Chasing the Sun

XXVIII

|| - Land of Mirages II - ||

Fight because you don't know how to die quietly...
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From the hazy depth of her mind tickled by fumes and evil flames her mother’s voice rose to a crescendo. “Be brave Kashi, that’s how you survive!” Oh, there had been flames then - behind a locked iron door. She remembered peeping from behind her mother’s skirts and finding her heart stuck in her throat. There had been a war. She had learned an awful lot of words that meant nothing good.

The footsteps thundered down a dusty corridor out of reach but catching up. Kashi had never ran faster that her breath burned her lungs. She was always told that ladies did not run wild - but it seemed the war had changed the protocol. She thought Choti Ma was supposed to take her out. At least that was what Ma had said. Kashi wiped her eyes, the torch in Choti Ma’s hand no longer left a trail of light behind that she could follow. The bluish darkness pressed her from all sides.

“They can’t be far!” Guards exchanged among themselves as they barged into the tunnel. Kashi backed away as soon as the first beams of firelight from their torches began to lick at her feet. Long, distorted shadows crept towards her and Kashi recoiled from them tucking herself into the dusty nook where a side passage had caved in. The group of men did not fluent their colors; from the dark grab they had donned it was hard to judge if they were their own men or the enemy’s.

“General said to capture the girl and kill any spare,” the man leading the group reminded his subordinates. They nodded. The shadows kept their identities masked but their conversation had cast light on their motives. Kashi tucked her head into her knees, curling up into a ball and scrunching her eyes shut. She listened to the footsteps of the men thundering away from her obscured by her own thumping heartbeat.

Minutes ticked away in the darkness. Somewhere above she could hear screams from the torture chambers and an involuntary shudder passed down her spine.

“Rajkumari Kashi? Kashi Bai?”

A new voice whispered from the darkness, there were no flames that accompanied it. Kashi did not dare to rise her head as she simply cracked one eyelid and watched as faint footsteps approached.

“Rajkumari?” The whisper called again, unsure and lost just like she felt. Kashi raised her head.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Dev -” the speaker, a boy little older emerged from the darkness. His outline was distinct and familiar. “Do you remember? We met before.” He stepped closer stretching out a hesitant hand towards her. “I’ve been asked to take you away - it’s - it’s not safe here.”

He was close enough for Kashi to make out his features. The boy had strange gray eyes - eyes that had intrigued her the first time they were introduced to each other. She recalled Gangadar Kaka, his hand clapping the boy on his back as he spoke to the queen and Kashi.

“This is Devendra - my nephew!” Kashi thought nothing of the meaningful look the general exchanged with the queen. “Remember him Rajkumari -” his eyes twinkled as he bent down to look into her eyes. “He is going to watch over you in future.”

“Are you a guard then?” Kashi asked him and she looked up at her mother. “Ma - I like Mitrasen Kaka better. He has a beard!” Gangadar chortled on her response as the boy scowled at her. Just like some of the other boys in Shivjit’s gang it seemed this one too did not have a very high opinion on girls in general.

However, he rearranged his face quickly before the queen’s assessing eyes caught his expression. Kashi watched him slightly annoyed.

“Are you sure this arrangement is going to work Gangadar?” Her mother’s tone dripped with authority but also it was laced with insecurity. “The tides are changing.”

“There is nothing better for two marked people than to have each other to watch their backs.” Gangadar reassured his queen, before lowering himself to the eye level of the two kids.

“You two will always be together - like the two sides of a coin. If you are ever trapped in trouble and the other finds you always trust in them. Always respond to their call. If you can’t escape yourself always send the other out of danger. Because neither of your knowledge is of any use without the other. They won’t kill either of you without the other. Two sides of the coin - remember that!”

“Two sides of the coin,” the boy replied solemnly. Kashi watched him narrowing her eyes.

“But I’m the pretty side okay?” She asked before reluctantly nodding to the strange agreement.

Kashi recalled the moment now so lost in the sunny days of the past and watched the sincere concern in the eyes of the boy, before accepting his extended hand. She was told to trust him and that was what she was going to do.

The heat was subsiding and her mind wavered between consciousness and a past that existed only in her subconscious. Gangadar Kaka had been right about his nephew. She was right to trust him that day and he had indeed saved her by putting his own life in danger. So many years later after being almost burned to death once more - Kashi recalled that day perfectly and the boy who had tossed her across the flames towards safety not caring about his own freedom.

It was not only the path of her life the war had altered. She was no longer the dotted Rajkumari Kashi of Chandranagara but a valuable war prisoner of a fallen kingdom. Devendra was no longer the nephew of an esteemed general either. Instead his roots had been pulled out and planted in foreign soil molding him into a cast of a new person - someone she could no longer recognize.

Kashi remembered Dev and she had found him again buried under the identity of David McLane.

She blinked her heavy eyelids dragging herself back to the hazy pictures of the present. A pair of gray eyes bored into hers, concern swirling in their stormy depths.

“Kashi Bai?” He called gently, tapping her cheek as he did so. Her cheek remained pressed against his heart thumping unevenly underneath his wet shirt and Kashi closed her tired eyelids letting his voice (talking about poison being absorbed from her skin) to wash over her. Sleep no longer felt like a deathly trap and drowning was only a distant dream. Kashi hardly let herself rest - her life was a constant battle. But for just once she let the exhaustion claim her. She was tired, wounded and betrayed and as always he had found her. Finally it made sense to her as to why David McLane always ended up being her saviour. After all they were two sides of the same coin.

**

To be continued in Land of Mirages III.

Open to your thoughts. I take up this space to confess that your views cheer me up so much and I cherish each of them individually. I’ve been so wrapped up in my exams last few weeks that I couldn’t do individual response to some comments in the previous chapters. That DOES NOT mean that they are overlooked. In fact, I get overjoyed every time a new reader steps into read and leaves their valuable feedback. So please don’t be discouraged just because I don’t reply immediately and keep sharing your thoughts!

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