Her dagger was at a man's throat.

It glinted wickedly in the silvery moonlight that illuminated her sylph figure. Raven tresses cascaded like a silken waterfall past her ears. Her tawny complexion appeared a warm beige under the silvery rays that lit up the premises of the Vishnu temple.

The man's eyes were wide in fear, his gaze travelling between the dagger that was firmly at his neck and his to-be killer.

The foul scent of fear was in the air.

"Tell me," she snarled past perfect pink lips, "Tell me why should I spare you?"

"I—I have a wife and children awaiting me," he begged.

"Your wife and children would thank me for releasing the burden of such a sinner from their lives!" she spat at him.

The man looked around, helplessly searching for a means of escape. His eyes fell on the murti of Narayana that stood tall and almost menacing over him. SheshaNaaga hovered protectively over his Lord's head, and though his eyes were closed in peace, the murti towered over the man, reminding him of the hellish forms the Preserver had taken to protect his devotees.

Seeing the man's gaze directed towards the Vishnu murti, she hissed at him, "Pray, you foolish man. Pray for your sins and hope that he will absolve you of the grievous sins you have committed in his name. Pray for mercy in your afterlife, because there shall be none in this life."

Saying so, she waited to see what the man would do.

"MahaKaali, Mahadevi, take me into thy embrace! Protect me from this monster!" He pleaded softly and she did not care to listen, allowing the man his last words. No one would ever come for him. Not tonight.

The man struggled viciously against her, but he was no match for her who had already been through this process many times.

A swift death would only be in her—and his—best interest.

Driving the dagger into his neck, she pierced the jugular vein. The man gave a wordless choke of surprise, being unable to form words. Blood pooled around his neck, and she had to readjust her hold on him so that her own dress did not get dirty.

Finally, the man croaked out a word which might have been a name or a plea, but she paid it no heed. His struggles slowed, until his soul sought freedom from his body and all life abandoned it.

Thus another died, on the very threshold of a holy temple.

Pulling the dagger out, she almost nonchalantly wiped it on the dead man's paridhana. And when she was about to drag the body to the forest behind the temple, she noticed movement behind her.

"Lilavati."

The name was spoken with a cool regard, a faint foreign tinge to the voice that was greeting her.

"Iltani," she acknowledged, silently glad to see the woman in front of her.

She had met Iltani many years ago, and the enigmatic priestess in front of her was eyeing the body with distaste.

Iltani wore a flowing white tunic, a golden circlet upon her brow and a similar girdle with a golden eight-pointed star encircling her waist. Her dark hair was bound in a bun, curly locks tucked behind an ear.

She stared down at the dead body with pity in her eyes.

"What did he do?"

Lilavati's shoulders shook with suppressed rage as she recalled what had led her to bring him here. "He swore at Narayana, badmouthing him in every way possible and using the foulest language against his pure name. I am glad such a sinner is dead."

"Did you even—" Iltani sighed, "Leave the body to me."

She complied instantly, dropping the leg of the body. She left her friend without another word, walking past her as Iltani sank to her knees, murmuring a prayer for the man's soul in her native language.

~

"Om Namo Narayanaya," she whispered, her hands folded in prayer.

The waves crashed on the rocks a distance away from her, the somewhat soothing lull providing a background noise to which she could focus on and not think about what she had just done. Sea spray occasionally made itself known to her, lapping at her feet but never touching her.

The wind stirred in response to her chant, and it was as though the world itself disapproved of her chanting such a pure name.

She snorted inwardly.

She had been tainted with the blood of people, innocent or not, and she knew she was unworthy of uttering his name, but she continued to do so for her love.

"Swami, I know my sins. They are grievous, and perhaps I will not find redemption for them. But what is the world when it blasphemes its own creator? Such a world is not worth living in, and the diseased parts must be removed if we are to look up and love you in all your glory. I am unworthy to even utter your name or hear of your glories, but for my love I would do aught—and love you is all I can do."

She paused, her ears picking on the soft rustling of a dress amidst the crashing of the waves.

Lilavati looked up to see a vial proffered to her. Iltani held a clear vial out to her, filled with a liquid that was slightly milky in colour. She took it.

"You know what it is for."

"I do," she sighed, uncorking the vial and downing it in a single gulp. The liquid ran down her throat in a soothing manner, and she sank back down, instantly feeling a wave of sleep overcoming her.

She managed to make it to the small camp she had made, and curled up against the warmth of a dying fire.

Just before sleep claimed her she saw Iltani sitting beside her, stroking her hair, her striking eyes alight with a somewhat strange light in them.

"Are you not cold?" she asked, raising her hand to brush it against her pale face.

Iltani shook her head, murmuring something else.

"If you can find it in your heart to forgive me..."

But she could not hear anymore. Lilavati's eyelids grew heavier and she surrendered, allowing a dreamless sleep to overtake her.

~

When one night she had been sleeping in the soft lap of her friend, she now awoke to a cold stone floor. She lay still, instantly realising that she was not where she had gone to sleep. There was no rush of the waves beside her, nor the gentle crackling of a fire. She should have felt the warm sunlight on her skin unless she had slept through a full day.

Instead, she was greeted with darkness and the cold floor against which she lay. There was a soft conversation in the background, the occasional scream and the snap of a whip or some other implement. She rose, blinking to clear her vision. Once her vision was clear enough, it all became clear to her. She was in a cell, strong metal bars blocking her off from the world.

"How did I get here?"

Her voice was nothing beyond a hoarse whisper as she surveyed her surroundings. Her hands had been bound by fetters, shackled so tightly her palms had turned slightly pale from the lack of blood circulation.

Where am I?

She gathered herself, locking all of her panic into a small part of her mind and tried to ignore the gnawing feeling that Iltani had betrayed her.

Iltani wouldn't do that. She has helped me countless times, she wouldn't betray me now.

Then she began to listen to the conversation of the guards that moved outside her cell.

"—I don't understand why she was brought here—"

"—She's said to have murdered more than twenty people—"

"—My new whip works like a charm—"

"—That fake sage desires very greatly to see Dvarakadhisha—"

"—Keep your traps shut unless you desire to be punished by the head—"

Dvarakadhisha?

So she must be in Dvaraka.

The home of one who was purported to be the incarnation of her Lord.

Lilavati suddenly found herself unable to swallow against the dryness of her throat.

~

Time passed like the flash of her dagger but also the slow sluggish movement of a river, both slow and quick.

She kept repeating one sentence in her head: Iltani would not betray me like this. But she knew it was true. She had always been very cautious. No one but Iltani had ever gotten close enough to deal with her. She was blank, floating in an ocean that seemed to have no bounds nor any horizon. All she could do was wait.

One of the guards had finally noticed she was awake.

Her chains had been removed once there had been a thorough search of her person. She wanted to spit in the face of the guard who handled her, a lecherous grin on his cursed face, lingering over her bosom, but then there was a sharp slap that sent the man reeling to the floor.

"How many times must this lesson be taught to you?" growled a younger man, who towered over the albeit burly man.

"Dvarakadhisha has ordered repeatedly that there is to be no harm to the prisoners, no matter how many deplorable crimes they may have committed. They too are humans, and we would be no better than animals if we allowed them to be harmed. They will face their justice in the court, not here."

She thanked the man, who then raised an eyebrow at her.

"I do my duty; that is all. You are a murderer, and that does not change. Had I been a free man, I assure you that your life would have been in danger. You are a monster. Nothing else."

She backed away, wishing to curl up in a ball and shut out the outside world. Iltani's betrayal had already struck her heart, these words, though she deserved it, were even more harsh.

Finally, the time came when a guard stared down at her, announcing, "She is to be brought before the court soon. The higher court. Make sure she is clean enough to face them."

As she was pushed to the wash basin, her heart hammered and her throat went dry.

The higher court.

She was to be dealt justice by her Lord's hand.