Samsāra

Chapter Six

Rajamata Sivagami Devi paced the length of her bed chamber with short measured steps, seemingly giving the semblance of calm. Bhalla could see the coiled anger barely contained beneath her veneer; it wound tighter and tighter until her steps resembled the stalk of a hunting lioness. The thought that she had been outsmarted vexed her; his mother was shrewd, calculating and proud. She hated being beaten, it rankled her made her lash out in irrational ways.

She stopped, glancing at them sharply. The intensity in her eyes always made Bhalla wince, it was like staring into raw energy, exposed without armour for protection. He wondered how Bahu could look at her easily.

'A trap you say,' she said and started pacing again. 'He didn't show his face or tell his name.' She was only repeating what they had told her, to herself, only out loud. 'He tried to kill the both of you.' She closed her eyes and concern briefly glanced over her features. 'It is as I feared.'

'We must take action,' his father, her husband, Prince Bijjaladeva spoke from the divan he was sitting on. He wasn't remarkable featured or with powerful eyes but his mind was as sly as a snake's and just as cunning. His withered waste of an arm was held close to his silk wrapped chest.

'Yes we must,' Sivagami replied, her voice soft. 'But not outright. It is clear these conspirators want the end of the family on the throne. Our reaction must be subtle but swift, the throne must not appear weak. To hunt a snake, be a snake.' She turned to them again and her hard gaze softened. 'You've been through much, go and rest. We'll discuss this tomorrow.' She spoke to both of them but her eyes lingered fondly on Bahu. Bhalla couldn't help but feel irritation.

His father did not come after him as they left and he was grateful, he wanted to be alone with his thoughts tonight. His cousin smiled at him outside the door, placing his hand on his shoulder in a silent praise. He said nothing about the apsara and briefly Bhalla considered that he might have imagined her but he dismissed the thought. She had taken a blow for him, even fell into his arms, she felt so real, so solid. It didn't explain why she had disappeared when he returned to her. With that kind of injury, she could bleed to death without it being taken care of. Silently, he worried.

*

After almost a week, Bhalla was tempted to give into the thoughts that the girl might have not been real. But why would he have suddenly hallucinated? It made no sense. Her voice, the way she had pushed him away from harm's way. It could have been Bahu that did that but he didn't want to admit it to himself. He was adamant she was real and set out to find her.

The search however yielded no result. The morning after, Bhalla had sent a man out discretely so as not to alert his mother to what he was doing. If Bahu had made no mention of the girl to her, he didn't see any reason he should. The man had come back with no result, he sent him out again and again, and all the while he had been busy with meetings. His mother was so determined to root out the conspirators immediately, that she had meetings with her inner council everyday to determine the best course of action. The beetle brooch had been traced back to a defunct noble house of a hundred years ago. Spies had been sent out to the den in the slums to gather more information and the security on the princes have been tightened.

It annoyed Bhalla to no end, not only were his movements restricted and he couldn't go out searching for the apsara like he would love to, but they were all his mother's men, infallible and loyal to a fault. Day and night, the thought of her plagued him.

However, he would see her again but not the way he expected. It was ten days after the fight in the alley and they had just adjourned another inner council meeting. Bhalla was looking forward to a relaxing mid-afternoon when he was informed his mother wanted him, in the sabha.