After they had gone a few steps, the old woman said in a voice full of sympathy and concern, ‘How wicked these men are! What would have happened if I hadn’t come across you? Your feet must be sore with walking. What if you have lost your way! What if the inn is so far away! I’ll take you there in the morning.’

Dhata touched Divya’s arm and made a sign to her. Divya looked at her enquiringly, but could not make out anything in the dark. The old woman kept on, ‘The gods have given me a house of my own. It may not be a mansion like a magnate’s, but it provides shelter all right. There is food and clothes. I too have a daughter like you.’

The old woman’s eyes fell on the metal ring on Dhata’s ankle, an indication of her being a slave attendant, and turning to her she said, ‘How devoted you are to your mistress, you are certainly blessed with a great soul.’

‘You’re very kind, Auntie, but it’s necessary for us to go to the inn. Our relatives are anxiously waiting for us there …’ Dhata was saying when Divya spoke up, ‘But I’m very tired, Amma. It is so difficult for me to walk.’

Dhata once again pressed Divya’s arm, but again Divya failed to follow her cue and only kept staring at her face.

The old woman sized up the situation. She put her hand on Divya’s head and said in a kind voice, ‘You shouldn’t have stirred out in your condition. A girl from a noble family shouldn’t be out on the streets full of strangers. Daughter, a young girl can never feel safe with men. I’m an old woman now. Yet, whenever I see a man on a lonely road, I tremble all over. This town of Sagal is more dangerous for young women than a jungle full of beasts. The men here are forever on the hunt for women.’ She did not even pause for a breath. ‘I am worn out with age, and sometimes I can’t find my way in the dark …’

They crossed a dark lane and the old woman stopped opposite an ordinary-looking house and knocked at the door. A few seconds later, the door opened. An elderly man stood before them. As soon as Dhata and Divya had entered, the door was shut and locked behind them. The sound of the key turning in the lock sent a shiver through their bodies.

As they passed through the door, they faced the inner courtyard of the house, beyond which was a veranda with a row of rooms behind. The doors of the rooms were shut. At one end of the veranda stood a lamp while at the other end was a low bed with a white mattress. Near the bed sat a slave-boy, huddled up in the cold. As she stepped into the inner courtyard, Divya heaved a deep sigh and a question rose in her mind: Have I walked into a haven of rest or a prison? She looked into the eyes of Dhata. There, too, she saw fear and uncertainty.