"She was innocent but you are family."

The dew-covered grass brushed against my feet while walking side by side with my brother. The night sky was now sparsely visible with scant trees present in the area. The voice of crickets chirping resonated in the expansive slopes, while our measured footsteps tried to hold onto the slippery grounds. Dried leaves and branches hidden in lush green grasses crunched under our feet, at times poking or jabbing them but this wasn't enough to hinder our pace.

"It should have been somewhere here." My brother muttered while navigating his steps. His back was slumped and he prodded the ground ahead with a stick to ensure safe advancement.

"Are we lost?" I questioned and moved ahead, minding my steps. The antaria flared with the wind and the cold nights started wafting out chills. He shook his head but the slowed down pace contrasted his words.

"We should stop. It is dangerous to walk in hilly areas at night and this threat magnifies when the route is not known." I suggested it before halting. Though he looked reluctant, my brother decided to follow my words for once and stopped at his spot. He turned around but the darkness concealed his visage, preventing me from analyzing his expression.

"Stay here. Let me check out the route ahead, the chirping of crickets means the fall is nearby." He said and trotted towards the nearest tall tree. With quick techniques, he started climbing the tree. The darkness was too much to actually contemplate where he was amongst the dense branches of the tree but the small creaks and twitching of branches indicated his meticulous method.

"Got something?" I cried out on noticing no particular voice coming from the tree. What I got back was utter silence. The lack of answer created a swirl in my gut and the song of crickets now had another beat intervening in the symphony, the one of my heart. The cool breeze brushed past my ears and the murmuring was back, ringing my head with calls of help. I stayed at my place, stiff and unmoving, waiting for my company to return while avoiding these whisperings.

"Gandhari." A gruff voice called out from my back and I rough hand nudged my shoulder abruptly, giving me a spoon that was followed by a shudder from me. "Hey! Gandhari, what happened?" The voice smoothed down and I finally recognized it as that of my brother.

"Are you okay?" He rubbed my back, my lips wobbled trying to hold down a shaky breath that was threatening to escape. "Gandhari?" He questioned again or called out my name in soft whispers.

"It-" I stuttered, my throat felt parched and my jaws stiffened, refusing to utter anything out. I was back to my trance-like state but this time, it was in the presence of my brother. On getting no reaction from me, he rushed somewhere. The sound of his steps were clear amongst the whispers but the direction it was heading was incomprehensible as it felt like they were moving in every direction at the same time.

A blinding light suddenly struck my eyes, instantaneously bringing me out from my daze. I squinted my eyes and blinked them rapidly a few times before turning back my attention to the source of this illumination. The fire on a roughly made torch danced on the tip, emitting the lone source of light in this darkness. While one side was burning, the other side was held by my brother whose visage was outlined by lines of worry.

"What just happened?" His words had a strain in them and a resolute intention to get an answer. I casted my eyes low, yet again escaping but that was in vain. He refused to speak a word ahead, with pursed lips he patiently waited for me to declare the fears gnawing me from within.

"I hear whispers." I stated, just above the audible tone, hoping he wouldn't listen but he did, every word. "They seek help. Perhaps a solace from me." I continued with quavery syllables. The silence was unmistakable, the crickets stopped chirping and soft rumblings of the branches too fell silent or perhaps my mind stopped comprehending any other sound except the irregular tune of my heartbeats.

"Is it…" his question was answered by a curt nod of my head before he could complete it.

"I see her, tattered, like the last time I witnessed. Her eyes were bloodshot, staring at me from the darkest corner of my room. Her pleas of help resonates but her lip remains sealed. She often gestures at my blood-covered hands. The markings, no matter how much I wash them, they stay there, beneath my skin." The dam of emotion broke with every description I gave out and tears started sliding down my cheeks.

"You…" he paused then shook his head before continuing, "You were not responsible for anything that happened."

"Is this really the case?" My eyes bore into his, my nose flared in anger but I was unable to understand the reason behind it. He tilted his head, trying to avoid my gaze which washed me with another wave of disappointment. "Just continue with the journey brother. Talking about the past would only ruin our little escapade." I weakly smiled at him before trotting a few steps away from him.

"Over there." He gestured in the opposite direction and started walking away. Wordlessly, I followed him with small steps, trying to not slip on the wet ground. Soon the faint music of water striking on rocks started playing from the direction we were heading. Our steps quickened and soon we faced the marvelous sight ahead us.

From a height the water was flowing down the  valley, harshly slapping against the moss covered rocks. The symphony playing had a power, a brilliance, that amplified in this serene ambience. The stream flowed ahead, providing a perfect abode to the fireflies who were dancing along the music created and the soft dribbles of water. The soft moonlight added an beguiling hue in this exquisite painting of nature and the peace the whole place radiated calmed my inner turmoil.

"This-" I sucked in a breath trying to articulate a suited word for the panoramic view ahead of me. I turned towards my brother who was silently sitting on the ground with the torch tugged next to him. Seeing him lost in some other plane, I nudged him, for which he glanced at me once before looking back at the scene.

"Thinking of something?" I questioned, breaking the silence.

"Nothing." He muttered and kept staring at the water.

"Oh" I mumbled and fixed my gaze at the visage that held a grim expression. "Is it about what happened there?"

"Partly." He answered half heartedly.

"Then?"

"Gandhari, you have changed." My brother said in a heavy tone, his eyes carrying an unknown guilt. Though our gaze didn't lock, the message was clear.

"Maybe because now I have been trained for every action I take." I mumbled out the truth. I fiddled with the hem of antariya taking soft, laborious breaths.

"Indeed?"

"This is what I say to myself." My tone dwindled with every word I spoke. "It gives me a false sense of cleanliness."

"Gandhari." He hitched then turned to face me. "Like I said earlier, you were nowhere at fault. You didn't even know what would happen." His words were soft, as if cooing me out of my hole of guilt.

"I knew." I breathed out, clenching the hem tightly, I closed my eyes. "I knew everything, I knew this was a plot to extract a maid out of the room. I knew precisely that she would be harmed, yet I decided to sacrifice her." My tongue twisted in odd angles and I croaked.

"I could have stopped Sugdha to send her or the guards who dragged her unconscious form away but I- the only thing I did was cry, morning when I could have done something, anything. The path looked easy, so I gave in, I tried so much to portray myself as clean that I shifted all the blame to Sugdha. Hence, I am a culprit, culprit of my conscience." I blurted out, trying not to choke while sobbing. My eyes had trails of tears marking it but all the agony seemed to be flooding in my entire being.

This entire time my brother kept his silence, patiently listening to my outburst with a clear pair of eyes that didn't have a speck of disappointment in them as if he wasn't judging me at all. When he saw that my little monologue was over, he hugged my withering frame tightly and whispered in my ears, "Everything is alright. Don't cry. I am here."

After speaking a few more words to pacify me he wiped away my tears. "I know, you have several queries bubbling inside. At times self hate too but this is the weight we have to carry."

"You know brother, at times, I wish things were different. I wish they were simpler. Why can't we just sentence the convict? Why did poor Dviti have to go through all this? Can't this case be handled with more integrity than blaming?" I questioned, my fingers combed through my hair, trying to massage my throbbing temples but they were in vain.

"This was our only way out." He replied in a flat tone and there was a mask of indifference on his face.

"Seriously? And tell me why?" The previous anger started to resurface and I fisted the antaria from my other hand.

"Because you were at stake." He whispered in a feeble tone.

"So you forsake an innocent soul?" I scoffed at his claims. My eyes refused to even look at his direction but the words he spoke next made me break this resolve.

"She was innocent but you are family."

The strength his words carried was too strong for me to ignore, so tender were they spoken and so morally wrong were the idea that it shook me from within.

"Does… Is this idea shared by our parents?" I stuttered, the world I viewed seemed to be on the verge of shattering with the frame that protected it, hung on a string of syllables.

"No, I did use their name but they have no idea regarding Dviti. They only know you were betrayed by a maid." He answered and finally I sighed in relief.

"Brother" I called out his name. "You said, it was me who changed but now when I look at it, you too have withered during this course of time." I mustered a weak smile that fell almost instantaneously.

"Perhaps."

"Would you let Dviti go?" I gave a last try.

"No." He answered in a single word yet again.

Listening to his reply, I burst into fits of laughter and shook my head in disappointment.

"Isn't this funny? We are siblings but strangers at the same time." I mused and leaned on the tree nearby. The sting on ants that were crawling on the same tree felt too minute when compared to the words spoken earlier. My brother cleared his throat as if he wanted to speak out something but the silence prevailed. His lips wobbled and finally he spoke, "This doesn't have to be like this."

"True."

"This conversation-" He started. "Was unpleasant." I finished his sentence.

"But don't worry brother, I will forget. After all, there is a blindfold on my eyes that conveniently helps me to ignore things." I chuckled at my own words, "The eyes loved by all were blindfolded long ago. They are trained to do this." I stared at the water flowing and the same went for time that was constantly moving, waiting for none.

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Hello people! The update is here.

Now you know why Gandhari was acting like that.

Hope this chapter clears out some of the mysteries.

But there are still few left. Stay tuned to catch up on them.

What do you think about this exchange between siblings?

Do you like the chapter?

Tell me through your comments!

Till then byes