Shatru Sesham: Sequel of Baahubali ✔️

Chapter Ninety-One

Subahu cautioned the guards who were taking away Narasimha, "Maintain a careful watch over him. Don't get carried away by his innocent face."

The guards tied a cloth around Narasimha's eyes to make doubly sure that their prisoner was not aware of the exact location where they were going to imprison him. Narasimha did not protest against the soldiers even when they pushed, pulled and jostled him. While walking with them, he quietly counted the number of steps he took, "One, two, three, four..."

The ground was sloping downwards. Narasimha suddenly complained, "I lost one of my shoes. Can one of you please go in search of it?"

The chief guard asked in a curt voice , "Where did you lose it?"

Narasimha caught hold of his ears and apologized, "How would I know? My eyes are tied. It must have been about five minutes ago."

"Five minutes? And you are telling now?" The guard shouted. He dispatched one of the guards with him, "In all probability, it must be near the North East Dome."

The second guard left in search of the shoe whilst the other guards fretted and fumed at the unnecessary delay. Narasimha whistled a tune softly under his breath. The shoe had come off at the court itself. He lied to them in order to obtain a clue about where he was being taken.

The guard who had been sent on the errand returned panting for breath. He cursed, "I couldn't find it. Can't you remove the other one shoe also and walk barefoot?"

Narasimha apologized profusely for the inconvenience he had caused him and proceeded to do as the guard had suggested to him. He felt the hardness of the ground beneath his feet. The gravelly soil had given place to a bit slushy and marshy land.

His ears perked up every time a new voice accosted one of the guards. He maintained a separate count of that number simultaneously along with his footsteps count, "One, Two, Three..."

At last, they had arrived at their destination. They led Narasimha into his cell. They removed his blindfold and shut the iron door behind him. Narasimha could hear the noise of the key turning in the lock before everything was once again silent. His eyes took a while to accustom themselves to the darkness.

He ransacked his memory for all the times he had visited the dungeons during festivals to distribute sweets to the prisoners along with Eiravati. There were several at various corners of the fortification. They were all situated beneath the ground level. He had to first ascertain where he was imprisoned and observe everything carefully before formulating his plan of escape.

The guards had been talking among themselves that they had passed the North East Dome to reach this place. The ground was gravelly at first, and then it had become a bit slushy and marshy. There were a few clues to begin with.

Narasimha comfortably settled himself down and closed his eyes. He pretended to be sleeping. The door that barred the cell was made of heavy and reinforced wrought iron.  Except one tiny ventilator, there were no openings or exits from this particular prison cell.

The shadow of the light from the lantern held by the guards shifted through the small ventilator and fell on the walls of Narasimha's prison cell once in every ten minutes. He calculated to himself, "The window of opportunity is about eight minutes."

The muffled voices of the guards passing by caught Narasimha's ears, "By God! The Prince seems as comfortable here as he would be on his velvet mattress. He has slept like a log for hours. He hasn't complained once ever since he came here."