I parted the silk curtain to Aadhira's room and bent a little to enter. Aadhira was a princess and I had been her only bodyguard for the past five years since her father, the King, had deemed her mature enough to stand on her feet without relying on some of his bodyguards. She was fourteen then, the third and last child of the King and Queen of Khajjiar. Also, she was the third in line to the royal throne.
Aadhira sat on her dressing stool, staring into her handheld, gold-plated mirror worth about six months salary of the low-level income earners in Khajjiar.
She turned her face left and right, lightly patted a smooth, pale cheek, clearly unaware I had just entered the room.
It was my job to protect her from all threats, including herself, if I needed to. A job I took seriously, though she undermined me sometimes.
"Mirror, mirror. Who is the fairest in all of Khajjiar?" she whispered to her reflection in the mirror, like in the popular fairy tale. I mentally rolled my eyes and crossed my hands on my broad chest.
"Seriously?" I growled. She gasped and turned around to look at me. Her cheeks were slightly red.
"Ha! I didn't hear you come in. Can you not sneak up on me again?" She pouted, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Got any response from that?" I tipped my chin a little towards the mirror.
She glanced at the mirror and smiled coyly. I knew that look. Whenever she was excited and plotting some adventure that oftentimes got us both into trouble, she would smile that way.
"Never mind the mirror," she waved it aside. "Let's talk about travel!"
I arched an eyebrow at her obvious excitement.
"My spies have confirmed that the stream beside the Khe Ram cemetery…"
"Princess," I cut her off and sighed in mock exhaustion. "You know the King will not allow you to travel that far. We cannot risk it…"
"Hear me out, Viraj. And don't interrupt me again!"
I raised an eyebrow at her tone. Oh well, she was the princess and could do whatever she wanted. But it was also my life and job on the line here. "My apologies, Princess Aadhira."
She waved her small hand. "Fine. This stream is the true fountain of beauty and life. Imagine I came back to the King with this treasure? I have to find it first before anyone…."
"What?" I asked incredulously, then quickly controlled myself at the sight of her widened eyes. "Sorry. Continue."
"My wedding is in a fortnight. I have to look beautiful for Samarth, my prince. So we leave at once. No excuses."
"You know whoever gave you this information already found the so-called fountain. So you won't be the first and you don't need this…this water to look beautiful. You already are," I tried to reason with her.
She stared at me for a moment. Princess Aadhira was sometimes gullible but kind-hearted. She and I had become good friends, the more reason I would give my life to protect her.
"It doesn't matter. It means the fountain is still there. Prepare the horses." She tipped her chin up a little and turned her back on me.
That was how we proceeded on a day's journey to the Khe Ram cemetery, a place that was considered sacred to the residents of Khajjiar. Having grown up in this city, I'd never heard of a stream beside the cemetery. The royal horses were well fed and strong enough for the day's ride. I appointed two soldiers from the royal guard to accompany us.
Arriving at Khe Ram at dusk, we felt the wind blowing silently, rustling the dry leaves as the horses trotted through the woods leading to the cemetery. The sun was almost gone and in another hour or so, it would be cold. Aadhira sat up straight and regal on her horse but her eyes were sharp. She was excited.
There was an iron-wrought gate leading to the cemetery. We came down from our horses. I helped the princess down while the soldiers tied the horses near some grasses they could chew on before our return.
An old man opened the gate and greeted us. His clothes were tattered, dirty and a nauseating odour emanated from him. Aadhira covered her nose with a perfumed, silk handkerchief.
The old man displayed brown, rotten teeth with a smile. He bowed mockingly. "How may I be of service to the Princess of Khajjiar?"
I stood in front of Aadhira but she stepped out from behind me. I gritted my teeth at her stubbornness and naivete.
"Show us the way to the stream at once, old man," Aadhira commanded as only a princess would.
"The s-t-r-e-a-m?" The old man hissed.
I drew my sword from its sheath in a swift motion and placed the sharp tip under the old man's frail, droopy chin. His weak eyes widened in fear. Beads of blood crowded the tip of my blade instantly. "Of-of course, your highness. The stream is that way." He pointed a crooked finger towards a place shrouded in darkness towards the back of the cemetery.
Aadhira nodded and walked away without a word. I lengthen my stride to catch up with her while the two guards followed behind us.
"If you have no fear for your life, at least, think of my neck which I would lose at the gallows if anything happened to you!" I whispered fiercely into her ear.
She laughed dismissively. "Viraj, your neck will be just fine." We had walked past the cemetery and descended a long flight of rocky steps that led to a dark cave. There were small puddles of water in front of the entrance. I began to doubt our mission at the cemetery.
"No, it won't…" I was saying when the ground beneath our feet began to tremble.
"Hurry! Inside!" I screamed at Aadhira and the guards. We ran inside the cave. Small stones fell off the walls as we ran past. I pushed Aadhira out of the way of a large boulder that would have hit her on the head.
"Haaa! What is happening?" Aadhira exclaimed in fear. I roughly pulled her to my side with one hand while the other held my sword. I glanced back in search of the two guards. The cave was filled with a dense fog of dust. I couldn't see the guards anymore.
"Are you sure about this, Princess?" I asked. I could see the fear in her eyes even though she struggled to mask it.
"Yes, Viraj. You saw the puddles of water outside. We are close to the stream….come. The guards will catch up."
I remembered seeing some flintstones on the ground. I stooped, picked two and rubbed them together using the fire to light two long torches pinned to the wall of the cave on both sides. The amber glow made our immediate surrounding slightly visible. I gave Aadhira one of the torches. "Stay close to me," I whispered.
We moved forward into the cave, avoiding the stones that fell from the top of the cave. Then Aadhira tripped and fell. "Are you okay, Princess?"
Her torch hissed and the flame went out. She shrieked in fear so I gripped her forearm and pulled her up. She shivered, hiding her face in the crook of my neck. I drew the torch closer to where she fell —there was a small heap of about ten or more dry skulls.
My senses became alert to danger.
Image by: Oleksandr Pidvalnyi via Pexels