To Kiss A Prince- Part 3 [Vidyut]

The game only lasted for half as long the second time. Vidyut's luck had deserted him, as if by sorcery. When the last hand was rolled, Drishti furiously collected the cowries and threw them across the floor, out of petulance. One of the cowries flew and struck a patron who was quietly watching another group playing Pachisi. The man picked up the shell and looked darkly at Drishti. The young man was drunk out of his wits, eyes red and blazing, hands shivering as he clutched the shell and walked towards Prince Drishti. 

"Damn you! Do you not have eyes? Or are you itching to get beaten up?" The young man shouted in a voice that was unusually deep for his appearance. It seemed the man hailed from the upper class, from his thick velvet brocade tunic and printed dhoti. He was short but wiry, with a clean, well-groomed moustache that twirled at the ends. The gold trimmed silk turban that he wore seemed too large for his head.

Drishti sprang up on his feet. "What did you say? Is that how you speak to your prince, you piece of dirt?" 

He began to move towards the young man, but Vidyut quickly jumped in. 

"This is not a place for hostility." He pointed out. "Prince Drishti, leave this man alone. Madeira has muddled his mind." Vidyut threw an unfriendly glance at the man.

"You damned tantrics!" the inebriated young man cursed. "You think the entire world will bow to your tyranny?! We do not answer to you, neither to your guild nor to your puppet king." 

The air in the room shifted all of a sudden. The angry young man's allegations had now become impersonal and somehow turned to the Guild and the king. His companions came up behind him; to restrain him or lend a hand, who knew? But before the altercation worsened, Lady Bahija rushed into the chamber with a few of her servants. 

"My Lords, pardon me. But this establishment does not tolerate any feud. I urge you to abandon your quarrel and enjoy the madeira that will be compliments from the house."

"Bahija," Drishti raised a warning, "if you want your establishment to remain open, kick this dirt out of here." 

"Kick me out? The gold of my coins is the same as yours, you fool! My feet are not moving one inch. What will you do? Murder me too?!" 

At last! The youth must have been nursing some resentment towards the establishment, as youths do, from the incident a week ago on the street when Prince Drishti murdered the young woman in broad daylight. Where was the justice in that? 

"My lords," Bahija continued to appeal to the two squabbling lords fearing what may occur, "I implore you. Please do not sully this establishment with violence. There must be another way to settle your grievances. How about a game of Pachisi?" She proposed in the way of quick thinking. 

There was silence for several moments before Surya spoke. "As the prince of five kingdoms, I appeal to my fellow prince, Drishti. For Kshatriya men, the battle to settle their disputes must always be fought on an unowned piece of land. This is not a proper place for such an encounter. Lady Bahija's request must prevail. To my fellow man," Surya turned to the other man, "my command, as your majesty, the prince of the five kingdoms, is to end this hostility right now and heed Lady Bahija's request." Vidyut had never heard Surya speak more gently as if to compensate for the harshness of his words. 

The young man turned his eyes to Surya now, who was standing beside Drishti. "You were there too that day, were you not? What did you do? Become one of those clay idols? Turn blind? Maybe I should dig out your eyes since you have no use for them." Even before the man finished his words, he drew out a dagger from under his tunic. 

Now the entire room was alarmed, tension taut in the air. A man had brandished a dagger and was pointing it at the prince of the five kingdoms. Nothing short of mutiny. Weapons were drawn in the blink of an eye. Surya and Drishti still had a few alert men on their side, other than Vidyut, while five or so men came to the young man's aid, each looking more irate than the one before. 

The young man lunged first, his dagger aiming for what he said it would aim for. But Surya was too quick for him. With just one step to the side, he easily dodged the weapon and caught the man's wrist to give it a firm twist, causing the man to drop his dagger. Just when everyone's attention was focused on the scuffle, another man attacked Drishti. But Vidyut intercepted and flung him across the room with only a slight use of his tantra. Lady Bahija and her servants had left the chamber by now, a wise decision. 

Another man drew out two daggers and hurled both at Drishti. The prince howled in pain when one of them pierced his flesh and bent over. Drishti's men immediately jumped upon the rest of the adversaries. A simple argument had now descended into madness. Vidyut discerned that more men were joining the fight, skittering in from the common room, not even knowing in their wine-addled minds which side they were on. He glanced at Drishti and found him unsuccessfully attempting to conjure an air weapon and bleeding away from his wound. 

Vidyut dashed to him and gave him a shoulder, pulling him towards the door. 

"No! I will not leave a battlefield." Drishti yelled in frustration and stupor. 

"This is not the time," Vidyut responded in a hushed tone. His eyes found Surya still in the middle of all that confusion and signaled him to follow. 

Before anyone could notice, the three left the room while the brawl inside the Pashalay continued to spill into the common room. Vidyut felt slight guilt for leaving Lady Bahija with this mess, but he had little choice since they were vastly outnumbered. 

"We must find Veer," Surya remembered and began to rush back towards the Pashalay. 

"We do not have time, Surya. If we do not leave now, we may never leave. And, he may be outside, after all." 

"No, I must. Wait outside and collect the horses. I will be there soon." 

Vidyut had little patience to argue with the man and did as he said.