THE TEARS OF KUMARI KANDAM
CHAPTRE 7

Bheim sat on the dressing chair while shaking one of his legs resting on the other. Braheim unceasingly circulated his gaze to the bed-washed bedroom. There was no sign of an intruder, but clearly something was amiss. But the owner of the room, Haala, refused to open his mouth and chose to continue his sleep.

Six hours ago, the guards who were on night patrol heard a very loud noise from inside Haala's room. At first the guards thought the commander of Kumari Kandam was training, but it was highly unlikely given the illumination of the extinguished rooms. That oddity was what finally made the guards steadily check Haala's room.

Braheim, who happened to be walking around due to sleep difficulties, joined the guards who ran to Haala's room in a hurry. Haala was found in a state of great shock, as if she had just met an invisible creature. The worried braheim then forced Haala to choose between allowing him to accompany her until morning, or to spend the night in the king's palace.

Haala was surprised by the earnestness of Braheim's words, and especially by Braheim's indifference to witnesses who heard his words directly. Haala chose to allow Braheim to accompany her, provided that the door of her room should remain open, and Braheim could only sit on a dressing chair. Bheim remained silent for a long time before finally agreeing to Haala's terms.

There was still an hour left before the morning beasts chattered. Bheim got up from Haala's dressing chair, about to violate one of the conditions he had agreed upon in the name of God. But Braheim's steps came to a halt, as the corner of his eyes vaguely caught the silhouette of a man standing on the balcony of Haala's room. Braheim looked, but found no one there.

"Your Majesty?"

Spontaneous Braheim turned to Haala. "You're still here?" ask Haala again.

"I saw a man on the balcony of your room."

Haala glanced at the balcony of her room. "Is that guy wearing a turban?"

"Eitherway. All I know is that his body is very tall and big."

"Ah, so he came again," murmured Haala.

"Who? Your lover?"

Haala get off the bed. "No, Your Majesty. Just someone I know."

"Did he also the one who entered here last night?"

"Right, Your Majesty," Haala replied.

"Why did he visit you that late? Then what are you doing in the middle of the lights gone out? And if it's not really a lover, why did you let her in?"

Haala was silent for a moment. "The story is very long, Your Majesty."

"Make it short."

Haala was silent again. "He had a problem, and wanted to solve it right then and there."

"But why enter quietly to extinguish the lighting of your room?"

"Hamba thinks he's so desperate that ti--"

"Pressed up? So the problem you're talking about is mental? It is only fitting that you deliberately let him infiltrate, extinguish the illumination, and say nothing to me" Braheim said.

"It's not like that, Yeah-"

"It seems like it would be better to send you to the battlefield so that you don't have time for such obnoxious things" Braheim interrupted again, walking quickly out of Haala's room.

...¤○●¤○●¤○●¤...

It appeared that Haala's men were busy gossiping to Bheim in the middle of the afternoon training break. Bheim who is known to be calm despite being invaded by various strange situations suddenly becomes very angry. It is only natural for Braheim to show his anger at advisers or ministers who are not good at taking care of the kingdom. But the anger of Braheim lately is far from normal.

Bheim will be immediately angry just because things are very trivial such as the breeze that makes the neck cold, the noise of chickens and wolves that routinely chatter in the morning and night, his shawl was draped out of balance on his shoulder, and the other thing was much more trivial. In these two weeks Bheim was officially labeled as the part of the heart of Jihan because of his very similar troublesome penchant.

And even worse than Braheim's unnatural attitude change is that the Haala combat troops, which were usually sent only to dangerous battlefields, are now sent to villages to secure petty crime. Everyone thought that the change in attitude of Braheim was caused by his ministers who began to be caught in corruption. But the real cause is the heart of Braheim which is being devoured by the flames of jealousy.

"Where can I meet Commander Haala?" ask the head of the harem, Leyla.

"The commander has just gone to Upajaoo Village to catch a wheat thief" replied one of Haala's men.

"so apparently. Then where's Laasya? Ah, I mean Commander Haala's younger sister. Did you guys see him?"

Haala's men stared at each other confusedly. "You don't see a fourteen-year-old girl passing by around here?" ask Leyla again.

"We only saw the children of the head gardener playing there." Haala's men pointed towards the lotus flower garden.

"I think I'm wrong. Then I'll excuse you." Leyla passed by as she occasionally turned her head towards the lotus flower garden.

Leyla didn't think wrong. The girl Leyla saw entering the kingdom escorted by two guards was indeed Laasya. But Laasya did not want to meet his brother at his training ground, but instead wanted to meet Braheim to hand over Haala's diary. Now Laasya was sitting in front of Braheim, enjoying a sweet snack while waiting for Braheim to ask other questions about Haala.

"It looks like your brother lied about the traits of the man he likes. All I know is that guy's tall and big, but he's writing the opposite here."

"Hamba dares to guarantee that you haven't lied in your entire life, Your Majesty," Laasya replied to Braheim.

"really? But I caught him lying."

Laasya stopped the chewing. "Then my brother's age has been reduced by a year."

"The ancestral vowser in our family is obliged to keep his license if he does not want his age reduced by one year in exchange for his dishonest attitude."

Bheim did not reply, only listening to Laasya with a serious face. "It looks like I have to go home. Servants should inform mom immediately so that we can prepare for Pavitr*" Laasya added.

*Pavitr* is a fast of penance that is done from sunset until the sun is right at the top of the head*.

"What with Pavitr can restore his age?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. As much as we did Pavitr, that much of my brother's age will be returned. Then I am resigned to resign. Thank you for the dinner, Your Majesty."

Bheim. "Yes, gohome. My bodyguard will take you."

Laasya went along while bowing respectfully to Braheim. "Long live, and be bound always, the sun of Kumari Kandam."

Bheim again dropped his body on the chair, looking at the shabby diary cover lying in front of him. Seen from the wrinkles on his forehead that were increasing, the handsome man clad in ivory white clothes was thinking about something very hard. Until without feeling the sun had set, and the sounds of people looking for it were heard increasingly clearly gathered at the door.

"Servant."

Six maids ran to fulfill Braheim's call. "Give us an order, Your Majesty."

"Call Murat."

"According to your orders, Your Majesty," the maidservants replied simultaneously.

A few seconds later..

"Long live, and be bound always, ma-"

"I will move to the eastern palace*" Braheim interrupted Murat.

The eastern palace* is a special palace of male soldiers who are training to join Haala's fighting forces.

"Let me know the reason, Your Majesty."

Bheim was silent for a moment. "I'm going to do Pavitr for a year for reasons I can't tell other than God."

...¤○●¤○●¤○●¤...

"Servant! Prepare the horse carriage right now!"

Murat shook his head in response to Jihan. "You'll just end up being chased away like a beggar."

"Shut your mouth!"

"Yes yes, all right. Just do as you please" said Murat as he received a wine from a maid.

Jihan's anger stems from the bad news Murat brought a few minutes ago about Braheim who suddenly decided to perform Pavitr on secret grounds. Even though it has been eight months they have not had husband and wife relations. And Jihan's wrath was unstoppable when she heard another bad news.

The accomplices assigned to watch over Haala suddenly disappeared. They were later found in unreasonable conditions. Let alone remembering if Jihan was the master, they did not even recognize themselves. So did Murat. The advisor and the closest person to Bheim even laughed amusedly when Jihan asked him about the nomadic tribe.

In addition to wanting to raise a direct protest against Braheim about Pavitr, Jihan also plans to meet Laasya and Leyla to make sure the two do not participate in being fools like Murat and his accomplices. Although continued to tickle the belief, inexplicably Jihan was reluctant to accept if the condition of Murat and his accomplices were closely related to the wandering tribe.

"It seems like the wandering tribe does indeed exist. Because that's the only thing that can explain your condition and my accomplices right now."

Murat sighed in response to Jihan. "What's wrong with my condition? I feel fine."

"Forget over. Rather than that, did Braheim really not say his reason for doing Pavitr?"

Murat nodded. "What do you think is the reason?" ask Jihan again.

"Eitherway. Brahim is a hard person to read. He looks like he's easily tricked, but in fact he's set up a deadly trap. He looked like he was desperate, but in fact had a mentality as strong as steel. He looks like he's easy to guess, but in fact makes everyone's guess miss."

Jihan did not answer, because what Murat said suddenly invited a feeling of danger. "He's like a labyrinth. The more you want to know about her, the more you're made to get lost" Murat said.

"You're not helping at all." Jihan stepped out of her room.

"Ah, there's other news but I'm not sure you want to hear it."

Spontaneous Jihan stopped her steps. "Stop saying nonsense, Murat Iskender! Or I'll cut off your tongue! Say it!"

Murat whispered, "It's so cruel. Yeah, all right, but where do I start?"

"I swear I'll cut li-"

"Braheim stayed overnight in Haala's room since the intruder incident the other day" Murat told Jihan.