Jambavati looked at the glowing amber gem in her hand and back up at the doe-eyed man standing at the gate of their settlement. He looked tired but determined. His yellow robes were spattered in the dirt. Still, his face spelled relief. With an arm outstretched, he took a step forward. Instinctively, she backed up against the natural wall of the cave that led to her village. The gem slipped from her hand, and he picked it up. As he stood examining the gem, Jambavati examined him.
He was tall and dark. He wore no crown, unlike the other hunters she had seen who had come close to their village. A few peacock feathers were braided into his long curled locks. Going against her better judgment, she drew closer to the man, running her fingers over the silky feathers. As she let her palm slip down to touch his fingers, she felt an ornate ring adorning his index finger. The sign of the moon, she recognized it from her father's trophy collection. The same motif she had seen on the ring that her father had brought home alongside the sparkling gem. A chill went down her spine. Had he come to avenge his friend?
However, he seemed satisfied with having just acquired the gem and was now staring intently at her face. His demeanour seemed more curious than vengeful. Jambavati could've sworn that there was also a hint of longing in those ocean-deep eyes of his. Would he leave now? Why did he have to come at all, and make her so vulnerable, only to leave so soon?! She thought, her mouth dry. Suddenly, the booming voice of her father, the King of the village, startled them both. They hurriedly stepped away from each other even as their eyes still begged to remain latched on to each other.
She watched in apprehension as King Jambavan, her father, rushed between the two of them, pushing her back and clutching the hand of her crying little brother. "Who are you? How dare you infiltrate my kingdom?!"
The man smiled. "You do not recognize me, do you?" His eyes twinkled. The gem was still hidden in his palm. It sparkled through his fingers. They no longer were separate. Jambavati rubbed her eyes in disbelief. The mysterious ever-glowing gem seemed to have lost its uniqueness as a brighter aura emanated from him!
"Well," he said, breaking the chain of her thoughts, "I must take your leave now, Sir. I need to get back to my place with this Syamantaka gem. It has wreaked enough havoc in my life, I just want to get it back to its owner." Jambavan snatched the gem from his hand and threw it to Jambavati who held it close to herself, hiding it under the loose end of her cloth. Well, now you can't leave.
He slowly shook his head, still smiling. "This gem belongs to Srimanta Satrajit of Dwarika. He had lent this to his brother Prasena, who was killed by a lion in the forest which took the gem with it. I'm assuming you are the one who killed the lion and brought the gem back here. I thank you for safeguarding it, but I must take it back now."
Jambavan's face contorted in rage. "Finders keepers, young man. This is the last chance that I am giving you to escape. Be gone from my land and never be seen again!" Jambavati thought to protest but looking at her father's blazing eyes, she controlled herself. Her father wasn't himself when he flew off the deep end. It had been an endless source of conflict between him and her mother, till the very day she had passed away from a rare disease. Since then, Jambavati had taken great care to not enrage her father, going as far as to hide her brothers' wrongdoings from him. After all, no one but their mother had ever been able to calm the King down when he lost his cool.
The man sighed, "Fine. At least lend me the gem for a week, so that I may show it to my countrymen and then bring it back?"
"I have no interest in this gem! It's a gimmick for you foolish city folks! However, it is my property now and I have given it to my children to play with. I will not snatch my child's toy for a mere man! You will have to fight me if you want it." Her father growled.
