When Lokya woke up, it was past midnight. He was at the back of a horsecart, dumped over the luggage. Beside him, the priest was sleeping on his seat. A lantern hung in the front of the cart, and its dim light gave the priest a demonish appearance.
Lokya realized that he had been abducted.
"Stop the cart!" Lokya screamed. "Help, I want to go back."
The priest woke up with a start. He looked at Lokya, and slapped him hard on his head.
"Shut up," he shouted. "Shut up now, not a word!"
"Where are you taking me?" asked Lokya, hitting back. "Take me back to my home."
"You fool," chuckled the priest. "Your parents have sold you to me. I am your master now, and you are my slave."
"Why did they sell me?" Lokya started crying.
"Because they did not want you." The priest was enjoying this. "They sold you for just one silver karshika."
"Still I want to go back home," Lokya sobbed. "I don't want to go with you."
"We are in the middle of a forest," the priest said. "Look outside, it is pitch dark, and there is nobody around for help. If you make too much noise, I will throw you out. I need to sleep for a few hours before we get down and catch the boat -- its a long journey to Vanpore."
Lokya realized that he was alone and helpless. He sobbed silently, closed his eyes, and pretended to be asleep while he tried to figure what he should do now.
From the corner of his eyes, he watched as the priest tossed and turned for a short while. Then, as if remembering something, the priest quietly took out a pouch hidden in the ceiling of the cart, counted the coins inside, and put it back.
The cart moved on in the darkness, and Lokya soon fell asleep. He was asleep for a short while before the horses neighed loudly and the cart came to a sudden halt. The road ahead was blocked with boulders. The cart owner, sensing trouble, ran away leaving the cart.
Suddenly, a number of Lasati soldiers appeared from hiding. They asked the priest and Lokya to come out.
"Where are you going?" a Jarodha tribal accompanying the soldiers asked the priest.
"To the next town," said the priest. "I am a poor priest looking for work."
The priest couldn't tell them that he was fleeing to Jivavarta. He held Lokya's neck, instructing him against speaking the truth. Lokya did not say anything.
"How much gold and money do you have?" the tribal came to the point.
"I don't have anything," said the priest. "As I said, I am a poor lowly priest. Have pity on us, we have not eaten anything for days."
"Liar!" the tribal fumed. "These priests collect offerings from rich highborns. He must be loaded. Search the cart."
The soldiers searched the priest and Lokya. The priest had a few copper Karshikas, Lokya had nothing. They then threw out the luggage from the cart, and rummaged through it. They found nothing of value.
"Leave me for the sake of my motherless son," pleaded the priest, pointing at Lokya. "I am all he has!"
"I ask one last time, priest," said the tribal. "Where is the gold?"
The priest started crying and pleading with the tribal, who started kicking him.
Finding an opportunity in this commotion, Lokya ran off the road and into the forest as fast as he could. It was dark, but he somehow managed to go a distance, and hid behind a bush. The soldiers who came after him looked around for a short while, but then decided that it was a waste of time and returned.
Hidden in the dark, Lokya could hear the priest's screams as he was mercilessly beaten. This lasted for some time, and then the screams stopped, the soldiers left, and everything was silent. Lokya waited for some more time, and then went back.
Lasatis had taken away the horses, but the cart was still standing there. Lokya climbed into the cart and took out the lantern. In the light, he could see the priest's body lying by the roadside. He then extracted the pouch of coins hidden in the cart's ceiling. Lokya learned one important lesson at that moment, that wealth doesn't matter when you are dead.
Lokya's first instinct was to head back home, but as he realized that his own people had sold him for a silver karshika to an abusive stranger, it became clear to him that he needed to break free. He decided to go to Vanpore, as the priest had planned. One of the saddest feelings is when you realize that you are leaving a place where no one will miss you, and going to a place where no one is waiting for you -- but Lokya had to move on.
It was almost dawn. He picked up some food and clothing from the dead priest's things, and started on his way to his new life.
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