"Hena, are you looking for someone? This late at night?" someone asked.
Hena did recognize the voice. It was Ishv. And she was a little bit scared. But she didn't let it consume her. She is a future queen. No matter what, she can't risk looking weak or frightened. She slowly looked back.
"No actually. I was just feeling like watching the stars. So I came here." Hena replied with confidence.
"Aww, I see. But yesterday was a full moon. This is not quite a good day for watching stars. They're still hardly visible. You know that, right?" Ishv said. There was teasing in his voice.
"Of course I know that. Who do you think I am? I am the Queen. But it's not fun when you can see the stars without trying to find them. Sometimes doing things the hard way is fun." Hena said.
Even though Hena does look at people she recognizes, she has always thought she is the pinnacle of beauty. So she has never seen someone and tried to see how beautiful they really are. Calling her arrogant would be an understatement.
But today she is feeling like she should watch Ishv. No matter how much she denies it, he is going to be her husband one day. On top of that, Ishv didn't have his upper wear on today. He usually wears clothes made out of tiger skin. What Hena sees in the moon and torch lights is that his body is lean and muscular. He is tall. Even though he is 7, he looks a bit younger. His tone is neither brown nor fully pale. He is in the middle. He doesn't have that much body or facial hair. Now that Hena looked at him this closely, she does find him way more attractive than before.
"Ok! I understand, queen. You are so deep. Now stop giving me that ominous look." Ishv said that with a chuckle.
Ishv's talking made Hena snap out.
"Why are you here anyway?" Hena said with a bit of annoyance in her voice, because she hated the idea of finding this man attractive.
"Well, I heard someone open the temple door. So I thought maybe I'd give the thief a visit. But never realized you would be the one here." Ishv replied.
"Well, I know what you mean. And no, I am not the thief. I am just here to see if the food is stolen or not. Then I was going to the pond." Hena replied.
"Well, I see. I know you are not here to steal. You are too high and mighty to do that. There is only one guy in the whole castle who can do that. And that's not you." Ishv replied and started walking toward the pond.
"What? You know who the thief is? How?" Hena's curiosity again got the best of her. She forgot every emotion and started walking beside him.
"Well, it was obvious who would do such a disgusting work. And also I sometimes watch him steal." Ishv replied.
"What? You? The guy who is all about kingdom and rule. The knight of truth. The golden child of the royal family lets that slide?" Hena got a perfect reason to pull his legs, and she won't let that slide.
"Ikhtu means 'dead.' We have a total of 27 cousins in this castle. Everyone is named after something good or divine or happy. While he is named dead. That's something suspicious. Yes, he is a lowlife. But they named him when he was a baby. Not after he turned out like this. The only time that someone brings him up or talks to him is to feel better about themselves or make insults about him. Even the king himself made fun of a 4-year-old child. So tell me one thing: is his behavior what led to his insults, or insults that led to his behavior? Everyone says we are all beautiful. But after what we did to him, are we still beautiful? Nah. Even better—tell me, are we still human? You probably don't even know who I am talking about. And that's not your fault. It's the system's fault."
Ishv stopped walking and took a large breath. Then he added,
"Everyone is told for centuries beauty is what mattered the most. And everyone started worshipping beauty so much that when humanity left the kingdom, we were too busy bathing in gold. But once I become king, I will change this system. Don't think I hate you or hate beauty. It's just I think we should prioritize other things more. So people like Ikhtu can live in peace without being outcasts in this system. And for the answer of whether he is stealing from god? No, he isn't. I see it as god sharing his food with a boy nobody cares about. Because god wants him to be alive. For something big. Because the boy who was hated by his own parents from the time he was born and still lived—yes, he is important for God. I am telling you all this because you are mature enough. So think about all of this. You will be the queen, you need to think. Have a good rest."
After saying that, Ishv left.
Hena's not-so-old wounds started to hurt again. This was the exact same question she had the day before. Now Ishv too. If someone like Ishv sees the problem, then it's really a problem. Yes, the thousand years of tradition of the system is flawed. Even if it's a hard pill to swallow. Even if it feels like everything she knew was a lie, and if she is truly a queen, she needs to decide something. The fact is: if this system is flawed, there were others before her and Ishv who saw this flaw and decided not to swallow the pill. She is now conflicted in more ways than she can count. But one thing is sure—she can't cheat her way through this one like all the times she used her beauty or mother and father to get out of some situation. This time she needs to decide what to do. Because she knows her parents didn't even know the pill existed. Even if they did, they would never swallow it. So it was up to her. So she started thinking. She didn't make any decision right away.
While all that complication was happening, Ikhtu and his father were headed towards the Himalaya. Ikhtu didn't know about other cities or places other than the capital. So he thought they were going to Harappa. It took them 45 days to reach there. But it took them 3 days to climb up the mountain they needed for the job. Ikhtu didn't know what the job was, of course.
After they reached outside the cave they needed to be in…
"Be here until I tell you to come inside." Ravi said something after 48 days to Ikhtu. Even though he was alone so many times after his sister could talk, he had never stayed silent for this many days.
Ikhtu was freezing and shivering, maybe wanting to go inside because it felt warmer inside. But he couldn't get the courage to ask, so he replied,
"Ok, father."
People often have mommy issues, daddy issues, sister issues. He had literally all of them, in addition to royal family issues.
Ravi went inside. It was quite dark. He had really high hopes for this cave. But he was scared. What if all of his hope was in vain? What if there was no one here? What if it was just a waste of his time? His beautiful wife would be sad. That thought alone made him shiver.
"Still thinking about your wife? I see. You really love her." someone said from behind. Many torches turned on. And as Ravi looked behind, he saw a brown guy with no upper wear. He looked like a monk, but Ravi didn't know what a monk was, because monks didn't exist yet.
He asked,
"How did you—?"
"How did I what? Turn the torches on? Know your inner thoughts? Or appear at the gate you walked from?"
He paused and continued,
"All of the answers are because I am what people around you call Hewan. An evil entity. God's enemy. And friends to bastards like you. I know everything. I like chaos. And I love lying. And I am not anyone's friend."
Ravi didn't know how to feel at that moment. He was relieved, but a new tension appeared: Will he help me? What if he doesn't?
"Of course I will help you. We are friends, remember? And what you want will bring really complicated chaos and good entertainment, so I will help you."
"Really? Thanks, my lord. I don't know how to impress you. But I have brought something in exchange." Ravi said with excitement.
"Well, I know what you brought me. I love and hate you for it. Your heart is twisted enough. I love that."
"But you thought I would need some human as a sacrifice." As he said this, he started to transform. He was turning red. Some kind of red smoke was coming out of the body. Horns came out of his head. His nose and ears were becoming bigger.
"You think I can't get a human? And you think royals are special to me? All of you are worthless crap for my playthings and entertainment."
He fully transformed into something that was anything but human. Multiple hands. Dark red skin. No pupils, just full black eyes. As he transformed, Ravi got scared. He screamed.
That annoyed Hewan more. He grabbed Ravi by the throat and said…
"You are so annoying. I was being nice. But here you are, annoying me even more. You think I am scary and ugly. Someone else thinks that too. Let me send you to him. Then you two can chat in private."
Outside the cave, Ikhtu was freezing and thinking this sucks, and he should be in the castle now eating temple foods. He missed his home. He was thinking if they went back he would sneak out of the castle. He really wanted to see the new sword fight thing his sister told him about. He also wanted to fight if it's ever possible. He was thinking all of this when he heard his father's scream.
He ran toward the cave.
When he went inside, he saw someone killing his father. And he didn't even hesitate or look closely at who it was. After he saw his father in danger, Ikhtu jumped at Hewan from the back and bit one of his ears so hard it tore apart.
Hewan didn't expect this. He knew the kid was coming, but he thought he would be scared too. No human in his right mind jumps on something that looks this dangerous and vile. But Ikhtu wasn't normal. Still, it was unexpected for him. So it caught him off guard.
He let Ravi go and sent Ikhtu flying to the other side of the room. Then—
"Hahahahaha! Ravi, my friend. You got an interesting kid. I really love him. You will get your wish. I don't need your gift. Hahahahaha!" he said while transforming back into a monk-like figure.
"Hey kid, you got to ask a Hewan's favor. I only give it to people I like. Name anything. Wealth, beauty, respect, woman. It's yours." Hewan said while walking near Ikhtu.
SPIT.
"I don't want anything from someone like you." Ikhtu gave him an angry look and said it.
Hewan had never seen this look from anyone. He had seen pity looks from gods and angels. Humans and animals gave him fear. But this look—someone after seeing his true form—the look clearly said, I will kill you. The guts. It was a new feeling for Hewan. It was almost like fear. Then he laughed it off.
"Oh. Believe me, you will come to me one day, boy. I think our story is going to be legendary." He walked to Ravi, who was still coughing.
"I accept your deal. Your work will be done. Now go deeper in this cave. There should be an exit. It will lead you to the other side. And don't sacrifice that boy if you and your loving wife want to live. He is my entertainment. Only mine."
Ravi and Ikhtu left the cave.
"God, by the looks of it, I like one of your favorite humans. He really was able to bite my ear off. How fascinating. Hahaha… Hahaha…" Hewan laughed while muttering this.
Both the son and dad were in front of the castle.
"Let's go to the dining hall. I need to tell the king something." Ravi asked Ikhtu to meet the king.
"Shouldn't we clean up? We are dirty." Ikhtu asked his father.
"Well, that's the first good thing you suggested in your whole life. But no, we need to do this like this. Otherwise they won't believe that you bit off an ear from a wolf-man while there is blood on your teeth."
"Oww that was a wolf-man? I really thought what that was?" Ikhtu said like a kid.
They went to dining. Everyone was there for breakfast. The royal family was big, having over 40 members in the royalty. And everyone ate together. So the room was filled with the top people of the civilization. Hena and Ishv were there too.
"Ravi, what happened to you?" the Queen asked.
"Nothing, sister. It's just that I almost died." Ravi answered.
"What do you mean?" Mayitra asked with worry.
"Well, while coming back from our trip, some kind of horror being attacked us. It was like a combination of wolf and man. It attacked me. Then my son saved my life."
"What? Your son, the outcast, saved you? Are you being real? One of the mightiest guys needed a worthless person's help?" the king asked.
"If you want to talk bullshit about someone who saved my life, I won't take it lightly. And I will challenge you in a fight. No matter if you are a king. And all of you know who wins and who doesn't. I have been serving this civilization for years now, and will serve in upcoming wars too. But you need to make my son a knight right now. If you don't, I will resign at this moment." Ravi said without flinching, meaning he was serious about this.
"Ok, I feel your emotion. That's your child no matter how unwanted he is. And how he has become, still your blood. And that he has done something brave in your eyes. But directly promoting him to a knight—isn't that a bit much? You know what that rank is, right? We can't hand it to everybody." the Queen said.
"I am not a kid, sister. I am fully aware. Ok, let's say I don't know. Now explain the whole system for me and the kids who don't know the whole system. Even people like my daughter, your daughter, and Ishv don't understand the ranking that much. They go around and tell people they are higher rank than them because they are more beautiful or might become King and Queen. And people don't correct them because they are too scared because of your ban. And they are old enough to know they aren't higher than a knight. Explain to them the 'might' part in the equation." Ravi said while bursting with anger.
The whole hall started panicking. All older people were furious and telling Ravi to stop, and the children didn't understand what it meant.
"Silence. I told you kids don't need the might part. They will know when they grow up." the King said.
"Why did you bring up that thing? We all said that would stay hidden until they are mature enough. Right? Go to the room. Now. I am higher rank than you, remember? No might or beauty will save you from my rage. Now go." Mayitra said with anger. She was shivering with rage.
Ravi snapped out and was about to go.
"Stop, uncle. Mother, explain what this means. I have been conflicted with this whole beauty theory." Hena said.
"You will know when it's time." the Queen replied.
Hena picked up a fork-like thing. It was made of tree branches and used for tearing meat easily.
"If you don't tell what it is, my beauty is going away."
She was about to cut her face. The fork was touching her skin.
"She is bluffing. She won't do that." Mayitra said.
"If she doesn't, I will." said Devishri, who did the same thing.
Then Ishv joined them. One after another, every one of these 27 children did that.
"It's all because of you, Ravi." said Nadini (meaning mother of rivers). She was Ravi's sister-in-law and the Queen's sister-in-law.
"Ok, I will tell you everything." said the Queen.