Chapter Twenty: Trust in a Stranger
"Is this honestly necessary?" I heard Farah ask. She and Shirin were sat on the middle bed watching me board-up the window of our room, it was a starless night outside but the moon hung a full, shinning brightly. If we had to stay in the tavern then I wanted us all to be reasonably safe. Whoever that woman was, she knew far too much about us – all I could do was pray that she didn't alert the authorities of Ayodhya.
"Trust me, it is," I said and placed the last board in place. I heard Farah mutter something quietly under her breath to Shirin – "He's completely paranoid". I didn't want her thinking that and for a few moments I stopped and thought about my state of mind. Everything I had done up to now I had believed had been the right thing and surely it was. Maybe I was becoming slightly paranoid…but this was a thought I quickly shook away, once you started thinking like that, you were stepping into a dark downwards spiral. I had never really confided in anyone about how I was feeling right now. I suddenly realised that it had been too longer a moment that I had stopped working and I quickly continued…but the thoughts of how I was feeling and how my mind was slowly destroying itself didn't leave me although I wished them to….
I sat silently in the dull darkness of the empty dinning area. Only a single candle that sat in the very corner of the room lit it, but the light was dim and was slowing getting smaller as the fire was dying. Dying like me. When would I die? Zenda had promised it so it was going to come to pass, eventually. Why couldn't I just have the strength to end my own life – at least that way someone else wouldn't do it for me? Zenda had asked me to get Farah to remember…and that is what I am doing, but is there any point to it? If I were to die now, would she miss me? She wouldn't go for many a days mourning like I would. Wasn't this whole trip pointless? I had to be honest; if I could be anywhere right now; then I wouldn't choose the place I am in right now. I suddenly heard one of the floorboards creak. I lifted my head off the table that I had lain it on. It was Farah; she was standing alone and was smiling.
"What are you doing down here? You really ought to stay upstairs," I muttered and placed my head back on the table. Farah sat down beside me ignoring my little subliminal order to go back upstairs.
"I feel I need to apologise for what I said, I didn't mean it, but you were acting a little anxious and apprehensive," she said, I shut my eyes.
"Apology accepted, now will you please go back upstairs?" I asked. She didn't move.
"You really ought to explain how feeling to someone, you can't bottle it up forever," she said, I rolled my eyes under my eyelids.
"Okay then, I am feeling annoyed right now because your mind can't grasp the concept of the words 'go back upstairs'," I murmured, my eyes were still closed. There was silence, she wouldn't move, not until I finally gave in. "Have you ever thought something would be great but then it turns out to be a big let down?" I asked easing my eyes open. Farah thought, I could see it in her eyes.
"When I got to the age fifteen I slowly began realising being a princess wasn't great but dull," she replied. I stared at her.
"Really? I've found that life is a lot like that," I muttered. "You go through a whole load of crap and then you kick the bucket – dying, it's the bloody meaning of life,"
"My mother always told me that life is what you make it and that you are the only one that controls it, no one else will live your life," said Farah, she was tracing her finger of the wooden surface of the table.
"Yeah that's unless fate's already decided how your life is suppose to go," I murmured. Farah looked at me.
"What do you mean?" she asked. I explained to her about Zenda and Sarosh and what they had told me and by the end of it, she looked rather baffled. She stared at my casual if not somewhat depressed face. "Aren't you a little scared of that?" she asked. I shrugged.
"I'll just have to take it when it comes round, I can't stop fate - there's no way I can do that," I shrugged. I found Farah slipped her hand in mine.
"Then why don't you make the most out of life? Why don't you go back to Persia and carry on with your life?" she asked. I looked up at her.
"Because without you I might as well not have a life," I murmured. She smiled.
"You have no idea how prosaic that sounds, do you?" she grinned. I smile grew on my face too.
"I haven't a clue but that's the most romantic thing you're going to get out of me for a long time," I smiled and sat up. I looked at our fingers that were entwined together. "Do you know that I was actually planning on asking you to marry me before you lost your memory?" I asked.
"You were 'planning' on doing so? Didn't you ever actually ask me?" asked Farah.
"Well between killing sand creatures, trying to get past palace defences and trying to avoid being shot at by you there was never really an appropriate moment," I explained.
"Oh…well it would be weird with your Persian family and my Indian family…family gatherings would be terrible," muttered Farah, "But still…it would be nice for us to be together. I've never met anyone that cares so much for me that they would actually risk life and limb and put his trust in so many people," she murmured, I placed my other hand in hers. She stared at me, into my eyes. My deep emotions for her were mutual and I leaned forward, about to kiss her…yet in this world, that wasn't going to happen without an annoying interruption.
"Che – whoa, if I am interrupting you two before you commence 'tumbling in the hay' then I'll just go back into kitchen and pretend I haven't seen a thing for my own personal health because I just can't stand couples," said Ankur, he was still in the kitchen but he was too absent minded a person to take any notice of what we had been talking about. He quickly backed off back into the kitchen. Farah and I quickly picked up from where we had left off…
The next morning any reasonably worried or paranoid thoughts had been banished from my mind. Only thing that did annoy me slightly was that there was always a third person around at the most inappropriate moments, in this case, it was Shirin and because she was around, Farah and I didn't 'tumble in the hay' and although this was the truth it was likely that Ankur was going to get at us, believing otherwise, all day. These thoughts of mine were confirmed later as we started to work.
"You know I have made a great list of names here if you were ever to have kids," he said holding a little list.
"Okay firstly, Farah isn't going to have kids and secondly, if 'Ankur' is at the top of that list then I'm going to chase you while wielding two swords!" I cried. Ankur quickly crumpled up the list and threw it away.
"'Ankur' wasn't at the top of the list…but seriously, if you were to have children then what would you call them?" asked Ankur as he began cooking some meat opposite us.
"I don't like kids – simple! They cry like there's no tomorrow when they're young, they throw mood swings when they get older and then when they're adults they forget about you!" I cried.
"Well that's a little bluntly put…they're not as bad as you say," murmured Farah.
"Ooh! The first argument, can I watch? The first argument always the worst!" cried Ankur.
"What's with all this all this talk about kids anyway, you and Farah just friends, right?" asked Shirin. She was sitting in the corner, her wrist was getting better but she couldn't strain it by taking several plates and dishes around but so she didn't lack company she stayed around us.
"Well with what I saw yesterday…" started Ankur.
"Oh so you can see through that fringe!" I pointed out sarcastically. Ankur put a stupid face on and pulled his fringe apart to show he had a pair of sharp bluish-grey eyes – odd considering his Indian origin.
"As I was saying, Shirin, before I was rudely interrupted, I saw these two getting all lovey dovey yesterday evening," said Ankur. I found Shirin's reaction a little delayed and quiet.
"Oh." She muttered quietly, followed by, "I see." It seemed quite obvious to me Shirin wasn't too pleased with what had happened – she probably found it all slightly soppy and stomach turning – she was after all seventeen. Farah seemed to understand that Shirin wasn't particularly keen on the subject so she quickly changed it, and I was glad that she did so.
"Anyway, Ankur, with the matter of our pay, what are the chances of a rise by a small percent?" she asked. I could tell Ankur was raising one of his eyebrows suspiciously.
"By how much exactly?" asked Ankur. Farah tried to keep her voice somewhat casual.
"Oh not that much…about fifty percent," she muttered quietly but loud enough for Ankur to hear. He looked blank for a few moments but then a large grin grew on his face.
"Oh you are such a laugh Farah, now if you just excuse me for a moment," he said and then took the dish he had prepared out of the kitchen.
"You know, I really don't think he was taking us seriously," said Farah akimbo-ing, annoyed at the situation.
"True…Shirin, go to Amalendu and demand a raise," I said pointing at Shirin.
"What? Why do I have to ask?" she asked.
"Because he broke your little teenage heart and now he's going to feel guilty if he doesn't give us a pay rise, it's called emotional blackmail," explained Farah. Shirin stood.
"You sure know a lot about all this blackmail and under-hand stuff for a princess," she muttered. "I'm not going, let's talk about something else…so, Prince, aren't you all worried about our stalker then?" she asked. I thought about the question; if I said no then it would be a lie because I was scared of the women I had seen yesterday, she could be following us, she seemed to know everything about us; yet if I said I was scared and that I was worried, then that would be me admitting to myself that I was scared and then it would be the only thing on my mind.
"She wouldn't dare hurt us, we probably won't see her again, Ayodhya is far too big to come across her," I muttered. Amalendu suddenly entered, he looked a little pitiful.
"Um, the Cook told me about how you wanted a rise in pay. Well, I understand that you have worked hard and all and I really appreciate it but right now, I really can't be increasing your pay. However, I know I've never given you a day off and I suppose you deserve one so how about you have the rest of the day off, it isn't really busy anyway," suggested Amalendu. He had barely finished talking before we were walking out of the kitchen!
"Okay, I suggest we go first to the market place then we can move on to the baths and then – " started Farah as I closed the door to the tavern. It was good to be out of the white overalls and back in my own Persian clothes – one problem with them though was that they did show my Persian origin and I couldn't go anywhere without wearing my cloak. Shirin's black clothes were much more neutral and I didn't even think they were Persian so she could walk around wearing them freely and Farah's black dress was Indian so she had nothing to worry about. It was nearly midday and the sun was beating down horribly, I considered putting my hood up but I severely doubted that it would help. As it was midday and very hot a lot of people were retreating home to sleep out the hottest part of the day, and as Farah finished her list, she, as well as the rest of us realised that it was going to be hard to fulfil.
Eventually, after finding that the streets of Ayodhya were empty except our three lonely bodies, we retreated into the back streets to hide from the heat. Shirin had been rather unusually quiet for most of the day, but suddenly she piped up and came out with a question.
"Have either of you two…ever liked someone a lot but you feel a horrible pain because you know that their feelings aren't mutual?" she asked, she was in the middle of Farah and I. I nodded, Farah knew I was referring to her. "Hurt, didn't it?" Shirin mumbled.
"I guess so, why? Have you got a thing for someone?" I asked. Shirin shook her head slowly after some hesitation. Why was she being so quiet? I missed the old Shirin, the one that would make me smile and would lighten any situation. I suddenly froze, like I had done yesterday, yet everyone copied this time as a chill went up my spine as someone talked behind me.
"I can never get over the incredibly touching things that come out of your mouth Shirin," said a woman's voice. The woman's voice. We turned around to see her. Stood tall, in her flowing black cloak with his witchingly dark eyes. I drew my swords quickly, Farah followed suit by drawing an arrow and Shirin took a more an offensive stance.
"Why are you following us?" I immediately demanded, she got away the first time; it wasn't going to happen again. She didn't draw a weapon and this worried me slightly; she had already proven her power of teleportation, she could easily produce another box of tricks.
"I am not following you, we always just happen to meet by pure coincidence," she said, the corner of lips pricking up into a dark smile.
"Oh sure, we're going to believe that. What's your name?" demanded Shirin.
"I am Damini," the woman said placing her hand on her chest, "There is no reason for you to introduce yourself, I already know who you are. I simply want to help you on your journey," she said.
"That didn't seem so yesterday when you appeared to be threatening me with Farah's death," I warned.
"It is odd, isn't it? How the mind will presume and assume things," she said. We were all still ready to attack; we weren't going to back down. "Let me explain, put your weapons away and listen for a few moments," she said. Reluctantly, and slowly, I took my guard down, as did Farah yet I still sensed some edginess in Shirin. Damini stepped forward.
"As I said, I am called Damini. Prince, you probably have figured out that I have the properties of a sand creature. That is because I have mastered these powers throughout my life. I have studied the Sands and the history behind them and if you understand something completely then you can use it to your total advantage. I understand how time works and because of this I can bend it and manipulate it in amazing ways. I can transfer my body to a timeless state that I create with my own mental ability. When I'm in this state I take in all knowledge of everything, I know about how you released the Sands and now how you are trying to make Farah remember, now I also saw that Shirin denied her knowledge of the exact site of the temple you wish to go to. Now, as I said before I do have all knowledge of everything and I wish to help you," explained Damini, there was something about her voice, the darkness; it struck too much fear in me.
"Listen, I may have lived in a palace my whole life, but I know that no one does something for someone without getting something in return," said Farah.
"I am not asking for anything in return, I myself wish to see the temple, I know it is not a myth," said Damini. Shirin stepped forward.
"Right, so let me just check this, you, who scared the Prince to paranoia yesterday is now offering to help us get to the Temple of Sight, keeping in mind that as a group we have only known you for…let's say three minutes, and you want practically nothing in return, and, oh yes, and there is always the matter that we have a great dagger that a lot of people have been after recently – people like zombies infested with sand and Viziers with bad throat hygiene," said Shirin. Damini smirked slightly.
"Well, though you know little about me you are going to have to put your trust in me because the Persian army is awaiting outside all major cities waiting to attack, including this one," she smiled deviously.
"What?" I asked, was she honestly telling the truth?
"Well, being the son of one of the most powerful kings in the known world, he obviously is going to go to great lengths to find you. He has been working his way across India to find you. The king has already sent his armies to Amber and number of other major Indian cities and they are waiting. They will attack soon and by this evening, Ayodhya will be red with blood. So, you now have no choice but to trust me, I can have supplies, horses, everything prepared within the hour, just meet me at the north gate of the city by two o' clock and then we can leave, if we travel at a constant speed then we should remain ahead of the armies and arrive at the Temple in about two months time, maybe less," she said. I stayed silent. The decision rested on my shoulders. If she was correct, then I would have to trust her, but if she was lying, then I was truly putting our lives into the claws of witch. I made the decision and again, I was putting my trust and faith in someone I barely knew.
"Fine, we will meet you there, but if you even consider betraying any one of us, then I will cleave you in two!" I warned harshly. Shirin and Farah were taken back by what I said and were most definitely going to have some harsh words with me once Damini left. Damini's mouth moved into a smile, she turned away, with folded arms, and began to walk away slowly before teleporting away with a black flash.
"Okay putting this as nicely as I can –!" started Shirin calmly.
"What the heck are you thinking you moronic oaf!" Farah yelled. I looked at her slightly startled.
"Pardon?"
"Oh so you wish to me to put it in other words, fine then, you, my friend, are a dolt, a dunce, a fool, a blockhead; what in the name of my father's lands were you thinking?" asked Farah, quietly but sharply, she was walking towards me, so I was walking backwards only to find a wall behind me.
"Farah, this appears the only way to get to the Temple quickly, we have been moving far too slow recently and this way it will be done totally free of charge!" I tried to reason.
"I don't care about the Temple! My father is at risk of being killed! Hundreds of my people will die!" she cried. I saw her point and I then realised, that once again, people were going to die because of my actions…
We sat in the tavern, we still had a little while left before having to go to the north gate of the city, my father's armies were probably waiting at the southern edge of the city. Amalendu had cooked us a meal with Ankur's help and although the dish was an absolute culinary genius, it tasted bitter, as I knew that the makers of it were probably going to be among those who would die. Amalendu wouldn't last at all if he were attacked, he would try and reason…and then probably get his throat slit. Ankur may have more chance but he was still new to fighting. Then the thoughts of Amalendu's wife-to-be came across my mind and again, I felt terrible. Both Shirin Farah were throwing daggers at me, glaring terribly. I felt so low and so terrible – I felt like I was sacrificing so many people just so I could get what I wanted! I could never create an excuse for the death of many…I had to tell the Cook.
"Um, Ankur, could I have a word please, you too, Amalendu?"
After I had told them everything, they stood, blank-faced, blinking occasionally.
"Uhh…so what you are basically trying to tell us is?" asked Ankur in his normal low calm voice.
"That you've gotta get out of here now!" I cried, we were in the kitchen but I was sure that people in the dinning area could hear.
"But I just can't get up and leave with Daya," said Amalendu.
"Well you could leave now and stay low for a bit, don't you have any family to stay with?" I asked.
"Yes, to the east of here in a small secluded area, I suppose we could go there…uh, one thing though," said Amalendu.
"Yes?"
"Are you really a Persian prince and is Farah the Maharajah's daughter and Shirin isn't really a thief is she?" he asked.
"Yes, yes and of course she is, didn't the whole black clothes give it away?" I replied.
"Well there are loads more things I want to ask…like, did you honestly attack Amber?" asked Amalendu.
"Yes we did and now you really need to be going, my father's army will attack in about an hour so make a move now!" I ordered. The two left the kitchen and began to usher everyone out of the tavern. I felt slightly better now, at least I had saved the lives of three people…but still…that wouldn't make up for the other hundreds of people…
We said our goodbyes to Ankur, Amalendu and Daya in the centre of the city; they headed east while we went north. As I passed the crowds, the twist in my stomach seemed to contort more as I felt even more worried. I eventually caught sight of Damini, waiting actually outside of the city with a number of horses, each holding baskets stocked up with supplies. We left the city to then meet up with her. Worry was probably seen on all our faces as she commented on it.
"For three people that are going too avoid all the destruction, you seem hardly happy," she pointed out mounting one of the four horses she had. None of us answered her or explained why we were so upset – she knew perfectly well why we looked the way we did.
As we departed from the area and began venturing further away from Ayodhya, I looked back at it and knew eventually my father would turn it into a shadow of its former self. I didn't want anybody to get hurt, but I knew this journey could never be easy…no matter how much I wanted it to be. I should have been aware, since the day Shirin and I left Persepolis; that nothing would come easily and that I was going to have to place my trust in people I wouldn't normally. I could tell by the uneasiness given off by Shirin, that she was the most uncomfortable with Damini, no one could just learn the things Shirin could do, it was something you were born with. Maybe I was becoming incredibly foolish now, maybe I wanted something so badly that I was becoming blind to what I was doing. I sighed heavily. It didn't matter now…we were getting closer to the Temple of Sight and I had to place my trust in our mysterious guide. Soon Farah would remember and then…well, then I was supposed to die, but time would tell…
I'm going to skip forward now so the next chapter will be set when some time has passed.