Blade of Vish |

26. The Devil In The Eyes

"What do you mean that it isn't his real name?" Vaani questioned Vallabh. She was quite irritated now. Maybe because she was asking the same question for past hour or so but Vallabh wouldn't listen. 

"Leave it." Dhruv said as he gestured her to leave. They were still standing in the land of Ash and Bones. It seemed like this all trip had taken nearly half of the day. 

Dhruv already had important affairs to be dealt with. If he wouldn't be back on time, every courtier will question where Prince Dhruv, the next king was. Vaani assured him that coming here would help. But, now he was doubting his own decision. "These people don't know anything about relations and values. What they know is only how to sacrifice lives of animals and birds and, leave everyone in far more distress and confusion than what they came here with. I wonder why I came here." 

For past hour or so, Vallabh was doing nothing but strange things. He picked up several bones from the ground and later threw them back, one by one. He opened his pot which (was actually a skull) in which he had some sort of black liquid. 

"Do you have any other thing which belongs to him?" Vallabh asked Vaani, questioning about Neel in particular. 

Vaani gave a small nod and took out a small hankie from her bag. "It doesn't belong to him. But contains some strains of his blood on it." 

"That's far better princess." Vallabh said in a devilish way as he smatched the hankie from her hand. He dipped a small part of the cloth in the black liquid and locked the cloth with his tongue. 

"Umm…" he just muttered as he liked the cloth repeatedly. 

"Can you now give a proper explanation?" Vaani asked, but he tended to ignore. 

What can I even expect from him? Vaani thought. 

There was nothing more here and this was clearly visible. They had nothing to do down here. Dhruv was right. They should leave, should have left long ago. Vallabh did nothing but giving them a bunch of nursery rhymes. And now he's standing there, doing nothing but licking a hankie. 

"You're right Dhruv. Let's leave." She said as she moved back towards her chariot. 

"Why does it matter girl?" Vallabh asked. 

"It isn't the matter if he matters or not. It's just that the rhymes suggest only one thing. That he's…" 

"What you suspect about him is right." 

"What? What do you know Vaani?" Dhruv asked, a bit confused. 

"Dhruv it's.. It's j-just…" 

"You're afraid?" Dhruv questioned back. 

"Ye-No. I am not. It is just…" 

"Wait. The attack that day, it wasn't planned for me right?" Dhruv asked. 

"Yes and no. You were a warning, for him." 

"But why? What do they want?" 

"That's exactly the point boy." Vallabh intervened. "... This was never for him, not for you. Nothing happening now was for any of us. It was all for the Blade of Vish." 

"The what?" Dhruv asked. The expression on his face was of confusion, horror and tension all combined. "Is there anything else I need to know too?" 

"Yes." Vallabh answered as he looked at Vaan, as if wanting her to answer. 

"He has got the devil in his eyes." Vaani answered. 

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