Page 180 of Twisted Sins

But his father didn’t discuss marriage alliance.

“I have pledged you to the temple.”

To his utter shock, he was told by his father that he was going to become a temple protector and that he would be dedicating his life to be a warrior of God. A hermit life where he could not have a family nor take over as the Kabali clan head. Instead, his younger brother, Bhairav, who always argued with their father about bringing change to the Kabali culture, was named the next leader of the clan.

He recalled the shock he had felt. His dream of marrying Nandini Thakvar was shattered. He wouldn’t be able to touch her, kiss her, give her lotus flowers, or spend the rest of his life by her side, making her happy.

At the age of eighteen, he became the temple protector.

To save face, he had announced that he was giving up his position as the Kabali heir and dedicating his life to the temple.

But even as he did his duties as the temple protector, his dreams and love for Nandini did not die. A few years later, he came up with the perfect plan to fulfill his dream.

His dream was much bigger than before. He wanted to become the clan head of Kabalis and the entire Singoor. He and Nandini would rule Singoor together.

He had meticulously planned everything.

He had planned to take the Goddess Shakti statue away from Singoor temple, which would create chaos and fear among the clans. He would let the unrest peak and then return to Singoor as the hero.

But everything seemed to go wrong that night.

On the day it was his turn to guard the temple, he handed the Goddess Shakti statue to traveling monks, stating that there was a conspiracy to steal her. He had put up a decoy statue and covered it with flowers.

He then asked Bhalla to come to the temple at night. He killed Bhalla and burnt Bhalla’s body to make it seem like Omkar Kabali was killed while protecting the statue.

After single-handedly killing all the other protectors, he had gone to the Kabali fortress through the secret tunnel system. He needed the Kabali treasures to be able to build an army of his own for the time when he would return to claim what was rightfully his.

By the time he made his way to the Kabali fortress, word had gotten out about the fire at the Singoor temple and that Goddess Shakti had been taken. It was right about the time the Aghoris came for their nightly prayers. He wanted the distraction so he could slip into the settlement his brother was building, take what he needed, and disappear.

What he did not expect was for his father to catch him stealing the Kabali clan treasures.

To his utter shock, he found his father at the doorway of the Kabali prayer room, his knife drawn.

“I should have known,” his father said, taking a step forward. “If there was anyone capable of taking so many lives and daring to even think of doing what you’ve done.”

“Baba,” even at that moment, he was torn to see the disappointment in his father’s eyes. “I saw no other way to bring everyone together and be led by the Kabali clan.”

“You are a disgrace, and I’m ashamed that you are my son.” His father fumed. “I was right not to choose you as the clan head. You don’t deserve it, and you deserve nothing.”

“Baba, don’t say that. If only you had given me a chance,” his voice shook as he fought back tears.

“How could you do this?” his father raged and asked, “Is this the hand with which you touched the holy mother?”

Before he could react, he felt the deathly pain and warm blood splattered on his face as he watched his right forearm hit the ground. He wailed in pain, his knees dropping to the floor as the blood pooled in front of him.

“You will bleed to death, and that is the only way to wash off your sins.” His father showed no remorse.

He fought back tears even as the pain started to blind him. A voice deep inside told him he should not let his father stop him again. With that resolve, he quickly tore off a piece of his tunic with his own hand and teeth. He was trained to fight even with one arm, and that’s what he would do.

He ignored his father’s merciless looks as he tended to his wound. He finally looked at him and said, “I cannot let you stop me one more time, Baba. I can’t—”

With those words, he dropped the trunk with the treasures and, in one swift move, pulled out the hidden knife and sliced through his father’s throat with a speed with which only he could kill. He was the best warrior Kabalis had, and yet he was made the temple protector. He would show them how he could protect everyone and the temple, too.

His father pressed his hand to his throat, choking as blood splattered all over. He could not watch the man he looked up to fall to the ground, and he looked away. He picked up his severed arm and wrapped it in another cloth before tucking it into his bag. His arm had the tattoo that would identify it as his and not Bhalla's, who would be taking the blame for it all. He had set up enough evidence to prove it all.

Just as he was about to stand up to leave, he felt a blow to his head from the back. To his utter shock, his father had given him a blow in the head with the treasure trunk before he collapsed to the floor.

He stared at his father's still form as darkness threatened to take over, but he grabbed the trunk and left quickly through the tunnels, promising Singoor that he would return soon and bring her glory back like never before.

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