Just as the vegetarian baniyas had dispensed with their frugal, vegetarian meal the guardsmen's meal was announced. They would have bhuna kukda or roasted jungle fowl that they managed to hunt to supplement their ration after a little mahua liquor had passed down their throat, though not enough to make them intoxicated and lose their alertness while keeping watch in shifts. A troupe of Bundeli Raai dancers had showed up, and a little sensuous entertainment by the bedni girls followed once they had downed generous swigs of the mahua themselves. The Diva of the troupe was a shapely, mocha skinned young dancer called Rewa, she was the favourite as she packed skills with a range far beyond the performance stage, as Samsher reminded Randhir who was seated next to him. 

The bednis are professional dancers who perform on social occasions but a few of them also supplement their income by offering services to men for the pursuit of carnal temptations. The younger, prettier girls can afford to be selective about their bed-mates and are handsomely compensated. A smitten lover sometimes makes the ultimate offer of sar-dhakai wherein if she so wishes she could agree to  become his exclusive mistress. Rewa's mother Kajri had warmed Samsher's bed often, but her daughter had a different target in mind tonight.  As she surveyed the strapping young warrior flanking Samsher, Rewa decided to descend upon him. 

She took professional pride in her conquests and no man had ever turned down her offer, though this one sat with a poker face perplexing her. She was determined to be under him tonight, as she swayed before him seductively to the music, contorting her body and leaving little to the imagination with her revealing clothes. Trying hard to exhibit restraint Randhir was fighting a losing battle, he would be in trouble if she managed to spot the swell of his arousal. The next thing he knew she had tripped while dancing and had fallen bosom first over him, making it hard for him to budge as her legs were tangled with his.

Another young girl who had been watching the sight from a discrete distance decided that she has seen enough.  Even she could not believe what she did next out of sheer frustration as her foot lunged at something in the bushes and soon her screams rang through the camp, rousing the company of guards. As he heard her familiar voice Randhir managed to scramble up and rushed toward her. He found his young charge collapsed on the ground and bursting into tears, telling her people that she had just been bitten by a snake. Randhir gingerly examined her leg by torchlight, studying the bite marks for a moment and let out a sigh of relief as he noticed the double row of teeth marks rather than fangs, the bite was from a non-venomous variety, probably a dhaman or rat snake. He asked her to be calm and assured the members of her family advising them to rinse the bite marks with clean water and to apply some ground turmeric on them as he left to keep the first watch. 

After things had quieted down and the Bednis left the camp along with an unsatiated Rewa, Randhir contemplated about the coincidence of the timing of recent events, what was the girl doing outside when she was supposed to be asleep along with the others? If she had to go into the bushes to relieve herself she would take a companion along, that was the protocol, but apparently she had been alone. He was happy she was fine, he could never get over it if something happened to her on his watch, he would feel responsible somehow. He shifted his focus on guard duty and in due time was back for his rest after his reliever came to stand in for him. Two women had been a source of enough drama for him that night, one was after his virtue and the other was either being plain stupid or had her own reasons to be bitten by a snake in a bush she has no business being alone in at that hour.

The following day when his morning ablutions were completed he was surprised to see the young girl cooing to his horse , feeding him little portions of carrot. Taking care not to startle her he asked her politely how her wound was and she said she was fine. He told her she should be back with the other woman of her camp and told her not to wander alone like this, tempted to remind her that his Pawan was a trained Marwari war-horse, not some playful puppy to delight over-grown children like her.  To his surprise she lifted her veil as her angry eyes flashed at him, telling him that she was not a child that he was trying to be over-protective toward, and that if in the night he had not been busy being serenaded by his dancing girl she would not have been bitten at all. In a flash she veiled herself again and stormed off, leaving him amazed with what she had just confessed in her anger.

So the wench had been watching him and Rewa, and had been so overcome by jealousy that she had mindlessly provoked the snake to strike her just to create a commotion. It looked like she was becoming possessive of him, which also explained why she was trying to sweet up to Pawan to whom she had access, unlike to him. As he looked up he saw Samsher smirking at him, he had seen the debacle between him and the baniya's daughter. He walked away as he recalled her beautiful face that she had revealed just long enough to set his senses afire, thinking whether he should ignore her sentiment or continue to enjoy it from afar.