Page 80 of Sumanika

By the time we finished, it had grown darker, and thankfully, no one noticed.

We filled the hollow space with some mud, not entirely, because we needed to get out too.

We crawled slowly into the Kingdom. There were a few soldiers watching nearby. I waited for them to move slightly to drink water and then ran towards the warehouse without making a sound.

My heartbeats were racing.

And it raced even faster when we both discovered the lock on the warehouse door.

“What do we do now?”

Eklavya whispered, and I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

I gulped nervously and looked at a huge lock. I didn’t have anything to put inside, and then suddenly, I remembered my lady luck.

I drew my dagger and removed the sheath. It was a sharp blade with a curved tip. I offered a brief prayer and slowly inserted the blade’s tip into the keyhole.

It got stuck a little, and I tried to figure out the locks. Because of the blade’s thinness, it managed to slip in with some effort, and I attempted to unlock it.

Suddenly, the worn footsteps of soldiers grabbed my attention, and we both shared a fearful glance.

I quickly pulled the blade out, and we both stood next to the door.

The soldier looked at us and said,“I’m going to sleep for a while. Keep your eyes open.”

We both nodded, playing wise like the soldiers of Mehrangarh, and he walked away from there.

I took a deep breath and we both started over.

This time it slid inside quickly, and I turned the blade to unlock it. I returned the blade to the sheath, and he opened the door, taking the lock inside with him.

I knew she was lucky to have me. A smile spread across my face unexpectedly.

But it disappeared as soon as we stepped into the dark warehouse.

Eklavya closed the door behind him, and I tried to find the lamp.

I bumped into the table in the pitch-black darkness, and after a few tries, my fingers found the lamp. Oddly, it was hot. This suggests someone had been here before us.

“We need to find stones,” I said slowly to Eklavya. He struggled a bit while I gathered some dry grass. We both attempted to ignite it. I was sweating.

My fingers turned cold, aware of how much was at risk.

Suddenly, the dry grass ignited, and I used it to light the torch.

The warehouse room brightened slightly, and Eklavya blew out the grass fire, covering it with sand so no one would discover it. We walked around, examining the iron shelves, which held some scrolls, mortar, and a few other items. In the middle, there was a stone table, and I stepped closer to it it.

“Begin examining the scrolls and documents,” I told him.

As I walked into the warehouse, there were swords, spears, bows, arrows, and many other weapons. However, when I stepped in, my feet suddenly felt a different surface.

My brows drew together in a line.

I stepped back in this place; it felt hollow.

The tension mounted in my mind. I bit my lip and called out slowly,“Eklavya,”

He walked over to me, and I signaled for him to step onto this small surface. He also looked confused.

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