PEREGRINATE

CHAPTER 29

Last night, when I had gone to sleep, a small part of me had expected to wake up with him. I could see that sleepy, not quite ready for the day side of him. Something told me that despite his peppy nature, he would not be a morning person. Unfortunately, I never got to find out.

The ramshackled half-falling tent we had gone to sleep was standing upright again. The holes had been covered and the nails firmly placed into the ground so that there would be no danger of it flying away with a mild wind.

As I emerged out of it, I found Inder chopping some wood nearby. The morning sun made his sweat glisten on his skin. He must be at it for hours.

"Morning. Have you been up for long?" I rubbed my eye, suppressing a yawn. I could sleep for a few more hours. 

"I could not get proper sleep last night. As you would have expected, I had a lot on my mind. And I think the best when my hands are occupied.

"I understand."

I did not ask him where his head was this morning. I could see on his face that he was still processing what we had learned last night. His eyes appeared sunken and red. He must have not got even a wink of sleep. I got him a mug of water to wash his face off. He quietly thanked me and went into the tent with it. He came out with his shirt partly wet and sticking to his skin.

"I was waiting for you to wake up. We need to set off for home immediately."

We went into the main tent to say our farewells but their hospitality was not over yet. We were invited to have breakfast with them and I was about this invitation. I still had some answers to get. Inder being the gentleman he was, could not deny them.

"I have some questions. Could you please answer them?" I asked Aastha. She and her mother were sitting opposite us, each of us having a plate of poha. Inder shifted closer to me. Any answers that we would receive could only cause further damage.

"Yes, I will try to the best of my ability."

"Why did they not kill Maitri? Back at the castle. That night." Inder left out a sharp exhale.

"We intervened."

"If you had the power to stop them, why did you not do so sooner?" Inder accused them wildly.

"We regret that we did not but we had our children to think of. When the palace guards came close by, his soldiers took off with our men. They left our children behind. Two men dragged Maitri into the bushes, intending to kill but we stopped them."

A shiver ran down my spine. Though it was not me they were talking about hearing an order of execution of anyone was surely unsettling.

"We fabricated the memory that they had already performed the act. They did not know any better and reported to their leader that you would no longer be a problem."

I let out a slow whistle, thoroughly impressed by their powers. Inder turned his glare towards me and I gave a little shrug. In these grim times, you need to take amusement from wherever you can.

Before leaving the tent Astha's mother requested me to stay back. Inder reluctantly left me to get the horse ready for our journey back.

"I have something for you," she rasped and took out a letter from her satchel. Despite her old age, her voice was strong and clear, with a hint of wheeze in between.

"Maitri wrote this letter for you. She asked me to hand it over to you once you arrived. We could not give it to you earlier because you see not knowing what happened kept you safe. And we were afraid that you were not strong enough to handle the truth in the early days. Now that you have spent some time here, with Inder you are more firmly tethered. " Gee, Grandma thanks for implying that I am chained like an animal.