An Elite Problem

Sarthak looked up to face the bench of the judges. There were five judges seated together. All of them were wearing masks such as was the custom. A judge had to wear a mask before judging the person standing below him. It was a persona that he wore to pass judgement. Once the judgement was done, the persona was to be removed and the judge would then go back to being a normal citizen of the state. Till the time the mask was on, the citizen was elevated to a post with authority to judge people. That day Sarthak stood facing the full bench of the judges. He had not committed any crime. He had full belief in the judicial system.

The judge on the extreme left had the mask of a wolf. When he addressed Sarthak, his lilted voice gave him away. He was the warden of the prison where Sarthak had been placed after his crime.

"Sarthak! Do you confess to having killed Jay?"

Sarthak turned his head to his right to glance at his box where his family sat watching the proceedings.

"Yes sir!"

"Do you know what is the punishment of killing an elite?"

"Yes sir!"

The law was quite clear on it. If a citizen were killed, the killer would be sentenced to three months of incarceration. If a soldier were killed, the punishment was for one year. If an elite soldier were killed, the punishment was for twenty years.

The judge in the middle suddenly leaned forwards. His mask was that of a lion.

"When did you come to know that Jay was an elite soldier?"

A ripple of excitement went through the packed court. The judge had confirmed for them the rumour that Sarthak had managed to kill an elite soldier. There were only about a hundred and twenty one elite soldiers in the army. These were highly trained soldiers who routinely carried out amazing feats that tested the very limits of human spirit.

"He had been shouting it at the top of his lungs ever since he came in our city but when we crossed swords he let me know again, sir!"

The judge on the immediate reight of the middle judge had the mask of a fox. She whispered something to the judge in the middle and when she got the permission she addressed Sarthak.

"Is it true that Jay was completely drunk when you challenged him?"

Sarthak shook his head with a disgusted expression. The rumour had started the instant Jay had fallen on the ground to never get up again.

"I don't think it is true. He fought admirably."

The judge with the mask of sparrow snickered.

"And you want us to believe that your skills are better than an elite soldier?"

Sarthak exhaled and dropped his gaze. There were two witnesses to the fight as was mandated by the rules of a duel. Sarthak challenged Jay to a duel knowing fully well that Jay could not refuse it. It should have ended with Sarthak's death. The two witnesses, Garima and Hitesh, had been left stunned with the result.

"There were two witnesses!" He pointed out.

"But they have gone missing, aren't they?" The judge with the mask of sparrow retorted.

"They would not have gone too far," Sarthak pleaded.

The judge with the mask of elephant finally spoke.

"It is time to share the news of the two witnesses with the defendant," he spoke in a baritone that told everyone that he was the appointed advisor to their city by the empire of Tribhanga. 

It came to the judge with the mask of the wolf to spell out the dreaded news. When the soldiers went to take the statement of the two witnesses, they found that both Garima and Hitesh had left their house in a hurry. Two search parties comprising of 11 members each had searched for them the entire night. They had found the dead body of Garima near the city's eastern gate that led to the canal. Hitesh was not yet found.

Sarthak's heart sank. Without the two witnesses' testimony to corroborate his narrative, there was no way the judges would believe his story.

"Tell us what exactly happened!" The judge with the lion mask asked Sarthak. 

"Jay arrived in the city two days back. He had some work in our city, the deatils of which are not known to me. Two evenings back, I spotted him at the bar on the Khoncha road. He was boasting of his exploits with both the sword and as a lover of women. His tales were of ribald nature and he was in general a very offensive person. No one could dare challenge him though for he was an elite soldier. The next evening I was once again at the same bar and Jay once again made his way to it. He was more offensive this time around. He made a grab for any woman who ventured around his table. He slapped a worker. Then he spat on a man who was simply enjoying his drink. Then he took out his dagger and tried to stab someone. He was a nuisance. The soldiers patrolling the streets were called to intervene but Jay abused them too. The soldiers however made him leave the bar and go back to the barracks with them."

"Did he threaten you ever? Did he attack you? Did his actions cause you any loss?"

Sarthak shook his head.

"I never got into any fracas with him. The next morning, I found Jay to be at the house of Garima, my neighbour. They left together. I had no idea that Garima knew Jay. Some two hours later, Garima's betrothed Hitesh came to me and asked for my help in finding Garima. I told him about Jay. Together we headed to the barracks. There we were told that Jay had not returned since morning. So we went around asking for Jay and Garima and we finally found them on the street behind the prison."

For a moment Sarthak fell silent. He did not know how to speak of Garima's sexual abuse at the hands of Jay. His discomfiture was noticed by the judges.

"Was the act consensual?" The judge with the fox mask asked. "The act beteen Jay and Garima."

Sarthak shook his head.

"Then what happened?" The judge with the lion mask asked.

"Hitesh and I ran to intervene. Jay beat the heck out of Hitesh. There was no way to rein in Jay so I challenged him for a duel. When he heard it, he slapped me hard and pushed me to the ground. When Hitesh threatened Jay that if Jay didn't accept my challenge, we would spread the word that an elite soldier got scared of a duel challenge, Jay was forced to fight the duel. Hitesh and Garima agreed to become the witnesses. Jay took out his sword there itself and asked me to fight. I wanted him to fight in an open space but he would not listen to my request to change the venue. In that narrow stretch, we fought. He was more powerful and certainly more skilled but the narrow confines made it unable for him to swing his sword laterally. For some moments I held him back."

"Have you taken any lessons?" The judge with elephant mask asked.

"I trained under Chiranji guruji for some months."

"Did you ever apply to become a swordsman for the army?" The judge with the fox mask asked.

"I was rejected in second round."

"So you were not at par with an elite soldier!" The judge with the wolf mask said.

"No."

"And yet you managed to kill Jay!" The judge with the sparrow mask said. "Did you cheat?"

Sarthak sighed. The fight had been brutal but fair. Jay had managed to stab Sarthak right through his guts. He thought he had won and let his sword stay stuck in Sarthak's body. He was left very surprised when Sarthak moved without showing any pain. Jay tried to step back to avoid Sarthak's sword but it was not enough. Sarthak managed to slice open Jay's neck. Jay bled to death within moments.

Garima and Hitesh had been left astonished. They could not believe that Jay's blow did not manage to kill Sarthak. They wanted to drag Jay's sword out of Sarthak's body but he refused their help and rushed to his doctor to get himself treated. From there he went home where he was apprehended for Jay's murder.

"There was no question of cheating. I killed him in a fair fight."

"Well, we certainly did not find any other injury on Jay's body. It is still impossible to believe that an elite soldier's neck could be sliced so easily by a person who is not even a soldier."

The judge with the lion mask stopped for a moment to consult his notes.

"The strange case of the witnesses going missing and then one of them turning up dead has cast a shadow of doubt over this entire matter. It is true that Jay was not a model elite soldier. It is also true that he was here on a personal mission. We have found out that Jay and Garima went to visit a prisoner in the morning. I beleive that Jay dragged Garima towards the back street after their visit was over. The prisoner was of no assistance to us. He has been imprisoned about five years back for a very serious crime, the details of which are not to be shared with the court here as we believe it holds no bearing on the current case."

The judge with the wolf mask grimaced but it was not noticed by anyone. About five years back a plan was hatched to kidnap the young prince of Tribhanga. The plan was stopped in the nick of time. Seven plotters had died but one of them was not willing to die for his cause. He had been held guilty and sentenced to life. Jay had visited the very same prisoner.

"Going purely by the report of the doctor who examined Jay's body, we conclude that Jay had drunk copious amount of alcohol and that might have impaired his fight but we can't hold that against Sarthak. There was only one wound on Jay's body that killed him so we may assume that Hitesh or Garima did not interrupt. We may accept that Sarthak's account is true. Let us vote on it."

The 3:2 verdict in favour of Sarthak did not surprise anyone in the court. 

A visibly relieved Sarthak was embraced by his family. The doctor stood in a corner. He was relieved that he did not have to give his account about Sarthak's injury. When Sarthak had come to him after killing Jay, the doctor had been left aghast. It was imperative that no one should learn about their tribe or their special power. Sarthak's impetuousness was totally uncalled for. However they worked on a story that would seem plausible. It helped that the advisor to the city was inducted as a judge. The advisor ensured that no one examined Sarthak in prison.

In his story, Sarthak never mentioned the fact that he was stabbed by Jay. When he had stepped away from Hitesh and Garima, he drew the sword out of his body without spilling any blood. That was his secret that he could not share with anyone. 

Hitesh and Garima had to be silenced. Hitesh urged Jay for a duel with Sarthak because he wanted Sarthak dead. He did not want to spread the word of Garima's abuse in the city. He believed that Jay would kill Sarthak and then leave the city.

When Jay was killed by Sarthak, Hitesh was left in a quandary. Everyone would learn of what happened to Garima. So he planned to run away from the city. He forced Garima to come along. They were near the canal when they were discovered by Sarthak's tribe members.

Garima's dead body was discarded but Hitesh's dead body was preserved. It proved to be enough for Sarthak's tribe to feed on for a week. What Sarthak did was noble in nature but it could have started a chain of events that would have devastated his tribe. The problem with an elite was fixed in the nick of time.