Love you forever

Prolouge / at the very begining

Hello readers!! Welcome again to my world. For those who have read my earlier book, this is an entirely different story entirely with all new characters, but more bold and vivid. Hope you will enjoy reading this work of mine. And please don't forget to like and vote, it helps me write better. Love you all.

Sorry guys!!! I have been going through a massive editing spree. But I wanted to give you all the best that I could. So sorry for the trouble but hope you all love the newer version

"The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart." — Helen Keller

Prolouge

"Jaagte raho!! Jaagte raho!!
(Stay alert!! Stay alert!!)

Thuk!!!! Thukk!!!! Thukk!!! Thukk!!!"
The sound of the resounding bamboo stick loud and clear for all to hear.

It was the middle of the night. The watchman was diligently doing his rounds. Walking along the dark streets. A thick wooden stick in one hand, a lantern in the other. A blanket wrapped around, he kept calling out the waking call, banging on the hard stone floor as he walked, along the narrow roads, making a ringing sound. Letting all know that he was awake and everything was fine.

The city was asleep. Not many souls about this late in the night. The moon was shining but in half its glory, throwing light and dark patterns all around. The watchman had now reached the end of the street. From here the outer wall of the fort started. The street was wider, the houses more affluent. Most of the houses had high facades. Just the doorways were lit with lantern, throwing light. Leaving the other areas in darkness.  Thinking that he must have heard something the watchman stopped and then turned around for a moment, looked about and then shrugging started walking again.

Soon he was away barely audible. A slow grinding sound came, as a small opening appeared in the fort wall, a slight figure slide out silently, then turned and pressed a concealed lever. The opening closed back, as though never there. The figure detached itself from the darkness of the wall where that it had stood merged in, swinging a bundle over the left shoulder,  it walked quietly over to the other side of the street. Following the shadow of the high fort wall for a while, then it stopped. It kept standing there next to the fort wall, hidden in the dark, without moving. The sound of approaching steps making it stop. Looking around the person crouched and moved a few paces, staying now completely in the shadow of the wall, it made itself invisible.  Three men in a drunken haze came walking by. One was singing loudly...... his footsteps following his voice, both equally wobbly. A gourd of wine spilling its contents with every few steps. Then every time he stopped to take a breath he would take a swill of the wine. The other man was holding on to the shoulders of the third man as he dragged his wobbling feet, his arms falling over his companion's shoulder. He kept drinking from a glazed jar every now and then. The third was in no better condition.... holding his partner by the waist, he too was sipping from his own jar sloshing every now and then.

The three of them crossed the market place. Here people were sleeping out on the streets next to there shops. It was a warm night and it was unbearably hot. The outdoor providing space for them to spread out and sleep. The men stopped lost in their own drunken merriment, laughing, singing then as though if pushed would took a few steps ahead. The figure waited patiently for the men to pass. It stayed in the disguising shadow of the fort wall till all was quiet again. Then the figure turned and walked up to a small byline just before the market. Standing at the mouth of the lane, it paused and looked around, seeing nobody around or awake, it adjusted the heavy bundle on its shoulders and quickly moved into the by lane till it came to a small square crossing. At the crossing on one wall was a statue of a lion on top of a big square block of stone. The lion had open wings. On the wall behind the lion was a round circle with two spears crossed in front of it.  It was the the royal emblem of the city. The stranger came up to the statue, and standing near it looked around carefully before it  twisted one of the bricks under the paw of the loin, first right and then left again and then turned the brick side ways, the brick  gave way. A small cavity formed. The figure put his hand into the space and pushed a lever further down. A part of the wall opened, it was pitch dark inside. The figure looked around a final time before stepping into the opening in the wall, the wall closed back as though it had never opened and the mysterious figure vanished without any trace.

An hour later somewhere far from the reaches of the fort, on the outskirts of the city boundaries behind a small temple building, a small hidden door opened in the ground. A covered face peeked out, seeing nobody around, the figure stepped out of the opening and closed the trap door shut. Walking around the temple it looked around till the figure saw a bullock cart standing not too far away under a tree. The bullocks were tied to the cart. Seeing a boulder not too far away from the cart the figure skulked behind it then let out a hoot.

Immediately a figure rose from the ground under the cart.

Putting the sheet aside the man got out from under the cart, picking up the lantern hanging from the tree he went and stood behind the cart. The hidden figure hooted again. The man responded by swinging the lantern, twice then stopping and swinging twice again. The figure immediately got up from behind the boulder and went and stood in front of the man.

Not saying any word they simply nodded to each other, then the figure loaded the bundles into the cart and got in from the back. The man got in to the front making a clicking sound flapped the reins. The bullocks started moving. Soon they were far far away from the sleeping city. Too far by the time the alarm bells started ringing.