Vajra An Elven Tale

Chapter 24 A

Dedicated to my partner @lucky03m, thank you for the new cover and the ever enthusiastic encouragement! I would not have finished this part had you not urged me so.

Chapter 24 A

Rotten cores

The mid spring brought with it a wave of heat. The sky sparkled with blue and the water in the pools of Suvanna’s wing glittered in the edges of white sun. The Padmapeeta buzzed with activity as the Blossom Ball approached. Thanks to the endless obligations her new role as a princess of the Anjani household brought, Swara had not set a foot out of Suvanna’s wing for the entire week leading to the ball.

To say it did not please her; was an underestimation. The time flew in elven lands and it took only moments for a hero to fall or a king to be dethroned. Knowing this, and considering the troubles that were brewing everywhere around her, each minute that she spent away from the latest news from the emulation arena, burdened her heart with worry.  It seemed Suvanna enjoyed her uneasiness. To some extent it seemed that keeping her away, busy in pasting stupid lotus lanterns, or making candles from the scented wax was a ploy she had employed to make sure Swara played no part in the game of thrones she had started. For the entire week that was starting to test the limits of her patients, she had seen Lakshya only once.

It was almost a coincident that they chanced upon each other, more so at a time when Suvanna was out of both eyeshot and earshot. For a moment Swara wondered if Lakshya had been bidding his time to approach her all along. It did not dampen her joy at finally being able to snatch a moment to relieve her hands of the thick paste of wax that strongly smelled of roses, which they had been moulding into ornate shapes.

He did not approach her immediately and catch the eye of Suvanna’s ladies in waiting. Swara was certain, although the women were rather frightened of their princess, it would not have deterred them from acting as her spy had she demanded it from them. Feigning to finish her lot of rose scented candles and announcing that they needed to dry out in the sun she rose from her seat amidst them and carried a tray full of wax roses outside into the windy veranda much away from their wandering eyes.
The ladies did not seem to notice anything amiss. She could still hear them chatting in mild polite tones, fearful of their mistress overhearing their cheerful conversations. Outside the sun was glaringly warm. Its rosy tint of the early morning long sharpened into a blinding whiteness. Covering her eyes, she made it to the shady corner of an unnamed tree, its giant branches dotted with periwinkle blossoms, and started to lay down the candles in its shade to cool off and dry. It was several minutes later that Lakshya finally made his way towards her.

His smile was hesitant as he looked at her and she did not immediately reply the gesture. She was too distracted with the gashes on his arms, still angry red and glaring and the purple bags under his eyes.  He looked another step away from his former jovial self and a step closer to the darker version of her nightmares. Still, she noted with a sense of faint relief, there were no deep cuts on his face and his eyes weren’t flashing silver in the warm sun.

“I believe I haven’t been a monster lately,” he opened the conversation rather darkly. Perhaps he was feeling insecure at her lack of response. “I’m starting to learn from Aithne, more like what she wants and how to divert those urges into less harmful things.”

His words brought out a very different set of words from her memory, spoken in the calmer, deeper tone that belonged to Sanskar.

“Aithne can be deceptive. She can deceive trick you into thinking that you have her figured out. Give you a false sense of control. Power, is something most of the warriors chase after, next only to glory perhaps. There is nothing that tempts them than control, even if it is merely an illusion.”