Chapter 187

Chapter 268: Connecting the Mystery

The late afternoon air had darkened with storm clouds and flashes of light scoured the sky.

Five hours of ceaseless rain and no sign of a returning husband had brought worry to not just Kushi but Lady Anjali as well, who was unaware of the occurrences of that morning.

"I only wish Shyamji would come home sooner..." Lady Anjali voiced her worry, as she sat in the living room lounger, watching the nightly torrent outside.

Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by the guttural rumbling of thunder that set the glass panes of the Castle to a trembling.

Kushi stepped away from the window and her eyes skipped over the baby held lovingly in Lady Anjali's arms.

"Di," Kushi sat on the other side of the lounger, "Anarkali seems to be deep in her sleep. I think you should lay her in her cot."

Lady Anjali nodded hesitantly, not wanting to move farther away from the Castle door through which she waited for her husband to walk through.

"I'll help you," offered Kushi, arising and taking the child from Lady Anjali.

The babe continued sleeping, undisturbed by the change of arms.

Lady Anjali got to her feet and led Kushi to the former's room.

When they had reached the wooden cot, Lady Anajli took the baby and lay her gently on the bedding in the cradle.

Still bent over her child, Lady Anjali asked, "Kushiji, could you get me a spare wrap from within that chest there? It's a cold night and its best I keep her extra warm."

"That would be wise," Kushi nodded, stepping towards the wooden chest aligned close to the wall at the other end of the room.

Kneeling down, she opened the heavy lid and found a separated pile of clean white wraps folded to one side of the chest's interior.

Picking up the folded wrap that was the topmost, Kushi was about to shut the chest lid, when her eyes fell on something at the other corner of the chest, buried deep among assorted books and clothes.

She couldn't see what it was clearly, but the end that was visible from the bottom of the chest, clearly revealed it to be-

"A quiver of arrows?" Kushi looked up, looking over at Lady Anjali, "Is that a quiver down there?"

"Yes, it is," Lady Anajli smiled, "There might be a bow lying close by it too."

Kushi was fascinated, and her fingers felt around the chest until they sensed the strong string of a possible bow.

Lifting it out of the chest, she gazed at it in wonder, feeling her hands along its smooth wood-like curve.

"It's beautiful..." Kushi murmured, admiring the mystic engraving along it, "Is it... Is it the General's?"

"On the contrary, it is mine," came the surprising reply.

Kushi was taken aback, "You used to be an archer, Di?!"

"Well, not quite an archer per se," Lady Anjali laughed at the image her mind had created, "But I had taught myself to send a few arrows flying while the boys amused themselves in fencing. I couldn't bring myself to being neglected in defence sports just because I was a girl."

Kushi replaced the sacred bow back into its haven in the chest and then returned to Lady Anjali.

"How long has it been since you stopped?" asked Kushi, handing the wrap to the young mother.

"It's been very long..." Lady Anjali said, tucking the wrap snuggly around her little child asleep in the cot, "I am quite certain I've even forgotten how to even hold a bow!"

As Lady Anjali tucked her child in her cradle, Kushi watched her, seeing her in an altogether new light: one that did not paint her in a candle-lit room as a young, sensitive mother but in a sunlit clearing of a forest as a strong, determined young girl, who once defied tradition and played wild with arrows while other girls gathered flowers and made jams.

I wonder where he's gone off in this late hour, Lady Anjali's worry still lingered in Kushi's mind even after she had left the former's room, bidding goodnight.

Kushi didn't want to scare her by telling her of the morning or that Lord Arnav had gone off to find him. All she could manage, when enquired about the First Lord's absence at the dinner table, was that he'd hastily gone to attend some urgent matter and, on his leaving, had not divined to her the details of his unexpected business.

Lord Akash, having received no message that required himself at the Industry, was baffled but subsequently sought to assure his panicked Dadi and Di that Brother would only leave the Castle if his presence was essential elsewhere and that he would be certain to return as soon as what was occupying him was settled thereof.

I should have stopped him... Kushi thought guiltily, as she made her way to the bed chamber upstairs, I cannot let anything happen to Arnavji or the General, lest dear Di's heart be hurt.

An hour had passed from evening into night and there was yet no sign of the missing husbands.

Dressed in a black night robe, the sleepless First Lady walked to and fro within her room, feeling no comfort despite the wind's attempts to reach through the curtains and caress her.

Sighing, she stepped out onto the balcony and looked out into the stormy night, hoping to find something that would appease her worrying heart.

Rain continued pouring in torrents and the sky rumbled with fearsome flashes of light.

Unable to stay put, Kushi wrapped her robe tightly around her and scampered out of the room and down the stairs, until she was before Lady Anjali's door.

She had to tell Lady Anjali the truth and maybe even help discover a remedy to this curious dilemma.

Repeated knocks on the door earned no sound from within, so Kushi opened the door gently and peered in.

The window was open and the wind outside blew wildly into the room, fluttering the curtains into a frenzy.

But, in contrast to that wildness, Lady Anjali and the child were peacefully asleep and no heart, even one that was uneasy and terrified, would find the strength to disturb their sleep.

Feeling her hopes fast slipping, the saddened Kushi was slowly closing the door when her gaze caught sight of something.

On the wall, above the bed on which Lady Anjali lay, was a curtained feature that had obscured her memory from remembering something that she had once glimpsed there.

But now, what with the wind from outside blowing restlessly at the curtains, the engraving on the wall was no longer concealed and it stared back at eyes that beheld it and made her heart stop.

One glimpse of the old engraving and, instantly, her mind recalled its resemblance from elsewhere.

She found herself mouthing the words, "The book!", and then, she was racing up the stairs and into her bed chamber, whereupon reaching, she shut the door hastily, her heart beating maddeningly, as she leapt towards the wardrobe.

Yanking the wardrobe doors open, she rummaged through the clothes and accessories until, in the glassy moonlight seeping through the windy balcony, she found what she was looking for:

The book that the Chinese Princess had gifted her.

Sliding onto the floor rug right there, her trembling fingers gently flipped through the pages, until her eyes found themselves looking at the vividly painted image of what was obscurely engraved on the wall in Lady Anjali's room.

Gasping in a bout of breath, Kushi sat there, cross-legged, and, with the moonlight watching over her, began reading the lines under the picture:

Japanese Martial arts refers to it as "Ryukoseishin." It speaks to the vitality and vigour that is the nature of these two creatures that have always been traditional enemies. These creatures feature strongly in the I Ching, but they signify very different approaches to transformation: one in ascent and the other in change.

She paused.

Had she imagined that sound?

Sitting on the rug, there in that darkness, she let her ears listen into the silence.

And then she heard it again, the sound of rushing hoofs.

The book slid to the floor as she shot to her feet and stepped into the balcony.

Squinting through the blinding darkness and thick rain, she craned her neck keenly to where the sound was approaching from.

Almost instantly, she spotted in the distance, Shadow emerging from the line of forests and riding up the hill upon the crest of which was the Castle.

Her heart sank when she realized he was riding alone, no master atop him.

Without waiting to think it through or pick up any form of shield from the weather and night, Kushi flew down the stairs, across the living room and dashed out of the Castle and into the rain.