Chapter 8: Trial
We raced through the trees and the wild dense growth. The thorns and bushes scratched our flesh. The wet, slippery mud was another problem.
Madhu stole a glance behind, sitting in front of me on the saddle, "They're following us. And they are fast." She nodded, "Really fast, actually."
I chuckled, "What did you expect?"
I could hear them calling out my name and asking me to stop and surrender. I thrashed the rein harder and we jerked forward before moving faster. I could hear the sound of hooves coming closer. I also recognized Mukund's voice. Unlike the orderly, threatening tone of others, his was pleading.
"They are going to catch us soon." I mumbled helplessly. "We have to turn out of the forest." I did the necessary trick with the rein and the horse turned a sharp left.
As soon as we curved to turn, I felt a sharp object penetrate into my left arm. The unexpected pain was piercing. I groaned.
It was a small dagger. These were used by the warriors as handy weapons. Their blades were not longer than three inches, but as sharp as a sword's.
"What?" Madhu's voice was filled with fear and worry. She turned her torso to the left to gently pull it out of my skin.
I recognized it.
"I'm gonna damn Mukund!" I felt irritated as the pulse against the wound throbbed painfully.
"No." She said as she turned away again. "This will be helpful." She looked warily at the little weapon with jade handle and blade smeared with my blood.
I thrashed the rein again and looked at the side of her face, "I already have one."
"I was talking of myself."
I could now see the unbounded end of the forest and the settlement of Misthaven in front of us. The horse leaped gracefully out of the tall trees and into clear land.
Madhu was smiling when she turned to look at me again. But mine was already banished when I pulled the rein hard and abrupt and the animal neighed to a sudden stop. Both of us leaned forward from the inertia.
The ones who were not following us stood guarding our way on horses, Father Xavier III stood on his feet in front of them. They did not seem to be moving out of the way unlike the previous two warriors did. Of course, normal men are fooled only once.
Father's voice was still gravely calm and patient, "Surrender."
I glanced around to see that we were also caught from behind by Mukund and the other warrior who were chasing us. I turned to see that the guards now stood circling us, one beside the other.
Well, they probably weren't aware of something.
I gently pulled the rein and the horse calmly trotted three steps back.
I looked at Father and smiled sweetly, "Like hell will I surrender."
I swiftly pulled the rein downwards and with a loud neigh, the horse leaped.
Their action was reflex; everyone in front of us kneeled down at the sudden wild motion. And the animal could easily fly away above their heads.
Madhu was laughing when we landed on the ground behind the back of those baffled men. She was clutching the neck of the animal tightly.
"How did you do that?" She asked.
I shrugged, "It is my common trick. Mukund always used to get fooled."
We were running again. And so were our chasers.
I grunted, "They are not going to stop. I have to do something."
My self-reliant tone made Madhu turn her head to look at me, "Now what?"
"I...You leave for the cemetery. I will think what to do." I shook my head, "I have to do something silly but threatening."
"Do I look crazy? I am not going to leave without you."
The street curved to the right. They were still shouting to us from behind.
"You have to. Pull this rein hard, angled slightly in the upward direction and this horse would stop."
She shook her head stubbornly, "I am not going to fly away leaving you here fighting with them."
"Please!" I begged, "They are maniacs. I have to behave like one too to deal with them. You will go slowly. And don't worry." I patted the animal with a soft smile, "He is not aggressive."
"Unlike you." She muttered and turned to face me again, "Just remember one thing Rishabh. I will be waiting."
I looked her in the eye, "I will." I gently tugged at the rein and the animal slowed down a bit. I lifted up my left leg over the saddle, turned my body to the right side and then jumped down, almost losing my balance as I drew out my sword.
I stood in the middle of the way and sliced my left arm with the sword. I felt the blood ooze out from the cut and flow down under my sleeve.
The men on horseback stopped abruptly. I saw Father was riding with Mukund. Both of them dismounted. All of their faces were dislodged, confused.
"What the hell are you trying to do?" Mukund walked towards me fiercely.
"Stop there." I said calmly, "You take one step towards that direction and..." I trailed off.
Mukund halted in his tracks. "Why are you doing this? When will you stop?" He asked ruefully.
"Simple." I smiled, "Stop chasing us. Spare her. And I will stop this."
Father shook his head, "You are being insane."
I chuckled, "Yeah, just as insane as you."
"The Church will""
"To hell with your Church!" I shouted, "You're beasts in the form of men pretending to be directed by God! You forget God does not direct inhumanity."
"You have to understand." Mukund was saying, "A witch's family should not survive. This is law!"
I nodded, "Yeah. The Church can alter laws in rare cases. This also is a law!" I shrugged, "I was also in the Academy my friend."
Father shook his head, "On what reason?"
I sighed impatiently, "That girl does not know a thing about witchcraft""
Father held up a hand, "You already explained us that. I want to know what conditions you give, what guarantee that her mother would never try to take her in control."
I raised an eyebrow, "And what guarantee do you give that the woman really had a pact' with the devil? Father, this is uncertain. But Madhu's life? What about it? You offer her some punishment but in real it is the fact that her mother's powers are forever vanquished."
"I still don't see logic."
"Let me show you." I sliced my arm again, just below the previous wound. Snickers spread throughout the group. Mukund looked helpless. He glanced at Father, "Please do something!"
I continued, "If you are so sure in your rituals, then spare one law this time. I will take the responsibility. If one bit of weirdness is noticed in her later, something evident enough to prove that she is being directed, you know what to do."
Father nodded, "You mean that if she ever shows signs of being controlled by some evil power, we have to do to her what we do to a witch."
I bit my lip as my heart thumped in my chest. "Exactly that."
I was scared, but now it was the only reason, the only logic I was left with to pull these men out of their binding ego.
His eyes looked thoughtful, "You guarantee us that?"
I didn't have any answer to that question. I was worried about her. If I don't give them some strong reasoning, they will go on harping on us and their beloved law.
I said with a feigned smile, "Can you guarantee that you will live up to a hundred years and die on the day you turn hundred? I won't guarantee, Father. But I have already given you the conditions. If it happens, you know what to be done."
Father looked down to the ground.
"Be quick." I cooed and placed the tip of the sword on my wrist, "It will be my wrist now. You know what'll happen then."
Mukund restlessly wheeled his eyes between me and Father.
I sighed, "As a warrior, I am bound to protect the truth. And that's why I'm doing this."
Father looked up; the new light in his eyes gave me some hope. But what followed nest broke every little expectation I had ever had.
He said, "As a warrior, you are bound to protect the law. And the law is based upon truths, my son."
"What?" I frowned.
He called out, "Warriors!"
Every one of them, except Mukund, raged forward towards me.
Desperate, I directed my weapon towards them, their steps cautioned as they slowed to a stop, "One...just one step towards me... this time I will not hurt myself. It does not matter to you Father if you lose one. But it's gonna cost you a lot if you lose many...all." My vision blurred as fury took over sanity running through my blood. "One step and each one of you will be shredded!" My voice was shaking, unstable, my heart kept on beating loudly as my wounded arm continued to throb with pain.
"Stop all this nonsense!" Mukund hurried towards me and the army closing in on. He pushed through the crowd and in spite of my warning, he marched to me.
I felt weak all of a sudden, maybe because I felt hopeless now. I did not react, just kept the weapon aimed at him.
He looked at me in the eye, "Rishabh, you have to stop this first. Only then can we stop. You can go to her. Go wherever you want. Do anything but stop hurting yourself, please!"
"Mukund?" Father asked in surprise.
"Please, give me a moment." Mukund shouted back at him and then turned to face me again. He gently touched my hand and lowered down the weapon steadily. He said in a low voice, "I know you will not hurt others just for the sake of it."
I said flatly, "I can defend...violently."
I don't know what was there in my eyes, or my face but my voice was unfeeling, tired.
"I will make them see logic. They will alter the law." He rambled on, "But first, you have to stop. Justice will be done as you demand for it. I promise you that."
I shouted, "I don't believe in any of you and your promises!"
I started to back away, "And Father, never call me a Warrior again! Because I am a wizard now." My eyes wheeled through everyone's dumbstruck faces, "And as I've already made it clear. One step towards us, and I will shred each one of you to pieces." I pointed towards Mukund with my index finger, "I mean that!"
I turned my back to the little army as I placed the sword back to its place and began to run towards the cemetery, towards my Madhu. And I didn't give a damn now whether they followed me or not. I knew how to deal with them, and I will deal with them badly.
I noticed the white animal swinging its tail and jogging with her on its back towards the cemetery, through the empty street.
The Misthaven cemetery was located along the perimeters of the village. It all felt so silent, calm after I had had all the drama. I felt weary. They hadn't chased me, nor had they tried to stop me.
I did not have the heart to call out to her. I ran as swift as my legs could carry me and jumped upon the half-walking, half-running animal, sat behind her.
Madhu jumped like a rabbit. And then her face lit up when she saw me.
"So you could catch up." She turned away, "I don't know why he is slowing down with every step. I thought of lashing that rein like you do...but couldn't gather the guts."
I chuckled and gently thrashed the rein and the horse trotted a little faster, "He is just tired."
She looked at me again, "And so are you. What happened?"
She hadn't yet noticed the scars on my hand. She shouldn't. I tried to give her a nice smile, but failed.
"Nothing happened. I could not do anything."
She sighed, "They are not chasing us. And that is nothing?"
I shook my head, "I couldn't convince them. Yeah, but I could convince Mukund. He actually stopped them. Otherwise..." I trailed off. I was too tired to think what would have happened then.
"It wouldn't have made any difference if you didn't do your stuff. You're going to tell me everything." She said, "Where are we going now? The cemetery is here."
The faint sun that prevailed today had begun to set near the horizon. The sky etched red and pink. It was a beauty as the yellow ball of fire sank down slowly. Few clouds were there but it could rain still. I looked around and saw an empty shed. It was a resting shed for travelers.
"Let's spend the night here." I said, "Tomorrow morning we will go to the place where you used to live with your father. You remember, right?"
She turned to look at me, her expression was startled.
"I do." She answered.
"Okay." I sighed, "Can we walk this little distance? This up-down jerk is going to make me puke."
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
