Karthik K R

“What are you reading, Vibhu?” Meenu sat down beside her elder brother, deeply engrossed in the palm-leaf text he nimbly held in his hands. Without batting an eyelid, he replied, “This text talks about how the Himalayas were formed.” He paused, to look into her curious amber eyes. She loved that Vibhu explained things to her.

Amaira brought her fists close to her face. The morning sun was as radiant as Kabir. “This round’s definitely mine,” Kabir smiled, stepping forward, and wiping beads of sweat off his forehead. Her training gave her a fraction of a second more, to admire his beautiful dark brown eyes tracing her fists. When he looked into her eyes, when his warm skin was against hers, when his cedarwood scent teased her nose, it brought out something primordial inside of her.

5103 BCE: “Can you make the mark, eyes closed?” Eleven year old Sudarshan looked at his brother – twin, but nothing like him. Bowstring drawn, his grip on the bow tense, Bhadra’s eyes were fixed on the target he was practicing with. The target hung at least fifty paces away. Sudarshan had meant for it…