Chapter IV -
Revelation o what ?
Nilima would never go Harriet the Spy like that again.
She felt like a terrible chauffeur/slave/handmaid.
Of course, Kelsey was the sort of person who needed a chauffeur/slave/handmaid, but she hadn't really done anything wrong, and she probably wouldn't. Actually, she'd never done anything, except catalyze Ren's tendancy to turn everyday life into an American soap opera. The kind that ended up in a secret playlist Nilima would watch on youtube, to enjoy hammy actors, dramatic soundtrack, absent plot and a surprisingly high level of casualties.
She decided that she wouldn't trouble herself either way. She wouldn't blame and resent Kelsey for things she had no control over, but she wouldn't pretend that this girl had ever had the potential to be something else than an aching pain in her – bosom.
And soon, everything would be normal, she would stop hearing Sai's screams in her sleep, and she could return to supporting a micro-tyranny that she could only oppose in secret, with insignificant acts of kindness and hidden dreams of escape that would never, ever happen. All of that, and more, almost free of guilt !
Such were the thoughts of Kelsey Hayes' chauffeur/slave/handmaid when, for no apparent reason, the Banyan tree decided to get mystical and started speaking to her, pronouncing what had to be an incantation of some sort.
Before she even understood the words, she knew it was going Vedic on her because of her numerous transgressions (her defence would consist mainly of scapegoating tumblr). Though, actually, it could also just be inhabited by an asura so hostile and twisted, it had waited three hundred years without showing itself either to the British who had built the manor, Kadam or the Tiger Princes, because it wanted to torture someone with a fully-functioning brain for some reason. Except she'd been under that Banyan abomination a thousand times before, and nothing had ever happened.
No, she only began to suspect the horrible truth as a tall, muscular figure jumped from the tree, and landed a few feet away from her. Golden eyes glittered under messy hair. Quick fingers ran in it to arrange it, and a large grin appeared on the stranger's face.
"Jaaneman..."
"Master Kishan ?" Nilima asked.
The stranger was startled. He stoped, stared at her, and sighed in disappointment. "You're the plane girl, right ?"
"Why, yes. Yes, I am."
"Thought it was Kelsey."
He looked like a capricious child dissapointed with his Christmas present. Nilima started wondering whether she should tell him where Kelsey was. In her state, he could be a welcome distraction or the last straw after an endless stream of humiliations. Before she'd made up her mind, he'd started talking again :
"She sent me a weird mail– Something about leaving on good terms. They're going somewhere ?"
Nilima stoped just short of revealing what she knew. Translating Kelsey's laconic message to Kishan for his brother, she'd seen that part, and assumed that he was going.
"Maybe it's just a code for something." Kishan shrigged "Is it – you know – girl talk for something hot ? They're always trying to find new names for that, it's the worst thing about being 300, when you get it, you're a tiger again. If you're a tiger. Not if you're a vampire or – you know – the shirtless guys from that movie. Whatever, you can tell me, I won't tell Ren."
Nilima hadn't listened to anything he'd said. She knew Ren and his consort were not supposed to leave. Some Nahuatl artefact that Kadam was deciphering would be the key of their happiness, or something. There might have been a quest involved, but all she'd heard was "they might go into the wild for some time".
In the wild
She only thought of it now.
"How could you come here so fast ? How did you get her mail so soon ?"
"I had wi-fi installed.", Kishan answered hurriedly.
"In the jungle ?"
He looked at her with his wide, empty, brainwashed cow eyes, and she quickly added:
"Why, of course. After all, we are in the jungle too, and I couldn't live without –"
Kishan nodded absent-mindedly before interrupting:
"Where is she ?"
She decided to play it safe.
"I have no idea. You should go ask Kadam. He would love to have a chat with you."
He would love to have a chat with anyone who isn't a creepy stalker. That's how lonely he is.
"Okay. Always there for K-dubs."
She could not fully commit to her usual Kishan-related cringe as he made his way towards the patio. The frat boy talk was artificial, but the tone was sincere. He was going to entertain Kadam with his light, not-quite-witty banter, and for once, the old man wouldn't be alone. As he always was.
He's just trying to make things better for everyone here. It's not his fault if he trusts the people who made him everything he is. He's lost everything for them, he couldn't take it if it was for nothing. I can't be angry. I can't blame him for doing exactly what I'm doing.
She sat under the tree, and decided that she would join Kishan, keep him out of Kelsey's business, and maybe speak with an old friend about antic lyras for a few hours. Maybe Fanindra would be back after that, and then, they might be able to talk.
But just as she was about to get up, a flash of light blinded her. She heard something like thunder, striking so loud and close that it felt as if the entire world was crumbling around her and really wanted her to hear it fall into pieces. A chilling wave went through her body, and she fell to the ground.
She woke up lying on something cold. Something thin and dry was stroking her forhead. She wasn't scared. She knew this feeling.
Fanindra. She opened her eyes and met the surprisingly expressive gaze of her friend. She smiled at her, looked up, and gasped. They were lying on stairs. Stairs that lead directly to a throne carved very high on the temple's ocre walls. Sitting majestuously on it was a tall woman, clad like an empress, draped in a delicate cloth, dyed rich shades of safran, coral and reddish-brown. She laid her large dark eyes on them. It felt like a butterfly landing on a flower. She beamed, and the result was so radiant that her whole frame seemed to glow. Bathed in her soft golden light, Nilima could not doubt that she was the very essence of peace and wisdom.
"Durga ?" she asked breathlessly.
The moment was majestic, emotional, a mystic revelation – then, the woman opened her mouth.
"No, seriously, I can't be that high. Was that really lesbian snake action ?"