After Hena shouted, whatever that unknown person was doing, he stopped. It's like finding a child doing his usual calamity.
Because of his behavior, Hena did get some courage. She had been thinking it would be someone elderly who would nag her for being here. But whoever this is scared of her. So she doubled down.
"If you don't reveal yourself at this moment, I am going to scream. And I don't know who you are, but you surely know who I am, right? So reveal yourself."
SPLOSH
The person threw something in the pond. It wasn't something big like a rock, but it still made a sound, and Hena heard it.
"What was that sound? What did you throw there? That's it, I am going to scream. You creep." Hena was both angry and scared.
"Please don't. I didn't steal from the temple. I was here for… for the air, you see."
"What? What are you talking about?"
Hena didn't know who it was, but she knew she had definitely heard this voice before. It was surely someone from the castle, not some thief. But she couldn't remember who it was. Well, if she couldn't remember, then maybe he wasn't worth her time. She knew every slave who worked hard, even many farmers. In her family, she knew almost everybody. But some people were invisible to her — those with no beauty or ambition. In her eyes, a person's beauty was in the ambition in their eyes: doing better, taking care of themselves, bathing, eating well, and exercising. So if she didn't know a person, they were not beautiful — not in her way, of course.
If this were any other day, she would have looked back after hearing the voice and then gone to her room, thinking this person wasn't beautiful enough to waste her time. But today was different for some reason. She wanted to see who this man was. She wanted to know the person behind the voice. Today was a special exception for some reason. If you ask me, I think it was because of hormonal changes. But who would have given her a prep talk about how hormones work 5000 years ago? They didn't even know what hormones were back then. So to her, these feelings were new and funny.
"I mean, I am not the thief. If you are looking for the temple thief, I am not that guy," the shadow replied.
"Reveal yourself at once," Hena demanded.
The shadowy man revealed himself. Now Hena could see who he was. And now she remembered. It was that guy — the black sheep of the family. Out of all the royal cousins, he was the one everyone gave a side-eye to. Even his mother and father didn't like him. And there was a reason for that. His sister was literally the most amazing person after Hena, tied with Ishv. Hena respected his sister. She thought of her as her rival sometimes when she was feeling generous.
But people didn't dislike him because he wasn't as great as his sister. It was because he didn't bathe every day, ate like an animal, and slept till noon, never socialized. And these types of people weren't even people in her eyes. In Hena's eyes, you couldn't respect someone like that.
Once the king said at dinner,
"I would have never guessed someone as foul as him could exist if I hadn't seen him with my own eyes. And if he wasn't a royal member and a commoner walked up to me and told me people like this exist in this kingdom, I would have given him the death penalty for lying to the king. Hahaha."
Everyone in the dining hall laughed except four people that day:
This guy, because of course the king was making fun of him;
Hena, because she didn't even care what anybody said about a lowlife she couldn't even remember;
Devishri, because she was the only person who truly was kind to her brother and protected him;
And Ishv, for some unknown reason. After that day, he didn't come to dinner again.
Hena remembered that incident.
"Hey, you are Devishri's brother, aren't you? What's your name?" Hena asked. There was disgust in her question, but she still wanted to know about him.
"Devishri's brother, huh? Yes, that seems right. Yes, I am her brother," the boy replied.
"Don't give me all that emotional thingy. You disgust me. I asked for a name."
"Ikhtu. My name is Ikhtu."
Hena became silent. Her anger faded into confusion. Because Ikhtu meant "dead." Who in their right mind would name their kid "dead," right?
That made something wild jump into her mind. She thought, Nah, that wouldn't be possible, right? They wouldn't do that. So to confirm it, she asked:
"What month were you born in?"
"Hasna," the boy replied. He was terrified of her because he didn't want unwanted attention. If someone saw them here, it was over for him.
Hena couldn't believe her theory was correct.
Ravi's daughter was born in Deva Puspa — the perfect month — and a daughter too. A daughter who got all the love in the world, from queen to commoner, almost equal to Hena. But their son was born in the 9th month, just one before the 10th. He was a bad human being, but how could they have known that from the start?
They named him "dead." It was like he was hated because he was born in the wrong gender or the wrong time. Maybe both. He was a failed experiment while his sister was their magnum opus. That's why, while she was named "blessed by god," their son was literally known as "dead." And nobody questioned that.
Hena's anger and everything else turned into a kind of pity. And then, after zoning out and looking at him again, she saw he was picking his nose — which disgusted her — and she became angry again, thinking he deserved it.
"You idiot! If you do anything disgusting like that in front of me, you are dead. Now tell me, what are you doing here?"
Ikhtu was scared. He knew he messed up. He started shaking.
"Will you answer, or do I need to call everyone?" Hena asked.
"I was counting those glowing things in the sky," the boy replied.
"Glowing things? Those are called Sitara, and today there are no Sitara. You're a bad liar." Hena giggled at his stupid lies.
"Please don't kill me for it. I steal food from the temple and come here to eat every day."
"Yeah, that was obvious from the start. But why? Don't you do dinner?"
"Well, I'm not allowed to go to dinner after that day when the king insulted me. My mom banned me from going near that table again. I know you didn't notice. You don't notice people who have no spark in their eyes. My sister told me that."
"Well, she tells you about me but doesn't give you food?"
"She used to give me food. But Mom told me if she gives me food from her own plate, then I shouldn't be eating from my sister's plate. I was stealing her food. And I thought it was bad stealing from your sister."
"So you think stealing from your sister's plate is bad but you still steal from God? How stupid are you?" She giggled again.
"God didn't show me any kindness like my sister did," he said.
Hena's giggling faded. For some reason, that hit harder. For some reason, this dumb guy who didn't know what he was saying was somewhat reasonable.
"I should go. Mom will kill me if she sees I am here with Your Highness." The boy said that and ran. After a few steps he fell, but he got up again and ran.
And Hena was conflicted. This beauty everyone admired and worshipped — what was this beauty? And if God really liked beautiful people, why did he even exist? Someone who was an outcast. Why would God make something even He didn't love?
What makes someone beautiful? When people can scar the beautiful with might, then why is beauty considered above all else? Why did their ancestors value physical beauty above strength?
Yes, Hena really used to think people would not try to harm her beauty just because she was beautiful. Seems like she had the same amount of brain cells as Ikhtu. The difference was she could use hers, and that boy couldn't.
She went to her room thinking about all of those things. She couldn't sleep. She was thinking about why their kingdom was like this. This shouldn't work like this.
After today's incident, she had many questions, but after meeting the black sheep, her questions grew even more.
"What the hell am I thinking? This civilization has survived for more than 1000 years by now, and it has been like this for all this time. If the system was bad, someone would have changed it. I'm overthinking it. Sorry God and all my ancestors. I doubted you because of that worthless guy. I won't remember him ever again."
She tried to brush everything off and sleep. And she was able to, because her belief in the system was so deep she couldn't question it. Yet.
On the other side of the castle—
"What? Now you have a plan?" Mayitra (wife of Ravi) asked.
"Yes, I have a plan. There is someone at the top of the Himalaya. They say he can do unreal things in exchange for something valuable," Ravi answered.
"You believe in some myth? How stupid are you?" Mayitra was annoyed.
"Myth is our last option. The princess won't leave the castle now. And inside the castle, no one other than some myth can harm her."
"Okay. If this myth even exists, what are you going to give in exchange?"
"Well, royal blood is pretty valuable for anybody. And sacrificing a prince will be good enough for harming a princess, I think. All over the world they prioritize prince more, you know?" Ravi giggled.
"What do you mean? Who are you going to sacrifice?"
"Did you forget about our dear firstborn son?"
"What kind of terrible man would want their kid to be sacrificed?"
"A husband of a woman who literally named her child 'dead.'"
"We are both going to hell for this, you know?"
"If you are there, I am ready to go there."
They both laughed. They were happy. And it was obvious how much they hated their firstborn. They only cared about being the parents of the queen.
The next morning, Raviputra went to his firstborn child.
"Hey, wake up! We are going to Harappa. I have some tasks to do there, and you are coming with me."
Ikhtu wasn't fully awake. He still stood up because he respected his father, and he was scared of him. What he understood was that his father was taking him somewhere. It was like a dream come true. He wasn't allowed to leave the castle ever, not even during festivals. That was always a "no" from his father. And he thought that if he ever disobeyed him, he would kill him. But he would never look his father in the eyes unless his father hurt his mother — and even then, he didn't know what he would do.
"Ok, let's go."
Despite being half asleep, he was ready.
"You are going like this? We are going to another country. Dress like royalty. Here, I got you some clothes. It will be freezing out there. Put this on. I need you in the best shape."
He took a bath and got ready. He even did his hair. He was unrecognizable. He had to be. His father needed him in the best shape, after all.
They were walking toward the gates.
"Shouldn't I tell Mother or Sister I'm going?" he asked.
"I told them, and we don't need to bother them again. Now let's go."
While going toward the castle gate, Hena saw Ravi with someone. Someone who was beautiful. But he had spots and dark circles on his face. Still, if they weren't there, he would have been more beautiful than Ishv or Devishri. Or even her.
As the thought crossed her mind, she thought, No, I am just half asleep. I need a shower.
Both Ravi and Ikhtu left for supposedly Harappa. Hena took a shower and didn't know what to do. She kept finding that stupid boy in the back of her mind. She roamed around the castle. Then she met Devishri.
"Hey Devi, how are you, my little sister?"
"I am fine. How about you?"
"Well, stuck here inside the castle area."
"Well, finally we can enjoy with our queen. Ha-ha."
"Yes. So I saw your father going somewhere. Where is he going?"
"Harappa, I guess. Some business work."
"Oh, I see. How is your mother?"
"She is annoying as always."
SILENCE
SILENCE
"I should get going," Hena said to escape the awkward situation.
She kept thinking why she even wanted to ask about that ugly nobody. She was still conflicted. She hated this side of herself. Well, I think she fell in love with that guy. It's like those cheesy animes where the popular girl falls for some random dude who is dumb but deep for no reason.
Back to the story.
That night, Hena couldn't sleep. She really wanted to talk to him and know what he felt like. But she was too prideful to do anything. But in the end, curiosity got the best of her. She went to the pond. The torch was still on, so he wasn't there. She thought he was stealing food, so she went to the temple. The food was intact.
She thought to herself that it was weird — last night at this time, he literally ran from her. He didn't steal food tonight, so did he stop stealing?
What if his mother found out about him meeting the princess, so she somehow stopped him?
She had so many questions about him. But no answers. She wasn't even trying to cope. She was sad and murmured,
"Where are you?"