SCENE (17) – ALAM IS FOUND DEAD
Setting:
- The royal courtyard, early dawn.
(GANESH enters alone, unarmored, unaccompanied.)
(He carries a small brass vessel of water.)
(At a distance, unseen by him at first, SAFA watches.)
(Ganesh stops before the Shivalinga. He hesitates—just a breath.)
(Then, deliberately, he pours water over the stone.)
(No chant. No priest. Only action.)
A VOICE (PHULJANI, remembered, not present)
That is all power ever asks.
(Ganesh steps back from the Shivalinga.)
(Safa stiffens. She understands immediately.)
(At that moment, a MESSENGER rushes into the courtyard, breathless.)
MESSENGER
Your Majesty—
GANESH (without looking)
Speak.
MESSENGER
Nur Qutbi Alam is dead.
GANESH
When?
MESSENGER
At dawn.
GANESH
How?
MESSENGER
They found him near the pond at his khanah.
GANESH
Any struggle?
MESSENGER
None reported.
GANESH
Witnesses?
MESSENGER
No one heard anything.
No one saw anyone.
GANESH
That will be all.
(The Messenger bows and exits.)
(Ganesh remains still, facing the Shivalinga.
Safa steps forward now.)
SAFA
The Shivalinga does not stay dry for long. Lord Shiva dissolute waits.
GANESH
The kingdom does not pause.
SAFA
And saint required silence.
GANESH
Was anyone heard?
SAFA
No.
GANESH
Was anyone seen?
SAFA
Nothing that will speak.
(Ganesh looks again at the Shivalinga.)
GANESH
The path by the pond is very slippery.
SAFA
The pond reflects everything.
GANESH
And remembers nothing.
GANESH
Now governance resumes.
(They hold each other’s gaze. Nothing more is said.)
(Water still drips from the Shivalinga.)
(Lights fade.)
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