Shakuni stood silently between two torch sconces, touched by the light of neither. It was a strange feeling to watch other people fuck; a touch of nostalgia maybe. How long it had been since a woman had touched him softly. Decades. Still…He had expected Kings to fuck in a kingly manner, all royal gravitas and symphony of sounds. But here he was, the Hastina King, grunting like a pig in a gutter. Shakuni waited patiently while the blind fool grasped the courtesan’s left breast and sucked on it like a starved bear on a honeycomb. Shakuni had long since learnt to sever his mind from what poets called the heart. He thought of himself as a surface devoid of ripples. It made it easier to watch Dhritarashtra devour a woman within earshot of the Queen’s chamber. He should have felt anger, even rage, but in truth he felt only gladness for the Queen. Better the whore suffers than you, Sister.

‘Do your best, girl. I will give you many bastards, I promise.’ Dhritarashtra put a hand on her head and pushed her down. The King’s pillow talk could definitely use improvement, but then again, it didn’t matter. Sex, in its most unconditional form, was the most wholesome thing gold could buy. ‘Children,’ he gasped, ‘who will grow to good ranks in our army.’

As Shakuni watched the courtesan engulf the blind King in ecstatic waves, her deadpan eyes met Shakuni’s. While her moans whistled musically out of her throat... nothing reached her face. She nodded grimly towards Shakuni, who returned the gesture. Not much difference between sex and statecraft, he mused. It would have taken naught to kill the King right then. The courtesan was in his employ, her son studying to be a map-maker in Takshashila. It was almost too easy to find female spies. Just educate their children. It was charity and conspiracy rolled into one. But Dhritarashtra was just a tool to be used to dismantle the Union, his true foe. He heard the Dhritarashtra’s grunts reach their crescendo as he clung to the woman’s hair. Noiseless as a shadow, Shakuni slipped out of the chamber.