Hi!
So, as we reach the tenth part it is time to know about Swara (Ice king version) There’s more to her than being the sweet, selfless soul Sanskar seems unable to hurt.
And this chapter also is kind of the last nail in the coffin, why, read to find out.
I hope you’ll find this enjoyable!

Have you ever watched a candle? No, not the pretty flickering light but the way it slowly consumes itself in the pursuit of expelling darkness. Not only darkness it has to fight with either, it fights with the very wind that keeps it ablaze. But can it ever win against that darkness? Sometimes yes, but on other times it simply turns in to puddle of wax at the base where it stood and the darkness engulfs it completely until it cools off in defeat.
Many admired Swara for the capacity of selflessness she held, but she herself was never proud of it. Even Swara was not born a saint, no, she had her own self-centeredness, little selfish joys once upon a time. It had then been her identity. But she was never admired for it; instead her desires had always reduced whatever she held dear to near ashes.
It started with the pet fish, that out of love she had fed too much when she was four. Then it was her cat, which she hid inside her locker so that the neighbor would not chase it. The butterfly she had in a bottle so that the harsh wind would not harm it, were such tales of her childhood. The last nail there had been Ragini, her beloved kid sister. She had loved her more than any of her dolls, more than anything that was dear to her then. She meant no harm when she suggested her to hide in the closet; she genuinely wanted to keep her away from Dadi’s thrashing. But the matter resulted in a disaster.
What had then been her innocent unawareness seemed like hidden immature evil to her father’s family. They thought she was an aspiring murderer who was after her step sister’s blood. Only her Ma, had understood, cared enough to listen to her part of the story. That had been the first crack in her parent’s relationship.
After those incidents, she had been the black shadow in that house, the ominous appearance they could not avoid, and the curse that followed them. She was never loved, trusted as Ragini…never truly a part of that Gadodia family. Her Ma is wonderful right; but she cannot compensate the joint love of a family. Like a desert, that yearned for rain she wandered in thirst for love, longing for faith in herself.
Then she met the Maheshwaris. It was like the merchant who stumbled upon the beast’s castle, for her. She had fed herself on the care, affection and trust their friendships offered her; not worrying about what the beast’s return fee would be. She just needed a shelter from the storm that wracked her ship, protection from the pain she could no longer withstand.
But then the beast’s request came, in exchange of all the comforts she was provided with. She had to turn in to the person they wanted; the queen that would fit their vacant chessboard. Selfless, sacrificing, calm and understanding, strong enough to protect her walls but vulnerable enough to lean on to their king. Not the seed of evil that others thought she was becoming, but a fragile flower at the Maheshwari garden, the rose of the beast.
Everyone wonders why she clung to Sanskar right? It is the same reason why a parasite would creep around a giant, lively tree. To gain the nourishment it lacks in itself, to have what it could not earn. Not in a bad intention no, but out of helplessness. He was then the opposite end of her spectrum, the axis around which his family rotated. Loved and respected more than anything trusted. She wished to be the moon lit by his sunlight, absorb some qualities from that marvelous personality so that someday she could become a Sanskar for her family too.
At that time she would have, still would, do anything to be reaccepted in to those old embraces. The love she missed having, the trust they never showered upon her. Even today she would lay down her life for Ragini…and that was what Sanskar was counting on.
*
‘If you’re calling me to tell me you’re not coming for the wedding,’ Swara said as she dried her hair, her phone held by her twisted shoulder. ‘Leave it Ragini, you can’t do that!’
‘No,’ Ragini said in a small voice. ‘I have something else to say…Swara…no, listen… I was going to die,’
‘You were what?’
‘Alright, I’m not trying to kill myself anymore. I’ve seen that I cannot do it. I’m not as selfless as I thought I was, then again I can’t live without accepting this truth to you.’
‘What’s wrong sweetheart,’ Swara said in a small voice.
‘You see I would never accept all this face to face, so I might as well give you a call confession. It was I who gave Lakshya that idea about you and SK.’
Swara switched off the drier and sat on the edge of the bed with a pale face.
‘You wouldn’t have thought he’ll take it this seriously right?’ Swara said uncertainly.
‘No, that’s the evil of me. I knew how insecure he was since he had no idea about your feelings for him. I knew how serious he would be…I…I thought he’d leave you!’
Her voice shook slightly as she summoned it.
‘Why?’
‘You have no clue do you?’ Ragini said with a sigh. ‘I love him, too deep that I didn’t see it was my sister’s heart I was set to break.’ Her voice shuddered and died.
‘Why didn’t you tell me Ragini? I asked you about this once?’
‘Would you tell Lakshya that you loved Sanskar once?’ She asked back.
‘I…what…?’
‘See? You can’t even accept that for yourself, how would I have confessed it to my sister?’
There was a long suffocating pause.
‘Anyway,’ Ragini continued again in a casual tone. ‘I know it’s hard to forgive what I have done. I have no wish of being forgiven either… But I need you to know that I’m over it. I have realized that a love that would turn angles in to demons should be forsaken for the sake of your beloved. Trust me, I learned it the hard way…and now I know…’
Her voice was cut sharp by some loud noise.
‘Who are you?’ She heard Ragini ask from a far. ‘What are you….doing? Help! Swara! Call someone...! Help! Where are you taking me?’
As if someone had stepped on the phone the call disconnected with a crack.
*
Ragini was not at home. But there was no need to worry was there? She had gone to some music competition and with two of her friends and their car broke down in the mid rout. One of those friends had called and informed her Dadi that they are boarding on some local transport and would reach there soon. That area doesn’t have strong net work, so until Ragini would return the day after there was no way of communicating with her. There was absolutely nothing for someone like Swara to pretend to worry about her at all!
What could Swara have done if a stranded car and a not responding phone did not trigger their senses?
But Ragini was not the real target of that attack was she? Swara was. They did it so that only she would know what a danger Ragini, her beloved sister, was in but no one would believe her.
It was kind of like the Chakravyha  Abhimanyu walked in to; knowingly that he was on a one way journey towards destruction; all his well wishers, saviors smartly out of the way. But even then Abhimanyu would enter and so did Swara. She would not have her sister’s life on her conscious; she would not be blamed for being the reason of her harmed condition.
It was dark twilight when she reached were she was supposed to meet those people. She knew what a fool she looked, walking there along, on the night of her approaching wedding. But who would have come along? Lakshya was not answering her phone, Sanskar would be of no help and DP uncle seemed too distanced nowadays. There was no way she would call her Papa once more, Ma was too busy in the preparations that she could not find her. What she did not know was that this was another move, like the one of the Kauravas when they kept everyone other than Abhimanyu away from the Chakravyha.
‘What do you want?’ she asked the man who approached her from the darkness.
He stopped there, just so that only his shadow captured her vision.
‘The amethyst,’ he said straightforwardly.
She grasped the stone, as if it was her beating heart. The soul of Maheshwaris was not hers to give.
‘It’s not mine!’
‘Then the girl dies!’
‘But…’
‘Swara!’ It was Ragini’s weak tone, just behind the shadow man.
‘Think again, Miss Bose, think wisely…’
‘There’s no need, Swara you don’t have to do this!’
‘If you’d rather be the reason of her death,’ the man took a step backwards.
Swara recalled the voice of Durga Prasad telling her more about the pen drive.
‘No one except me knows the password…for them it’s just a piece of jewelry!’
Making her hold tight around the stone she removed it from her neck. No one had put her family against herself, she would always choose family, and it was selfish in her own way. She could have sacrificed herself for the duty entrusted to her, in a way that was what she was doing still going ahead with her marriage to Laksh. But not Ragini, she had already lost a lot because of her. She had lost her mother, her first love…but she would not lose her life too.
The man approached her, still his face in shadows and stretched out his hand. Even before she lost contact with the cold stone in her palm she knew that somewhere, somehow there was a photograph.
*
‘Take a bow SK,’ Sanskar said to himself. ‘You’ve fought bravely, done well. But this is the end.’
He was standing in that isolated bridge where Swara had sat earlier, crying in Lakshya’s arms, after her encounter with her father’s family. The Omamori, not the one Swara gave him but his own held loosely in his hand. It was the luck charm Kavita gave him, the reason he had to wear the mask of SK. Now his duty towards her was done in full.
He knelt at the bridge about to empty the contents of the pouch to the stream of water that ran past him.
‘Now let Sanskar Maheshwari, mourn the fate of his best friend,’ he muttered to himself as he untied the pouch and emptied the contents in to his outstretched palm. Some wood peelings with prayer words curved upon them and a few pebbles came first. The pouch was not yet empty, turning it upside down he shook it and something cold fell in to his hand.
It was a microchip, hidden smartly inside the good luck charm. What had Kavita really handed him that day?
*
Will Kavi save the day? Wait for the next chapter to know. Meanwhile tell me what you felt about this chapter…I’m keen to know.
If somehow it was below your expectations I am sorry about that.
Thanks for reading!