My heart was hammering. And it beat even faster when we both saw 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. We had nothing to put inside, and suddenly, I remembered my lady’s luck.
I drew my dagger out. 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, but I tried to figure out how to unlock it. Because of the blade’s thinness, it slipped in with some effort, and I tried to unlock it.
Suddenly, the footsteps of soldiers grabbed my attention, and we both shared a fearful glance.
I quickly pulled the blade out, and we 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.
Once he walked away, I took a deep breath, and we both started over.
This time, it slid inside quickly, and I turned the blade to unlock it. Placing the dagger back in its place, I moved away for him to open the door.
We both stepped inside, taking the lock with us.
I knew she was lucky to have me. A smile spread across my face unexpectedly. But it disappeared as soon as I noticed 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, meaning someone had been before us.
“We need to find stones,” I mumbled to Eklavya.
While he looked around, I gathered some dry grass. We both attempted to ignite it.
My fingers turned cold, aware of how much was at risk. I was sweating.
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 stacked with scrolls, mortar, and other items.
There was a stone table in the middle, and I stepped closer to it.
“Begin examining the scrolls and documents,” I instructed him.
As I walked into the warehouse, there were swords, spears, bows, arrows, and many other weapons. However, my feet suddenly felt a different surface when I walked further.
My brows drew together.
I stepped back into this place; it felt hollow.
The tension mounted in my mind. I bit my lip and called out slowly,“Eklavya,”
He approached me, and I signalled for him to step onto this small surface.
He appeared confused, too.“There is something,” he said.
We both knelt, rubbing the sand off until our fingers found a three-foot-wide, iron door to the basement.
“Bastards,” I muttered, trying to act normal.
