Page 23 of Twisted Sins

The Kabali clan people looked at her curiously. They were mostly women, with a few men whose faces weren’t covered in ash.

She recalled seeing a lot of people the previous day whose faces weren’t covered in ash. Was the tradition of applying ash restricted to only a few?

She saw women carrying water from the small opening of the hill, a few were cooking, there were blacksmiths hitting metal while others did similar chores. She couldn’t see any children around. Did that mean there were schools nearby and hopefully other structures with some modern communication or transportation?

Hope took root inside her.

There were only twenty-five or thirty tents in the entire encampment, which made her wonder if she had imagined the much larger crowd the previous night for the ceremony.

They passed by a large open tent where black horses were held. The stalls were nearly empty, indicating the demon and his men were gone for the day. She saw a Kabali man and woman seated on two horses, and they rode off into the desert from the encampment.

The horses were huge and intimidating. One of the horses came closer to her. She screamed and moved away from the stables, falling down on the sand.

Some of the Kabali people laughed, watching her scream and falling down.

She went and sat in a place and observed the people and encampment while the women accompanying her went and joined a big group of women who were cooking.

The women gossiped loudly, which led to several glances being thrown her way.

Her cheeks heated in embarrassment, wondering if they were discussing her wedding night and the state their savage leader’s tent was left in.

Sucking in a deep breath, she looked away. From the vantage point, the desert seemed limitless, but she could see the outline of hills at a distance.

She didn’t know how long she sat watching until the woman who had softened towards her came to take her back to the tent. Although the encampment was under the shadow of a hill, the heat of the desert got to her.

It was much cooler inside the tent. The women rolled down the window flaps, making it even cooler.

“What is your name?” Nandini asked the woman.

The woman looked at her blankly.

Nandini pointed at herself. “Nandini,” she said. And then, she pointed at the woman, watching expectantly. “Name?”

“Uma,” the woman replied.

The woman’s name was hopefully Uma.

“What is the demon’s name?” Nandini asked, putting her hand high in the air, indicating a tall man. Uma stared.

“Your demon clan leader,” Nandini said, raising her hands and putting her index fingers on top of her head like horns.

The shock on Uma’s face heated Nandini’s face. The demon had forcibly married her in a midnight ceremony and even lain with her in the same tent. And yet, she didn’t know the demon’s name.

“Rudra Kabali,” Uma replied softly.

The savage demon’s name is Rudra.

Just then, the other woman entered the tent with a tray smelling of aromatic food.

“What is her name?” Nandini asked. “Nandini, Uma…”

“Rumi,” the woman named Uma replied.

Nandini smiled at the woman named Rumi, but the woman didn’t return her smile.

Why are these people hostile towards me?

She wondered if it was because she was an outsider. But they all knew she belonged to the Thakvar clan. According to them, she was also married to their demon leader.

---