Sikander, Don't Die

chapter five: life and death

The burning woods breathed fire, its hunger satiated by the flesh and bones of the fallen men. Skin melted, bones turned to ashes, smoke shrouding the sky. The sun too felt suffocated in the arms of the black fog. There were some fifty more bodies left to be attended to, and all those were being burnt today.

Watching the cremation, Hridayank thought about the events leading to this day. The Shah had been trying to make Omkara submit for long. The old man was as stubborn as the Shah himself and refused to kneel until bloodshed ruined his little kingdom. Now, the ties were being rebuilt by a bond of marriage.

When he had asked Shah Sikander why he was marrying such a strange choice, the Shah said it was a political move. But Hridayank knew how to read the eyes and unravel what the lips pressed between itself. The realisation gave him mixed feelings– hazily perturbed, green from the heart, red with embarrassment, and white with pity. The Shah had ran his fingers over the ring Hridayank wore. It was a tiny moment, but the hazarahpatish could not stop the tears from brimming.

"He does need an heir." No one could change this truth. The Shah, without an heir, would invite destruction upon his vast empire. All the blood and sweat that went into making his dreams a reality, all the sacrifices that paved the way for his ambitions to bloom, would become dust.

Hridayank clenched his fist and closed his eyes. The remnants of skin and ash flew with the breeze and rubbed his face. They maligned his soft, serene beauty. There was a certain peace in looking at his dark midnight eyes and tracing his square-shaped jaw. The Shah often savoured his gentle masculine features, sometimes even before the public. The same face couldn't be tarnished by the dirt that rose from the fire, putting down his worth.

He opened his eyes, gazing far into the distance, lost in a myriad of thoughts. He would have to marry one day too. Not that he was willing, or that he too needed an heir. Well, that could be a rather pretty excuse in case he did want to marry. Women were there to make children. Men failed at that miserably. But he felt like the Shah would force him to marry soon. Perhaps he would leave the choice of the bride in the Shah's hands only. That man knew how to dig gems from the ocean bed.

The human body took excruciatingly long time to burn. Sometimes a limb would break apart and fall on the ground. The body would go stiff and sit up. The man assigned to burn those would then poke the corpses with a stick. Hridayank knew that the Shah was in awe of fire, but the fear in that amazement often overwhelmed the latter. So Hridayank had taken up this task, lessening the burden off the shoulders of his best friend. Omkara took look worn out after the day's events, so as a fellow relative, which he was now, Hridayank stepped in to help.

He would often wonder about life and death in moments such as this. Everything has to come to an end one day. Hridayank could comprehend the truth now. He had seen deaths so many times before– men sentenced to be stoned, execution, murders disguised as wars, and scheming plots. Somehow, they always occured in times of great intensity and restlessness, so the depth could only be measured, not felt. Unlike now, when Hridayank could actually feel the hair on his neck stand.

"All must perish one day," he mused. The Shah used to say that death made them luckier than the gods. The gods, in their immortal time and ubiquitous availability of luxuries failed to admire the same. While humans, whether kings or beggars, passionately celebrated what meagre opulence was there to taste. Since time was limited in their hands, they didn't back off from being honest with their feelings. They were unafraid to be raw, to be brutal, to be kind. Maybe it was what drove the Shah to marry a princess.

Interrupting his fascinating exploration of life and death came the jingling noise of bangles and coins. He turned back to see Roshanak slowly walk towards the pyres. For some time he just stood frozen, then when urgency hit him, he ran for her. The princess was shocked to be suddenly blocked by him. "The Shahamsaram shouldn't be coming here."