PEREGRINATE

CHAPTER 19

The next few days I had to face a great dilemma of how to behave around Inder. We lived under the same roof and I was bound to run into him some time or the other. As he was preoccupied with being a prince and running a kingdom he sought me out less in the past few days. But still sometimes were unavoidable, like at mealtimes and when he trained on the castle grounds.

My poor avoidance tactics mostly involved hiding behind the door or diving into the bushes whenever I saw him. Relying only on myself would have given me away or caused me grievous injuries. I had to recruit others. I instructed them to let me know in case he was on my way. Though they had plenty of questions in their eyes, they did not voice them. I could even swear I saw relief on Isha's face. 

Laksh was a bit difficult to convince. He was quite taken with Inder and ardently believed that he could do no wrong. So I bribed him with sweets. He was a good ally to have as he had the uncanny ability to mimic bird calls which were eerily similar to the real ones. 

Kabir was all too happy to help me. He was my lookout for the times I had to be outdoors. He also gave me small tasks like feeding the horses and brushing them so I could spend a part of the day at the stalls away from the castle.

There were no limits I was not willing to go to in order to ensure Inder's safety.

When I had first come to know of his death, in a library in the 21st century, I had felt as if I had lost a dear one myself. Even though I was aware that it was natural for him to be dead at my time. But now when I was here, possibly within a few months of when it was supposed to happen, it felt preventable. Maybe I was brought here to save him. It was within my capacity to stop the disaster. I could not squander this opportunity away.

The dream held a strong hold on me. No matter how vehemently I rejected the possibility of harming Inder, the dream could find its way back to me, often in my sleep when my defenses were down. I started to force myself to stay awake. I could not relive the nightmare again and again. I had to bring an end to this.

I took no pleasure in this venture. It felt wrong to spend even a day without talking to him. I missed him terribly. However, it lasted only for a week.

The next week when I was putting the wet clothes on the line, Nani marched up to me. She preferred to stay in the kitchen so seeing her here was surprising.

"Hello, Nani. Is there something that you need?" I turned to her. Anger made her scrunch up her wrinkled forehead.

"Look, girl, do not act all polite with me now. I gave you a week," she gave me a pointed look. "The entire week I played your game and was badgered by Inder. Not only me but the others too. The poor guy must have come by the quarters every hour of the day." Disappointment flashed on her face. 

"He is worried sick about you possibly being unwell. But today after an hour of pacing and ranting, I finally had to let it out that you were healthy. And let me just tell you that he was not too happy. So give me that basket of clothes and go meet him at your spot. Resolve whatever fight you have got into now. You are off for the rest of the day," she declared.

Before I could just get out one word of protest I was cut off by just a look. If I held my life dear, I should follow her orders. Though I did turn towards the meadow my under-the-breath grumbles conveyed my disagreement.

"I mean it, Maitri. I better not hear that you were seen on the grounds. God forbid I will chase you off myself!"

I waved my hand to acknowledge her message.

Was it not wrong to send a girl to a boy who was obviously very angry at her? I could be harmed. I had to chuckle at the irony of that thought.

Avoiding Inder was not an option anymore. If I told him about his death, I would have to tell him everything including me coming from the future and how someone he knew was a suspect.