The Historic Muse

Chapter 4 - Animal Attraction

It had taken the whole day for Hiranya to understand the scope and design of the caves. Everyone involved on the project had wanted to personally meet him during the formal introduction organized by Bindudev. Everyone had suddenly sprouted new ideas and wanted to get in the good books of the new Master designer.

This is what Hiranya hated...the politics of working with people. People preferred to talk more than they liked to work. And that was simply a waste of time. Strangely every single one of the inspired workmen had rushed off to their homes as soon as the sun started setting.

It was better this way, Hiranya thought, as he sculpted away a descriptive scene from Mahabharata on an outer wall of the temple complex within the cave. He could finally work and not be bothered by any of the other sculptors.

The flickering light of fire afforded him a decent view of the cave complex. With his back to the cave entrance, he went on hammering the stone relentlessly. He didn't realise when a silent figure entered the cave and hid in the shadows to watch him work.

*

Apsara was mesmerized by the animalistic built of the stranger in the cave. He had a gruff dhoti on and other than that he was bare bodied. His pyramidal torso narrowed into a waist and was stocked with flexing muscles.

Unaware of the world around him, the stranger continued his obsessive hammering of the stone. It was as if he was putting his own life force into the stone, while chiselling out characters that never existed before.

Sweat glistened on his back as his shoulder muscles bunched up and released with every stroke he made on the stone. Apsara stared up at him with open admiration and awe. Hoisted up on a wooden platform, he was a working away at the wall like a true master. Many moments passed before Apsara realized that she had been holding her breath and released a long exhale.

As she did that, a nearby lamp flickered and the steady tinkering of the stranger's hammer stopped. Apsara stood rooted to her spot in the shadows as the stranger slowly turned and looked at the disturbed flame of the lamp.

She looked at his side profile with naked hunger in her eyes. There was an undeniable animal pull that she felt towards him. His features were chiselled like the stone he worked on. And his wavy brown locks were speckled with dust and sweat. He was a man in all his worldly glory...but he had somehow ignited an animalistic passion inside Apsara, which she never thought was possible.

As the lamp flame settled down, the stranger slowly turned back towards his work and resumed hammering. Tentatively, Apsara started moving in the shadows around the cave perimeter. She wanted to make sure it was the same man she had seen outside the cave earlier today.

Under the sound of his hammer against stone, Apsara sneaked stealthily around the platform. She had almost gone half a circle and was once again able to see his side profile when the stranger suddenly stopped hammering and jumped from the wooden platform. He landed on his feet effortlessly and looked unwaveringly at the spot where Apsara was hidden.

It was as if her heart started hammering as soon as the pummel of the hammer on the stone stopped. The stranger took a step towards the shadows and squinted into the corner Apsara was trying to hide in. He extended an arm towards her and said in a hoarse breath...

'Apsara...?'

Molten heat suddenly surged into the pit of her stomach. Her name on his lips was a little dose of ecstasy. She wanted to hear it again and again and again...

Wait, how did he know her name? Apsara stepped forward into the light. As her black eyes met his hazel ones, a fire ignited in her chest. Every inch of her skin felt raw and oversensitive with cackling goosebumps.

'Who are you?' She breathed with in a choked whisper.

He took another step towards her and ran hungry eyes all over her. He was still as stone but a strange energy seemed to be running under his skin, making him shiver slightly.

'I am Hiranya.' He answered simply, the same hoarse voice.

'Hiranya...' She tasted his name on her tongue. And as she did that, she heard a sharp intake of breath by him.

'How do you know my name?' She asked him, taking a shy step toward him.

'Lakhan...he is my new servant... He told me...' Hiranya answered. He had not blinked once since setting eyes on her. The intensity of his stare was slowly melting Apsara in her spot.

'If Lakhan is your new servant, then you must be the new Chief sculptor'. Apsara said without thinking. Lakhan was her father's shadow when he was the chief sculptor here.
If this man was the new master of Lakhan, he must have joined the same position. He didn't look much older than her though... For him to be the new Master Designer at this age, he must be someone really special...

'I am...' Hiranya took another step towards her. They were just two feet apart now and Apsara could feel her cheeks to start burning in anticipation of his proximity. A strange feeling was flitting through her core and she was sensitive in all the wrong places. If she stayed near him any longer, she wasn't sure she would be able to control her animal urges...

'Sorry to interrupt your work...i just wanted to see where the tinkering noise was coming from. My Baba used to work late too...' As she explained her intentions the familiar pang of guilt surfaced inside her. Suddenly, she could feel her vision blurring. Hastily, Apsara turned away from Hiranya.

'Don't go!' Said Hiranya and closed the distance between them to grab hold of her shoulder. With his touch she froze on the spot and forgot about everything else.

Slowly, Hiranya turned her back towards him and lifted her averted face towards his own.

'Stay!' Was all he said.

Apsara was losing herself in his eyes. She clasped the hand that was holding her close to him and nodded up at him.

With great effort, Hiranya let go off of Apsara and stepped back towards the wooden platform. He swung back up on the plank and picked up his hammer. Every muscle in his body was tense to the point of breaking. He lifted his hammer and before he struck the stone once again, he turned to look at Apsara.

She stood there, reclined against the cave wall, looking up at him with an unreadable expression. Hiranya brought down the hammer with a resounding clang and continued sculpting the historic scene once more. But his heart was no longer in the task at hand.

And his body had certainly found a new passion...

*