Night of surprises
Night of surprises
Tonight was the night of surprises. The guy who wouldn't say more than ten words to her during the entire night of training, had not only exchanged his saliva with her but was also probing her innermost secrets. More importantly, what about her own behaviour? Why was she not freaking out after such a big occurrence? She hadn't exchanged this kind of a kiss even with Yash and Shaurya was nothing but... Who was he to her? She shied away from exploring the answer to that for now.
"I… we aren't compatible," her tone signalled that she didn't want to speak on the topic any further.
Even Shaurya had been reluctant to bring it up again but he just wanted to be sure that what he understood a while back had been the correct interpretation of her situation.
His heart somersaulted at the thought of her not being attached to that stinky guy any more.
"Why do you always walk so slow?" saying so, he grabbed her hand and started running down the hill.
Mriga's shrieks could be heard echoing that night, way after they had descended from the hill.
Eastern Zilla
It was time for him to go back. He had gathered whatever information that he could in this span of time. Prithvi climbed on the rooftop of the brothel.
Relief! He had finally managed to have a bath after five days of being covered in filth. But even now, he had donned another identity and was intending to stay the night as a customer, with no one except his link being aware of the truth.
He surveyed the surroundings carefully for the umpteenth time before bringing out the near hidden eagle from the shadowed end of the terrace. He gave the eagle a stroke, signalling it to fly away with the message which he had tied to its foot. Unfortunately, his trip though informative, had posed a whole new set of problems in front of him. None of the possible solutions looked promising enough to solve them, though.
Is the motherland asking for multiple sacrifices this time?
With a sigh, he climbed down to go towards the room assigned to him but stopped short in his tracks. Thankfully, he was still in the shadow and the people in front of him hadn't registered his presence yet. His heart gave a tight squeeze but he had no time to ponder over it. The implications of this new development started to hit him piecemeal.
After the corridor became empty again, he slipped into the room when the woman awaited him and his orders.
"I want you to stay awake tonight. It is absolutely imperative that you do. I need you to get a good look at the two men who have gone into the cabins two doors away from this one on the right. I don't know when will they step out but when they do, they have to cross your room to go down. That is the time you will commit their faces to your memory and the next time you see either of them, alone or with anyone else, send me a message immediately. Do this everytime you see them, even if it is ten days in a row. Use a different pigeon courier everytime, though. I am leaving enough money with you to last you the next quarter," he spoke in hushed tones, standing at the door, lest those guys come out right now.
"Does this mean that you are going back tonight?" the woman asked.
With a nod, he collected his sparse belongings from the room and left swiftly after reminding her once again about his instructions.
Prithvi changed three carriages before finally reaching Northern zilla, early next morning. His eagle had been dispatched to the capital the night before and he hadn't wanted to risk sending a message to Charulata through any other means.
He was tired, hungry and a little cold but he waited at the communal washroom near her house. This was the safest place to get her attention since he had come without informing her.
"Guruji, what are you doing here?" Shaurya's hesitant voice came from near him.
Much to his dismay, he seemed to have fallen asleep while standing against the wall of the washroom. It was a good thing that Shaurya found him here.
"Go and get your teacher. Tell her that I am waiting for her. Make sure that you don't rouse the others. Bela is a light sleeper but I don't know about her husband. Tell her to decide a place where all three of us can have a conversation but it shouldn't be the same place as the last time. I will follow you guys there," he instructed without bothering to answer Shaurya's question.
The pupil knew better than to ask him about the obvious questions like which last time or why did he look so worn out or how did he know about someone else's sleeping behaviour so confidently…
All he could sense was that it must be really urgent for him to risk his cover and come seek them here, without planning it first.
When Shaurya first came to Mriga's house, he had done a thorough survey of the place as an ingrained habit of his. He knew that there was a rickety door which opened into the backyard farm from the house. He decided to enter inside from there.
Despite having finished training with Bela only a couple of hours ago, Shaurya had been unable to sleep. His mind was filled with the taste and smell of Mriga's mouth till now. It was as if he had gotten addicted to it in the first go and was craving it already again, desperately.