अन्तः अस्ति प्रारंभः।
The end is the beginning.
A caterpillar dies, to birth a butterfly. Water evaporates to rain down. Dead carcasses fill the stomachs of vultures.Life gives way to death and death to life. In a vicious circle of different karmas...
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Eklavya had taken to meeting her at their collective lunch breaks.
That did not mean Mihira had to like his presence.
"But listen!" He insisted,"Kshitija was the one to challenge me. I could not have backed down! Have you seen the way she holds her bow? Amateur!"
Mihira swallowed the morsel she was eating before eyeing him warily. "You accepted it. It's your fault that you have more workload and I am not doing any paperwork for you, know that."
"Please, sweet thing, please? I have to train for the competition."
She opened her mouth but settled for a glare as she looked around at the people miling about around them. She hissed,"You need to prepare? Do not jest, terrible boy. You are one of the best archers I have seen, so do not dare argue that you need time."
It did not matter, she told herself, it did not matter that no one remembered him apart from his maiming. That he had just become a fable, a tale unbelieved, a lore stretched. It did not matter that he was only remembered as the horrid act of a man who he'd name god.
Eklavya shook his head, playing with his food,"Listen to me, Mihira, I will tell you something of utmost importance." He face turned serious dramatically and he leant forward,"Even the masters practice before challenges appear. I do need to practice."
"Eat your food, Eklavya." Mihira chided softly,"And, fine, but I do not know how to fill your paperwork. Also, you will owe me something for this."
Specifically, he would owe her enough to let her meet Rukmini when she went for a pooja in the Gauri temple and he had the duty of her security detail. Desperate measure, but Mihira needed to talk to Rukmini and she did not care what means she used. Working in the Royal palace for weeks had its own advantages but seeing someone Mihira desperately needed to see wasn't one of those advantages.
She was convinced it was Rukmini's doing. Nothing happened without her say so.
Eklavya nodded eagerly, eating as Mihira continued to glare at him. He promised,"Anything." He contemplated his word before back tracking,"Anything that I can legally provide."
Mihira chuckled, raising an eyebrow at his rectification,"I am glad that you know me enough by now to amend your word."
Eklavya rolled his eyes,"Yes, yes. I do not make the same mistake twice, girl."
"And yet, you continue to call me girl. I do wonder—" Mihira trailed off purposefully as she stood up to dispose her now empty banana leaf in a hole used to make fertilizer. She wondered who had come up with such wonderful ideas to preserve the state as well as the land but had not found the knowledge yet. She resolved to ask Maitri about it, perhaps the old woman would know.
Eklavya disposed his banana leaf as well and quickened his pace to walk beside her, back into the hallway of the palace.
He looked at her seriously,"Mihira, you have not yet wished me luck to win."
