Ojaswini went to meet Rudradev in the royal library. She found him reading a book. She said to him,"What is so special in the book that the crown prince of Matangpur did not feel the presence of another person in his vicinity?" Rudradev closed the book and looked at her. He smiled at her and said,"I was reading the love story of Nala and Damayanti. Love makes men do wonders." Ojaswini said,"Why did you call me here?" Rudradev smiled.

Ojaswini said to him,"I did not ask you to smile." Rudradev said,"Your brother entered the palace early in the morning like a thief. When I inquired about it, I learnt that, he has been doing that for several days. He leaves the palace at night and enters it before the sunrise. Where does he spend the night?"

Ojaswini sighed. She said,"A few days ago, I narrated the story of Mohini to you. Do you remember it?" Rudradev nodded his head and said,"Yes". Ojaswini smirked and said,"I did not narrate the story to you just because I wanted to narrate a Hari-katha. My brother had called a few courtesans that day. As far as I have heard, he used to spend time with courtesans in the Shaila kingdom too. And now, he pays regular visits to the brothel."

Rudradev's smile vanished. He said,"So, you knew about this. Why did you not tell me?"

Ojaswini placed her hand on the table and said,"I wanted to know how interested he is in that courtesan. Moreover, I did not need to tell you. You discovered it yourself."

Rudradev and Ojaswini started laughing. Rudradev said,"You must have found out who she is." Ojaswini said to him,"Her name is Menka. It seems to me that my brother likes her a lot. He visits her every other night."

Garuda kingdom:

Takshak and Parnalekha were walking through the dense forest. Parnalekha said to him,"Are you sure that we are on the correct path?" Takshak smiled at her but did not say anything.

Parnalekha was growing restless. Takshak stopped. Parnalekha was confused. She said,"Why did you sto....." Takshak closed her mouth with his hand and placed his dagger on her throat. He said,"Beautiful lady, the days and nights will not grow shorter just because of your screaming. We are going to reach Ajaynagar soon." He pulled away the dagger and smiled at her.

Just then, they heard the sound of thunder. Takshak said,"I think that it is going to rain." A few drops of rain started falling from the sky and after a few moments, it started raining heavily. Parnalekha said,"This place is full of stones. This place has become slippery now. We have to be careful."

Takshak said to her,"If I slip from here and die, will you leave my corpse here and continue your journey." Parnalekha turned away from him and said,"Ofcourse I will continue my journey. Why do you think that I will stay with your corpse?" Takshak did not say anything.

They continued their journey. Parnalekha was walking when she lost her balance and fell down. She had fallen on mud. Her clothes were dirty. Takshak looked at her. He said,"My dear Parnalekha, look at yourself. You look like a Pishachini." Parnalekha glared at him angrily. Takshak laughed a little and said,"You have to wait for the rain to stop. When the rain stops, you can clean yourself." Parnalekha did not say anything. Takshak helped her to get up from her place. He said,"Let us take shelter under that tree."

They walked towards a nearby tree and stood under it. The rain stopped after sometime. The sun had already set. The forest was illuminated by the silver light of the full moon. Takshak said to her,"There is a small spring. You can take a bath there. I will keep a watch." Parnalekha nodded her head.

Parnalekha was taking a bath when she heard the howl of a wolf. The sound was increasing. She felt as if the wolf was getting closer. After sometime, the sound was not heard anymore. However, she could feel an uncanny presence near her. She closed her eyes to concentrate. Just then, she felt a wind passing near her. She heard a painful cry. She looked back and saw a dead wolf. She saw that it was struck by an arrow. She heard a voice which said,"Parnalekha, do not panic. It is me, Takshak." Parnalekha felt relieved.

Takshak walked up to her. Her clothes were drenched in water. They were sticking to her body. Her wet hair was partially covering her face. The moonlight reflected from the droplets of water on her body. Takshak was spellbound. He closed his eyes and turned to the other side. He said,"Parnalekha, I will stand there. Change your clothes fast. We need to leave this place."

Parnalekha noticed the strange behaviour of Takshak. For the first time in her life, she had wanted to get close to a man. She wanted to get lost in his eyes. She felt as if he was the only one who could put out a fire that has been burning inside her for several years. She sighed. Then, she changed her clothes while Takshak turned to the other side.

Takshak and Parnalekha resumed their journey. Parnalekha said to him,"Takshak, thank you for saving me." Takshak smiled at her and said,"I cannot let you die. Specially when you are so beautiful. You are a thorn that has pierced my heart. I do not know if I will be able to take it out. Anyways, I am not cruel like you. You are going to let me rot here if I die." Parnalekha looked down. She said,"I was joking. I am not going to leave you just like that." Takshak smirked.
Parnalekha questioned herself. She whispered to herself,"Is this love?"

Matangpur:

Rudradev was sitting in his chamber with Sambhava.

Sambhava said,"Yuvraj, what have you thought about that courtesan? Can we ask her to kill Rajkumar Vinayak?" Rudradev twisted his eyebrow. He said to him,"I wanted to do that but Ojaswini has stopped me." Sambhava bit his lip. He said,"What could be the reason, Yuvraj?"

Rudradev sighed. He stood up from his place and said,"She said that we need to wait for sometime. If we tell the courtesan to kill him now, she might not do it. Ojaswini said that, if we wait for sometime, the courtesan will kill him even if we do not ask her to do it."