Chapter 206

Chapter 289: The Chaos That Followed

Next day morning, when Lord Arnav had gone to see the hermit off to the forest edge, Rahim Chacha brought Kushi an envelope on a tray, mentioning that a messenger had brought her a letter which accompanied the gift of a neatly wrapped painting.

With intentions of reading it in pleasant solitude, Kushi took the letter and the painting to the Gallery, whereupon reaching, she unwrapped it. The painting on the canvas brought a smile on her face.

It was a paicture of two girls sitting on a bench in a beautiful garden, one girl wearing a brilliant yellow gown, holding a white parasol over them as she listened to the other girl who was dressed in a pleasant white gown and reading out from a book that she lovingly held. Though the faces of the young girls were obscure and without definition, the portrait was a miracle of sunlight and comradely elation.

Sighing happily, Kushi put up the gifted oeuvre on the wall, close to the window.

Stepping back to continue her keen study of it, her mind reminisced the day that was depicted in the painting and her heart brimmed with longing, knowing that she was on her dear friend's mind.

And how curiously coincidental, Kushi ruminated, that I had recited to her my favourite poem by Blake, titled The Tyger! Nani is right, there is indeed more to things than they seem...

Pulling up the sole armchair that was in the Gallery, she sat upon it, facing the painting and the open sunlit window.

Unsealing the envelope, Kushi opened the parchment out and smiled at the familiar dainty handwriting, before immersing her attention into the inked words.

She was halfway through the letter when a flutter of wings announced the arrival of Fortune at the window sill, who peered vacantly about the room until its intelligent eyes fell on the solitary figure on the armchair.

Kushi grinned up at the white parrot, "Hello there, Fortune! Out for your morning flight, I see."

"Green heart in the Gallery!" squawked the parrot in greeting.

Kushi rolled her eyes, "I really do wish you'd stop painting my red heart green. Could you not at least once try and call me by my name?"

"Green heart! Green heart!" exclaimed the parrot with rapturous fervour.

Kushi giggled, "Oh, you are hopeless!" She picked up the letter again, but her eyes looked over the parchment at the bird, "Now, if you don't mind, I would love to return to my dear friend's-"

"Are you talking to the parrot?" A voice interrupted.

Startled, Kushi dropped the letter.

Unmoving in her armchair, she sensed her blood rise.

The latest visitor to the Gallery walked towards her, the light rhythm of his approaching boots making her heart race in panic and rage.

When he was inches away from the armchair, Kushi arose from her perch and turned around, her expression cold and important.

The General halted, noticing her unwelcome regard of him. He was dressed in his riding garb, a dashing white shirt and beige pants, presumably having just returned from a course with Lighting.

Turning to the new painting, his deep, calculative eyes glimpsed over it, his hands held behind him in interested study of the picture.

Fortune had gone extremely quiet and the unnerving stillness in the room was too loud for Kushi to bear.

Bending down, she picked up the letter and hastily attempted to depart, for which she chose to steer further away from him by walking around the other side of the armchair and then make headway for the door.

But no sooner had she taken three steps, when the General reared back and blocked her passage.

Kushi's head shot up, her glaring eyes questioning his move, "Please step aside, sir. I wish to retire to my chamber."

"You may," he said, stepping aside to let her pass, and he leaned his hip against the armchair as he watched her resume her hurried retrieval, "If only you knew what you were running away from."

Her hand on the door handle, Kushi stopped and frowned. She shot a look over her shoulder, "I am not running away from anything."

"Yes, you are," he said, nodding briskly at the distance she had created between them.

"This is not running away," she stated pointedly, "This is a reaction."

"To what?" he asked, crossing his arms before his chest.

"To your presence," she said in bold coldness.

A hurt look overcame his features, "You hate me so much that you can't bear to be in the same room with me for more than half a second...?"

Kushi's fingers were pallid from gripping at the door handle, wanting to leave but unable to make a retreat of defeat, "If hatred is an appropriate enough word for our situation."

"Could there be any another word?" he asked, testily.

Kushi narrowed down her unfriendly gaze, "Revulsion would fit."

The General stood upright to his full height, "Are these not the same words by which you addressed your husband, when he was your archenemy and I your trusted comrade?"

"I barely remember such a phase in my life," Kushi replied unconcernedly, "It is as bygone as it is forgotten."

"You? Forget?" The General appeared taken aback, "How can you, in a snap of a moment, simply forget his unspeakable cruelty to you? His unceasing reference to you as a beggar'? Do you not remember the nights you cried, the merciless dreams you endured because of how inhumanly he treated you?"

"My husband is a changed man now," Kushi retracted, "No man can love me more tenderly as he does me." She looked away, hoping that her final words would resign her from their wretched banter.

"Ah, but how long do you think this charade will last?"

"What charade?" Kushi turned around.

An ingenious glint shone in his eyes, "This change you see in him cannot last. What he is, he always will be. That is why he is constantly and easily prone to being wild, thoughtless and difficult."

Kushi's hand involuntarily fisted the letter in her clasp, "You do not know him."

"Who do you think knows him better, I wonder?" the General challenged, "His ignorant sister from whom he keeps secrets, his wife whom once he personally tortured by locking her overnight in the merciless dungeon or me the mirror image of a curse, enduring every kind of pain that he himself endures."

"He is not a beast like you," said Kushi, her fisted hands trembling.

"That he is not," affirmed the General, "He is weaker and more vulnerable than me. It won't be long before he breaks-"

"He is stronger than he seems, I assure you," Kushi stated firmly, "And what's more important, he has me. I will not rest until I have found out how to dismantle his curse."

"How will you when he does not even divulge to you any details of his curse?" the General questioned skilfully, "Tell me, has he ever spoken to you personally about this matter? Wasn't everything you learnt about him obtained from sources other than him?"

Kushi paled, "He would tell me if I asked him."

"Oh no, he wouldn't," laughed the General, "Because if he was willing to share his secrets with his wife, he would have done it on the day he first made love to you."

Enraged, Kushi stormed towards the General, "My husband NEVER keeps secrets from me! And if he does, he only means to protect me!"

The General's face was an inch away from Kushi's irate visage. The nearness of her was so overpowering that his next words came in revered whisper, "His protection has blinded you, Kushiji."

Kushi gasped, realizing where she was, but she found herself quite incapable to move. She stared in dumb shock at her enemy's face, his sweat-drenched hair falling over his forehead as he gazed down at her with those bewitching eyes that swirled in a storm of green, blue and black.

Kushi gulped. I must leave.

The General stepped closer.

I MUST LEAVE!

"Kushiji..." The General's warm whisper crawled through her veins, clutching at her senses and weakening her resistance.

In horrified panic, she realized the General's face was nearing hers, his lips parting as his eyes dreamily drank the vision of her untouched lips.

Kushi was helpless to thwart his descent, No, No, NOO!!!

At that very moment, before the General could claim her lips, a sudden flurry of white flew at his face, sending him hurtling backwards. The spell was dissipated and Kushi blinked at the sight of Fortune scrambling at the General's face.

"Dragon Danger! Dragon Danger!"

Both the General and Kushi gasped on hearing the parrot's words, confirming its knowledge of the secret that was kept from the elder members of the family.

"Dragon Danger!" squawked the parrot repeatedly at the top its voice, infuriating the General excessively who, with a slight wave of his strong hand, whacked at the parrot.

"FORTUNE!" Kushi screamed.

The force of the bestial man's hand sent the parrot plunging backwards and out through the open window where, instead of lifting his wings and flying up, the surprised parrot careered down and was seen no more.

Confounded by what had happened, Kushi stared at the open window, praying for the bird to appear again. A long testing minute passed but there was no sign of any white wing.

Red with anger and betrayal, Kushi scowled at the General, "You vile beast! How dare you-"

She ran at the General, not knowing if she wanted to hit him, slap him, or scratch his face out, but when she reached him, she did none of them, for the General's ready hands blocked her by her shoulders, holding her attacking hands at bay. She tried to kick at him with her feet but in vain.

It was at this precise moment that an untimely figure appeared at the doorway and beheld this scene.

"WHAT THE-!" That was all that came out through his gritted teeth and then Lord Arnav was rushing at the General, who pushed Kushi aside and reared up to fight his real enemy.

Petrified, Kushi watched as the men threw fists at each other, ramming and hitting and bruising their knees, chests, shoulders and faces. It was when the General's deft knuckles punched Lord Arnav's nose to bleed that Kushi found the resolve to put her foot down.

"STOP IT! THE BOTH OF YOU!" She yelled, coming between them, which halted their fists mid-air for they could not attack when she stood as an intermediary obstacle amidst their savage combat.

Blood oozed from the side of the General's face and red, metallic stickiness masked Lord Arnav's nose and mouth.

Both men were panting and glaring at each other when a shuffle at the door sent all three heads turning in the direction of the fourth person.

It was Lord Manohar whose expression shifted bewilderment to prudent suspicion.

The silence of the caught prevailed only a few seconds until the Elder Lord asked politely, "Is anything the matter?"

"Nothing, Mamaji," said Lord Arnav, clearing his throat to answer more clearly as Kushi hastily dabbed her kerchief on the blood around his mouth, "We were just-"

"Practicing," completed the General.

"Practicing?" Lord Manohar repeated suspiciously, "I am familiar with practices on sword-fighting. Never fist-fighting."

"We thought it would be handy," said Kushi, forcing a grin, "What when faced with circumstances that find us no weapons?"

"I don't think such a circumstance would ever come," assured Lord Manohar coolly, "We have no enemies, us Raizadas. We are friends with everyone and no harm can befall our homes."

No one replied to the Elder Lord's comment which made him frown slightly and enquire, "Isn't that right, boys?"

"Yes," both Lord Arnav and the General replied vaguely, their eyes inanely studying the air, uncertain to look directly into the Elder Lord's eyes.

Standing between them, Kushi fidgeted with her fingers, knowing the Elder Lord was wiser than he looked.

Thankfully, he didn't prod further but smiled at them, "Well, let's stop our foolish games, men, and wash up quick. Lunch will be served within an hour and we don't want you looking like this at the family dinner table with an easily-influenced little boy amongst us. Do we?"

And with that rhetorical suggestion, he turned and departed as soundlessly as he'd come, his aged mind analysing deeper the puzzle he'd witnessed with every step he took.

The General and Lord Arnav were already locked in enraged looks of impending confrontation, when Kushi interfered again, pulling at her husband's hand, insisting him to come away.

Lord Arnav's icy gaze bored into the General's impassive poise, "This is not over yet."

Leaving that cold threat hanging in the overwrought air, Lord Arnav complied to follow after his wife as the General sordidly watched the two depart.