Rishi Ajan’s letter had revealed to Idhika his exact location, so she led them deep within the Dronagiri. ‘Hathi-Paun is where Airavata, the elephant, used to live before it began its service to Lord Indra.’ For the final stretch of their journey, they hugged the mountainside and moved cautiously on a narrow path that overlooked a thousand-foot drop. The Varunasmati cut through a thick forest below.

Once they turned the mountain’s shoulder, the trail opened into a clearing—a large shallow crater in the shape of an elephant’s foot. In the middle of it was a small cottage. Through a grassy expanse scattered with water bowls off which glinted the sun’s afternoon rays, they walked towards the hut. Idhika allowed the others to overtake her, hesitation creeping into her mind.

The hut’s entrance was flung open, and a man clad in jute came hopping out, his long, forked beard swaying. ‘Who . . .? How many of you are there?’ His expression changed when he saw Fayza. He sniffed her, squinting fiercely, and then moved from one person to another, trying to find a familiar face. ‘I apologize,’ he explained. ‘Reading faded words on palm leaves has left me with weak eyes.’

Idhika’s heart sank when she noticed her father’s dark circles and the creases near his eyes. He had aged. Her emotions were torn between love and rage. Looking into his deep, grey eyes, she saw glimpses of the father she had known in childhood—but the feelings of betrayal came rushing back with the memory of burning palm leaves and all the nights she’d spent in the hut alone.

‘Bacche?’ Rishi Ajan looked at her. He recognized his daughter instantly. She was now much taller, and her nose resembled that of Shakuntala.

Idhika heaved a deep sigh and whispered, ‘Why? You abandoned me . . .’

Her father scoffed. ‘Is that what they told you? That I abandoned you? Hah! Believe me, if the lal bicchu could somehow erase the past instead of the present, I would lie overnight in its nest.’ He pretended to laugh, but a tear rolled down his cheek and his voice faltered. ‘After my exile, they fed you lies. That I was a Madhu stealer.’ He paused. ‘They went through my notes, didn’t they? Bacche, if you let me tell you the truth of my research and—’

‘I. Don’t. Care!’ Idhika said. ‘You LEFT ME!’

Rishi Ajan was taken aback by her fury. He met his daughter’s eyes and gestured for them all to follow him inside.

When they entered his hut, they saw a square altar in the middle made of packed mud and filled with deadwood. Rishi Ajan asked them to sit as he and his daughter moved to a side room to talk in private.

Aman, Ujal, Prithvi and Fayza sat there waiting patiently, sometimes in silence, sometimes making conversation about the different versions they’d heard in Vanyasa about Rishi Ajan’s exile. Aman even managed time for a nap and only woke up twice in the middle when he heard raised voices between Rishi Ajan and Idhika in the other room.