Anahilapataka
By the time Bhima returned to Anahilapataka, the sun had already begun to disappear behind the western horizon, leaving the sky above the city covered in the dull orange light of evening. The gates were still busy despite the late hour, with merchants bringing their last carts inside before the roads became too dark, soldiers changing shifts along the walls and servants carrying supplies toward the palace. Bhima rode through the gate beside Arnoraja, his small escort following behind them, and for the first time since leaving the city he felt the strange comfort of being somewhere that was supposed to be familiar. Yet even now, after everything that had happened near Dahod and the Mahi River, the city did not feel entirely the same to him.
