It took Aniket a lot of time to wake up. The thief was surprised. Even after five days of mopping floors, making meals and fixing cars, there was no movement at all from the room he slept in. It wasn't that Raeva didn't have permission to go in there. His spiritual enlightenment had yet to cure his incontinence. He wanted to meditate some more.
Curiosity killed the cat. It is not just a saying among thieves. It's an occupational hazard. On the sixth day, Raeva succumbed. Peek. Second peek. Distant peek. Close peek. Scramble. Panic. Scramble. After many, many rounds of this and still not succeeding crossing the threshold, it was Anita who gave in first. The time servant was too pathetic. Her Aniket was such a nice and beautiful child. What is there to be scared of?
"Come in."
Hearing that nice voice from the beauty whose face resembled dusk, Raeva finally took a deep breath and took a step in. In the dim room, his eyes first fell on the lady. Her skin was extremely dark, but instead of a silver sheen, there was a moist reddish glow. It was as if the sun had peeked inside the shadow to see her face. It was like a vignette from ancient times.
But Raeva had no time to be mesmerised. He was in death throes with just that one footstep inside the room. Before his bladder loses the fight, he must find the Hell King. A matter that caused extreme panic was that T.K was not in the small bed. He wasn't anywhere to be seen!
Seeing the servant panic again, Anita sighed again. Truly pathetic.
"Calm down and sit."
Her voice cut through Raeva's panic and he sat down immediately. He didn't think about anything. Anything made him feel like screaming. He looked around to distract himself while waiting for death. He knew the gig would be up the moment T.K comes.
But at least…at least, there is something worthwhile in this room to engage his mind on before dying bravely? His wandering eyes fell on the bundle in Anita's arms. He didn't notice before because of the direction and the shadows of the dimly lit room. This woman was breast feeding.
After three days of being a guest and servant, he had no idea there was a newborn in the house! He was so silent too…
Perhaps death was not as interesting as the newborn, Raeva stood up instantly and increased the brightness of the room to the see the child better. Anita didn't cover herself too tight. He saw the child's perfectly.
The small baby was wearing a tiny diaper that fit his genitals snugly. His entire body was wrinkled and amazingly tiny. Raeva had no experience, but he never knew there can be babies this small. Unlike other newborns though, this baby was not so pink. He was like the bright blue sky with pink elbows and knees with a tiny and cute pink neck and a matchlessly tender, beautiful face. He was sucking Anita's dark nipple with small, cute mouth with his eyes closed. A little lazy, sleepy, but strong and insistent. Raeva had never seen a baby or any creature on earth and in imagination that was so cute. He was awestruck, as though he lost his soul.
He has appraised so much art and so much beauty his entire life. Raeva felt as though reached new heights. For a thing to inspire with just the way it looks, for it to take away breath and the soul itself. For it to be just a baby. Who can imagine this?
Raeva looked at Anita a little self-conscious. He didn't understand himself what he was feeling.
"Dim the lights. He won't eat if he's awake."
For some reason, these words gave Raeva a dark foreboding. He immediately dimmed the lights and sat back in his position. He wanted to speak, but was afraid of this ominous feeling.
Anita generously gestured for him to speak, "Only light stimulates him. Talk softly, it's okay."
"Errm…my…My lady…why would…why won't…the baby eat when awake?"
"Would you eat if your mother breastfed you?"
This…was exactly that dark foreboding feeling.
"So you're saying…this…this…this little…this…"
"Yes, the baby is Aniket."
Truly. There is no perfect thing in the world.
Truly. It is evil to be so beautiful!
"So you're saying the baby came to prison and…and…became a model prisoner and all…"
Anita was proud to hear that her son was a model prisoner from the mouth of this man. These five days, she heard many tales of his exploits. He reformed many people with good words and sermons. A true timekeeper and a generous friend. She was convinced he didn't do drugs.
Her mood lifted, she decided to have a proper conversation with the escaped convict. He should learn about his new life sooner or later.
"This is not a baby. It's Aniket who had been folded by the pod based on the parameters of spacetime. He is running twenty years ahead of pod time. His age will be corrected by the pod until he is in the same relative time as the pod again."
There was too much information in the few sentences. But not the answer to Raeva's main concern. Can a baby beat someone to death.
"You mean he will become younger?"
"Timekeepers don't look at age as a number. They see it as a parameter that may affect reality. Pod is that reality and Aniket's present age creates chaos in it. The parameters need to be reset."
"I…I see…"
Anita raised her large eyes like twin canoes moving in the lotus lake. "Anything else?"
Anything else, she says…
"I see…so you are timekeepers." Now he understood. Folded space. This is that folded space! Of course, he heard that word before. He just didn't think they would actually fold the space!
"We didn't say it before?"
"You might have skipped that part."
"This pod is very old. I will ask Nate to bring a time servant manual from his friend. You can learn your status and your duties. I can summarise this much. You're an escaped convict who will be serving your sentence as a servant of this pod. The time tribunal will verify your servitude. Your sentence will last for life."
The thief expected something like this. But now that he knew these people are timekeepers, his chances of escape became more and more grim.
Not to mention, can he even escape from him?
"In case of escape, since Aniket brought you in, he will be responsible for your capture and punishment." Anita leaned back and on the chair and gently rocked the baby. She had a very sweet smile on her face as she said this, "He might have mellowed down in prison. He was once a very fearsome timekeeper. I will tell him to be harsh."
The tremors ran from head to toe on the poor thief for an entire minute. It was as if someone strapped him to the electric chair as a prank.
"My lady, would I ever run? I love it here!" he proclaimed loudly. He had long since understood Anita's temperament. She expected him to address her with the old fashioned address, she loved when he made up bullshit about the Hell King and she expected discipline. She was soft, but with a military core. She cannot be pandered to, but praising her son can get Raeva halfway there.
It would normally tear his soul to praise that fiend among fiends. However, it was not so difficult at present. "My lady, the Hell King…I mean, Sir T.K looks very splendid like this."
As expected, Anita proudly chimed, "He was a very beautiful baby."