Although she was devastated, she knew she had to be brave for him, try and see through the fog. As if collecting herself, she sniffed loudly. ‘Listen! Snap out of it. We already found the barrels that Sanaka is hiding in the valley. Why not just return—all of us—to the valley and expose that tyrant? We’ll tell Aranyani and the Sabha and Samiti.’

‘Oh, Fayza. This seems to be harder on you than it is on me,’ he said.

‘No!’ she said. ‘I’m serious. Why can’t we—’

‘Because we cannot even enter the gates of Vanyasa without Madhu. And let’s say we jump over the wall and somehow summon the Samiti? Then what? Don’t you remember? Idhika went back to Pandayam Tal and checked. Sanaka has already moved the barrels. We were lucky the first time to stumble upon them. But without them no one will believe us.’

‘We could try, Aman,’ she said. ‘All of us could Atmayog and search the valley before we return.’

‘It’s not that simple,’ he said. ‘Not everyone has the same goal as us. Aarti, Payal, and I think even Jagrav, they don’t want to take down Sanaka; they want to peacefully succeed in the Mahayatra and return without complications. Maybe go back to their families one day. And for that, we have to find the bees—I have to find the bees.’

‘Don’t worry about the others! You are the only one paying with your life.’ She paused. ‘Think about your family. Abandon this madness, and run to the plains. Your mother hopes for your return . . . Yes.’ She exhaled. ‘Why don’t you go to New Delhi? Find your mother!’

‘You think I haven’t thought of that, Fayza?’ He shot her a miserable smile. ‘It would only put her in more danger. He will eventually find us. For the sake of his scheme, Sanaka will never risk sparing us.’ That was when it sunk in that no matter what he did, what decision he took, he was never going to win. Because winning meant a sunny day in Vanyasa, a new lease of life. Because winning meant Fayza and the friends he had found. All of which now seemed beyond his reach.

‘I hear you,’ she said, ‘but your death cannot be the solution. What if . . . what if your mother doesn’t know our whereabouts? In fact, if no one knows our whereabouts?’ Her eyes dilated.

‘What?’ Aman said.

‘The Souls could all genuinely deny culpability. That’s the only way they will be spared. It’s our only hope, for their lives as well as ours. Think about it, Aman. If we ran away right here, right now. If Idhika and the rest weren’t able to find us, they would have no option but to return and say that the true Eka abandoned the journey. Coming back empty-handed to the valley could be justified.’

‘And . . . what about us? Where will we be?’ Aman asked.

‘In another time,’ she said, lifting his chin with her forefinger. ‘We know too much about Sanaka’s plan. Since only you can find the bees, you’re not safe until there’s another Eka. A decade. That’s how long we’ll have to hide away for . . . Find a cave, Atmayog to a banyan tree for ten years. With our breathing slowed down, we will barely age. And then, years later, when it is all past us, you and I can come back to our bodies, find a remote village in the plains and spend the rest of our days together. Far from this crazy world.’