Samsāra

Chapter Twenty-eight

Nandak must have said something, Bhalla realized as he watched the hefty Yuvaraju, Navin, push the devadesi off his laps. She tumbled off quite comically, landing face forward. But no one was looking at her save her others devadesis. They were all looking at Navin grabbing Nandak from his divan by the throat with one hand and punching his face with the other. 

From across the room, Bhalla heard the sound of bone crunching as the yuvaraju's nose broke and smelled the blood as it spurted out from the nostrils. Being drunk could not deaden him from hearing the sound, neither could it banish the image of Ajiona smiling at Lavan. Which was defeating the purpose of getting drunk in the first place. So he put his goblet to his mouth and let the strong surāh flow down his gullet and into his stomach. He could no longer feel the bite of the liquor, not like the first time when he shuddered as it went down. 

They have been in Kalika's Den for muhurtas now and Bhalla had been steadily getting drunk since then. They started with madhyam and sweets while Kalika paraded her girls before the Yuvarajus to select whichever they chose. Bhalla had quietly drank then, deep in his cups before the final prince pulled a girl into his lap and proceeded to fondle her.

The scene didn't arouse him at all, Bhalla knew who he wanted but her attentions were elsewhere. His mission in his accused den was to drink himself to a blinding stupor when he didn't see the scene of Ajiona smiling at Lavan playing in his head anymore.

 The cups and cups of madhyam didn't work, so he graduated to the wines imported for mleccha states. By the time he was on the maireya, Bheema had emptied the contents of stomach onto his choice of girl and on the Persian carpets much to the devadasi and Kalika's consternation and the other yuvarajus' amusement. Bhalla had paid him no need, even as his companion crawled through the pool of his stomach contents to a quiet corner where he slept off the effects of the liquor. The was two and a half muhurtas ago and Bhalla was on his fifth cup of surāh. He had to admit to himself that he was drunk but the image remained stuck in his head as if the liquor was doing the opposite of what he wanted. 

You pathetic fool! Bhalla thought as he watched Navin brutally pummel Nandak into the carpet with dispassionate eyes. Acting like this over a mere girl, he sneered at himself, this is not the kshatriya way. But Ajiona wasn't a mere girl. She was, why she was the sun over his gloomy life. He was hers but she wasn't his and probably would never be. He'd never be content to watch her radiance, he'd smother it with his darkness until there was nothing left of her sun. The image of her and Lavan flashed again and he tried to fist his hand with the goblet in it, crushing the beaten metal between his fingers. Surāh splashed over his dhoti but he didn't care. He surveyed the scene of their room, his eyes passing over Navin who was bellowing like an angry bull, not unlike the one he conquered in jallikattu. The yuvaraju was being pulled off Nandak by Uddiran who appeared to possess the strength of a thousand bulls. Despite being restrained Navin kept kicking at the prone form of Nandak who couldn't defend himself anymore as he lay in a spreading puddle of wine and blood and maybe piss.

Bhalla's eyes glanced over them and Bheema's crumpled frame in the alcove where the dancing girls twirled on a platform to the tune of the Veena, the tanpuras and the pipes. One twirled to face Bhalla just as his eyes landed on her and their eyes met and held. In the flickering lights and flashing gems, her eyes gleamed green. Green like Ajiona's, her hair was a shining wealth of curls like Ajiona's. She smiled at him and the breath left Bhalla in a sharp whoosh. Without breaking eye contact, she stepped off the dias and headed his way, her body undulating like water beneath her opaque silk. Bhalla saw the image of Ajiona leaving Lavan and coming to him instead, her eyes shining for him, she was smiling at him as well.

It seemed to take forever before she got to him and without waiting for permission she sat on his lap and looked at him from beneath long lashes. But there was nothing demure in her expression, the smile she gave him now could be said to be wicked. However Bhalla didn't care, the image of Ajiona choosing him became rooted in his mind. He held his breath as she looked up, her eyes weren't flashing green anymore, they were brown but Bhalla was far gone in his imagination.