Page 177 of Twisted Sins

Rudra and her brothers were hunting for Tantra, who was said to be in Singoor. But the man remained untraceable.

She had suggested that she be used as bait to lure Tantra, but the demon not only refused but also threatened to tie her up and send her to London for house arrest.

She prayed that Tantra would be caught soon and made to pay for all his sins.

***

Rudra left at sunrise, and Nandini got busy.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to help?” Rumi asked, watching Nandini open large trunks filled with Kabali family heirlooms.

Nandini laughed. “I’ll need a lot of help later when arranging some of these things around the mansion. But right now, I’ll only be sorting.”

Rumi and Uma smiled.

“Don’t get too tired,” Uma said. “There’s a special feast tonight in your honor.”

Nandini laughed. “Another feast? I will barely be able to move soon!”

Ever since she returned to the Kabali mansion, several special feasts have been arranged in her honor. The Kabali people were happy that she had returned.

Nandini knew the feasts were also a way to bring the spirit up for the people during uncertain times.

“I’ll see you later in the afternoon,” she said. “I’ll be having lunch with Skandamai.”

The seer had invited Nandini for a meal at her place. Nandini met Skandamai after returning from the Thakvar mansion. Strangely, the old seer looked worried rather than relieved that Nandini had returned to Rudra.

Nandini knew Skandamai would give her a prayer offering in the form of ash or a thread to be used as protection. Although Nandini didn’t believe in premonitions or prophesies, she placed the ash dot and did as Skandamai asked as a show of respect.

Nandini planned to distract Skandamai and talk more about the history of Singoor.

“We’ll come by later in the afternoon, then,” said Rumi.

Although Nandini could get ready on her own, she knew Rumi and Uma enjoyed helping her.

“Okay. See you both later.” With a smile, she waved at Rumi and Uma.

As soon as they left, she focused on the opened trunks.

Although the trunks hadn’t been opened in a while, the room was clean and well-maintained. Most of the trunks were filled with books and beautiful family heirlooms. She knew Rudra didn’t find the time or motivation to display the stunning family heirlooms around the mansion. He had other priorities over the past five years.

As the Kabali heir’s wife, it was up to her to organize the beautiful heirlooms. But she wasn’t really looking to decorate the mansion. She was trying to see if there were diaries written by Rudra’s parents or other family members.

She wasn’t expecting several diaries or meticulous entries like her aunt had written. But she knew most clan heads dotted down their thoughts and entries of events that took place.

Hoping to find something, she continued to open the trunks.

Most of them were filled with beautiful large silver heirlooms. However, one had a small silver frame with a family picture of Rudra’s parents holding their infant son.

Her heart jerked as she held the picture. With slightly tanned skin and large grey eyes, her demon looked cute and adorable as a baby.

She kept the frame aside to show it to Rudra at night.

There were more trinkets and heirlooms but not enough books. She had heard that most of them were burnt during the fire that was set up when Rudra’s parents were killed. But hoping a few books remained, she went to the other side of the room where the trunks were smaller.

She opened a smaller trunk, and her heart leaped when she saw some books. Picking up one, she saw someone had written beautifully. But she couldn’t understand the writing, as it was in the Kabali language.

Several other books were also written in the Kabali language. Picking a couple of books, she decided to take them to Girja and ask who the books belonged to and what was written. She could ask Rudra, too, but he usually returned late, and there was a feast that evening, which wouldn’t give her time to ask him to read and translate the book.

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