Sathi could not contain her happiness. She strolled through the halls of the palaces with a smile forever on her lips. Her heart felt so warm that she was afraid it would burst, sending her into delirious laughter. Yes, that probably was her fate: to go completely mad in this crazy love. She didn't care about anything anymore other than seeing him again. Well, that, and shouting out her love at the top of her lungs. But first she must see him!

She went deep into the forest where no one would find her and closed her eyes. I need to talk to you, she thought. Please, please let me see you again.

"Why did you call me?"

It worked! Sathi opened her eyes. Lost in her own joy, she didn't notice that he wasn't smiling. "I knew you'd come," she laughed. "I knew it!"

"Why… did you call me?"

"I-I-" She gulped, realizing that she hadn't really figured out this part yet. "I wanted to talk to you myself."

"About?"

Well, he was making this exceedingly difficult. She sighed. "Can't you guess?"

"I don't want to."

"Humor me," Sathi replied. He, however, wasn't in an obliging mood. "Fine!" She snapped finally. "I love you. I've loved you since the moment I've met you, and I can't help but feel that we are connected somehow. I don't know why. I love you and I've been wanting to tell the whole world for some time now, but I had to tell you first, before I told anyone else-my mother or my father-"

"Are you done?"

Sathi stopped, taken aback. "I-"

"Stop fooling yourself, Sathi. You don't know who I am, and it's clear you don't even know who you are. You are the Lord of Mankind, King Daksh's daughter. So tell me, Daksh's daughter, how do you think your father will react if he finds out that you've been fooling yourself into thinking you love me, his sworn enemy?"

"You're not sworn enemies!" Sathi cried. "H-He invited you to his Great Council. You'll see that he holds no ill will against you. Things are about to change."

"Nothing will change."

"How would you know? What is this about, Mahadev?" Sathi demanded. "Why do I get the feeling that you are no more concerned about how my father will react than you are about your own hatred for him? Why can't you tell me simply that you also hate me for the same reasons?"

"Go home, Sathi," Shiva said simply, disappearing before her eyes. "Go home."

Sathi had never felt so hurt in her life as she stared into the empty forest before her. She didn't know how long she stood there, alone and alienated in a forest that had been her safe haven all these years. It was nearly nightfall when she finally found the strength to carry herself back to the palace. She collapsed on her bed, unable to move. Somewhere far away, the sun set, throwing her room into darkness and once again it rose, bringing no change in her. Her eyes had run dry over the hours and now stared lifelessly into the distance.

It was Madanike who found her the next morning, lying on her bed silently. She didn't have to ask to know what happened. She took her in her arms and held her silently.