Chapter-6 Numb

Part-1

Anila Khokar wasn't feeling well. According to her, the plan involved posing as doctors and infiltrating the city, using that as a cover to operate covertly. However, that plan was completely discarded now. Apparently, it wasn't the real plan to begin with. They knew she would strongly object to it. She was not a fan of infiltrating the city and never thought herself suitable for it. She was a warrior, not a spy or an assassin. While she understood the necessity of such roles, she never thought herself cut out for them. She would prefer a duel to the death over what she just did. It was dirty and dishonorable in her eyes. What really irked her was being excluded from the plan, and she hoped she wasn't the only one. Anila Khokar was raised in a family of warriors; taller than the average man, she seemed to be the 3rd tallest in the group behind Vaghat and Ripudaman. Mihika Dhār was roughly her height as well. Taught about honor and discipline since childhood, it had become her way of life. In this situation, she felt like a fish out of water. She left as though she had been living in water her whole life and was suddenly asked to walk on land. She felt dread in the pits of her gut; would she be able to uphold the ideals in the future? The thought of failing to do so scared her.

During the mission, she had intended to be a passive observer and only raise her voice when they were blatantly doing something dishonorable. She hoped they would understand her discomfort, or at the very least, not do something so wrong. But she felt they hadn't even considered her issues. They had outright enlisted the help of a terrorist organization to gain entry to the city! What added insult to injury was the fact that she was forced to pose as one of them.

Then there was the soldier she unfairly killed, who looked young as well. His movement and body build indicated a fighting style of agility. Vaghat's hit rate with throwable weapons at a distance was 99 percent (she had seen it herself while sparring with him). With such a short distance, the reaction time was almost inhumane. Anila's brain barely registered the whole series of actions before she found the soldier impaled by a sword in front of her. By instinct, she wrenched the sword out of the soldier's side and ended him by stabbing through his armor into his heart before he could even scream properly. As for the soldier who dodged, burdened with heavy armor and a sword, he made the smart choice and ran to gain extra speed by getting rid of the armor. Vaghat used this time to hand red-colored stitched clothes to Anila and the others to cover their faces. When Anila asked for an explanation, Vaghat said he would offer one after they regrouped.

They ran toward the city's entrance, and she panicked, fearing the soldier might alert the rest of the guards, who, despite their skill, would outnumber them.

However, what awaited her was worse. The military barracks were on fire, and the civilians were in a panic. Terrorists with covered faces engaged what remained of the guards. With a start, she realized she was wearing the same mask as them.

Anila heard a cry of pain, seeing the soldier who had fled with a knife impaled through his arm. Anila rushed up to him, prioritizing the mission. This was required of her, and she would not fail. More than her honor, this mission assigned to her mattered. She had to suppress her feelings of distress and get the job done, no matter the cost. A task given by higher-ups was absolute and not to be questioned or disobeyed, especially if it was from the King.

Anila felt as if she lost a part of herself at that moment.

Never had she thought, 'What if my way of life clashed with a mission assigned to me?'

She met eyes with the man she had just killed, his green eyes filled with emotions she could only dream of. She had never had a near-death experience in her life; she was always overwhelmingly victorious no matter the situation. But now, even the sword in her hands felt heavier than usual.

After stabbing the man, she stumbled back, feeling numbness taking over her body. She stood there uncaring of the chaos happening around her. The sounds of panic and combat seemed deafened, her mind blank, and her vision blurred. Gradually, she was pulled back to reality by Athika, shaking her and calling her name, pulling her to follow Vaghat and Akish, who were pursuing the retreating terrorists. She followed suit, the numbness persisting.

Soon, she found herself at a shelter. Her mind swirled, hearing muffled voices calling out to her. All Anila knew was a feeling of whiplash and guilt, along with the strength leaving her limbs as she collapsed, and her world went blank.

Part-2

Abhijat looked at his sister's sleeping form, wondering if he had done the right thing. Athika told him his plan had caused her to break down; Abhijat couldn't help but feel frustrated. What was the king even thinking, assigning someone like his sister to an infiltration-related mission? And a long-term one at that. Abhijat knew his sister wasn't cut out for the job, and the king would undoubtedly know. Regardless, he assigned her the job anyway.

As for his plan causing her breakdown, he didn't anticipate it. He knew it would cause her distress, but not to this extent. He knew his sister was all about rules. He'd never seen his sister late to a meeting in his life. She lived a highly systematic life. Small deviations would be fine; she would express her displeasure by showing annoyance.

As a child, Anila admired the way warriors fought with chivalry and honor, showing respect to friend or foe. She admired it enough for it to become her way of life, forever in battle. She was filled with talent, no doubt. Her determination, along with her talent, allowed her to rise through the ranks with record speed. Everyone used to scratch their heads, wondering how such a young person was capable enough to lead an army on her own. The results she brought spoke for themselves.

Abhijat knew that his plan of using the local resistance rebels to cause a ruckus at the entrance to sneak into the city would not be approved by Anila. Moreover, he knew that even Ripudaman would be opposed to it. He'd even thought Akish would oppose it too and wanted him out of the loop as well. But thanks to his ability, he had eyes and ears everywhere and most certainly did not trust Abhijat. So, the only ones out of the loop were Ripudaman and Anila. They brought Akish and Athika in on the plan after the staged plan was performed. Athika meekly agreed to it, while Akish claimed he already knew about it. He said it so casually, it made Abhijat want to pull his hair out in frustration.

When Abhijat initially proposed the plan to Vaghat and Mihika, the day before they discussed the fake plan with everyone else in the king's presence.

Mihika agreed to it without objection. So did Vaghat, but he asked something that hit Abhijat like an arrow through the heart. He asked if Anila would be fine with being lied to, especially by her own brother.

He dismissed the concern, saying that he would take care of it. Now, he was wondering if he really could take care of it or not.

Part-3

Vaghat was talking to an annoyed Ripudaman Tandon. He was visibly upset when he found out what they had done. Vaghat understood that no one likes to be lied to; he knew that the plan they had hatched would put strain on the relationship they had built over the span of six months they'd been together. Athika simply stood in the corner silently, and Vaghat felt that she might have blamed herself for the whole issue.

"Was there really no other way for us to infiltrate the place?" asked Ripudaman, sighing. "Yes," Vaghat replied, "this was the only way." Ripudaman then posed his next question.

"What about the next country or the one after that? Will we apply the same methods?"

Vaghat did not answer that. He knew what they did was immoral and unjust. He was used to it, but this wasn't his first time doing things like this. He has done worse and can do worse if need be. What he wasn't used to is dealing with people who did not have a similar way of looking at things.

"I-" Ripudaman continued before he was cut off by Mihika entering the room. "We've got the forged identification sheets," she said, waving the rolls of parchment in her hands. Mihika was followed by Akish, who walked in behind her. He was scowling as usual, maybe because of the sunlight or something else Vaghat did not know.

"Oops," Mihika said. "Please carry on, I did not mean to interrupt-" now it was Mihika's turn to be cut off.

"Forget it!" Ripudaman said, storming out of the room with heavy steps. He gave one last annoyed glare at Vaghat before disappearing from his sight.

"He did not take it well, I suppose," said Akish.

"Gee, you think?" Mihika said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

Vaghat unintentionally let out a sound of annoyance, caught by Mihika. "So, the legend can be annoyed," Mihika said with exaggerated body language and a tone intending to mock Vaghat. "What a surprise!" Her intention was lighthearted, so he did not feel offended.

Vaghat didn't usually get annoyed easily, even if the people he worked with were uncooperative. But now, Vaghat was reaching his limit. Still, things like what Mihika said would not increase his annoyance.

"Oh, jeez, perhaps you are rubbing off on me, Mihika. Lately, I haven't been feeling like myself when I am around you," Vaghat said.

"I feel some kind of confession coming up," Akish said, misreading the situation.

"Jealous?" Vaghat smirked at him.

"Keep her; she's all yours. Both of you are cut from the same cloth anyway," Akish said, though Vaghat noticed a faint blush on his face.

"No, I think I'd rather die a horrendously painful and undignified death than be subjected to the pain of entering into courtship with this thing called Vaghat," Mihika said with a tone so flat it would make the plainest roads look curved.

"That's way too harsh of an assessment, Mihika; this is blatant character assassination, I tell you!" Vaghat said in a whiny tone. "I must have some redeeming qualities!"

"The only redeeming thing about you is your skill in assassination and perhaps being a jester at the King's court, although I feel the king would put you to death when he finds out how horrible your sense of humor is on the very first day of you being a jester," Mihika said.

Vaghat was about to make a retort of his own when he heard a strangled gasp from the nearby room. He recognized the voice to be Abhijat's. The very next instant, he rushed to the room to see what was happening.