Nala wondered for a moment whether she wanted happiness. The word had long lost its meaning. There had been some moments she had enjoyed with her mother and brothers, when she had been with the others in Meru, but her old life had been burned down by Bheem. No. The pages of memory only served as edges to cut her. And poison, that did not feel personal enough. Not to forget there was no guarantee that poisons worked on giants. No, she needed Bheem to know it was her. She had to slit his throat. There was no other way.

She was maimed and ruined. There lay no respectable future ahead of her even if Parshuram did as he promised. And what exactly would she be leaving behind? A few paltry friends who would go on to become Acharyas of Kings and Lords, and soon forget the girl they had shared a bunk with, without knowing her secret? It really wasn’t much of a choice.

‘I will come with you, Master.’

‘Don’t decide now. It is easy to decide to choose the night when you are in darkness. I have a gift for you Nala, before I leave for my quest.’

VI

Hours later, he took her to the main town in Kasmira, which was bustling with people and commerce as far as she could see; granaries and brick houses, timbered inns, cremation grounds, taverns, stalls and brothels, all piled on one another, jostling for space and coin. The alleys were so narrow Nala and Parshuram could not walk abreast.

‘Head into that tavern,’ Parshuram instructed as they reached a crookback street. ‘I will meet you at the hermitage in an hour, and I hope not to.’

And that is when Nala saw a group of young men, for they no longer looked like boys, approaching the tavern. As if in a trance, Nala followed them inside. A serving wench walked past her with an earthen carafe of sour smelling wine to the table where Varcin, Upavi, Varayu, Akopa and the other boys from her Meru class sat. They were all drunk, laughing and jostling each other. The Third Year Trip, she remembered. The third years were permitted to go on a paid trip to any city in the Mai Layas. How Nala and Varcin had planned for this trip! The firelight fell on them, dazzling her eyes with their happiness.

Tears filled Nala’s eyes as she took a table in a gloomy corner within earshot of the other table. She heard their complaints about Irum, their questions about which kingdoms they were destined to go to as apprentices, their amazement at the new comet streaking across the sky. And she heard them wonder where Nala was.

They remember me, Nala realised as she heard each of their wild theories about her whereabouts. Strangely, in each of their imaginings, Nala was safe and happy.