Epilogue: The Virtue and the Vice
I walked down the corridor alone. My footsteps were the only sound I heard. The Church was empty and it struck eight in the evening. There were paintings that depicted scenes from Bible verses that hung on the caramel painted walls beside me. The maroon carpet was soft and little chandeliers hung above me, spaced with perfect gap.
The Hazelwood Church reflected sanctity and discipline in every piece of brick that it was made of.
Before he took us to meet Father Xavier, Mukund made sure we looked like civilized people and not running Barbarians. The meeting at the Church court went down easily. Short and smooth. In the presence of all the priests and the senior Fathers of the Church, it was made clear that Madhu was not a witch in real. Proper evidence was given as Mukund and I stood strong witnesses, including Bittu's unawareness of any activity of witchcraft or black magic. The plague was already proved to be a natural epidemic. Father Xavier, quite trying to keep a balance, made it sure that it was announced. If later anywhere, anytime there was found hints of evil practices and those were directed from Madhu, who in spite of belonging from a witch's family is being spared, of course, she had to face the required punishment. I didn't hesitate to chuckle at that. The law and belief of the witch's awakening prevailed.
Now, as I reached Father Xavier's meeting room at the end of the corridor, I inhaled nervously. Two guards stood still like statues beside the rosewood door, one on each side. I wondered what had made Father to tread towards me after the trial was over and whisper in my ears to come and meet him. I slowly removed the gap between the entrance and myself and touched the knob. Probably he wanted to teach me some lessons that-
I jumped when out of nowhere Mukund opened the door from inside and stood right in front of me.
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, still suffering from the sudden quick movement.
The smile was already there on his face, "Oh! You here finally! Father has been waiting for quite a minute and since you weren't showing your face he asked me to go and find you." He rambled and moved back to make space for me.
I entered and closed the door behind me, "Yeah I just sent Madhu home in the carriage."
He nodded merely.
The room I was standing in now looked very similar to the one I had seen in the dream. That chandelier that had lighted candles overhead, the fresco of Jesus, Mary and David, those green-tinted windows. Only the furniture was changed. It now looked better, however. And of course, there was no tension prevailing in the air.
Hearing us enter and talk, Father Xavier replaced a book back on the shelf and turned back to us. He smiled slightly and removed his glasses.
"Rishabh! I was waiting for you." He said unnecessarily.
I gave a tightlipped smile, "I know. What do you want me to do?"
"Want you to do." He repeated and walked round the table so that we could stand face-to-face. "I think you've already done what you should have without me ordering you."
My eyebrows pulled together, "I don't understand, Father."
"You will. Let me tell you a something. Yesterday, when you rambled on the evidences and proofs that Madhu was not what we thought of her, when you dared to hurt yourself..." He shook his head suddenly, "I would not use hurt'. It was quite evident in your eyes that you could even..." He hesitated slightly, "...kill yourself if you failed to convince us."
I quietly looked at blank space from the corner of my eyes. I don't recall, neither did I feel anything what was going on in my head at that time. All I knew then that I had to prove them somehow, anyhow.
Seeing my blank expression, Father laughed lightly, "I know you were quite confused. But you were determined. And that determination is the utmost important thing a warrior should have."
I sighed and couldn't help the smile form on my lips, "But I actually threatened to..." I tried to remember the word, "...shred the others."
He raised a finger, "Only because you had known then that however you would try to convince, we would never be convinced. That's why; the only way you were left with was to finish us. I talked about a determination of yours. You were not determined to prove anything; you were determined to protect the right. To save an innocent life."
Yes, I was.
He continued, "I just called you here so that you know that I was already convinced when you threatened to slice your wrist."
With great difficulty did I manage to stop my mouth from hanging open. "Are-Are you serious?"
"I am." He merely nodded, "And there's another thing you should know. It's an order, mind that. Never say that you are not a warrior. You are in fact better than that as you know how to extract the virtue from the vice of not obeying the law."
I managed to say, "Thank you." I did not find anything better.
Father nodded and looked down before looking up again, "You both should leave now. It's late."
"Okay." I mumbled and walked straight out of the office. Mukund caught up with me in the corridor.
"Oh man that was some hell of praise!" He asked in his hyper-active voice
I sighed exaggeratedly, "I just wish my jealous friend stops riding on my nerves."
Mukund was beaming, "Exactly. I'm jealous of you. So damn jealous of you!"
When we reached the main gate, I said, "Good night. I should take leave. She is waiting for me."
His eyes widened, "You are going to Misthaven? At this hour of night?"
I waved a hand in the air, "No! She is...she is here in Hazelwood. She does not have to go to that village anymore. She can carry out all her business here itself. I don't want anyone to pass through that forest every night. I've decided she's gonna stay with me."
He hooted, "That's cool! Don't forget to invite me whenever you guys will marry."
I gave him a friendly shove on the left shoulder, "Good night, Mukund!"
I dismounted from my horse and after keeping him in the shed, I walked towards the main door. Until today, I came home to no one. It felt different to know that someone would be waiting for me inside. Someone very special. Seeing the lights on inside, a distant feeling swept over me. A feeling I hadn't experienced for years.
I turned the key and opened the door, cooing, "I'm here!"
No answer came from inside.
"Madhu?" I called out as I locked the door behind me. I still did not hear any response.
My entire house was lit up, but I felt sudden loneliness. And sudden fear.
I hastily threw the keys on the table beside the door and raged through the drawing room, into the kitchen and into the two bedrooms.
She was nowhere.
I felt that tension that used to keep me in its grip during those early days rip through me now with such sudden force that I was hardly able to breathe. I half ran down the corridor and switched on the basement light with a shaking hand. I threw open the door and stumbled down the stairs, calling her name in a loud, shaky voice.
I walked to the center of the basement and stood there, unmoving, unnerved.
Where was she?
I quietly looked around the dimly lit basement. There was only old furniture and used items of cloths and other stuff like that. I hardly come in this part of my house. It gives me the creeps.
I closed my eyes and swallowed.
Okay, so she was playing hide and seek with me.
I span around and ran back up the stairs and banged the door closed behind me. Without switching off the light. I walked back to the hall and cried out loud, "This is not a good game, honey! You better show up now!"
There wasn't any response. I did not expect any at the first call, however.
"I lose! You hear that?"
Silence.
The orderly layer I had put in my voice melted and the pleading note resurfaced, "Please? I lose!"
Silence, again.
My head was spinning. I dropped down on the couch and covered my face with my hands.
Now, what was the new game? What had gone wrong? The carriage driver knew very well my address and he should not have mistaken. Plus, if there had been some problem with the vehicle, I rode back home through the same way, I would have seen the-
My head jolted up.
When I came here, the lights were on.
I stood up.
Someone has to be in this house.
I heard something hit hard inside the bedroom.
Without even caring to be aware of any danger, I ran into the room. I stared at the vacant room before looking at the upside down empty flower vase.
"Hey, love!"
I glanced up at the ceiling from where the voice came and gasped before taking an awkward step back.
There she was, floating, sitting cross-legged in the air. A wide, broad smile lit up her face. I stared at her in awe as she untangled her legs and sort of jumped down on the carpeted floor.
She walked towards me, "You kept your promise really well, Warrior. So, I thought to surprise you and fulfill my promise."
"When did you promise me anything?" I asked, still flabbergasted.
She laughed and wrapped her hands around my neck, "You forget again. Remember, fifteen years ago? You asked me to show you every magic trick I knew. I showed you all, only this was left. And I promised to show you later." She shrugged, "And so I too fulfill my promise."
I smiled, "You were about to kill me, you know that?"
She nodded, "I saw, you were running here and there and not seeing above your head. So, with a loud sound, I turned that vase upside down. You heard-"
"And came inside." I wrapped my arms around her waist. "You sure you won't have any problem staying here?"
She shrugged, "Only if you have one."
I chuckled, "Give me your keys."
"I already kept them in their place."
When I came home before going to the trial, I had made sure to bring the duplicate keys along with the original.
I pulled her along as we walked down the corridor, "How did you like the house?"
"It's very nice!" There was the layer of awe in her voice, "You manage well."
"Hmm. After Father Anderson died I had to cope up with the terms of living alone. Depending totally on myself." The excitement in my voice vaporized away for some reason, "But I like it. Independence is one of the important things a person must learn to posses in his life."
She asked casually, "Do you have a servant?"
"Yeah. I am not good at cleaning stuff."
She laughed lightly, "And cooking?"
I grinned, "Well. Unexpectedly, I'm an expert at that." I flicked off the light of the basement as we passed the door.
"Thank goodness! I'm at my moderate best at that."
I chuckled as we reached the hall. As I picked up my keys lying on the table and put them into the drawer beside hers, she asked, "What did Father say?"
I wrinkled my nose, "Other than the Church, we have other things in our lives too."
"Yeah like your sword and me reading your mind." She beamed and walked towards me.
With my lips pursed, I shook my head, "You are not funny."
"Yes, I'm serious." In one determined movement she lifted herself up on her toes to touch my mouth with hers. Losing myself away easily, I skimmed down her jaw-line. She mumbled seductively into the side of my neck, "Very serious."
I pulled away abruptly to look into her soft, caramel eyes and say, "I can be more serious."
I scooped her up in my arms and crushed her lips with mine as I turned towards the corridor again. The fingers of her one hand tangled with my hair while with her other she grabbed the nape of my neck, so tightly that it almost hurt. We molded into each other, as if our bodies were crafted in that way. There was that constant humming of dead silence at the back of my mind. But I didn't miss the little moans that escaped her throat.
This time it was different. There was desperation. A hunger fierce enough to hurt and melt at the same time. In spite of the cold weather, I felt hot. A heat strong enough to burn down every other thing that existed in our world. It was like this was the only moment we would ever had in our life. This sudden thought dashed into my system and as if a fear of losing her had gripped me, I held her tighter, more strongly and dived into with much a greater force.
I almost felt my unruly steps towards the bedroom and gently stopped the ruthless play of lips when I was breathless.
We looked at each other for those uncounted moments. We didn't say anything, just stared, felt each other's presence so close. Something, out of the blue, made us laugh lightly. And with that smile on our lips, we settled into this little piece of our forever...however long it was destined to last.
And no, there wasn't any black magic in this.
"But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity."
If Thou Must Love Me
Sonnet 14, Sonnets from the Portuguese
-Elizabeth Barrette Browning
Health and Fitness
Sports
