'Who is Brijesh Sengupta?' Shivali asked, turning to the old lady, but she had long left her side and was now hurrying away, making her way anxiously through the people. The announcers were struggling. They beat their drum desperately, trying to make their way through to the next neighbourhood on their list. The horde scattered in all directions, closing up their shops and hurrying to their homes to tell the news.

Shivali stood where she was, being pushed around a little. She spotted the Baland Mahal atop its hill, only its silhouette visible against the sunset. Going back there meant danger for her. Staying on in the city, worse. It was best to mingle within the chaos and find herself some safety in her anonymity. Having come to this conclusion, Shivali followed the general direction of the crowd. Women and children sat in their carriages with the luggage and were tugged along through the streets by the servants. Men went on horseback or joined their families in the carriages. The smaller houses too disappeared after a while, and up sprang the dilapidated huts. The cobblestone roads descended into muddy lanes. Sewer water ran free across the streets beneath their legs. A strong stench of stagnant faeces overpowered Shivali. Stuffing the loose end of her saree over her nose and mouth, she walked on through the crowd, suppressing an urge to gag. She had gone way too far before realising the richer families had taken a different turn somewhere behind. When Shivali was sure she could not hold back any longer from throwing up, they reached the city gates.

People were passing through a wide stone underpass, taller than the arches she had seen in the morning. Spikes as large as construction site cones protruded from the open iron gates. About a dozen guards were helping the vehicles out of them, guiding them in different directions. The crowd, which now consisted purely of the poorest of the poor, made up quite a number.  Once outside the gates, they were dispersed into, as far as Shivali could see, six groups, all moving in different directions, towards the six surrounding hills. The walls of the fortified city were lined with bullock carts and horse carts of all sizes. People thronged into them, paying the drivers standing at the back in small sums of copper coins. 

Shivali slowed down and considered the distance she had to cover. On feet. Panic rose through her chest. It would be fine. She had three days. She could walk at her own pace and maybe even take breaks to sleep. But what if the raid arrived earlier? What if bandits ambushed her?

Shaking the thoughts out of her head and taking slow deep breaths, she looked around. There was a line of people, albeit a scarce one, too poor to afford even the cheapest of carts, trudging their slow way along the planes towards the nearest hill on the west. A sudden feeling of solidarity drew her into joining them. Most of them stayed quiet, maybe choosing to conserve as much of their energy as possible. But Shivali managed to catch bits of whispered conversations here and there.

'So much conflict in only three years of reigning...'

'Who asked him to go and offend, not just any king, but the emperor Chandraprakash...?'

'He gets to sit on his little throne inside his safe little fortress, and look who is suffering...'

'If I could get my way, I'd leave this miserable place at once...'

Shivali agreed vehemently with all of them and wished to join in with one or two complaints of her own. But eventually she fell behind, her legs having grown numb from walking practically all day, and having had no sleep last night. Her stomach growled angrily, and night had already fallen. The hills were now hidden in the darkness, and nobody had lit any torches, trying to avoid any unnecessary attention from the dacoits who might be lurking around. Shivali peered her eyes into the distance and strained her ears, following the faint footsteps.

Disturbing her focus, a cart rumbled past her. A bit ahead, it slowed to a stop, and a tiny man peeked behind from his driver's place.

'Why are you walking alone at this time, Devi?' he asked. Few eyes peeped at her through the circular window of the wicker door covering the dome of the cart.

'There are people walking ahead of me,' Shivali answered and waited for the cart to continue on in its way.

'There is no one ahead,' the driver said, frowning in concern. 'You must have lost your way.'

Shivali looked beyond the cart, trying to discern any shapes. All was darkness. Her fear must have been drawn clearly on her face, for the man said kindly, 'Would you like to get in, Devi? I think we can make place for one more.'

'I don't have any money.' It sounded more like a plea than honesty.

The driver's kind smile only widened. 'You can not expect me to leave a lone lady here in the middle of nowhere. Who knows what sort of creatures are lurking in the shadows?'

Shivali tried reading his face in the dark, but having neither energy nor patience left, she thanked him, and stumbled into the cart. The driver covered the dome with the wicker plank, and the cart rattled into motion. She was sitting with a few men and a woman, who slept, turned away from her.

Shivali too slipped easily into sleep, the rumbling cart rocking her like a baby.