“Do you really believe it?” asked his wife as the candles burning in the dim room flickered in the wind.

  He paused for a minute and said, “Yes, I do but I wonder why can’t you do the same after all you endured so much pain so that you can give birth to him, you’re his mother, and you are supposed to help him, protect him and love him even when the world is against him.”

  “But what if he turned out to be evil?” she asked, her hands were shivering while holding the baby, “What if he is what people say?”

  “Then we will stop him”, he said, “but you should know that many people think bad things about what they don’t understand.”

  “But what if it is his fate?” she said

  He sighed, “Fate…we don’t know what his fate is, do you?”

  She remained silent and lowered her head. He lifted her head by her chin.

  “Fate is real, yes, it is, but no one knows what our fate is going to be. A person should only do what he thinks is right at the moment, and at this moment, I know that my son has done nothing wrong.

  “So, I will not kill my son, nor am I going to let someone else kill my son; I will protect him with my life, as you should. You have the same responsibility as his mother.”

  “I will protect him and love him with all my heart”, she said with a smile as tears rolled from her eyes. “What do you think about leaving this place?”

  “This is our home”, he stood up, “why would we leave this place?”

  “Don’t act like you don’t know anything,” she said, “if we stay, these people will try to kill him someday.”

  “Why would they do that?” he said, “I know that they think he is a cursed child, but think about it, who would be so evil that he would kill a baby?”

  “Are you being serious?” she said, “Just a moment ago you said these people are fools to think such things about our child, don’t you know fools can do anything.”

  “But these are our people”, he said, “we are living with them for generations, I don’t think they’ll dare do such a thing to our child.”

  “I know”, she said, “but I can’t take any risk… If you want our child to live, then we will leave this place tomorrow.”

  “Don’t be reckless”, he said while moving around the room in impatience, “let me think, maybe we will find some other way of doing this.”

  “No!” she said, “you made me promise that I will let our child live, then let me make decisions to keep him alive”

  “Ok”, he said, “I’ll do whatever makes our child and you safe. We will leave tomorrow, be ready, we will get out of this place when everyone is sleeping, early in the morning, that will be the perfect time.”

  All the lords were standing in front of Lord Yama.

  “Why are you all silent?” asked the lord Yama, “You all told me that you have news about Ivaan, so tell me what you found about him.”

  Lord of Avici stepped forward.

  “Tell me what you have found?” asked Lord Yama

  “Lord Yama, we have found where Ivaan is right now on earth, but…” The lord stopped

  “If you found where he is, then bring him here; there’s no need for but,” said Lord Yama.

  “But there is a problem sire,” said the lord with a shivering voice, “When Ivaan escaped from hell, he didn’t escape; his time in hell was over, doesn’t matter if he got punished or not, that is our fault.

  “So, when he got out of hell through the portal, he got reincarnated in another family on Earth as it was his time to live another life. That’s why we didn’t understand what would be the right thing to do with him; he’s a baby right now in her mother’s lap.”

  “That is definitely a big problem, and I’m glad that you put this before me first,” said Lord Yama as he looked at all members of his court. He took a deep breath, “Sometimes we have to make some decisions which feel wrong at first, but they are right for everyone.”

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  “Ivaan has been reborn, and according to the rules of hell, if a soul takes another body to live another life, we can’t bring that soul back to hell until the end of his new life comes. So, we have to leave Ivaan where he is to live another life,” all the members of the court started murmuring.

  Lord Yama said louder, “And the debt for the things he did in hell will be paid by him when he returns to hell after completing his new life.”

  “Sire, would that be safe?” asked the lord of Kalasutra while stepping forward and glancing at the other lords.

  “he’s just a baby, he’ll cause no harm to anyone”, said Lord Yama

  “But still, Lord Yama”, said the lord, “one day that baby will grow into a man, what if he started destroying everything?”

  “He would need a reason for doing that”, said lord Yama “In any case, no one will intervene in whatever is happening on earth.”

  “But why, sire?” asked the lord

  “Because I said so”, Lord Yama shouted, and he tried to calm down, “there are some things in this world which we can’t intervene, it doesn’t matter how bad they sound. Our work only involves hell, and beyond that, whatever comes, it isn’t a matter of our concern.”

  “But we punish people who have done wrong”, said the lord of Avici

  “Only when they come to hell”

  “So, you're telling us to do nothing no matter what he does on earth.”

  “I know it may sound ignorant, but we can’t interfere with the events of Earth.” Said lord Yama while glancing at everyone, “Capturing lord Of Krimisha is important to us because he escaped hell, whereas Ivaan had to stay in hell for a period of time as per my sentence, so now he has reincarnated again, and we will not interfere in any of his life events”

  “But what about the knowledge he has about magic?” said the lord, “he can do a lot of evil things from it.”

  “I agree”, said lord Yama, “but he won’t remember anything about it, nor what he has done in hell, because it was in his previous life. So, we don’t need to worry about that. Your only work now is to find where the Lord of Krimisha is and bring him back to hell so that I can deal with him.”

  “Lord, may I ask a question?” asked a man beside the Lord of Krimisha as he was quietly standing near the bank of the river.

  “What is it, Idaa?” asked the lord.

  “Will the other lords of hell be looking for you on earth?” Idaa asked with hesitation.

  “Yes, they are”, said the lord with a smile

  “Wouldn’t it be wise if you hid in a place which is covered so that they can’t spot you?” he said while lowering his head.

  The lord turned around, gazing at him, “You are a human, I can’t expect more than you are”, he said with a smirk, “it doesn’t matter whether they spot me or not. The place where we are standing is Kashi, which comes under the direct protection of Lord Shiva, the only place where Yamadutas can’t enter, and the lords of hell will feel too small to come by themselves; we’ll be safe here.”

  “That is really brilliant, lord,”

  For the first time in my life, I’m getting respected, followed and feared. In hell, I was just obeying the orders; I was myself a follower, and they never respected me, but here on earth, everyone respects, follows and fears me as if I am their God.

  “Speaking of hell”, said the lord of Krimisha as the water splashed across the bank of the river, “what did you find out about Ivaan? You were searching for him right on my command, and I hope that you will not say otherwise.”

  “Yes, sire, you’re totally correct” he said, “you assigned me for that task, which was a great honor…”

  “Enough of it”, lord interrupted, “tell me what you found about him.”

  “It’s clear to us that Ivaan has escaped hell,” said Idaa, “and everyone is searching for him to bring him back to hell.”

  “That’s good, they will be distracted from me while searching for him”, said the lord with a smile

  “Yes indeed, sire”, he nodded.

  “And what else did you find out about him?” asked the lord, “Don’t tell me that this is the only information you have which was already known to us, that will be disappointing for me, you, and for both of us, so please do us a favor.”

  “Sire, the truth is…” he said with hesitation, “I’ve gathered all of this information from various sources, and the information which I found common in all the sources is the one I told you about. Everything else seems manipulated or untrustworthy.”

  “Well, it is good of you to think this way, which shows that you care that I do get the right information” said the lord, and Idaa bowed, “but under current circumstances, I need to know all the information that you are receiving, even those which you think are untrustworthy.”

  “But sire, will it be right to trust the rumors and gossip?”

  “This question clearly shows your wisdom in the matter”, said the lord, “it is true that we shouldn’t pay attention to the rumors and gossip, but right now we are trying to find him, and for that we need to consider every possible scenario. Am I right?”

  “Indeed, sire” he agreed, “you know more than I do.”

  “So, tell me, what else did you find out about him?”

  “Some say that he possessed another body and died, some say he’s still wandering on earth as a soul”, he said, “and some say he has been reborn as a baby, which was the previous information given to you.”

  “Only the last one makes sense considering the previous and current sources”, said the lord

  “I’m sorry, lord”, said Idaa, “but you told us you didn’t punish Ivaan in hell because of the deal you made with him then. If he didn’t get punished in hell for his previous wrongdoings, then how can his soul be allowed to take rebirth?”

  “See, that’s the difference between humans and us”, said the lord, “hell is not all about the punishment, it's also about the time which has been decided for your soul to suffer in hell. So it is possible that Ivaan has taken rebirth, whether he is punished in hell or not, it doesn’t matter.”

  “If that is the case…” he said, “what are we supposed to do next, sire.”

  “One thing I know is that the souls which have done a lot of evil, as Ivaan did, are reborn with some marks or abnormality in their body,” said the lord, “but it is also possible that he could have possessed a body of some other person.”