The hall trembled.
Not from thunder.
Not from storms.
But from the sound of Banesh quietly… laughing.
A soft, breathy laugh —
so gentle
so heartbreakingly polite
that every god in the court froze.
Banesh slid Hemketu's body carefully from his shoulder and held him in both arms, as if afraid to hurt him any further.
His voice was a whisper:
Banesh (soft, trembling with grief)
"So… this is the reason?"
He looked up, smiling.
A beautiful, peaceful smile.
The kind Banesh used to wear when blessing newborn rivers.
But his eyes
were empty.
Banesh
"He was dangerous.
Uncontrollable.
A disgrace.
So you—"
He touched Hemketu's cold cheek, thumb trembling.
"—you tore him apart?"
The whole hall went silent.
---
Banesh leaned down, pressing his forehead against Hemketu's hair.
When he spoke again, his voice was almost childlike:
Banesh (broken, quiet)
"Do you know…
he hated fighting?
My Hemketu.
He never killed unless you cornered him.
He never attacked mortals unless they trespassed on sacred land.
He followed your rules more than I did."
He looked up again — smile still soft, but widening unnaturally.
Banesh (a gentle, horrifying tone)
"And you call him a monster?"
Agnihrid stepped back.
Amod's blood dripped from Banesh's robe onto the marble floor, each drop ringing like a bell.
---
The Calm Before the Catastrophe
Banesh rose slowly, lifting Hemketu's body with both arms —
as if carrying a sleeping child.
He walked to the center of the hall.
His steps made no sound.
The rivers outside stilled.
The winds stopped breathing.
The mangroves bowed toward the palace.
Banesh's voice finally changed.
No longer gentle.
No longer polite.
Banesh (soft but slicing, like a blade dipped in milk)
"So tell me."
He turned to the council.
His smile dropped.
Tears spilled silently down his face.
Banesh
"Which one of you decided this?"
Jalodbhav opened his mouth, sweating.
"We— we all—"
Banesh
"Which one,"
he repeated,
"raised their hand first?"
Silence.
The gods looked at each other, terrified, unwilling to be first to speak.
---
Banesh (voice hollow, echoing like an underwater temple)
"Ah.
So all of you.
Together."
He looked around the court — at every face that lied to him, used him, betrayed him, stole his husband's life.
A soft sound escaped Banesh's lips.
Something between a sob…
and a laugh.
Banesh (whisper)
"You tricked me."
His entire body shook.
"You sent me away.
You kept me busy.
You didn't want me to see."
His voice rose — finally trembling with raw anguish:
Banesh
"You didn't want him to run to me.
You didn't want me to save him.
You didn't want me to protect him."
A crack split across the marble floor.
The court jolted.
Banesh looked down at Hemketu's face, brushing tangled hair away from his closed eyes.
Banesh (voice cracking)
"Hemketu…
you must have called me.
You must have screamed for me…"
His fingers curled around Hemketu's hand.
"…and I wasn't there."
A choking sound ripped from his throat.
Banesh (sobbing)
"I wasn't there."
---
The False Gods' Justification
Brahmaka stepped forward, impatient and disgusted:
"Banesh, enough.
He was a savage tiger deity.
A beast.
You should be thanking us—"
He never finished.
Banesh lifted his head.
The smile was gone.
The grief was gone.
There was only emptiness, as vast as the deepest river trench.
Banesh (calm. deadly.)
"Thank you?"
The lights in the hall flickered.
The moon dimmed.
The rivers outside reversed their flow.
Banesh kissed Hemketu's forehead tenderly,
like a final farewell.
Then he looked straight at the council.
---
Banesh's First Words of Wrath
Banesh (voice soft, but shaking the entire sky)
"Then listen carefully."
He set Hemketu gently on the golden floor.
Placed his hands on his husband's chest.
Smoothed his hair back.
And then stood.
His robe bled darkness.
His shadow leaked into every corner of the court.
The air thickened until gods could barely breathe.
Banesh
"If Hemketu was a beast…"
He raised his head.
And smiled.
Not kindly.
Not mournfully.
But beautifully.
Horribly.
Like a river swallowing a city.
Banesh
"…then what does that make you?"
The palace trembled.
Banesh
"You murdered my husband."
The skies cracked.
Banesh
"You lied to me."
The oceans roared.
Banesh
"You broke the one rule I had."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
Banesh
"I will show you what a true monster looks like."
---