The Disgruntled Employee

Raka reached his old hideout after journeying for six days. He had a very keen sense of direction and he made notes of the turns that he had to take on his way to Pabab and yet on his return journey he managed to get lost twice. It was very frustrating for him because he wanted to return to his team as soon as possible. When he finally hit the home trail, his initial feeling of relief soon turned into anxiety for there were no lookouts. He got off the horse when he sighted the tents but no one stepped out from behind the trees to greet him. It was eerily silent all around him. When he tied his horse near the water trough, he found out that the water has not been cleaned for some time. He tied the horse near the trough and headed towards his tent. When he entered it, he found it to be empty.

The sight of the empty tent hit him in the guts. His entire team of twenty-eight bandits had simply disappeared. Even if Santosh had taken his men to raid the tax collectors, he wouldn't have taken everyone with him. They believed in swift attacks with small teams. Even if Santosh would have decided to attack with two teams, he would have had to leave someone behind to guard the tents and their belongings. Raka went around the camp looking for signs of any violent conflict but he soon found out that the camp had been deserted voluntarily by the bandits. He then checked the nearby trees to see if the bandits had left behind any clue for him to follow them to their new hideout. On one of the trees, he found a fresh sign, not old than two days.

His horse was tired and wanted to rest so Raka decided to get some quick shuteye himself. When he woke up, it was dark and there was no use heading inside the forest trying to follow the faint symbols marked on the trees. He fed the horse and then made his own preparations. When he finally settled down for his broth, a shadow clambered down gently from a tree behind him and approached him stealthily.

“Do you want to eat?” Raka asked in a gentle voice. He had first spotted the young man some half-hour back when he was feeding his horse. He did not challenge him but kept a sharp eye on the young man's movements.

The young man stopped right in his tracks. “How did you ...,” he couldn't complete the question.

“Do you want food?” Raka turned his head a bit to look at the petrified figure of the sneaking thief.

“Yes,” the young man finally snapped to attention. “Please,” he added as he sheathed his knife. He felt it in his guts that he was no match to the man who was seated next to the fire. Raka conjured up another bowl and placed it next to him. The young man picked it up and then sat on Raka's left, a little bit away for he did not yet trust Raka.

“You are younger than me,” the young man finally remarked. Raka had been eating in silence and it unnerved the unwanted visitor.

“Do you know anything about this camp?” Raka asked him suddenly.

“Yes,” the young man glanced once at the empty tents, “bandits used to live here but they are all gone now. Say, you must be a bandit too for you were able to find your way here.”

“Gone? Where?” Raka ignored the young man's question.

“Eleven elite soldiers had surrounded the tent. All of them surrendered without a fight. They knew their standards. The elite soldiers looked around to find the leader of the bandits but then someone squealed that Raka was not here and then the guards left.”

“I returned today itself,” Raka put his bowl down. “What were you doing with them? You are certainly not an elite soldier.”

“No, I certainly am not one. Let me introduce myself. My name is Dhanus. Till three days back, I was the personal advisor to Prince Durjoy but then I had to quit the job and then he put a bounty on my head. I had to hide in the forest like an animal to avoid the bloodsuckers who were on my back. I knew about this camp for I had accompanied the elite soldiers on their way to raid it so I made my way to it. I have been sleeping here for the past two nights without any disturbance but then today I saw you tending to your horse and I assumed you were a bandit and decided to kill you. That went terribly bad.” Dhanus shook his head once. “It is good that I didn't attack you. I have heard about your exploits. I know that you had managed to kill an elite soldier without even breaking a sweat. You would have swatted me away like a mosquito.” He then pretended to shiver. It made Raka smile. Dhanus was good at stroking the ego of people around him and Raka had been wary of people with silver tongues all his life.

“Tell me about that day,” Raka leaned forward and poked at the fire.

“Well,” Dhanus put his bowl on the side and stretched his legs, “if it is ok with you, I would like to start a little bit earlier. See, we all know that it is you who has been paying the taxes on behalf of the poor villagers. I don't know why you decided to help the idiots, and I don't agree with it at all. Why you ask me? Because I think everyone has to pay for their 'karmas'. These idiots are suffering a hand-to-mouth existence and whose fault is that? No, let us not talk about what the king could do for them. They are basically idiots who can't manage their money. In any case, the taxes levied on them are not that harsh. It is OK if you don't agree with it. So back to the story. You helped these people pay their taxes and gained their sympathies. I mean, these people hero-worship you. The leader before you commanded respect out of fear but you, my dear sir, you are loved and admired by these people. I can't tell you the amount of heartburn you have given to Durjoy. I used to call him Prince Durjoy before but now I address him only as Durjoy. Durjoy! That sounds lovely. Durjoy! Ooh boy! I love it. In any case, so Durjoy hates you for doing so much for these dolts. He hates the fact that the peasants love you more than they love him. So he arranged for a crack team of eleven elite soldiers to hunt you. They found out about this camp and surrounded it. Your men surrendered rather quickly.”

“How did they find their way to this camp?” Raka thought he heard Dhanus gloat about his men surrendering quickly but decided to move on.

“I shouldn't be the one telling you about it,” Dhanus poked the fire with a stick and then threw the stick in the fire, “but you will find out about it soon enough. There was a traitor among your men. He approached Durjoy and sought forgiveness for his crimes. In exchange for his pathetic life, he offered Durjoy information about the bandits.”

“What was his name?”

“Rajbhar.”

Raka recalled that Rajbhar was a confidante of Sameer.

“He however did not get the charter of forgiveness from Durjoy,” Dhanus said. “They wanted to apprehend you and when they didn't find you, they beat Rajbhar badly and threw him in the prison. On the day I picked up a fight with Durjoy, there was an insurrection in the temporary prison housing the bandits and some of them managed to escape. One of the escapees was Rajbhar.”

“You keep harping about your fight with Durjoy,” Raka leaned back and looked at Dhanus closely, “but you don't speak of it. What happened between you two?”

“I didn't want to bore you about it,” Dhanus said, “but I don't have anything to hide. Durjoy is in love with the princess of Abitsar. Or so he likes to claim. He wants to marry her so that he could rule over both kingdoms. But his father Vanarjeet hates the royal family of Abitsar. If Vanarjeet could have his way, he would have got the entire royal family of Abitsar publicly executed. He likes to carry a grudge, our king does. Durjoy knows that his father would not agree to his marrying the princess of Abitsar so he plots to kill his father. I was privy to his evil intention towards his own father but as long as he was not working on his plans I knew I was not running the risk of betraying my king. Vanarjeet is our king and so my first loyalty has to be for the king. Then Durjoy got attacked. He made a clandestine plan to meet the princess of Abitsar and some people got the wind of it. They tried to kill him but his bodyguards saved the day. Durjoy nursed the belief that someone close to him betrayed him. He accused me of selling him out. I took great offense to it. To date, I had stayed loyal to him. I had not even told anyone about his bloodthirsty ambition to kill the king. How could he accuse me of betraying him? We had an argument. Then he threw his wine glass at me. The glass was heavy and I got a concussion. When I came to, I found that I had been thrown out of his room. No one came to check on me while I had stayed passed out. I dragged myself to my apartment and cleaned myself up. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was so ashamed that I could not meet the gaze of my reflection. I hated myself to the point of committing suicide. I decided to end my life. While I was arranging for a rope, I began thinking of how I was being unfair to myself, that it was Durjoy who deserved to be killed. The thought made me restless and filled me with shame. Imagine hating someone whose largesse kept you afloat, whose company gave you name and fame. While I was making my way to my home wallowing in shame, I noticed two men loitering outside my house. These two were known assassins hired by Durjoy. In one heartbeat, my shame turned into a roaring fire of vindictiveness as I understood that Durjoy had signed my death warrant. I went back to the market but I kept noticing people pointing me out and whispering something whenever I would turn my back on them. I knew that no one would help me in my fight against Durjoy so I escaped to the jungle and have been camping in here since then.”

Raka listened carefully to Dhanus's account but he didn't offer any comment.

“If you will allow me to stay here,” Dhanus spoke softly, “I will acknowledge you as my leader and will do everything in my power to help you.”

“And in return?”

“Please protect me from Durjoy's goons,” Dhanus begged Raka.

“Who betrayed Durjoy that day when he got attacked?” Raka asked him.

“There were three of us who knew about Durjoy's plan to meet the princess of Abitsar,” Dhanus spoke after mulling the question. “I never blabbered about it to anyone. Shashi is the bodyguard of Durjoy and he swears total fealty to him. It is very hard for me to believe that it was Shashi who betrayed his master. It has to be Mukho. He is the liaison man between the prince and the treasury. Every time Durjoy needs money, he sends the request to Mukho who carries his note to the treasury house and after updating all the records the money is released to Mukho who then hands it over to Durjoy. Two days before Durjoy got attacked by the assassins, he had asked Mukho to withdraw a big amount of money from the treasury. As the amount was big, the request was sent to the king for ratification. The money was released to Mukho but by then Durjoy had left to meet his lover.”

“So if Durjoy would have got killed there,” Raka added, “then Mukho could have kept the money with him. How big was the amount?”

“Three lakhs,” Dhanus said. It made Raka whistle under his breath.

“That's a huge sum,” Raka said. “Why did Durjoy need that kind of money?”

“He wants to build a palace for himself,” Dhanus replied.

“At least six palaces could be built and decorated garishly with that amount.”

“What can I say?” Dhanus shrugged. “Durjoy likes luxury. He likes to be surrounded by things of beauty and they cost money.”

“And he is carrying that kind of money around?”

“He has already spent a fair bit, methinks,” Dhanus scrunched up his face. “But he would have at least 2 lakhs with him.”

“And how many guards are with him?”

Dhanus smiled shyly, “So you are thinking of making a raid? I can really help you there. I know everything about his routine.”

For the next half an hour, Dhanus shared with Raka everything he knew about Durjoy, especially about the people who surrounded him. There was one elite soldier who led a small team of seven soldiers. They protected the prince round the clock. The ten elite soldiers, who had been summoned to hunt the bandits, had returned to their active duty. Apart from the soldiers, there were about six people who kept the prince company. The gold coins were kept in a big chest that was placed in the bedroom of the prince. The chest was made of reinforced material and was extremely heavy, weighing 30 kg in an empty state. The lock on the chest was as big as a little dog. There was no way it could be broken by metal rods. The key to the lock was always with the prince.

“So when do we raid?” Dhanus seemed excited. “If you pull it off, it would be an amazing slap on Durjoy's face. Don't worry about me. I am just for the ride. I don't want anything from you. I just want Durjoy to be embarrassed.”

“Soon,” Raka replied. “First we have to find my colleagues who escaped from the prison.”

Dhanus offered to be the first watch to let Raka sleep but he was overruled. Raka did not sleep the whole night. Dhanus slept for some hours and then joined Raka who sat lost in his own thoughts next to the raging fire. Raka's horse was tied to a nearby tree. From time to time, it would shudder or move about or whinny in a small voice. The fire cracked and sometimes a hissing sound came from the burning logs. The forest sat still around them. Dhanus tried to engage Raka in a conversation but Raka ignored him. By and by, Dhanus fell silent. He was not used to silence. It alarmed him. He liked to associate sound with life and silence with death. After all, the dead could only experience silence and stillness. The living beings should revel in sound. He wanted to live his life with aplomb and he wished for non-stop celebration in his life. The silent night of the forest made him feel empty. He hated the feeling of emptiness. It was his third night out there in the forest and he was not yet used to it. He actually longed to return back to the town, to once again sit there amidst the cacophony of everyday life. He got bored of staring into the fire so he tried to walk about. The sound of leaves being crunched under his boots irritated him. In the grave silence of the late hour of the night, it felt sinful to make those irritating sounds and so he returned back to his seat.

Raka observed Dhanus closely. The more agitated Dhanus became, the more Raka distrusted him. The story that Dhanus told him seemed to him as a rehearsed speech. The alacrity by which he plotted to make a raid at the treasure chest of his employer did not seem natural to Raka. Moreover, Dhanus had an answer to every question that Raka posed. These points standing by themselves did not make Raka mistrust Dhanus. It was the fact that Dhanus recognized Raka by sight. He never waited for Raka to make the introductions. He knew who Raka was and he knew of Raka's exploits. He did not hide in the camp of the bandits to escape the men of Prince Durjoy. He returned to the camp every night in search of Raka. On his third night, he finally ran into Raka. He indulged in the drama of approaching Raka from behind and then acting surprised at getting caught. He then tried his best to win Raka's trust. Then he placed his ultimate hand on the table. The bait of an extraordinary amount of money lying idly in the treasure chest of the prince would have made any bandit sit up and take notice. Raka asked him some questions and the more questions he asked the more Dhanus got visibly happy. Soon Dhanus was so excited that he was unable to stop smiling. His eyes gleamed in excitement. Dhanus pretended to be excited about the embarrassment that Durjoy would have suffered if the raid were successful and he kept on insisting that he did not want any share from the loot but his ploy to win Raka's trust failed for Raka knew that everyone wanted a share of the loot. Everyone craved money and even though people glorified revenge they would never let go of the opportunity of looting their enemy. Everything about Dhanus's act was phony. Raka pondered the motivation of Dhanus and at long last, he came to a decision.

At the break of the dawn, Raka got ready and leading his horse by hand, began to follow the signs marked on the trees. Dhanus followed him eagerly, making happy noises about how honored he felt in following the leader of the bandits. After about an hour of walking through the undergrowth, they stumbled upon two horses tied together. A grotto was carefully concealed a little bit away. Raka whistled thrice outside the grotto and soon two men emerged out of the grotto. One of them was Rajbhar who saluted smartly when he spotted Raka. The other man was a stranger to Raka but he too raised his hand to his forehead to salute Raka but his actions seemed forced. He had close-cropped hair and his face was cleanshaven. He walked cautiously towards Raka, taking measured steps and never taking his eyes off Raka. It made Raka think of a wild animal that approached its prey slowly, fearlessly. It was the gait of an elite soldier.

When Rajbhar and the elite soldier were five steps away from Raka, they moved around to surround Raka. Dhanus stood behind the leader of the bandits. Raka could not help but smile. It was the classic strategy of the soldiers to box in their prey. Raka had been trapped or so his attackers seemed to think.

“Do you think it is that easy?” Raka took two steps to his side to keep all his attackers in his line of sight.

“What are you talking about?” Dhanus chuckled.

“The prince Durjoy himself had to come here to trap me,” Raka's hand went to the hilt of his sword. “Do you think I should feel honored?”

Dhanus froze. His face suddenly turned ugly. “How did you figure it out?” He snarled at Raka.

“Long story,” Raka ignored him. The elite soldier was drawing his sword out. Rajbhar's sword was still half drawn. Raka drew his sword with a blinding speed and slashed at Rajbhar's face. Rajbhar tried his hardest to draw out his sword to block Raka's parry but he was too slow. Raka's sword slashed his face hurting his right eye. With a cry, Rajbhar swung his sword around but Raka was already some distance away from his attacker. The elite soldier tried to engage Raka but he could not stop Raka from reaching Durjoy. The prince tried valiantly to stop Raka but he was no match to the agile leader of the bandits. With two quick blows, Raka disarmed Durjoy and took the prince captive. The elite soldier had to back off.

“You can't escape,” Durjoy whispered angrily. “More soldiers would be coming here. You are surrounded. Surrender and you will be treated well.”

Raka punched Durjoy twice with his left hand. His sudden violence shut the prince up. Raka whistled to his horse. It came trotting towards him. The elite soldier took his eyes off Raka and it was his first mistake. Raka dragged Durjoy like a rag doll and threw him at the elite soldier. The elite soldier and the prince fell on the ground entangled. Raka took that opportunity to attack Rajbhar and killed him in a matter of moments. The elite soldier should have pushed the prince away to get in a fighting position but he could not bring himself to push the prince away. That was his second mistake. By the time he extricated himself from the prince, Raka was all over him. The elite soldier fought hard but Raka overwhelmed him and slashed his throat killing him. Then he attacked Durjoy with his bare fists. The prince had never been subjected to such a beating that he got at the hands of Raka. Then Raka tied the almost senseless prince to a tree and stepped back to marvel at the bloodied face of the prince.

“I must commend you for your courage,” Raka smiled at the prince. “You really were brave in approaching me all alone. You thought you would be able to win my confidence by talking about your treasure. By the time I would have figured out that Rajbhar was a traitor, you three would have boxed me in and then killed me. But I saw through your act. You overplayed your hand. You gave too many details so easily. But that was not why I began to suspect you. It was your hubris that would not allow you to address yourself as the prince. You had to address yourself by name in your sob story. I have met many people who are upset with you or with your father but none among them had got the courage to address you or your father by name. Even in the safety of their houses, they would refer to you as the prince and to your father as the king. Heck! Even the bandits don't use your name to address you. That's how we all are taught to behave. You want me to believe that an ex-employee of yours, who got kicked out just two days back, got the courage to call you by your name. You must have thought of me as a fool. That's severely underestimating my intelligence. Now your men are dead and you find yourself tied to a tree. I will leave you here to reflect on how foolish your plan was. By the time I finish negotiating with your men, I believe you would come to the sad realization that you are no match to me. Adieu!”

Prince Durjoy had to wait for about six hours before a rescue party found him. The leader of the bandits successfully negotiated the release of all his men and also collected a royal ransom of one lakh in gold coins. The comprehensive manner of the victory of the bandits and the ultimate humiliation of prince Durjoy made the saga very enjoyable to the peasants and to the farmers. There were ballads written about the feat. The story of Raka's victory over the evil prince was embellished by the storytellers and some of the versions became very popular. Prince Durjoy proved to be a good sport about it. He loved to hear the various versions of the story of his humiliation. His personal favorite was the one in which Raka merged with his horse to become a demon who then trampled the prince under its hooves. He never let go of the dream of capturing Raka though. He pursued the bandits across the lands and the forests but the bandits always managed to stay ahead of his forces. He used to believe that he was a better fighter than the elite soldiers but after the thrashing he received at Raka's hands, his illusion was destroyed forever. He kept his guards around him whenever he stepped out in public. It made his love life a lot less dramatic and more prosaic but it kept him safe.

As for the leader of the bandits, his magnificent victory over the prince made him a darling of the masses. Many bandits, who were not happy with a young man leading them, became his lifelong devotees. They swore to follow their leader to hell and beyond. Raka had been left scarred at the betrayal of one of his men some time back but he was a romantic at heart and soon he began to trust his men again. His zest for life would not allow him to ruminate in a corner. He wanted to ride the winds and fight the demons. After all, he was living the life of his dream.