Chapter 205

Chapter 288: Intangible Manacles

Dragging the heavy iron chains that bound him by his wrists, Lord Arnav trudged up the height of steps that loomed before him. The more he climbed, the more he felt the steps were mounted, adding to the agony of having to plod further, grinding his diminishing strength with every second's misery.

Just when he was about to collapse to the floor, dejected, he beheld the last stair and, with renewed vehemence, tramped to the top, pulling the shackles after him.

On reaching the landing, he found himself standing in what looked to be one of the marble Grecian Temples, a dozen pillars holding the ceiling up, looking splendorous in white and magnificent in the firelight that issued from the huge hearth erected on the floor in the centre.

The cold night wind took the opportune moment to brush past him, making him shiver and he realized he was in his night pants, with no shirt on.

How had he come to be this way? He wondered, looking around to see if you could find another living soul to share this eerie solitude with.

The wind had begun to play around him, provoking the feebleness in his human blood to resist nature's forces.

Subsequently, his legs moved in the direction of the waiting hearth, closer to the light and the alluring heat.

With immense labour, he managed to drag the burdensome chains and bring himself before the hearth.

He was warming his hands over the fire, when he glanced up and had the shock of his life.

The other side of the Temple constituted a tall altar, the white marble table, on which lay Kushi, garbed in the gown she wore at their wedding.

"Kushi!" He cried out and, forgetting his chains, attempted to rush towards her but the chains held back and he fell, flat on his face.

Groaning from the agonizing pain that erupted from his bleeding wrists, he tried to get on his feet again.

But no sooner was he standing up and turning around than he beheld another figure in the vicinity, as tall as him, standing between the hearth and the altar, as though to keep him away from her.

This figure was strange in appearance. It wore a bright red robe and the red hood that came with the robe concealed its face in shadow. It was standing at the foot of the altar and in its hand, it held a fresh red rose.

Lord Arnav stared, unable to comprehend, but his eyes returned to Kushi who, he was certain, was either asleep or unconscious. He hoped it was not the latter.

Suddenly, he was alerted to the movement of the figure's hand, which was gloved red and this disabled him from identifying the gender.

The gloved hand, which held the rose, brushed the flower against Kushi's feet. The tickling passage awoke her and her eyes opened to stare at the ceiling.

Kushi, Lord Arnav beckoned to her with his heart, wanting her to look at him.

Strangely, it seemed she heard him.

Turning her head to her side, she gazed at him. He smiled in relief, but the smile faded as instantly as it came, for he saw in her eyes that she did not recognize him.

"Kushi?" he was confused, "Kushi, it is I."

There was no change of expression on her face and he was convinced she couldn't see him.

He wanted to go to her but something had happened to the chains and they seemed to be fixed to ground, refusing to budge despite use of force.

Helpless only to stand and watch, he saw her sit up on the altar and notice the red robed figure at the foot of altar, its shadowed face looking in her direction.

This time Kushi smiled and placed her hand in the offered gloved hand so it could help her off the altar.

A painful pang pierced Lord Arnav's hand as he watched his wife helped to alight to the floor by a foreign creature.

"Kushi!" he called out to her again, knowing she would not hear him.

Yet. She stopped.

He stilled.

She turned and looked directly at him.

He didn't move, afraid to.

"Arnavji?"

Her voice was breath to him and he cried out, tears running down his cheeks, "Kushi... Kushi."

That was all he could say. All he could manage.

All he needed.

But then he paled, for he had read the absence of love in her eyes. She seemed far removed and indifferent in the passivity that gazed back at him.

"You shouldn't be here," she said coldly, "You must go back."

Lord Arnav could only stare in shock.

Seeing that he refused to move, she lifted a hand to her neck and, with a quick yank, broke the gold chain that was on her.

As she lifted it up, as though for him to better see it, the firelight from the blazing hearth shone on the chain and the pendant glistened gold.

His breath caught when he noticed that it was a key.

She threw it at him, the gold chain sailing over the wild hearth and landing on the cold floor, inches away from his feet.

"Free yourself," she said and he looked at her.

"Free yourself," she repeated, "That is why you came."

She turned as though to leave and he found his voice just in time to say, "No."

She paused and looked over her shoulder.

He didn't know where he was obtaining the words from but he spoke as though he meant them.

"I don't care about freeing myself," he said, "I need YOU."

"It is too late," she said, turning away.

"But why?" he pleaded.

She turned around and glared at him, "You did this! You made this choice!"

"I didn't!" he admitted, "I don't recollect making any choice that would leave me without you."

"Think back," she said, and this time there was a note of sadness in her voice. A tone of longing. "Think back to the last thing you said to me."

Lord Arnav tried to remember but his mind was a white fog and there was no coherent thought or memory in it.

"I can't..." he wheezed weakly from the strain of thinking, "I can't...seem to remember..."

The answer didn't satisfy Kushi for she was turning away from him again.

"Kushi, wait!" he called back, "Help me remember!"

He tugged hard at the chains, yearning them to budge but he was rooted to the place, unable to venture a step into her direction. "Kushi, wait!" he called out urgently again.

But it was too late, she had walked onward, into the darkness on the other side, and as he watched her disappear, the red hooded figure stepped before his vision, concealing the last moments of his departing wife.

Resentment rose in him and he demanded, "What is the meaning of all this?!"

The figure stood unmoved.

"Where has she gone? What have I done to deserve this? Tell me!"

The figure lifted the gloved hand that held the rose and pointed it at the floor, to where the key had fallen at his feet.

"I don't CARE to be freed!" he yelled at the figure, "Just bring my wife back to me!"

The figure shook its head, as though chastising his defiance, and then, as he watched, it threw the red rose into the hearth.

Lord Arnav stared at the rose, thrust into the heart of the blazing cinders, and watched with growing revulsion as the fresh red petals, blackened and crumbled to dark dust, was blown up to dancing with the bright sparks of the powerful fire.

The golden sparks and the black dust danced and fused in the air until they formed the shape of a face, familiar and dear to him.

"Kushi...?" he breathed out, tears burning in his eyes.

The apparition over the hearth spoke in an echo, "I came to set you free, I have done that. Now you must let me go."

"No, NO!" Lord Arnav cried out as the apparition dispelled and vanished from sight.

"Kushi!" He cried out and then stilled, staring at the pitch blackness that greeted his eyes.

Panting in the fading wake of apprehension, he realized he was in his bed. In the darkness, his desperate hands grappled beside him until they sensed the sleeping form of his beloved wife.

Breathing a relieved sigh, he lay down again, comforted in the thought that it was only a dream.

And then, when his hands involuntarily rubbed at his wrists, he realized an aftermath of pain still lingered in them.

Had it not been a dream? he wondered anxiously. He also had a vague recollection that this dream was not the first of its kind.

He willed his mind to not believe in superstitious inclinations and tossing the blanket over him again, he turned on his side.

Kushi was turned in his direction so he found himself studying her features in the moonlight that seeped from the balcony. He faintly remembered how exactly detailed she had appeared in the dream.

Frowning the doubts away, he focused on her beautiful face and the childishness that featured on it in her sleep.

Leaning forward he kissed her on the forehead, "I will never let you go, Kushi. Never! Even if my own life is at stake."

And then, putting his arm around her, he pressed his nose close to hers and waited for sleep to come again.