Nothing stirred in the habitats dominated by humans. But a soft wind was moving restlessly through the town, around the new shrine...and the old, abandoned one... and deep within the nearby woods, and isolated streets where nothing moved at this hour.

The restless wind spoke of a girl it knew of. A girl who had kept an unimaginable pain hidden from those closest to her for years, never letting anyone catch a glimpse of her burdens. A girl whom it had seen often stopping abruptly in the middle of studying or working or walking on the roads of Shamli and almost looking ill as the raw pain of her actions and someone's absence had hit her all over again with the same intensity that it had the first time.

It mournfully recounted the times the girl had lay awake at nights, crying softly, tormented by guilt and fearful doubts. And how she had frozen on the inside each time she had heard a particular name mentioned by family or strangers.

And hadn't it seen salty tears unconsciously rolling down her cheeks while she was working or watching movies or television or reading or knitting...It had tried to brush them away, but more of them would continue to come, and the girl would repeatedly wipe them away without stopping the activity, as if the automatic outpouring of tears had become an accepted part of her existence.

The wind whispered of how the girl had sometimes wandered about in the secluded places where she had spent time with the man she loved, moving about in a noiseless frenzy of desperation and anguish, seeking him with the madness of a love that would not listen to logic or reason. And the earth had trembled under the ripples of her pain as she had slumped down on isolated, gravelly paths and touched those roads on which he had walked along with her...danced with her...

It had been moved by the prayers that had flowed incessantly from her heart, and it had carried those words of pure love and devotion to the heavens.

A strange girl she was...

She had smiled and laughed with people even as her heart remained suspended in an ice-cold space where no warmth could enter. And there was always a pitiful hope and despair on her face every time she had walked out of the doors of the temple with a lamp in her hands, as if expecting to see someone outside. And she had lit lamps on nights that were extraordinarily special, and the wind had moved gently on those nights to help her keep the flames alive for long as possible.

But something had changed overnight some weeks ago. 

The one she loved had returned...and a glorious light had illuminated her whole being once again. Its radiance was still hidden beneath many shrouds, but it was growing stronger and stronger, and the shrouds were beginning to turn to ashes. Even now...as the girl wept harder than she had ever done before, that light in her was becoming more powerful...

 The days of darkness were numbered now...oh yes, they were, the wind whistled as it stroked the leaves.

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

Encased in a tight embrace that offered the safest refuge for her in the world, Nandini cried hopelessly with the pent-up anguish of years, for each hour...for each second that she had spent without him.

As her heartbreaking cries split the air, a cocoon of stillness seemed to enfold both of them, keeping them insulated from the rest of the world.

Prithvi held her without speaking, caressing her hair gently. He wanted to beg her to stop crying but it felt as though his throat had been sealed shut. And some inner sense was telling him that he needed to let her cry, because the pain he'd expressed through words was coming out of her in the form of tears. And at the end of this, it was possible she could feel the same kind of lightness that he had experienced. And so, he miserably forced himself to remain silent while her sobs ripped away at his heart.

It was a long while before her breakdown started to diminish in intensity, but gradually, her sobs subsided, and then there only was a heavy silence.

She continued to lean heavily against him, wholly drained out. And she sluggishly sank into a stupor with the tiredness of a soul that had found sanctuary after having been tossed around violently by a storm.

When Nandini woke up again, she found herself in a strange state. Her exhausted heart seemed suspended in a numb space, and her mind was working lethargically. She was only dimly aware that her eyes were stinging so badly that she couldn't open them, and her throat...her entire body was hurting.

What she was most conscious of was that she was being held snugly, and a hand was stroking her head relaxingly.

For some time, Nandini remained in an exhausted oblivion, gratefully savouring the soothing sensations.

Then the thoughts began to trickle into her in a feeble stream, bringing back the memory of what had transpired a while ago...

She had already known why he had not got in touch with her again...had been painfully aware from the start that she had fallen so low in his eyes that he wouldn't give her another chance even if she had sought it. And she'd lived with overriding guilt and self-hate for years, but now she had learned that her crime had been infinitely more terrible than she'd believed. It was a mistake she couldn't recompense even with death.

Her heart flailed in pain as the words she had heard from him began to resound in her head. She couldn't bear it...she couldn't...

She would face that reality tomorrow. She couldn't endure to relive it tonight. Neither could she look at him now. She had to get up and move away. However, the huge breakdown appeared to have sapped her strength completely. Her body was feeling limp...lifeless...

But with a concerted effort - both emotional and physical, she straightened in his arms. She felt the fervent force of his eyes on her skin, but lacking the strength to return the gaze, she clumsily rose to her feet somehow and turned away from him.

The stole was hanging off her left arm. She mechanically pulled it up, and wiped her face dry as she began to walk to the small bridge that connected the houses.

Her arm was caught by a strong, warm hand and she was turned around very gently and drawn into a tender embrace.

Prithvi's arms closed around her securely, with the side of his face resting against her head.

Nandini didn't move for a moment, then she put her arms around him and embraced him, her right cheek resting against his chest.

She didn't deserve the extraordinary peace that he was giving her through this hug. But God help her...she couldn't pull away. There was an ocean of regret and anguish that was waiting for her when she would come out of this haze, but for now, she only felt the relief of being immersed in very cool water after years of being scalded by the sun's heat.

Here, in his arms, she was protected and safe from the painful realities that she needed to face tomorrow in the light of day.

Slowly, as the minutes went past, Nandini had a faint realisation that, even with the knowledge of what she would have to deal with tomorrow, she could feel a lightness in her chest.

She had wept so many times in the past in this very place, but tonight's devastating breakdown seemed to have purified and cleansed her. As though the darkness of ages that could have destroyed her eventually had been rinsed away by the tears and cries that had been torn out of her when her heart had burst open with pain.

When a long time had passed, Prithvi guiltily murmured, "I'm sorry. I hadn't meant to tell you any of that. I don't know why I did. You didn't need to know any of this. Whatever happened back then is irrelevant now. I'm sorry for putting you through this for no good reason," he said bleakly.

Nandini drew a deep, steadying breath. Her emotional collapse was the result of coming face-to-face with the complete, horrifying reality of how inhuman she had been with him years ago, and yet, he had held her and comforted her, and now he was apologising to her for stating the truth.

"Don't apologise for anything...please don't. I'm glad you told me...I'm grateful," she mumbled in a husky voice. "And I know it wouldn't have been easy for you to talk about it. But I'm really thankful."

She couldn't add that she understood him much better now, and though it was the stupidest reaction she could have in these circumstances, she felt closer to him than ever before. The only thing she couldn't understand was his ability to tolerate her now, let alone offer this solace and apology...

Not reassured in the least, Prithvi quietly said, "I didn't intend to belittle or disregard what you went through at that time, and after – that day. I know it must have been hell for you too. And five years ago, I hadn't told you anything much about my past...so you couldn't have known how it would affect me. And I also know you wouldn't have taken that decision for any minor reasons. If she threatened your family's safety in any way, you would naturally want to keep them as far away from her as possible. And for that you might have felt you needed to end our relationship. I can understand that," he lied. He couldn't understand it, he would never understand it. But he was willing to tell her anything right now to help her feel better.

"Whatever she did or threatened to do...I know it must have been terrible, and you had to go through that because of your relationship with me," Prithvi continued contritely. "And that's apart from all the stupid things I did and said in the months before," he said uncomfortably. "Breaking the idol your father had given you...telling you terrible things to hurt you... not showing you any respect or giving any importance to your feelings...or expressing what you really meant to me," he muttered. "I don't know how to explain how much I regret all of it. And if you want to talk about any of it, I'll listen."

Nandini held him tighter and pressed her face against his chest. She could feel the intense guilt and regret that was consuming him at the moment. But the only words she wanted to say in response were the ones that he would not want to hear from her again. So she remained silent while every cell in her seemed to be melting with a love so potent, unconditional and purifying that it overpowered every other feeling. She could annihilate herself for him without a moment's hesitation...without a thought for anything else...

Troubled by her continued silence, Prithvi insistently said, "Tell me I was the most selfish and insensitive person you could have chosen for yourself. And remind me of the million reasons I gave you to end the relationship time and again. And how you forgave me again and again even when the things I said and did were unforgivable. And often worthy of imprisonment - or a firing squad," he muttered darkly.

She hadn't forgotten any moment related to him, good or bad. But as she heard him now, the memories that were being invoked were vastly different from the ones he was talking about.

She was remembering his irresistible smiles and laughter when he was genuinely happy... his relentless teasing...the inherent sweetness in him that had showed sometimes in his words and deeds...the wicked mischief that had twinkled in his eyes and made her heart dizzy...the amazing humour that had made her laugh so often...the tenderness of his kisses and the wild passion that had exploded between them in the moments when they had forgotten themselves and the world...the love that he had seldom expressed through words but had radiated brilliantly from his eyes and his actions... the boundless happiness and peace she had found in his arms...

"I would give anything...everything to get those days back," she whispered.

She felt him become very still, and was abruptly afraid that her words had angered or upset him and he would let go of her. She was not ready for that. She needed this embrace to last for a long, long time, because she was not going to be able to meet his eyes from tomorrow.

After some moments, he raised his head and gazed down at her.

"You need to stop saying such things," he said with a grim seriousness.

There was a tinge of aggression in his voice that made her heart contract, and more depressingly, she could sense that his frustration was much deeper than what he was permitting to be revealed in his tone, and he was trying to be gentle only because of her current state.

But she had scarcely felt the surge of dismay when he lowered his head to tenderly caress her lips with his.

A startling warmth darted through her body, bringing a bit of physical awareness into her dazed mind but also intensifying her sense of disorientation. 

She disjointedly thought of how he had kissed her in the library. The softness of it had reminded her of the first time he had kissed her...of that unforgettable night that had changed her life – and changed her forever. It was going to be that same date again in a few days, she recalled with a deep pang.

"You also need to stop coming close to me," Prithvi added soberly. "Or talking to me or showing concern for me or trying to do anything nice for me. Until I'm here, don't get involved in anything that's connected to me. And if possible, don't smile or laugh when I'm around, don't look at me or acknowledge my existence," he directed tersely. And after a brief turmoil-filled pause, he quietly admitted, "Because each time you do any of those things...or just be around me, I move closer to the brink of madness."

Nandini gazed at him in shock, her mind stumbling around as it tried to understand the significance of his words. The despair and hurt that had gripped her when he'd begun talking had gradually turned into confusion, and now, a ferocious, raging tension had appeared in the pit of her stomach.

"I'd thought my anger towards you would keep me safe, but what's happening now is very different," he said in a low tone. "I haven't forgiven or forgotten, and I don't think I ever will. But I'm starting to be unsure of – many things," he admitted with an increasing fury and frustration in his voice. "That is why I was angry before. And I came here...and I was waiting for you. Waiting. Not merely hoping that you would come...but waiting," he repeated grimly. "Like it was only a matter of time before you arrived. And you did...just like the good old times," he added thoughtfully after a tiny pause, regarding her with an unexpected sharpness.

Nandini's breaths quickened as she sensed the shift in him. A short while ago, she'd felt relaxed and sheltered in his arms, but now his formidable build appeared to be looming over her ominously. And the gaze that was burning down at her seemed to be infusing a strange energy into her limbs and making her pulse race even faster.

"But none of this should be happening," Prithvi muttered tensely, staring at her with a breathtaking intensity. "It needs to stop. Because the old me – the one who was hot-tempered and stubborn and insensitive...he hasn't gone anywhere," he said harshly. "It might look like I have changed for the better...and maybe I have in some small ways. But I've definitely become a more terrible version of him in some other ways. And with our history...it could lead to disaster for both of us," he added in a nearly inaudible tone, almost as if he was convincing himself.

Her heart was pounding frantically, and some instinct was pleading with her to run away. But she continued to stare at him like a hypnotised creature, feeling incapable of looking away or giving a response.

"As of now, I still have a bit of rationality, which is why my decision about you...about us hasn't changed," he said slowly, and then placed a hand on the side of her exquisite face. His thumb moved languorously across the soft skin and over her lips, causing a sharp, swooping sensation in her stomach.

His eyes smouldered as he softly said, "But if I lose my sanity, I won't let you remain sane either."

Shocked, Nandini stared at him with a fearful uncertainty. She was still too dazed to fully understand or accept what he was saying, but the essence of all that he had said so far was starting to burrow into her mind...

Her eyes darted away from his, and she uneasily moved backwards, withdrawing her hands from around him. But the arm that was wrapped around her waist refused to stir. She nervously looked up at him, and her breath got caught in her throat.

He was radiating an iron-clad, indomitable willpower, and the quietly compelling gaze levelled upon her seemed to contain the immovable might of mountains.

The man before her was not the same as the one who had comforted her minutes ago...the one who had truly opened up to her for the first time...the one who had been so sweet and understanding towards her today and on previous days...or even the one whose temper she had glimpsed in the past few weeks.

She'd sensed this same ruthless determination and steely strength in him years ago, and he'd been so irritable, obstinate and aggressive back then. And yet, this calm and silent man in front of her was more...dangerous than the Prithvi she'd known years ago. Her muddled brain couldn't decode why it felt that way. But she had a frightening awareness that she'd never felt as helpless and vulnerable as she did at this moment...

She gasped as he tugged her closer, and then closed her eyes weakly when he bent his head to kiss her softly, deepening the kiss this time.

She was instantly spellbound by an unbelievable pleasure, and clung to him feverishly...there were wild somersaults in her stomach, and a languid heat was spreading through her body...

His lips parted from hers after several minutes, leaving her breathless and dizzy. "I'm serious about this. I won't give you many more warnings," he murmured against her lips before seizing them again.

Many more minutes had passed before he lifted his head and dropped his arm from around her waist. But his hand remained on her cheek, and as she gazed at him with ardent eyes and quivering insides, his fingers idly caressed her aching lips.

Then he dropped that hand as well and casually said, "You should go now."

She didn't want to go anywhere and wasn't sure she had the strength to do so either. But his outwardly unemotional tone had contained a clear warning that sent a new surge of warmth into her already overheated face, and gave her a nervousness-fuelled energy to somehow turn away from him.

She stepped on something soft and looked down in confusion to see a long piece of cloth on the ground. Her stole. She had needed it to be warm some time ago. It had fallen off and she hadn't realised it, and now she was sweating...

Flustered, Nandini picked it up distractedly, and clutching it to herself, she walked to the small bridge between the houses, then stopped and turned to look at him in the light of the moon, with her beautiful features unknowingly expressing the beginning of a devastating conflict between extreme levels of longing, hopes, fears and distress.

"Here's one more rule," Prithvi said softly. "You cannot look at me like that. There's no telling what could end up pushing me over the edge."

Confused and alarmed, she drew back and then turned and almost fled to the house on the other side.

The sight did not bring any amusement to his features. He remained motionless for some time, then he strolled to a different spot on the terrace from where he could see the woods. The darkness was denser there...

Eight more days, and it would once again be one of the most disturbing dates in the year for him.

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

With her mobile phone in hand, Sarojini carefully closed the doors of the guest room and then walked to the dining table and sat down facing the same room that she had left.

Relaxing, she opened her phone and began to go through the messages. About ten minutes later, while she was watching the video of an interesting food recipe, she heard a flurry of footsteps and looked up in alarm to see her daughter running down the stairs.

She stood up quickly and hastened to Nandini, "What happened? Why are you running?"

Nandini looked blankly at her mother, and struggled to control her panic and not let it show on her face.

"Nothing - nothing happened," she mumbled. "I woke up late, so I came down in a rush." She had woken up abruptly some time ago in almost the same mental fog in which she'd gone to bed, as if her mind and heart had evidently still not completed assimilating and accepting what had happened. After taking a bath, she had been in the middle of absentmindedly combing her hair when she had realised that the house was oddly quiet. And she couldn't sense Prithvi's presence. She'd rushed to one of the windows from which she could see the front of the house, and she'd not seen his car. And that was the last thing she remembered before hearing her mother's question.

"Oh...that's okay. It's not that late," Sarojini said consolingly, looking at the clock, which showed it was a quarter past eight. "I didn't wake you up because you didn't look well yesterday." Then she peered at Nandini, whose features had a very slight puffiness. But otherwise, her daughter looked much brighter than she had yesterday evening. Her skin was almost glowing.

"You look much better now. How are you feeling?" she asked Nandini intently.

"I'm fine," Nandini said distractedly, looking at the guest room with crippling anxiety. "She's still there?"

"Of course she is. Where would she go?" Sarojini asked sharply, misunderstanding the reason for the question.

Nandini nearly hugged her mother with relief as her heart returned to life. If Priyamvada was here, it meant Prithvi was still in Shamli. He would not leave his mother in his state and go anywhere.

"I didn't mean I wanted her to go anywhere," Nandini hastily told her mother, trying not to smile and laugh. "I just thought...I thought Prithvi would be around if his mother was here," she mumbled while looking away.

Sarojini's face cleared. She ought to have known that her daughter wouldn't have expected the sick woman to leave. "He was here until some time ago. Your grandfather wanted to visit someone in town to buy something, and he was going to take a rickshaw. But since Priyamvadaji was fast asleep, Prithvi said he would take father to the shop in his car, and also drop Prakash and his friends to school on the way."

"Okay, that was nice of him," Nandini muttered, walking to the centre table and picking up the newspaper to hide her feelings. "How is Mrs.Rathore now? Is she awake?"

"Yes, though she has not been speaking much," Sarojini sighed. "I slept in that room last night to keep an eye on her. But she slept well, and she woke up around eight. She has gone to brush her teeth. And I've kept her clothes for the day on the bed."

She was used to looking after unwell people. But this was the first time she was looking after someone so affluent and classy. And the main problem she had faced was handling Priyamvada's belongings. Everything in the bags, and the bags themselves, looked scarily expensive, and she had washed her already clean hands with soap before touching any of it. Thankfully, the people who had come yesterday had arranged things so efficiently that it had been very easy for her to find the bag of toiletries, and also, the clothes for each day, including undergarments, had been arranged very neatly and smartly in individual silk bags, and she'd only needed to pick one bag and keep the contents on the bed.

Unpleasantly surprised, Nandini asked her mother, "Why didn't you tell me you were going to sleep in the guest room?"

"Because you would have insisted on sleeping in that room, and I wanted you to get proper rest," Sarojini replied, walking to the kitchen. "Sit down and keep an eye on the guest room. I'll make tea for you."

Nandini felt a pang of guilt and discomfort at her mother's faith in her innate goodness, which was practically non-existent. She put down the newspaper and followed her mother to the kitchen, saying, "I'll make tea. Should I make some for you too?"

Maybe the ritual of making and consuming her favourite drink would help clear her head a little...though she wasn't sure she wanted any clarity. This emotional haze was a safe place for her. The events that had transpired last night had been too overwhelming for her in every way...the agony she'd experienced while listening to him was beyond anything she had endured before...and what had happened after that had shocked and befuddled her completely. If she really sat down and thought about yesterday, she would go mad...either with pain or with a mix of very different emotions.

"Yes, I'd like a cup," Sarojini nodded with a smile. She took one of the chairs from the table and placed it at the entrance of the kitchen, so she could keep an eye on the guest room while having talking to her daughter and having tea.

While keeping the steel saucepan on the gas stove, Nandini glanced at her mother and confusedly asked, "Why are you sitting there?

"I need to keep an eye on her," Sarojini replied in a hushed voice. "Prithvi had said she tends to wander off sometimes and doesn't realise where she is going. That's why I slept in her room last night."

Taken aback, Nandini froze in the midst of reaching for the round box that contained all the spices. Priyamvada tended to wander off when she was in this state? That could be so dangerous...

For a second, she had a vivid recollection of Aadyabhoomi. And Priyamvada rushing out of a room all of a sudden, straight towards where Prithvi and Indrajit had been fighting...

She began to ask her mother more about what Prithvi had said but then her mother jumped up and hurried towards the guest room.

Worried, Nandini rushed after her.

Priyamvada had come out of the room, holding a folded blue silk saree. She appeared agitated and ill.

"I don't want to wear this," Priyamvada said in a strained voice to no one in particular. "I don't want silks. I want cotton. And in white or cream or very light shades. No other colours. And I don't want any dark prints on them."

With consternation, Sarojini was trying to think of how to handle this situation when she heard her daughter respond.

"I'll buy cotton sarees for you in those shades but shops are closed at this hour," Nandini told Priyamvada calmly. "You should wear this now, and I'll buy the sarees for you once the shops open."

Priyamvada looked at her doubtfully, then nodded with hesitation. She began to return to the guest room, but paused midway and looked at the light pink table cloth on the short centre table in the room.

She walked to it and ran a hand over the delicate, pretty embroidery on it. "Who did this?" she asked Sarojini curiously.

Sarojini tried to look humble as she kept a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "She did," she said with a broad smile, and proudly added, "She knows how to knit too."

Nandini looked in astonishment at her mother. This was one of the highly rare occasions when the urge to boast had evidently won over her mother's solid reluctance to say anything nice about her, especially in front of her.

Priyamvada looked at Nandini with a hopeful air. "I want to learn embroidery...and to knit. I want to make something for my son," she said with a wobble in her voice. "Could you teach me?"

Sarojini waited for her daughter's reply, but it didn't come instantly. She looked at Nandini with a quizzical frown, but then felt pleased when Nandini civilly said, "Yes, I'll teach you. After you take bath and have breakfast."

Looking reassured, Priyamvada headed back to the room.

Nandini turned and walked back to the kitchen. The interaction had been so brief but it had left her feeling very queasy and unsettled...

"Are you going to office today?" Sarojini asked keenly. "Or are you continuing your leave?"

Disconcerted, Nandini paused and looked at her mother. "I don't know...I haven't thought about it."

She absentmindedly took the box of spices and began to take the ones she wanted and put them in a small stone mortar.

Office...she had completely forgotten that a place like that existed. She had taken leave for being in Taravan, and now she was back in Shamli, and she could resume work if she wanted. It would actually be the most sensible and safest thing for her to do. For some hours, she could escape the reality of Priyamvada being in her house. And more crucially, the fewer the hours she spent at home, the lesser the chances that her heart would force her to do something dumb related to Prithvi. He had warned her...she needed to listen...

As she began to pound the spices to powder with the pestle, she weakly told her mother, "I think I should be at home today at least. I'll resume work tomorrow."

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