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    A ZEAL LIKE NO other butterfly, Aaina sauntered her way toward the hill, accompanied by a pummeling heart and a clear direction. She never felt a freedom like without any worry at the back of her mind. This was it, the key to all the solutions to her troubles. Who was to stop her now?

    Her toes halted over the hill slope, careful to press them harder on the ground to secure her stance. She hated the slopey part of the hill the most. Not only did one have to apply more strength than usual, but also there was a risk of slipping off the grainy ground.

    Her pace turned slower, approaching the gates, quiet and watchful. No sooner did she step past it. The well emerged. A quite familiar aspect in her memory of her last visit there. The breeze, the leafy smells of trees and dew, wafted into her nostrils, and so did the eerie heaviness of silence. 

    Her skin charged up, goosebumps  emanating like wildfire as she sensed that someone was looking at her. She could feel it burning on her. There was definitely something wrong with that place. But it was her final call, a last resort, and her only hope. 

    She looked to her right to find a dark jacket dangling in front of her face and jumped in fright as if it was her own death threatening her. 

    "Why do you always scare me?" Aaina recoiled back towards a tree for support. 

    The man from the hill stared back at her in amusement. Aaina noticed he took a step back. Out of courtesy? Or just stalling for a bigger blow? 

    "Why are you always here? Trespassing is quite a serious offense, you know, " he spoke.

    Her heartbeats took a moment to calm."I know, but. . ."

    "But what?"

    ". . . I'm here . . ."

    His head bent slightly, waiting for an answer. 

    "I'm here to talk to you,"

    Something stirred in his expression as if he was not expecting that. He gave her a long stare, a difficult one to crack at that but quite judgemental, she thought. 

    She stepped four spaces back away from him to maintain the 'stranger' proximity, in case his mood changed again like last time. Yet she put up her fiercest expression. He eyed her Howin suspicion. 

    "What about?" He turned around and started walking. 

    Aaina played with the hem of her dupatta and dragged alongside. "Can we talk somewhere in private?" Probably the only idea that could lead her to where she wanted to go.

    "There is nobody except us here,"

    True that. 

    "Uhh. . . " She struggled to start a conversation. It was awkward, to say the least. He could be anyone, a madman, a dacoit, or a murderer. He hadn't done anything along those lines yet, and at least he was willing to talk, so she might be able to get some intel if not all.

    "My name is Aaina, by the way. I live just down the hill, at Hira Ghar — you must be knowing, everyone knows my kaki. " she took a stifling pause. "And. . . what's your name?" 

    There was no way she was getting an answer given his hypervigilant eyes and stern face. How could someone so young be so alert all the time? Can't he just relax? 

    "What is it that you want to do?" A cool response came that excited, Aaina.

    "I want to explore the grounds," There, she said it. 

    Please don't refuse, please.  . .

    "No," He declared and turned to the other side.

    "Wait! I'm going to do it regardless of what you say. " 

    She heard him scoff. His pace fastened, and so did hers.

    "There's no chance you'll last even an hour here without me,"

    She glanced at him. "It's good to be confident, but my reasons are completely noble. You don't have to worry about my safety. " 

    "I don't care what happens to you. I don't want a stranger lingering on my property —"

    She sidled afore him, which ceased his own pace, and he stood like a forsaken prisoner in front of her, arms folded behind.

    "I know, that is why I am ready to pay a visiting fee. Like a tourist to the grounds. You name it and I'll pay. Just let me explore it on my own. "

    "Look, madam, this place is not up for rent to anyone who wishes to do anything inside, away from legal scrutiny and —"

    "No, no. How dare you think I'm a con?" 

    He took a deep, exasperated breath. "Then do tell me your 'noble' reason of being here,"

    "I already did. And I promise I won't damage anything, disturb you in any way, or steal anything. I will never do that. "

    "And how do I make sure you don't?"

    At this, Aaina gasped. "I'm a virtuous woman of this town, can't you respect my word?" 

    What would it take to convince this difficult man? 

    "Look, I know my words seem a little bit provocative for you to consider me a thief or a stalker but I really, really want to, have to go in and explore. If our roles were changed, I would do this for you as well. Maybe I need to—

    "Alright." 

    "—convince you more because, I get it, it's not a small thing to just go up to someone and ask—kya? What did you say?" 

    The air felt a bit different to Aaina then because what she just saw was quite incomprehensible, to say the least. He was nodding. Not in annoyance and not so much in genuinity either, but at least we got something.

    "You just agreed? Sach mein?"

    He raised his index finger in front of my face. "Only on one condition" 

    There is always a catch, isn't there? 

    "And?"

    "I get the right to do the same." 

    Eh? 

    Did she hear that right? 

    "To do what?"

    "To explore your home too."

    "Baawlo ho gayo hai! Are you insane?" Aaina found it hard to digest why he would suggest something like that

    "Did I react like that when you requested the same?"

    "A little bit, but this is not a game. You will do as I do. You didn't even think of it before. You have no motive there. "

    "Well then, you know the way back. Please see yourself out. "

    "This is not really fair. I understand you want something in return, but your request is baseless. You just thought of it this instance. Tell me what your intentions are!"

    "I agree to your demands only under this bargain,"

    Aaina slapped her palm on her forehead lightly. 

   Was it wrong on her part to even request in the first place? She was only asking to look, nothing else. She had taken the initiative and asked him rather than barge in. He could have absolutely no rational reason to want to explore her home. 

    He was quite certain in his words and stopped in his path to look up at her, his dark locks dangling under his pierced ears.

    "I do not want to know what you do as long as you don't wander off to the grove behind"

    Her voice turned eager. "I won't. If you fear I'm going to steal your fruits or your land, I am not that petty. I own a bigger land than that"

    "You don't, your kaki does," He said with a straight face.

   "But I still enjoy its advantages. And maybe in a year, I'll have my own"

    "Regardless, if you want any access to these grounds, you will have to let me do the same."

    Was he making sense? Not in the slightest. 

    Could she complain? Bilkul nahi. She was doing the same with him. 

    But letting him in, in the absence of kaki? Precisely when she had given her a long lecture about not doing anything otherwise. Inviting a young man of all people, how will she handle it? 

    "Are you going to hurt anybody? Steal something? Anticipation laced her voice.

    He shrugged with a wicked grin. "Only if you do,"

    She rolled her eyes. "You think I am a threat? Me? I've never hurt anybody in my life. "

    "Yes. We do not know each other, do we?" He asked in casual speculation.

    "What kind of a negotiation is that?"

    "A silent one, I believe. You do you and I do me. We never disclose our reasons. No one gets hurt. "

    "Are you just taking advantage of the situation? What could you possibly want, sneaking into my house like that?" 

    He raised his brows in savance, and she realised how she could be trapped in this. An eye for an eye. The way he said did not suggest anything particularly indecent, yet still, what did she know about him? Maybe somewhere in her mind, she was hypocritical. She was demanding, and so was he. But one also had to be careful.

    "Just know that it's as important for me as it is for you to be here," he said.

    Really? She had to place faith in him of how he would. Maybe it was a risk she had to take for once. 

    "And as for trust, that is something we have to bet on."

    It was a tough call. What if she got caught? As long as kaki was nowhere near, the scenario seemed pretty much low-risk, apart from the trust part. She did not trust him at all, but that would have to wait till she found what she was looking for. She closed her eyes in deep speculation and sighed. 

    "If I see you—"

    "You won't even know I was there," he interrupted. 

    "Pakka? Because I have some very vigilant people guarding the house at all times. My room is off limits, also the kitchen and don't misbehave with the staff and—"

    "This discussion is over," He said, turning away with agitation mantling his countenance.

    "No, it's not. Stay where you are. " She sneered at his back.

    He stopped in his tracks, scrutinising the audacity with which she talked to him. Those who stepped in Chakradhan Hill usually had no choice but to be tongue-tied and to shake like a leaf. While this woman had no qualms in calling him out in the dark.

    "I'll pay you more if you take back that barter,"

    "I love this deal. I'm not going back now.

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