|| - Enemy's Jaws I - ||

Choosing to let the sky fall, I awoke...

- Richelle E. Goodrich

_________

Prince Shivjit had been a master in handling hawks. It was a pastime he had borrowed from his foreign mentor. With his caramel brown eyes that shone red in the sunlight, his angular face, and the hooked nose the man himself looked like one of the birds that he pursued. That mid – morning however, Shivjit was not in his best shape at the sport he often enjoyed exhibiting his skills at.

The game was also a one borrowed from his mentor which was designed to judge how well one had tamed a bird. Shivjit had an exotic collection of hawks. The brood of blood – thirsty beasts were let free and Shivjit stood in the middle of a fenced off arena. They flapped their large wings circling him overhead, their red eyes rolling back and forth as they took in the landscape. Shivjit and the other young men who joined in his pastime, whistled sharply, holding out their hands for the birds to land. It was simply a test to see which command the bird obeyed, to which master it heeded.

It was the third time Shivjit missed his opportunity. As his gaze had shifted to the shaded hut of on lookers where his mother and Lord McLane sat observing the progress of his game and engaged in conversation, the bird swooped past him and landed on the wrist of another. A low voiced curse escaped his lips but his eyes where soon drawn back skywards. From the side of onlookers Lord McLane clicked his tongue.

"It seemed neither luck nor attention is on Kuwar sa's side today." He commented, his icy blue eyes exploring the circle of hawks in the sky. Gayatri's eyes narrowed, if only by a fraction. But her voice was pleasant as she replied.

"I'm sure the concern for his sister is distracting him."

McLane's mouth twitched but he did not smile at the blunt lie; instead his eyes withdrew themselves to fix his gaze upon the uncrowned queen of Madhavgadh. Gayatri did not look any more pleased with the way wind was blowing than her son had been.

"And what are your thoughts on the matter Rani Sa?"

Gayatri twirled a large sapphire ring on her finger thoughtfully. Her eyes were downcast examining the ring so that McLane could not catch the emotions flickering at lightning speed.

"I would like to believe that you were right in your assumptions, Lord McLane. That the girl would play a vital part in restoring my son to his rightful place..."

"I assure you she will."

"Yet you will not enlighten me how and why?" Gayatri did not try to disguise the annoyance in her tone. She liked to be informed of things and McLane liked to keep her on her toes, trying to fish out the secrets that he did not wish to reveal. McLane sighed.

At times like these, he almost shared his son's suspicious nature towards this woman.

"I am an intelligent creature contrary to what the others might believe Lord McLane, perhaps you could give me a hint," she smiled a bearing of teeth that would have suited a hyena better. "Then perhaps I could arrange for a safer stay for my – ah – step daughter?"

A threat thinly veiled and coated in poison. He was by no means to forget that his trump card was currently hidden in her safe was he? McLane's eyes narrowed, yet his lips tugged upwards in an imitation of a smile.

"Do you happen to know why Chandranagara was attacked?" He asked casually.

"Of cause the king, my late husband had some disagreement with the emperor did he not?" Gayatri questioned back.

McLane stretched his legs and got to his feet as his eyes caught movement from the entrance to the arena.

"Then I am inclined to hint you that Nawab Khan had a precise reason why he choose to attack your former kingdom. A secret within that he wished to acquire."

It was no wonder Shivjit had been eavesdropping on their conversation that the next moment he again missed his chance to get the hawk. The bird swooped past the line of young men and landed on the shoulder of a new comer. Shivjit turned to trail its path his face darkened with disappointment. If possible his brows frowned further and the corner of his mouth twitched with irritation.

"Ah David McLane – ever the pleasant surprise," he said bearing his teeth in a fashion very similar to that of his mother. In a fraction of a moment his mind fell back to a memory of a conversation from the past when he was still a bratty young prince coached by his mother.

"Respect?" Shivjit spat the word as if it was venomous. He stared at his mother for a moment more as if a horn had sprouted from her nose abruptly. "You want me to respect a 'bloody foreigner'?"

"Lower your tone," Gayatri said roughly narrowing her eyes as she slapped the cage door of her colourful parrots with a snap. The cage rattled and the unsettled birds took flight to the furthest corner of the aviary. "I do not enjoy repeating myself, Shivjit and you know this very well. Lord McLane matters to us. His son matters to him. What matters to him must matter to us. It is very simple."

"The throne of Chandranagara belongs to me. I will not be indebted to him if he manages to put me on it."

"It has always belonged to you," Gayatri pointed out coldly. "But you've never been closer to it than you are now. McLane, made it possible. I will not have you arguing with me again on this matter!"

"I will not tolerate him ordering me around!" Shivjit stumped his foot on the ground. Gayatri raised an eyebrow. "He makes me feel if I am one of those hawks!"

"You will do as you are told – until that seat is yours." Shivjit opened his mouth to argue but Gayatri pressed on, "until then. Only until then..."

A slow smile spread on his face as he blinked in understanding.

"You are not truly loyal to him are you?" He asked then, suddenly regarding his mother with a new found gleam in his eyes. "No – you are just bidding your time. Until I am king?"

"In the meantime –" Gayatri cut off his loud musings briskly. "If he matters to you, you must make yourself matter to someone that matters to him." Looking at the confused look on Shivjit's face she stepped in a bit closer. "Acquire the weakness of your weakness, it is as good as winning over the thing itself."
That was a long time before his mother had set her eyes upon the boy Shivjit had been complaining about. He was yet to forget the haunting look on his mother's face that first time she met David McLane. Shivjit even remembered that his mother who had never dared to cast doubt upon her loyalty to Lord McLane had almost risked her position to ask,

"Is he truly your son, your lordship?"
"My wife is one of your people," he remembered the casual reply. "Dave has inherited his mother's colour and courage!"

Although his mother had said no more on the matter, Shivjit could still find traces of deep disturbance masked by a well groomed smile behind her mother's almost transparent purdah. It only served to further his agitation towards the presence of his rival.

David gave his father and Rani Gayatri a brief bow before returning his icy gaze to meet the glare of the local prince.

"Kuwar Shivjit," he said in acknowledgement, stroking the feathered neck of the hawk as if uncaring of its claws digging into his coat. Shivjit watched him with renewed curiosity. He had almost given up hunting for the weaknesses of David McLane the hunting hawk that he had failed to tame so far. He was here was he, when his father had expressly instructed him to remain in Chandranagara?

Did it mean Shivjit was finally close to revealing his nemesis's weakness?

**

"Hello dear sister, welcome to Madhavgadh!" She recognized Shivjit from a blurry childhood memory. Kashi marvelled at how much he had grown to resemble his mother. It was not merely a physical resemblance in their facial features but also the malice that swam across those red – brown eyes. His smile could not divert her attention long enough for her not to notice the expression with which he regarded her.

"I cannot tell you how it gladdens my heart to see you hale," Shivjit proceeded to elaborate as he poured a glass of water and offered it to her. Kashi regarded the chalice and the offeror for a moment, not daring to sip anything this overtly friendly step – brother of hers offers. But then, her throat was protesting too strongly to be ignored. It was a searing pain of burning flesh only water could sooth. Cautiously Kashi tried to lift herself to a seating position against her weary bones and protesting muscles. Shivjit was only too willing to assist as he hurriedly kept aside the goblet of water and helped her to sit up. Then he proceeded to hand over the water, bringing it up to her lips to help her take a sip.

"I cannot begin to apologize for all the horrors you had to face at that cursed place, sister," he continued in a sympathetic tone. "If only I was able enough to break that fortress and free you before. Oh I shudder when I think of all the pain you had to go through – that too at the hands of those who brought you up!"

With his boisterous voice ringing in her ears against the sound of pulse drumming at her temples all Kashi could do was bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from holding her head and burying it somewhere dark and silent. It seemed Shivjit had taken conversing lessons from the parrots his mother used to pet.

"I assure you that you will be very much safe here! Of cause I will personally see to it that you are far from those horrors you had to face. I assure you –"

Exactly what more Shivjit assured her Kashi never found out. For that precise moment the door to her chamber cracked open and a slender figured lady entered.

"Oh I wonder," she said in a tone that was sweet and haughty at the same time. "Who else would have dared to ignore my directions that the patient was not to be disturbed."

Shivjit rose abruptly, his brows knotted and lips trying in vain to form a smile.

"Ah Miss McLane – how wonderful of you to drop by!"

"Trust me I know," Miss McLane sounded as much irritated with his conversing skills as Kashi had been. There was a glint of humour in her dark eyes that Kashi immediately felt attracted to. "I've been told by numerous good men how wonderful a creature I am. But I believe my father is looking for you at the moment Kuwar Sa," she ended the speech clasping her hands together and stepping away from the entrance as if to indicate that she did not wish to delay him even a moment longer. "I am told it is about something of utmost importance."

"Then perhaps I should go..." Shivjit's voice trailed off as he looked back at Kashi.

'Yes, Kuwar Sa, right away! I assure you, your sister will be well taken care of. After all aren't I the wonderful Keren McLane here to tend to her?"

Shivjit lingered only a moment more, before his own words that Keren had used to trap him in, forced him to leave. Keren exhaled loudly, before perching on the edge of Kashi's bed.

"He has always been the most annoying of all my father's wards," she told Kashi conspiratorially. "I am truly sorry you had to wake up to that." Her local accent was not as refined as her brother's. Kashi made a mental note to herself. But she found herself already warming up to the stranger girl who reminded her of Noor of yore. The thought of Noor brought a bitter sweet taste to her tongue. Not simply because Kashi was forced to acknowledge she had been wrong about her childhood friend, but also because it in itself was painful to see what Noor had turned into. Kashi closed her eyes for a moment, willing to banish the picture of sword waving Noor to the deepest corner of her mind and asked.

"Do you know how I got here?"

"Of cause," Keren said enthusiastically. "I brought you here! It was such an adventure you know? It was barely dawn and you were severely injured. Hanson and I were worried sick we won't make it so far without you bleeding out."

"I take it was on your brother's instructions?" Something in her tone might have alerted Keren that she tried to subdue her excitement when she replied to that question.

"He believed you were no longer safe in Chandranagara." She said testing waters. "I think you must agree since someone had targeted you back in there."

"And am I to believe that your brother had no hand in this incident?"

Keren's eyes widened and her white face whitened a little more, as if she could not believe Kashi doubted her saviour.

"Do you know that my brother, personally, saved you from that collapsing building?"

"And I wonder how he got there in the first place?"

"You are not the only one who had their eyes on Noor Banu, Kashi Bai," David answered from the door.

Both girls jumped at his voice and Keren got to her feet a look of utter relief on her face. It was replaced by an anxious look as her eyes switched between David and Kashi, both seemed to be engaged in a silent stare down and did not tear their gazes from each other as the minutes passed. And it looked as if two predators stranded in an unfamiliar ground started to circle each other. Both distrusting, not knowing whether the other was a friend or a foe, lost yet too prideful to concede to the moment of need and forge a friendship.

"Out," David said without bothering to look at Keren who jumped at the opportunity to flee the battle that was about to commence, before the predators would bare their teeth and claws.

**

Well, well, do you think Dave has a reasonable explanation for bringing Kashi into the jaws of the enemy? For his sake I hope he does, the lady seems already pretty mad!

What do you think? Do tell me in the comments! I won't say no to a vote either, especially since we are almost at the brink of reaching 300 votes. (As it stands when I'm writing this)

Thanks for reading!

Ps: Above is my inspiration for Shivjit on the header, with one of his fascinating pets. Quite eye-catching isn't he? ;-)