Page 152 of Twisted Sins

“It wasn’t my uncle or aunt who must have sent those drugged sweets,” she said. “Some other clan or person must have planned it. And they must have killed my uncle and aunt for the same reason. Maybe… to gain control of the oil wells.”

The seer was quiet.

Nandini could sense the seer suspected that as well. Another important question occurred to Nandini.

“If everyone was drugged and killed, how did Rudra escape?” Nandini asked.

“Girja took Rudra away and saved his life.”

Nandini was shocked. “Girja? You mean the woman who teaches in the school?”

The seer nodded.

“If Girja saved Rudra’s life, why are people against her?” Nandini asked. “Shouldn’t they be grateful for saving the Kabali heir’s life?”

Something didn’t add up.

The seer looked at her. “The Kabali clan hates Girja because her husband Bhalla stole goddess Shakti’s statue from the temple and left Singoor.”

Nandini was stunned.

***

It was past noontime when Nandini walked out of the seer’s hut with her mind in turmoil.

The information she got was beyond shocking.

Rudra’s parents were drugged and killed by a premeditated plan. And the woman who saved Rudra’s life by getting him away from Singoor was Girja.

Nandini could sense Girja was genuinely a kindhearted woman. Had Girja been an accomplice to her husband’s theft of the goddess statue, she would have left to join him in the last thirty years. But she had chosen to stay with the Kabali clan despite the ill-treatment and taunts by a few clan members.

I need to talk to Girja.

She wanted to ask Girja about what had transpired on that fateful night. And whether Girja’s husband had tried to contact her in the past thirty years.

Did Girja’s husband Bhalla steal the goddess statue on his own? Or was he following someone’s order?

Was Bhalla still alive? Was Bhalla somehow related to Tantra?

Nandini sucked in a deep breath as she walked past the training ground. She was going towards the school when someone called her name.

“Nandini!”

She turned and saw Rumi coming towards her.

“Uma said you’d return at noon for lunch,” Rumi said. “We were worried when you didn’t.”

“I had gone to see Skandamai. I was with her until now.”

“I see. Come on, let’s go. Everyone is waiting.”

Nandini frowned. “Who?”

Rumi smiled. “The women arranged a special lunch for you. They want to know more about the Thakvar tigress who could throw the Kabali warriors on the ground during a fight.”

Word must have spread about the previous evening’s fight in the training ground.

Although Nandini was desperate to meet with Girja, she knew she couldn’t keep the women waiting.

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