Palakkad, Vijayanagara Empire.
The sun rays filtered through the canopy of the tall trees onto the face of Bhairava, who was lying on a straw mat that he used to sleep on for the night. He woke up groggy, his upper body naked as he ruffled his disheveled hair.
"Damn this sunlight." He cursed.
He got up from the mat to find Vikrama still sleeping. He was used to getting up early for his training. The sun was just rising, and he figured that Vikrama would be exhausted from the trekking yesterday.
He saw the guards standing in the distance watching him like he was so animal. So villagers peek through the wooden walls to see him, mostly children and young n.
"Ugh!! I need to wash!"
He rembered seeing a creek on his way here. He gets up and grabs a set of clothes and goes to wash himself.
Bhairava headed in the direction of the faint splashes of the water. He found the creek, clean water, and no one to disturb him.
He splashed water on himself, feeling the freshness of the water.
"Ah! Finally!"
He walked out of the creek and put his dhoti on.
Suddenly a faint lody entered his ear. It was sweet and soothing. He looked around to find the source, to no avail. Bhairava curiously walked along the creek as the lody got louder.
As he got closer, he heard the sweet voice. It captivated him with a soothing sensation. He pushed the bushes aside to look at the person.
His eyes fell at a beautiful woman, drying her long silk hair with a cloth.
Her skin was supple and gleaming under the morning sun. She wore a long skirt that fell to her ankles. Her blouse was barely covered by a cloth. The fabric clung to her curvaceous figure, tracing the contours of her slim waist. A bronze locket hanging around her neck.
Her pink lips quivered as she humd the lody happily.
As Bhairava stood there, starstruck by the soft lody, his wooden prosthetic slipped from his severed hand and fell to the ground.
Startled by the sound. The woman's dark eyes t his gaze.
"Ack!!" She squealed as her cheeks flushed in embarrassnt.
The woman quickly got up and ran away before Bhairava could say anything.
"Wai–" His voice trailed off.
He decided not to chase the young lady. Picking up the prosthetic, he went back.
Vikrama had gotten up and changed in the anti.
"Your Highness. Where did you wander off to?" He asked in a worried voice. "Dress up properly, also."
"Sure!" He put on a robe and adjusted his dhoti as they walked towards the village.
The village chief finally agreed to the Vikrama request and let them inside the village to search for the lady.
"Mister. You can't bring that weapon inside." Bhuvesh said, glancing at Bhairava's sword.
Bhairava gave the guards his sword with an annoyed look and said, "Ugh! I don't even have both hands!"
"Who are you looking for, Mister?" Bhuvesh trailed off. "I didn't ask your nas."
Vikrama smiled.
"I am Vikrama, and that young man over there is Kiran."
Bhairava decided to not intimidate the villagers by choosing a fake na.
"I see. Is he your son? You seem to be close." Bhuvesh asked, walking ahead.
"Eh!! No No!. He is my benefactor." Vikrama replied.
"Who are you looking for?"
Vikrama looked down with a sad expression.
"My daughter…."
"Hoo.. Do you know what she looks like? We do have a couple of orphans here."
"No.. I haven't seen her in a long ti. Her appearance must have changed a lot." Vikrama responded.
"I see.. How about the na?"
"It is Shraddha."
"Shraddha?... There is no one by that na in the village." He muttered.
"Huh…"
"Her na should be changed, don't worry." Bhairava consoled him.
Bhuvesh guided them through the village, allowing them to et and talk to young ladies between the ages of twenty and thirty.
Bhairava felt odd gazes from the ladies at him. Their cheeks flushed as they t his eyes. So of them even kept glancing at him a lot as he walked away.
'Am I that scary-looking?' He thought.
As ti passed, it was getting clear they hadn't found Vikrama's daughter. Bhairava was visibly frustrated. His mother didn't disclose the full information about Vikrama's daughter in the note.
He tried to dig up the information on her na and appearance but to no avail, as the spies used by his mother also died in the civil war. They had no choice but to visit the village to check for themselves.
Bhairava whispered.
"How will you even recognize her if she doesn't rember you?"
Vikrama didn't reply. He was very frustrated. He had reached this far and couldn't find his daughter.
"This should be the last lady." Bhuvesh declared.
Vikrama looked down at the ground. He thought he could et his long-lost daughter.
"Guess that looks like the e-"
"Hey. Who is that woman?" Bhairava interrupted and pointed at a lady seated under a large banyan tree reciting sothing to the children gathered around her.
"Oh!! That's Devaki. Her parents were old and passed away a few years ago. She lives alone and teaches children to sing."
As they approached the large banyan tree. He heard a sweet lody. Bhairava recognized the lody and the woman from the pond.
"Devaki. We got guests." Bhuvesh said and then turned to the kids. "Children. Sister will take the class later."
"Eh!! No, we want to listen." The children complained.
Devaki glanced at the tall man with a prosthetic hand and instantly recognized him; beside him stood another man, quite old-looking, staring dejected at the ground.
"Kids, I will take the class tomorrow." Devaki said as the children left, quickly sensing the situation.
"Hey, old man. Where are you looking at?" Bhairava patted Vikrama's back.
Vikrama jolted from his thoughts as his gaze fell on the young woman standing. She looked eerily similar to his late wife. Her eyelashes and long hair.
A bronze locket glead under the sun.
His eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the locket. It was his late wife's locket that was given to his daughter.
"Wait.." He grabbed Devaki by the shoulder. "Where did you get this locket?"
"?" She looked surprised. "My parents gave it to ."
"Where did your parents find the locket?" He blurted out aloud.
Bhuvesh grabbed the shoulder of Vikrama to pull him off Devaki but he was quickly stopped by Bhairava.
"Um…" She hesitated for a while. "It was on my neck when they found ."
Tears began to well up in his eyes. He had finally found his long-lost daughter.
He cried as he hugged Devaki.
"I finally found you, My Daughter Shraddha." He muttered as tears rolled down his face.
Bhairava pulled Bhuvesh aside and walked away from the scene.
"Let them have their ti."
"But…"
"Don't worry. He won't do anything to her."
Bhairava's expression softened as he glanced back at Vikrama crying on his daughter's shoulder as she scrambled to console him.
He was happy for Vikrama. He smiled warmly, looking forward.
'Finally, that old man found his reason to live.'
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