose and cheekbone with loud crunches. Thick red fluid flowed into his already bloody mouth.

Guttural screams echoed repeatedly in the room as raw knuckles rammed ferociously into Dhiren's stomach, making him double up with agony. A knee smashed viciously against his forehead, forcing him up straight again like a ragdoll.

Prithvi's fist crashed brutally into his chest, and the room resonated with the sound of splintering ribs.

In a dull haze, he saw Prithvi seizing the front of his shirt and suddenly he was being thrown roughly across several feet. His back slammed against the wall and he slithered down limply onto the ground.

Prithvi walked over to him slowly.

And with controlled, lethal precision, he began delivering powerful kicks into vital portions of the flattened man.

Head, chest, stomach, spine, groin, knees…

His leg slammed with explosive strength against flesh and bones again and again…

Pummelling….crushing….battering….

Cold-bloodedly ensuring that not a single inch of Dhiren's body would be free of pain for a very long time…

After a few minutes, he stopped and looked down at the prone man, who was emitting tortured moans, with merciless eyes.

"Hospital – prison – cemetery. Disappear into any hellhole. If by some misfortune, you do survive and manage to stand up straight, make sure you never set foot in this campus or this town again," Prithvi said calmly. "But wherever in the world you end up, if you try that stunt with a woman again, I will find out. And I will kill you," he promised icily.

Dhiren faintly groaned his acceptance and then lapsed into blessed unconsciousness….

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