That morning Thaniel lay on his bed after a short rest as he found himself unable to sleep for too long. He could already hear maids, servants and others already up and moving about the palace. He had even caught a few words from Vinod’s men as they gave each other orders. Despite the fact that sleeping late seemed unprofessional, Thaniel couldn’t bring himself to get up and join them. He could only lay in his bed, the bottle Kiran had given to him twirling in his fingers. The thought of causing his wife and future child’s quick demise for Kiran repeatedly made its way through his mind. The realization of what he was to do continued to hit him every couple of minutes, yet somehow is never sunk in as something wrong. If Juline was out of the way and he could be with Kiran, then what was the problem? He looked up suddenly as someone knocked at his door. He placed the bottle in the drawer at his bedside and stood to answer the door. “Good afternoon, Edmund.” Kiran was standing on the other side, a bright expression on her face. She was dressed differently today; she had on beautifully traditional dress of pink, magenta and gold. It was different to see her all covered and a bit more casual. Thaniel checked his watch, true enough it was already past noon. “Good afternoon,” he said, rubbing his face, “Sorry I didn’t get up earlier.” “It’s alright. Vinod wants to see you but I need to talk to you first.” After making sure no one was watching she slid into his room and closed the door. Offering no kiss of affection or comfort she began to talk. “In two nights we will be holding Pongal, Vinod’s family will be arriving in two days time and Vinod will have no one but them in the palace with the exception of the dancers. It’ll last for four days, but his family usually stay five.” With his duty still swimming in his mind, Thaniel did little to try and understand what Kiran meant, “And…?” “You can go home in those five days.” Thaniel’s thoughts came to an abrupt stop. Up until that moment he had only thought of how he was going to kill his own wife, not when. “Are you alright?” she asked, tearing him out of his second blow. He sat back down on the edge of the bed, the mattress puffing out under his weight. “Yes, I’m fine. Just… I wasn’t expecting it so soon.” Kiran could feel she was losing him, she was allowing him too much thought into it. She knelt beside him and took his face affectionately into her hands. Thaniel raised his eyes to hers, those beautiful globes of sand taking their effect. “Love,” she uttered the word as softly and sweetly as possible, “Rajeev is not a patient man, and you know as well as I that he has been courting me in his own… manner. We must move quickly before he interferes.” Again Thaniel thought back to the riches that littered her chamber, apparently Rajeev was one to let currency speak his emotions. He sighed and placed his hands over Kiran’s then nodded, “It’ll be done.” She smiled sweetly as if he has simply just agreed to bring home a fancy dinner rather than go home and kill his own wife. She placed a kiss on cheek and stood up, “Come, I’ll take you to Vinod.” Kiran led him into the large room where Vinod often relaxed and mingled. The large man was thrown comfortably among his giant pillows, his face beaming with energy and delight. No guards sat in the room with him which Thaniel began to find remarkable until his eyes fell on Abhiraj sitting quietly and stiffly against the wall. “Good afternoon, Mr. Brougham!” Vinod’s voice rose above them all as he laughed and waved for Thaniel to sit. Kiran bowed lightly and left the room. Thaniel did as offered and took a seat against a cushion across from Vinod. He felt slightly uncomfortable and still slightly drowsy. At the moment he wanted nothing more than to be alone and attempt to clear his mind before he had to leave. “So I see the birds were fairly quiet by your room this morning,” Vinod commented with a laugh, his men following mechanically. Thaniel knew perfectly well he was talking about his late awakening, “Yes, I’m terribly sorry. I found myself unable to sleep last night and spent most of it in the old record room sorting dates, debts and such.” “First unable to sleep, then unable to wake,” Vinod said causing another burst of laughter. “I hope you found no errors?” “Oh, no. All the records are in order and every debt has been paid.” “Good, good. Let me have food brought as you’ve missed breakfast.” He bellowed a woman’s name and an order Thaniel couldn’t understand then reclined back against his pillows. “Well, I brought you here to speak to you about our up-coming festival. Within two days my family will be arriving from their homes to stay five days. I will be holding our yearly festival Pongal here in my home but alas only my family and my dancers will be permitted to stay. Usually even the dancers would be gone but seems my family has grown fond of the entertainment they provide.” He took a moment to drink the continued, “So… in those five days, since no one else can be within my palace, I will rent you a room in a nearby hotel. They have very luxurious rooms and I’m sure you will enjoy the services they provide.” “Oh no, Vinod it’s quite alright-“ Thaniel was stopped as the woman Vinod had bellowed to earlier entered and placed a tray of enticingly smelling food before him. He nodded a thank you and continued, “There’s no need to spend money on a hotel. I can simply give my representative a call and he can provide me with one. It’s fine. When should I leave?” “In two nights will be fine.” He said. “Perfect,” Thaniel answered, a forced smile on his face. The two days had passed quicker than Thaniel wanted, but it was already the eve of the third night and he was packing his last few things for the five days he was to go home. He had tried to make the days pass slowly by spending hours in the record rooms, going through the books, checking the currency and balances, boring himself so the minutes took would take an eternity to form the hours. He had also spent a lot of time mingling with Vinod’s family as they arrived. He noticed his family were mostly a thick bunch, two of his brothers had even managed to grow thicker than Vinod. The two sisters that had first arrived were no slimmer than their brothers. Then came the children and the mother and father. His father was old and frail and quite thin compared to the rest of them, but his mother held the same shape as her sons and though she was same in age as her husband, she seemed more alive and energetic. All the children, both young and old had the shape of their grandfather and were lucky to have obtained the same attractive features Rajeev had. Most, including his mother, had the same kind disposition as Vinod and came off warm heartedly, Thaniel even felt almost sorry he had to call an arrest on him. That evening Thaniel had bid his good bye to the family and left to finish his packing as they closed themselves downstairs in the dance room. He had only caught a glimpse of Kiran before she disappeared behind the velvet curtains. Without sparing it a glance Thaniel took the bottle from his drawer and placed it in his bag, then gathered his things and left. Leaving a silent palace behind he tossed his bags into the back of his car, slid inside the drivers seat and drove off, the Rolls Royce’s engine roaring through the quiet street.