[Warning: The chapter contains scenes that might be triggering and traumatizing for some.]
"She did, Master." Said the two servants. Maya felt betrayed, even though everyone hated Aisha, they still had a soft side for her. There were many times Maya had snuck food like that for Aisha and even though there were many eyes, no one ever complained to their Master.
"Where is the food? Maya?" Dhananjay asked again.
"Master, I ate it." She lied. Her eyes were on the ground and her hand, on her heart, a position showing that 'all I say is true and fair, from the depth of my heart'.
Therefore, even though Maya was lying, it was still from the depth of her heart and that lie had no evil intentions while doing so, thus her lie went undetected and hence she was true to that gesture.
"You ate it, in the dungeon?" Dhananjay was annoyed to know that his servant had more loyalty towards Aisha than him.
"Yes, my lord." Dhanajay left his potion and pulled Maya's hair to make her face him. Maya was scared and her face had turned blue from fear, her back was soaked in sweat and her whole body shivered. "How dare you lie to me? You gave it to Aisha, didn't you?"
"No, my lord" Maya continued lying. She knew that Dhananjay would harass Aisha more if he found out that she had eaten the food without his permission.
" I hate lies, Maya. " He pulled her hair down making her head get pulled further up facing the ceiling. Maya felt a slite amount of sprain in her neck, going down to her spine.
Dhananjay pulled the hair in the direction of the stairs and then started dragging Maya down the stairs. Maya screamed in pain as her body parts scratched and banged on the steps. "You should have known by now, Maya that I hate liars. Now pay for your sins." Maya held her master's arm in an attempt to stop him but he was way stronger than her, and in her situation, she couldn't even move much.
The special dungeon, created by Dhanajay, 33 years ago for his wife to turn her into the blood slave, had 356 stairs down the crust of the earth. After every ten to twenty stairs, Maya broke a bone or two, and many times her hair got pulled off her scalp, making her head bang on the stairs. Dhanajay held her hair again when that happened and dragged her. By the time they had completed a hundred stairs, the whole mansion was filled with Maya's cries and every person living in it knew that someone was getting punished for a silly crime again.
"Master please, stop!!" What Maya was concerned about was Aisha. If she found out that Maya is facing death because of her. Maya's tender little Miss might blame herself, for her whole life.
Finally, after forty minutes they landed on the ground and Dhanajay let go of Maya's hair. Maya hissed in pain. After being dragged down three hundred and fifty-six stairs, Maya had broken bones and ribs, most of her hair was pulled out of her scalp and she had blood all over her body. Maya could hardly move any of her body parts when she was finally released from her master's clutches. She could hardly see anything and was losing consciousness but didn't lose hope for she knew she had to console her Miss first.
By now, Maya's screams had reached Aisha's ears. She was immediately able to recognize who was being beaten.
"Maya, what's wrong? Who— who?" Aisha tried to look at the iron rails and waited for a few minutes for her answer but when no reply came, Aisha started to try climbing the walls of the steep dungeon to find out if Maya was okay.
Aisha tried hard to pull herself by entering her fingers into the holes in the wall. But after every four to five steps, her nails shattered, making her fall and by now almost all her fingers and toes were shedding blood.
"Oh my! Look at this. My baby girl is trying to escape. For whom?" Aisha looked up only to find her bastard father standing there smiling and laughing like a psychopathic person.
"Maya?" He asked and then pulled Maya by the few hairs that had left and then showed Aisha her state.
"What on earth have you done to her?" Aisha screamed in anger after seeing how Maya could bearly stand and was covered in blood. Even her face was not visible to Aisha. It was completely disfigured.
"I merely punished her for lying to me." He threw her back on the ground and raised his hand towards the two servants, who placed the keys of the cell in his hand. "She lied to me." Dhananjay opened the cell.