Three days passed since we visited the village. Nothing important occurred during that time.

We contacted Ishaan, Neel’s best friend that I mentioned before, and filled him in about our current fix. Initially he thought it was a prank call and even teased Neel for being overly friendly with me all of a sudden.

I didn’t blame him though- even I wouldn’t believe Tvisha if she randomly called me when she was supposed to be in detention with someone she disliked immensely, and told me that she had time travelled. Now that I think about it she believed me quite fast, but then she always believed in magic. It must have thrilled her to know that magic actually existed.

Too bad it wasn’t the kind that involved wands and flying brooms. We had to video call Ishaan and show him the palace room, only then did he believe us.

So Tvisha and Ishaan were working together to see if they could gather any information about the tablet or any leads to assist us in our quest. But so far they had found nothing. It was pretty disheartening but we couldn’t let our morale down because of that.

Neel had talked to King Ashoka about the phone calls and the fact that time ran at different speeds on either side of the portal. Unsurprisingly, His Majesty had accepted his story right away and had also assured him that he would pass on the information to his court scholars and update us if there was any development regarding our case.

I was still a little angry with Ashoka because he hadn’t accepted my word just because I was a girl. But who cares?

Forgive and forget. Yeah, that’s my new public relations management policy at the moment for all these arrogant blue bloods. They keep finding ways to get onto my nerves.

I gazed out of the carved windows and marveled at the star lit sky. I can’t find the appropriate words to express its beauty. I stared in awe as I spotted the Orion and the Big Dipper.

My Grandfather used to take me stargazing when I was little and it was one my childhood memories that I cherished about him. I can’t forget the stories he told me about the constellations. It used to be hard to spot them though because the pollutants and dust in the air would cover most of the stars and made it difficult to spot them. Sometimes it was impossible to see any stars in the sky altogether. Here the pollutant free sky gave a splendid view of the numerous stars.

I must say I have an unhealthy obsession for shiny objects and I could have stared at the luminous gas giants all day if only I hadn’t been disturbed by the sound of a galloping horse in the distance.

I furrowed my brow as I saw Prince Mahindra riding across the palace ground towards the exit. Where on earth was he going at this late hour? It was almost eleven and I’m sure he didn’t have any princely duties to carry out right now. They could certainly wait until tomorrow right? I decided to follow him to find out what was so important that he had to leave in such a rush.

“I’ll be back!” I shouted to Neel as I ran down towards the stable, without waiting for his answer. But his ears work perfectly as he so politely informed me earlier, so I’m assuming he heard me.

I panted as I reached the stables and doubled over to catch my breath. I found the lovely black stallion that I rode the other day in a stall on close to the door, and climbed onto its back. I patted its neck above its mane and it whinnied in recognition. I guided it slowly, out of the stable and in the direction that Mahindra had headed.

I trusted my instinct as I navigated along the path to the woods on the far side of the palace grounds. Although it was past eleven, the moon shone through the gaps in the foliage overhead and helped me see where I was going.

I scrunched my nose when I arrived at a fork and halted. One path went uphill while the other went downhill. I bit my lip as I placed myself in Mahindra’s shoes and tried to figure out which route he would have chosen.

I chose the one that sloped gently upwards, after doing inky-pinky-ponky, the ultimate solution when it comes to choosing between equally competent choices. Not the best way to make a decision but it never fails to do its job.

After riding along the route for about half a mile, it was obvious to me that the path was rarely used by anyone. I started regretting the fact that I had based my decision on a matter of chance.

Vines hung loosely from the branches of trees and there was a wild growth of grass shrubs. I was about to turn back and try the other path but the sound of a horse neighing in the distance confirmed that I had chosen the right trail. I galloped forward until I reached a clearing.

I stared in awe at the sight I saw before me. I stood on top of a hill; a waterfall ran down its steep face. I wondered how I never heard it while coming up here. Swinging my leg over the saddle, I jumped off as I spotted Mahindra sitting quietly near the edge of the waterfall facing away from me. I tied my horse to a low lying branch, before making my way towards him.

Just as I reached him, Mahindra swiftly pulled out his sword from its scabbard and pointed it at my neck.

“Whoa! Calm down dude.” I said lifting my hands in the air.

Realizing who had just pointed the sword at, he lowered it and sheathed it quickly, an embarrassed expression on his face.

He apologized immediately, “Oh my god, Tara! I really had no idea it was you. I knew I was being followed but I didn’t want to give it away by turning around. I heard you approaching, and I involuntarily readied myself for combat. I’m very, very sorry. I honestly didn’t know it was you. Please forgive me?!”

I took a second to compose myself from the shock of having the lethal sword pointed at me. “Umm, that is something I never want to encounter again. And about forgiving you, well I’ll think about it.” I said sassily, placing my hands on my waist.

His face fell on hearing my words. Ok, he couldn’t even take a little joke sportingly. Something’s certainly wrong with him.

Seeing at his forlorn look he gave me, I chuckled and said, “Dude, I’m just kidding. We are totally cool.”

He heaved a sigh of relief. “What are you doing here? It’s quite late.” He asked, concern written all over his face.

“I should be asking you the same thing.” I said, raising my brow.

“I needed to be alone for a little while. My father’s been pressurizing me a lot lately.” Mahindra said warily.

I plopped down on the ground and said, “I saw you leaving and I was wondering what on earth you were up to. You had me worried you know.”

He settled down beside me. I hugged my legs and I watched as the sparkling water fell with a gurgling sound.

“I come up here quite often actually when I need to vent to my anger or think about stuff. No one knows about this place, and watching the water fall helps me calm my nerves. And let’s just say I’ve been coming here a lot lately.” He said, looking straight ahead.

“Ah, issues with the parentals?”I asked, “Want to talk about?”

He shrugged. “Uhh….”

I smiled creepily and said, “You can trust me you know.”

“My father’s been pressing me to participate more in the political affairs of the kingdom and has sky high expectations from me.” He sighed, “I’m still a child after all and I feel like I’m buckling under all the pressure.”

“Well, I can’t say I understand, because obviously Ashoka feels the need to mould his son well. After you’ll most probably be the next king of Magadha. But I know how it feels. My parents never demanded much from me or burdened me with their wishes. But I can see the enormous amount of expectation written clearly all over their faces and frankly sometimes it’s hard to ignore.” I said truthfully.

“Well, you’ve described the feeling perfectly in words. My father wants me to travel to Kalinga and negotiate a peace treaty. To be honest, I’m scared to go alone.

Wait, Kalinga?! As in the Kalinga war one? Whoa! Things just escalated to whole new level suddenly.

Without thinking I asked eagerly, “Does this have anything to do with Buddhism?”

“Uh, what?” Mahindra sputtered. He narrowed his eyes and glanced at me like I had just uttered something out of the world.

Then it dawned to me. Oopsy daisy!

I mentally face palmed myself for being such a big mouth; this is what happens when you’re a history freak. Of course Mahindra had no idea what his future held, but I did. The Kalinga war hadn’t happened till now. Ashoka was still as ruthless as ever, he hadn’t sought refuge in Buddhism yet. And Sanghamitra and Mahindra had absolutely no idea that they would travel to Sri Lanka as religious ambassadors when Ashoka converted to Buddhism.

I bit my lip before I uttered something else that I might regret.

“No, nothing.” I said quickly, shaking my head in dismissal.

I could see the doubt in Mahindra’s eyes but the gentleman that he was, he didn’t press the matter any further. I groaned. Way to make everything obvious Tara!

Changing the topic, I asked him, “Do you want me to accompany you? You know you don’t have to go alone. I can even ask Neel if he would like to come.”

Mahindra’s face lit up immediately.“You’d really do that for me?” he said, “I would love it if you came with me.”

I laughed at his childishness. I looked at him and grinned, “Anything for you, my friend.”

I couldn’t help but notice how good his abs looked in the moonlight. Don’t judge me, ok. As I said before, blame the raging hormones in my body, not me.

“Enjoying the view?” he asked, a smirk painted on his face. Great! The cocky, old Mahindra was back with a bang. I think I liked him better when he was apologizing and all.

“Shut up bozo!” I shouted, punching his arm.

We sat there silently for a little while after that basking in the moonlight. I shooting star shot through the sky; I wished on it hoping that we’d find a way back to the 21st century as fast as possible.

As much as I liked Magadha, it would be very reassuring to know that there was a way back to the future, back home…..
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