There was no way to tell how much time had passed in the darkness. One moment dragged on infinitely, unendingly, mind-numbingly long. Khalid began to wonder how long he could reasonably be expected to live down here before his Goddess took mercy on him and ended his pain. He cursed himself for wishing for immortality. Such a cruel fate, to live forever. 

He relived so many moments over and over. The what-ifs. The moment of killing his father. Of pressing the thought into his mind that he should plunge the knife into his groin. Had Khalid hesitated, had he waited to kill the old man, he could have used him to free himself. 

Or better yet, had he forced his father to look him in the eye as soon as he got home, Asim would still be alive. Had Khalid just been alert, just stood up to his tormentor, what a different life he would be living right now. 

Asim had been so close to accepting immortality. Khalid was utterly convinced that he would have chosen it by the end of that fateful day. That their lives would be perfect now, had his family not found them. 

There were moments where Khalid relived the murders of his nieces and nephews. He felt a pang of regret. They were just children after all. Innocent children, who had not yet had the chance to grow into the ignorant bastards their fathers had been. Their deaths had been a means to an end, but it had all been for nothing. Perhaps that was why his goddess now punished him. Perhaps that was why he rotted away hopelessly in his eternal cell. 

“Please Aset.” Khalid begged. “Please, my Goddess! I will make it up to you! I will save a million children! Please let me out of here!”

His prayers were never answered. 

So, Khalid sobbed on the floor of his limestone tomb. He kicked at the walls until his ankles broke. He rested as his body healed. Then he attacked the walls again until he had shattered every bone in his legs up to his hips. 

At one point, he gathered every possible grain of sand he could, going solely by touch, and piled it all into a mound in the corner. He stepped on the mound, fingers just brushing the ceiling, but he was no closer to escape, despite his best efforts.  

He raged and screamed and dashed his head violently against the bricks until he passed out in a pool of his own blood. For a time, he took himself out of his own misery by doing this repeatedly. He would smash his head into the wall violently enough to kill any mortal, and get some rest from his dark thoughts while his body healed again and again from death. 

Upon waking from one of these deaths, he felt a rush of grief. Asim had died again. Tears fell from Khalid’s eyes as he cursed Aset for keeping them apart. He could not protect Asim while trapped down here. He was unsure of how much time had passed. The deadline of Asim choosing immortality ticked ever nearer, and Khalid was no closer to reaching him than he had been in the last however many years. 

He killed himself twice more before he woke to the joyous feeling of Asim being born again. Despite his agony, Khalid smiled as he sensed Asim’s presence thousands of miles away in India. Somehow, he knew it was India this time. He recalled that he and Asim had spoken about traveling there, about starting over in the beautiful country. 

Khalid passed the time fantasizing about their lives together there. They would own a home. Nothing too elegant, so as not to attract attention. But something simple. A farm, like their beloved farm in Luxor. They would live peacefully, happily, occasionally exploring the lush jungles of India. Asim had spoken of wanting to see a tiger. There was nothing in the world that Khalid wanted to give him more than the chance to do just that. 

Khalid began to accept his fate. He knew he had done many things wrong. That he deserved to be where he was. He had misused his gift. He understood now. 

“I accept your punishment, Goddess. I deserve this.” 

Knowing that Asim was getting to live in India, hopefully having a wonderful and fulfilling life, was enough to bring Khalid a sort of peace. 

He lay flat on the floor of his prison, his eyes closed, letting his mind create a new life for he and Asim.

This thought carried him, gave him peace, until one fateful day when he heard something. 

There was a noise, like metal on rock. 

Khalid sat bolt upright. It had been so long since he had heard anything but the sounds of his own body down here. He thought that he must be going mad, but he heard it again. 

And again. 

And again. 

He could feel a light dusting of sand falling from the ceiling. 

Someone was digging. 

His heart leapt with excitement. 

Was this real?

He paced the room as the digging continued, each chip at the limestone like music to his ears. The sand was falling harder now, coming in through cracks opening up in the limestone. 

The sound would stop for a time, presumably so that the digger, or diggers could rest. Then it would resume. He could hear voices now. At least two men, talking to one another. 

Then one day, a chunk of limestone came crashing to the floor, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Khalid saw sunlight. 

He squinted up into the blinding light, and soon saw a pair of eyes looking curiously down at him. A wave of memories from this man swept over Khalid, and he discovered that the year was 1684. He had been trapped for 173 years. 

He could sense the confusion and fear from the man whose eyes he had looked into. He and his partner had been expecting a normal tomb, perhaps with some riches left behind to help the dead in the afterlife. They had certainly not expected to happen upon a living man. 

“What is it? What do you see?” Asked the companion, and he too looked into the tomb and directly into Khalid’s eyes. 

Khalid had them both now. He placed the pebbles into the ponds of their minds, and they went back to digging at a rate they had never done before. Within the next half hour, they had loosened enough of the stone that they were able to reach down and pull Khalid free. He collapsed on the sand, in the hot sun, and began to weep.

He was free. 

Finally, after 173 years of being trapped in a dark hole, Khalid was free. He took a moment to just soak in the sunshine. How he had missed it desperately after all these years. His body felt immediately stronger.

“Thank you, Goddess. Thank you, Aset.” He repeated, breathing deeply the fresh air that he so loved. 

He knew she must have sent the men. His tomb had been well covered in sand to keep it hidden. A storm had shifted the sand, and these men had stumbled upon it, certain that it held untold treasure. They were many miles outside of Aswan. He should have known. It was likely that Adel had been very near this spot at one point, but had not been able to find him. 

After taking a moment to breathe in the light of day, Khalid stood and turned toward the two men, who looked at him in amazement. 

“Thank you.” Khalid said. “You have given me an opportunity, a new life, and I shall not forget what you have done for me.”

“There is so much blood.” Said Hamza, the first man with whom Khalid had made eye contact. He pointed to Khalid’s body, and Khalid looked down at his tunic. Sure enough, it was coated in blood from the many times he had endeavored to end his own life, as well as following his beheading at his brothers’ hands. 

There was one particular line of blood down his front that stood out, and Khalid traced it with his finger. It was Asim’s blood, leaving a mark over Khalid’s heart after he had been cut open by Khalid’s father. 

Khalid had one goal in mind now. He had to make it to Asim. No matter what. But first, he needed to get cleaned up. It had been far too long since he had been able to bathe, and he was dying to cleanse himself. 

He directed the men to take him to the nearest body of water. He was soon riding happily in the back of their cart, lying down, soaking in the sunshine and daylight, a grin on his face. It was pure bliss in that moment. 

They reached an oasis in the desert, a stunning blue watering hole. Khalid jumped out of the cart, stripped off his tunic and pants, and ran to the water as fast as his legs would carry him. He dove in, feeling the exquisite rush of liquid around him, cleansing and soothing him. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. The sensation of pure water after 173 years in a limestone prison was beyond magnificent. 

He swam several laps around the water as the men watched from the cart. Then, he set about scrubbing off the years of caked on blood from his hair to his toes. Interestingly enough, his hair had not grown since he had been underground. It remained the exact length it had been when he had last seen Asim. 

Khalid soaked in the water for what felt like hours, before finally getting out and going back to the cart. He pulled on the crusted pants and tunic. 

“I need clothing.” He said. He knew the men did not have extra to spare, so he pushed them to take him into the city, where he found some in the marketplace. In an attempt to be good for his Goddess, he only took from people that he deemed cruel or unworthy. Soon enough, he was wearing a fresh new tunic, and had some gold and food and other items that he needed for his journey. Though he did not need to eat, he had certainly missed the action of doing so, and the first fruit he popped into his mouth washed over his tongue in an exquisite rush of flavor. 

Khalid felt so thankful for the men who had rescued him that he set them free with pockets full of gold that he had taken from a cruel thief that he knew for a fact had murdered an innocent man for the treasure. He also took the thief’s horse and cart, and slowly but surely made his way out to the ocean for his journey to India. He traded cart and horse for passage on a ship. He also kept the tunic that held a mixture of his blood and Asim’s wrapped tightly with him for the journey. 

*****

The voyage to India was incredible. Khalid enjoyed every moment of it, though he was antsy to get there and find Asim. He had an idea of the village where he had been born. It took months of traveling, and quite a bit of searching on land, but one day, Khalid came across the village, several miles south of Mumbai, and he knew it was the right place. 

What’s more, he could feel that Asim was there, somewhere. Alive, and happy. He sensed it. 

Khalid’s feet carried him throughout the village, until he came upon a beautiful temple. There was a man standing in front of the temple, a gorgeous man with stunning brown eyes, turquoise robes, dark curly hair that flew all over in the wind, and a dreamy smile. He was tending to the plants in front of the temple. 

Khalid only had to look at him, and he knew. In his heart, he knew that it was his precious Asim.

He walked up to the man, looking him in the eye. He did not receive a flash of thoughts and memories as he did with everyone else. He did, however, feel a warm glow in his chest as he saw the soul of his beloved looking back at him through those eyes. 

“Hello.” Said the man. His voice was soft and beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful. Khalid had never seen a more stunning person in his whole life, apart from his Asim. “What brings you to our temple?” 

“I’ve- I’ve been…” Khalid trailed off, feeling lost for words. 

“Are you hungry, my friend? Please, come in. There is plenty of food to go around. Our goddess Durga is most gracious in her provisions.”

“Yes.” Khalid nodded. “Yes, I would like that very much.”

The man brought him inside, and Khalid ate his first meal with this newest version of his dear Asim. His name was Charun. He lived his life dedicated to the temple. His family had died when he was very young from an illness that had not managed to claim him. He honored their memory every day. He spoke of his duty to the village that had raised him. The good he strove to do for those around him in Durga’s name. 

Khalid could tell that he was just as pure as Asim had been. Just as beautiful. A bit older perhaps, but incredibly youthful in spirit. Khalid was smitten all over again. 

For four blissful years, Khalid remained at the temple with Charun. They fell in love all over again. Charun was nervous, unsure of his feelings for this man, but it was clear that he loved Khalid deeply. In the third year, his eyes began to have that turquoise glow. The sign that he was ready to choose eternity with Khalid. 

One day, they lay in bed together, a chair wedged in the door to the room so that no one would happen upon them by accident. Charun took Khalid’s hand in his and kissed it. Khalid smiled, kissing Charun on the lips. When they broke apart, Charun blushed. 

“It is strange.” Charun said. “Before I met you, I had never felt this strongly for another person. It is as though I was waiting for you to show up that day, four years ago. Before then, my only real devotion was toward goddess Durga. But now, I cannot picture my life without you.”

“I feel the same.” Khalid said, noting the vibrance of the turquoise glow in Charun’s eyes today. “Charun, what if we could be together for eternity? You and I? What would you say to that?” 

Charun grinned, “I think I would like that very much. I think about you, and I hope to see you again in the next life, and the next. It feels as though we are bound to one another, but in a way I cannot describe. As though goddess Durga herself placed us together.”

Khalid smiled. Not Durga, but a goddess, certainly. Charun wanted to be with him. Wanted to say yes to eternity with him. This was the chance to have everything he had been denied before. 

“I need you to do something for me today, if you would.” Said Charun.

“Anything.” Said Khalid.

“I need you to pick up a few supplies in town. We are running low.”

Khalid had not been expecting that answer, but he was happy to do it. He gave Charun a parting kiss, and headed out to get the necessary supplies. 

When he returned, the temple had been sacked by the Muslims, Charun had been run through with a sword for attempting to protect it, and Khalid’s nightmare began all over again as he watched his lover die once more. 

Chapter 33 – This Is How a Heart Breaks