Tyaag

६

The shadows born under the sinking twilight sun deified him.

They recited the hymn that was his name and kissed the threshold of his dwelling place, as if it were a place of worship.

They never set foot in, never even dared take a step forward even though the temptation to be close to their god, to become one with their master, asphyxiated them. 

It was as if they could sense the river of restlessness that was flowing under his skin. At least that was what Abdar seemed to feel anyway.

He watched as the ferocious beast wearing the skin of a man tapped his ruby adorned finger on his knee, each beat reminding the spectator of the call of a war drum.

From the golden draperies turning a sandstone yellow to the carmine tapestries resembling hideous blood stains, whatever speck of light existed inside the encampment eclipsed the colors instead of making them aglow.

It stratified Abdar's sense of dread even further until he could feel the anxiety choking him.

He couldn't tell if it was his fear of saying the wrong thing and setting the beast free that made him struggle for breath or if his master had somehow made the air come to a standstill.

He wouldn't put it past the Sartaaj to find a way to control the winds if it proved to be an efficient method to torture his prey.

He had made death his puppet anyway.

Abdar was just weighing his words, thinking of a way to break the silence when the king spoke in an apathetic tone.

"Despite your painfully obvious shortcomings, one can presume that you are a socially adept...man." Vikram said the last part as if Abdar was a pest and he couldn't be bothered to figure out which kind.

"Er- yes?" The man simply nodded.

"If this is what passes for social, adept or a man..." He waved a hand tracing his fragile frame dismissively and muttered, "I am doing this world a favor."

"You most certainly are, my king. Your very existence is a blessing. Never have I ever seen a warrior-" He rambled on, singing praises that he could only hope would work in his favor.

But the next words that the king spoke immediately shut him up. "I hope you know that you need more than flattery if you wish to step outside of my encampment alive tonight."

"I surely do." He grinned, baring his silver teeth, his knuckles clenched around the parchment that held all the secrets that would satiate his master.

Vikram's eyes flickered toward the scrawny man's hands for a moment before turning towards his face.

"Even a broken arrow could be turned into a weapon," He said sagely, "Maybe, you are useful after all."

Abdar's grin turned wider until it seemed as if his face might split in two if he didn't stop.

"I am most ardently grateful to be of service to you, my king." He rambled on and on, "This job that you had trusted me with, it is not for the faint of heart. I would have followed him to the ends of the earth to give you what you desire. I simply cannot say the same for the others. They are not as cunning and stealthy as I am but you knew that already, as you picked me, after all!"

"If I were to count my virtues, the list would rather be short as I do not possess them in abundance, and patience, certainly, isn't one of the few I do have" Vikram sneered.

Even though that wasn't entirely true.

If he weren't patient, he wouldn't have stayed in the shadows, making sure that all the dominoes cascaded at just the right moment with a flick of his sword, so that he was the last thing reflecting in those amber eyes, delivering the final deathblow.