Chapter 14- You in the moonlight

After the trio was done sorting out their stuff and taking a short rest, they decided they needed to feed their hungry tummys.

They quietly stepped down the wooden staircase which led to the main hall. All of them moved gingerly, not making a single peep and glancing at the people gathered in the dining hall.

Darpan still had trouble taking in the new atmosphere. He'd never been to a place so lavish and huge. Even the staircase was made of good quality wood and had intricate carvings. If he were not the son of an artist himself, he would have never known the price and value of these works. He stared at the golden Jhoomars that hung on the ceiling above, slightly swaying with the delicate wind that rushed in through the huge glass panels. Even after they reached the end of the huge staircase, they waited a brief moment and brushed off potential dust and creases on their clothes.

The three boys slowly walked in the dining area adjacent to the main hall. And as expected, people from various high-profile and noble backgrounds had gathered there.

As the three meek boys passed through the aisle in the middle of the hall , looking for a place to sit, they found a familiar face smiling at them , waving his hand and gesturing them to come over.

Shashi had been waiting for them to come and was delighted as soon as he saw Darpan's face within the dining hall crowd.

Aryan and Ashmit were the first to settle down on the lilac cushion opposite to each other. As Darpan got closer , Shashi eagerly pointed to the cushion in front of him.

" You can sit here , Darpan- ji"

He gave Darpan a toothy smile.

Darpan hesitantly settled down opposite to Shashi. He felt shy to eat in front of people and hence couldn't eat freely or to his content as he kept worrying about how other people saw him eat. And here he had to sit opposite to someone whom he barely knew and eat right in front of him. This day couldn't get any worse.

" So, all settled in? You don't have any problems with the rooms right? "

Shashi inquired while taking a bite out of his Chutney dipped Samosa.* His eyes fixed on Darpan.

" Oh ! no ,not at all. It's all thanks to you. You did everything and there are no complaints at all. How could we , honestly? You already did so much for random people whom you met on the streets. I-"

Darpan was cut off by Shashi silencing him with his fingers on his lips.

" Uh-huh, Shhh. There you go again with your gratitude speech. I told you already that you repaid me by telling your names and associating with me. I thought I was pretty clear back then , wasn't I?"

He questioned, raising his eyebrows.

Darpan was flustered, for someone whom he just met, Shashi had already silenced him twice . Maybe city people were used to touching people and stuff- he thought.

" Oh....uhmm. yes. I know. However you even gave us back our money and are now feeding us. " he pointed towards Aryan and Ashmit who were shoving down the pulav* and parathas* down with incredible speed. They were so engrossed, he was sure they couldn't even hear or feel anything else.

" This is seriously a huge help. And I feel like this repayment isn't enough. If you are that opposed to it then....yes, how about letting us help you?"

Darpan proposed his repayment.

"Help?" Shashi just placed his glass at the table, refilling it with water. His eyes held a curious glint as he looked Darpan in his eyes.

" Yes! I mean, I know we would not be too useful, but whatever you may deem possible for us....any kind of odd-jobs, manual work,artistic stuff etc then we would be much obliged to help."

Darpan pleaded, his eyes shone brightly. He was someone who could never just take favours for granted and not repay the kindness. He stared at Shashi's expressionless face questioningly.

" Hmm..... Okay. You win Darpan-ji. I promise you I would ask for your help of I were to need something in the future. And I would be happy to have your assistance so I will not turn down that offer. " He smirked as he pushed a glass of water towards Darpan's plate. " C'mon, eat up. You haven't touched any food on your platter yet!" Darpan smiled at his victory before focusing on the food served to him.

Shashi's eyes lingered on Darpan's lips. The moment this boy had walked into the hall, he stood out so much. The weird part was he wasn't even dressed differently. A pale yellow kurti, white pyjamas and mojni. As simple as it could be and yet he was able to only gaze at him alone the entire time they walked through the aisle. Now that he was sitting a bit close, he could see all the little things he missed before. His pure pale green eyes which shone so bright when he smiled, his clear skin which looked so soft to touch, the way his hair drooped down the ears and fell in front of his face and how Darpan sweeped it back so graciously. How his cheeks puffed up when he took a big mouthful of his pulav, or the way he chewed in a steady rhythm. It was so ... interesting to him. It all felt so weird to Shashi. Darpan wasn't doing anything inherently weird or noticeable but why did these little things captured his attention? Why in the world was he even staring at a simple man eating ordinary food and so impressed by it too at that?

He simply shook his head at his own thoughts, confused about everything that happened today.

He was only brought back to his senses when he heard Aryan say something.

" Yo, Ashmit. This is your third serving ,that too at Mr. Guard's expense. Try to hold back a bit alright?" Aryan nudged at Ashmit who was currently busy slurping a bowl of the meat broth. Though he said that, he also only noticed it now after finishing his third serving of the aloo tikki* and dips.

Ashmit glared hard at Aryan before turning to Shashi.

" Mr. Shashi, thank you for the food, Can I please have a plate of Rasgullas though? You see, the meal is incomplete without a dessert. " He tried making the sad face emphasizing about the importance of sweets in his life. Shashi could only chuckle and nod at him.

" You- I don't have anything to say to you. Your tummy is a furnace. you just burn all the food you eat down there!" Aryan spoke- poking at his belly, annoyed at Ashmit's carefree attitude in this situation.

" Well, a furnace needs fuel too, doesn't it?" Ashmit glanced at the angry eyes of the older of the two. Shaking his head at Ashmit's horrendous behaviour, Aryan whipped his head around and his eyes met with Shashi who only passed an awkward smile.

" Uhmm, Mr. Guard, I want to ask something. That girl back there, how did you know she might be the one who stole the pouch? You even let her go like that- do you know her?"

Aryan asked, referencing the thief situation a while ago. Although he was grateful for the lodging and food, he still didn't fully trust him yet. Being a part of the royal army doesn't make you a good person.

" Oh.... You're talking about Nisha!? Yeah. Well let me make one thing clear, I do know her, but that didn't mean I let her go because of some bias. You see, there's a reason. "

Shashi explained before anyone could conclude anything.

" Soo... Does that mean she stole before too?? Is that why you know her? "

Ashmit probed. He felt he needed to be a part of this conversation,given his involvement in in earlier.

Shashi nodded in agreement. He looked at the ground for a while before talking.

" She was apprehended by me on account of thievery for a total of 8 times- excluding today's incident. She's been stealing money for the treatment and food for her little brother back home. He's been sick for as long as I have known.Parents died 4 years ago in an animal attack. She's a good girl.. really. Just now and then she did this for her siblings.

Poor girl works two manual jobs at such a young age and the pay is well- not good. She resorted to this method to get some extra cash to feed the little tummies of her baby siblings. Poor things, they live on whatever small money she makes."

Shashi sighed as he recalled the situation of the girl and the state her siblings and she were in a few months ago.

" But.... Doesn't the Royal Court take care of the orphans though?. I mean I'm sure there must be monthly or weekly expenses given to them for sustainability. Do they not have that?"

Darpan knew that orphans had it hard. Especially little kids, however he was sure the King would not be negligent towards their citizens.

" Oh, yes they do.... Half of it I guess. The other half gets lost in the chain of officials who pass the necessities, taking some out for themselves. " Shashi scoffed lightly " Isn't it weird? Those who have nothing left are forced to live on the scraps of the nobles while the nobles snatch whatever skin and bones the poor have left. Adding two precious pennies from the poor to their abundant gold lockers. All kinds of sick people live in this era. It's hard to even call them human once you know what they truly are."

Ashmit and Aryan nodded. The world was huge. All kinds of sick and wretched people lived in here who pounced on the helpless and innocent.

" Nisha is a teenager, she should be spending her time with her friends, her siblings, raising them and have time for herself. Instead she works her delicate hands off just to help her siblings stay alive and not die of starvation. I provided them with money since the last winter and have been sneaking food from here sometimes for them. For even my given money to not be enough, something must have happened. I will look into it.

When the circumstances are dire, people don't really have the conscience to differentiate between good and bad. I thought she had given up on it after a few months but turns out she's at it again. "

Shashi furrowed his brows as he picked up a glass of water and gulped the liquid down.

" However, I know what problems you faced, and I will make sure this will never happen again. I know it's compromising with my duty but my duty as a human and adult comes first. That's why I wish to make her change her ways and lead her to a good life. I hope you would understand why I did what I did. I promise I won't let this to happen to anyone again."

Shashi finally glanced up at the three. There was determination in his eyes when he spoke those words. Darpan knew he had sincerity in his heart. He may not be a very good officer but he was a good human being and that was something - especially in today's times. He respected his thoughts and attitude.

After the lunch, they bid farewell to the kind officer who had dined with them as he had work to attend to and retired to their respective rooms. Earlier, The three boys played a game of marbles to decide on who would get the single room. Both Aryan and Ashmit grumbled and whined about having to share a room together yet obliged as they were aware of Darpan's anger and space issues.

Darpan needed his space and hygiene,which unfortunately wasn't a big point in both of their lists so they would have anyway been kicked out in the middle of the night for 'snoring too loudly' or rolling around in bed. They just accepted the situation and decided to bear it for a while. Soon it was night-time.

After wishing both the boys 'good night', Darpan finally closed his room doors. He quickly changed into a more comfortable sleepwear - A long white vest and thin pyjamas. He also let down his hair as tying it up all the time was a bit uncomfortable. Especially at nights. After taking in the details of the decor of the room, he laid down lazily on the bed. Staring through the window to his right side.

The moon shone brilliantly. It's illuminated a specific part of the room where it looked so dreamy and beautiful. His gaze then fell on a very distinct brown bag which was directly in the light.

He gasped as he hurriedly got up to hide it under the pile of bags that was already placed there. As he took it out of the bag ,he dazedly stared at the red cover. Slightly stroking the cover fabric, he was overwhelmed with the feeling it brought. He couldn't point it out clearly. It wasn't fear, It wasn't curiosity, it wasn't temptation but somehow a mix of all three.

To say he wasn't tempted to uncover it and open the book would be a blatant lie. Of course he was curious, he was only human after all. However the feeling that the mere touch of the book brought to him overwhelmed him. It was a great pressure and he just felt like opening it would be like opening a box of troubles. That's why he thought his curiosity was better contained. He couldn't risk it when handling an object of such value. He only hoped he would be able to take this back safely and get all the answers he wanted from his father. For now, it was better untouched.

Quickly shoving it into the bag and burying it under a pile of other bags, Darpan let out a huge sigh of relief. He still didn't feel sleepy due to the change in atmosphere. A walk out there in the yard would have helped but he couldn't really step out late at night and that too in an unfamiliar place. For now only looking from the window would have to do.

As soon as he stepped closer to the window, something caught his eye. Something that glowed - but brighter than the moon in the sky.

When Darpan looked straight at the source, his eyes were locked with a pair of shining brown ones. The figure was standing in the grass yard staring directly at him from below- into his eyes, into his soul. Darpan could only gaze back at the figure dressed in black who possessed this pair of beautiful brown orbs that shined not only in the sunlight but in the faint moonlight too. He felt as if he could not look away, No, something in him refused to look away.

He couldnt move an inch.He felt as if those eyes seemed to have the answers to all the questions in the universe and at the same time held an air of utter innocence and curiosity.

Darpan didn't even realise he hadn't been breathing until he blinked and the figure had disappeared from sight. He felt the night air rushing in his system with feelings and emotions that arose within him which he could not comprehend. This day was officially the worst one in his life.

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1.Samosa- An Indian dish of fried dumplings stuffed with either minced meat or mashed vegetables. Chutney is a dip or a sauce commonly used with such snacks.

2.Pulav - A dish made of vegetables and Rice mixed with Masalas.

3. Parathas- Flatbread made out of wheat , potato starch, Radish etc. Similar to A Tortilla but not exactly same.