“Can you sit up?” Soman asked eagerly.

Mannat didn’t think she was asking. The way her eyes crinkled and her lips curled, he knew he had no choice. He looked at Pandit for help and found no solace in his friend. The boy didn’t dare meet his eyes. No wonder they say a girl's curiosity is a double-edged sword. It wasn’t long ago when she was berating him for trying to get up and now, a few minutes later, she was basically forcing him to get up.

“Can you do it or not?” Soman asked fervently.

Mannat could do nothing but obey her. Her words were a command he had to follow.

“Take the chair while I find the things we need.”

Mannat took the chance to grunt at Pandit who had taken to the door. They were the only three ones left in the room. The adults had left to take care of things, plan their escape and find a way to smuggle Mannat out of the town. Imprisonment was the worst that would happen to the others if caught. Mannat would be hanged. It was, therefore, more important to sneak him out of town.

“Can’t you handle her?” Mannat asked his friend with a glare.

Pandit pursed his lips in denial. “Go along with whatever she says, man. It’s the best thing you can do.”

Soman returned sometime later carrying a basket of things and a pan full of hot water.

“Take this and be of some help” She handed the pan of water and the basket to Pandit who could do nothing but stand still like her assistant while she pulled a large scissor, one that had no job being near someone's ears and eyes, from the basket.

“I’ve been plenty helpful,” Pandit muttered under his breath, daring not to be too loud. He didn’t want to start something with her.

Though Soman ignored Pandit’s comment, Mannat noticed her eyes narrowing. The situation was devolving far more rapidly than he thought it would.

“I don’t like this,” Mannat told her.

Soman patted his shoulder and gave him a hearty smile. “Don’t worry. I got this. It’s not like it’s the first time we are doing it.”

“That’s the first I’m hearing this.” Pandit interrupted from the side, making questioning glares at both his friends. Perhaps, he shouldn’t have.

“Oh, so you can speak. I thought you had left your tongue back at the village.”

Pandit opened his mouth to counter, then someone how found it in himself to keep his mouth shut. “Forget it,” Pandit said. He looked away to ignore Soman, but she poked the needle of her grievances right where it hurt him.

“Can’t even muster the courage to look at me? Seems it was not just your tongue that you forgot back home.” And she made sure that her former boyfriend would see her peek at his lower body and snort. Especially the last part, she was loud and it sent Pandit over the edge.

“I have every right to be angry with you. YOU LEFT ME.” Pandit gritted his teeth. “We could have been together! But you had to come here to this stupid town to live your dreams!” He said shaking his head and looking around the room with sarcasm dripping from his eyes. “Quiet a dream this is.”

A vein popped off on Soman’s forehead. “You think I had a choice? How else was I supposed to take care of my brother and father? The drunk and the stupid, that’s what the villagers called them and they had plenty to say about me too. You weren’t there when the men treated me like a whore and the women called me one when all I did was sell clothes. I sold clothes! That’s what I did, but why would anyone listen. No one listened. No one cared.”

“I cared.” Pandit grabbed her arm. “I cared plenty,” He swung her around and pulled her to his chest. “I still do.”

“Will you Kiss and makeup already?”

“SHUT UP!” They both shouted at Mannat together.

They did eventually kiss. It was sweet but short because the door opened and they had to separate again.

Soman took the chance to pick up the scissor and started working on Mannat’s hair. Kaju felt like he had stumbled into a war zone. Heck, the way Pandit stared at him sent shivers down his neck and reminded him of forest animals protecting their lairs.

‘What did I do?’ Kaju mumbled under his breath before leaving the room altogether. Whatever had gone wrong, he didn’t want to be a part of it.

Soman gave Mannat a haircut but didn’t cut his hair too short. Then she mixed some powders and pastes that she pulled out from her basket and dyed his hair black. By the time she was done with him, even Pandit had a tough time recognizing him.

They called the adult and asked them what they thought. Let’s just say everyone was surprised something simple as dying Mannat’s hair could have changed him so much. The black hair made him look like a delinquent.

“Did you do this?” Kaju asked grabbing Mannat’s hair and inspecting them by the strands.

“I had some dye left over from the shop. I think his hair looks great.”

“I almost don’t recognize him,” Khargosh added only to be rebuked by the old man Sardar.

“His sweat is not going to turn black is it?” The old man asked, getting everyone’s attention.

“That…” Soman hesitated, which didn’t give confidence to the others. “Usually the clothes are boiled in the dye for half an hour. I couldn’t have done that to him.” She said meekly, saw the frustration on everyone’s faces, and hurriedly added. “Nonetheless, the color shouldn’t come off easily, unless he washes his hair. I recommend not doing that.”

“That’s fine with me.” Mannat blurted out. He was done with the prying glares of everyone. “Now, can I get off this damned chair?”

“Sure—”

“Thanks.” Mannat stood up. The stitches pulled on his skin and it did hurt, but he didn’t want to get back to the bed either. Gritting his teeth, he withstood the pain and acted naturally. He didn’t need others to worry about him for what he needed to do next.

“Since this is done, I think it’s time we discuss our next plan of action.” Khargosh led the topic. “Kaju, did you find a way to sneak the boy out of town?”

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“Understand this; he can’t go back to his village and neither can the rest of us. It’ll be better if we surrender. His uncle is after him after all; we haven't committed any crimes.”

“He hasn’t either,”

“But there is a bounty on his head.” Kaju retorted strongly. “Whether you like it or not, that wanted poster makes him a criminal. The more worrisome thing is that the poster said he’s wanted dead or alive.” Kaju sighed and turned to Mannat. “I guess your uncle really doesn’t want you to live. Do you know anything about it? Why he could be after you?”

Mannat got everyone’s attention.

“As you all know my father is from the southern region and he eloped with my mother, the reason why Teej, my uncle, has been looking for them.” Mannat was surprised to see Soman playing along. He guessed someone must have told her while he was asleep and that someone definitely wasn’t Pandit.

“What I didn’t tell you, or didn’t know until recently until meeting my uncle, was that my mother was supposed to become a magician.” He turned toward the old man. “I think she passed down her gifts to me.”

The adults shared glances, but none interrupted him as Mannat continued. “Father told my uncle, the inquisitor, that my mother was dead. That we buried her in the forest,”

“And he believed him?” Soman asked.

“The Sarpanch confirmed it,”

“Why would he do that?” Soman found Mannat’s claim incredulous.

“Because he’s getting his revenge anyways,” Khargosh answered. “He wanted them out of the village. He got his wish. Anyways, telling Raesh’s lie would not do him any good. It would force the Inquisitor to stay in our village to search for Noor, taking Sarpanch’s authority and power. That’s what I think. He’s a shrewd man.”

The others nodded in affirmation.

“What has that got to do with our uncle wanting to kill you?” Soman was again the one to raise her voice. She was a curious child.

It wasn’t Mannat who answered her.

The old man sighed. “Fathers don’t stay angry at their children for too long. There eventually comes a time when a father accepts the reality and realizes that they didn’t want revenge in the first place.”

Mannat met the old man’s eyes and found them aged and lost. Sardar had also lost a son to war, Sharmilla’s father, and although there was no chance of him coming back, Mannat knew there was nothing the old man wouldn’t do to get him back. It was a sentiment only a father could understand.

Mannat took a deep breath and addressed everyone. “That’s why I need to go to the royal capital. To meet my grandfather before it’s too late. I need to tell him that my mother is alive, that he has a grandson, and plead with him to save my father. If there is someone who can stop my uncle, it’s him.”

“What about your mother?” Pandit asked. He knew she was at the clearing. They had taken her there together. He wondered if she would be fine with the Witch around. Yes, she had saved Mannat and everything; he still hadn’t forgotten being played by her. He hadn’t forgotten that night. He remembered the fear he had felt after waking up on the bed, unable to walk. Someone who could do that to people was not a good person in his eyes.

“She’ll be fine as long as Witch’s tree stands tall,” Mannat said without hesitation. This was not the time to fight a mental battle over his mother’s safety. He could only believe that the Witch wouldn’t betray his trust in her. Doubt would only lead to confrontation between his heart and mind and he couldn’t let that happen.

“Then I’m going with you,” Pandit said resolutely.

He glanced at Soman. Her jaw clenched, she didn’t tell him otherwise. He wouldn’t have listened to her anyway. Mannat was not just his best friend. Their ties ran deeper than tree roots. Their bond was thicker than blood. They had been together since before Pandit could speak; he wasn’t going to let Mannat journey halfway across the continent all alone. Perhaps, Gande would have a few words to say about that, but Pandit’s father didn’t. Khargosh wanted to come along instead, that is until Kaju denied him the opportunity.

“That being said,” Kaju said. “I can smuggle you out of the town. And perhaps, him too,” He said pointing at Pandit. “But that’s it. The rest of us will have to get caught and, it will the right thing to do. We might end up imprisoned for a few days, but that is a risk that we’ll have to take.”

Mannat didn’t want them to take any risks for him. Among worry and frustration, he also felt proud, not because they were so happily sending him off alone but because despite wanting to come along, they understood at the crust that Pandit and he would have a better chance of making it on their journey if they went alone.

“I can smuggle them out of the town, but there is a problem.” The word problem got Mannat’s attention. “The army of recruited soldiers leaves the town tomorrow.”

Pandit squinted at Kaju. “You want us to join the army?”

Kaju haphazardly shook his hands at Pandit knowing the boy's thoughts. “That’s not it. They will be taking a consignment of barrels from the blacksmithing guild to the regional capital.”

“Are you talking about the monthly consignment of barrels full of arrows?” Mannat’s said.

Mannat’s words gave wind to Kaju’s sail.

“That’s the one,” Kaju said excitedly. “You both can easily fit inside the barrels. I know the captain in charge of the recruitment, but I don’t know anyone at the blacksmithing guild.”

“You want them to travel for weeks in a barrel?” The whole thing didn’t sit right with Khargosh.

“No. They will only need to stay inside the barrels for a night. They will join the recruits at night and travel together with them to the regional capital, the mining city.”

“It will be easy to get a caravan to the royal city from there.” The old man added. “But who knows someone influential enough at the blacksmithing guild to get them inside those barrels.”

“I do,” Mannat said, propping everyone’s attention. “One of my…”

“--uncles?” Pandit teased.

“--father’s friend is an inspector at the guild. Maybe he can help?”

Khargosh crossed his arms. “What’s his name?”

“Kuber… although we might have to pay him a fee. He likes money.”

Kaju nodded in understanding. “That’s a kind of ideal I can sit right with.” Stopping, he looked around and asked, “So who’s going to go with him.”

“I’ll go alone,” Mannat answered before anyone could step in.

“NO,” The rejection came firm and collective.

Mannat appreciated their concern, but he had made up his mind. He couldn’t let them risk their lives for him.

“I appreciate your worry, but really, I can do it. And it wouldn’t matter if I go alone or with someone. I will be the only one responsible for my actions if they catch me because I will try to escape. By hook or by crook,”

“I’ll be fine.” Pandit sensed the atmosphere stiffening and chided. “I am not a child. I also have to go thousands of miles away alone. That’s what he wants to say.”

Mannat ignored him to continue his sermon. “Let this be my practice run. If I can’t even get past a bunch of soldiers then I wouldn’t be able to find my way around in a foreign state among strangers either.”

“He can do this,” Soman voted in Mannat’s favor, as did Pandit. Only their votes didn’t count.

The adults discussed the possibilities and came to a decision.

The old man announced the result. “We’ll do it your way. And if you get caught, we are going to come to save you. By hook or by crook,”

Mannat didn’t say anything. He went up and hugged the old man.

The writing was in stone. The plan was set. Only the actions remained. Tomorrow they would know if it was the right plan or a quick way to the guillotine.