by Kevin Missal
“Not just join forces,” Aruna was calm even though Durukti was offended the way Kali explained the situation. “But to give you something powerful in return.”
“And what would that be?”
From under the shawl, he pulled out a scroll and whipped it open, over which a was a design that Durukti had already seen.
Her blood ran cold when she saw the inscription of the Eye of Brahma, divided into four parts, albeit more detailed. It had a lot of information compared to the one in the book that she had read.
“What is this?” Kali’s voice turned grave.
“The Eye of Brahma—no one knows how it came to be, there are tales that Lord Brahma handed it to us, but I do not believe it. We were researching and a long time back, the time when Lord Indra walked the land of Illavarti, he had hired a bunch of physicists at his disposal. He was a man of science, Lord Indra. With the help of the physicists and the Somalata plants that he had grown here, he had been able to create four Shards. Each Shard represents something—the past, the present, the future, and the alternate reality.”
“Alternate reality?”
“It shows the outcome of your actions before you act on them.”
Kali nodded. “Interesting,” he looked up at Aruna, “and you think Bajrang has this?”
“Not all four, unfortunately, but this one,” he pointed at the middle Shard which showed the present, “it has the capability of making you see whatever impending battles or revolts you are facing, right now. You can see each move of your enemies and plan things accordingly.”
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“I have seen it work, my lord. The reason Bajrang didn’t join forces with you back then was because he had seen what you were doing that time—shaking hands with Nagas and Yakshas, and Bajrang hated that.”
“So, he sees everything.”
“Whatever is limited to his knowledge.”
“That’s something I can use.” Kali turned to Durukti for an acknowledgement, who quietly nodded back at him. “So, to make it simple, you want my soldiers with you to fight your cause, get the throne of Dandak, and in return, you shall give me your support and this Shard?”
Aruna nodded.
“What if you decide to keep my army and the Shard, and then choose to betray me?”
Aruna shook his head. “You, out of all people know, when a Vanar promises, he keeps his oath.”
“Yeah but, we live in a world where anything can happen.” Kali shrugged. “What about the other three Shards?”
“No one knows where they are,” Aruna dismissed. “Uh, I can understand your skepticism, Lord Kali, but—”
Kali waved his hand in dismissal. “See, I don’t care if you betray me because I’ll instruct my soldiers to slaughter you the moment you turn your back on me. But I’m just . . . you have made me curious, Captain. I am quite interested in this Eye of Brahma.”
“I’m glad.”
“You can take two thousand men of mine.”
“But my lord, we need five—”
Kali shook his head. “No, you need only two. If you bring me this, I will supply five thousand more to guard your Dandak well and please your general. You can tell Koko to fetch you the army.”
Aruna reluctantly nodded. “Yes, my lord.” And he stood up and left the room.
Durukti was silent as Kali played with the scroll and then the sword.
“Do you believe that the Eye of Brahma really exists?”
“I don’t know, brother.”
Kali shook his head. “I wouldn’t have believed it as well if he would have come a few months back, but now I do after I have learnt about the Soma. There is certainly some magic out there in the world, I’m sure.”
Durukti nodded. She had seen enough magic in the world by fighting Symrin. The thought made her shiver. “Anyway, I should leave.”
Kali nodded, returning back to his work.
“You are doing a good job, brother. Talk to me when you can. I am here for you.”
“Hmmm . . .”
Durukti came forward and hugged Kali, putting her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him. “Be safe.”
Kali smiled, patting her back. “Don’t be so gushy about it now, shoo,” he playfully chided.
Durukti smiled and left the room as she faced Koko and Vikoko, Kali’s guards standing outside like diligent armymen. She walked away from them as she pulled out the pouch she was hiding in her tight-fisted palms. She had taken it from Kali when she had hugged him.
She opened the pouch where the blue fossil-like stones glimmered. There were only two of them.
He was not a perfect man. But he was my father.
It had been a few days since she had hidden herself in Lady Durukti’s house, ordered to not go anywhere. And Lady Durukti was right. If Urvashi had gone out, a Rakshas or a Yaksha would have caught her. Lord Kali was quite serious about catching Urvashi. He had planned to put to her on trial, just like her father. Though trials were a sham in this city.
She thought about Vedanta, reminiscing the days she had spent with him. She remembered the time her mother had died. Vedanta, who had always been distant, had held her tight and clasped his hands in hers that day. He had been supportive. After that, he had made sure to come every night to tell stories or talk about people, letting Urvashi know that she was an integral part of his life. Vedanta had confessed to Urvashi about how he had been disappointed when she had been born. He had wanted a son. Forgive me, my dear. I was a bad father.
It had been two days since Vedanta’s beheading. Urvashi was growing restless. She saw new servants entering her room. She hid under the bed when they appeared, but then she found out that the new servant was the same one Vedanta had had, who had tended to Urvashi. She skit out of the bed and surprised the servant.
“My lady!” she exclaimed.
“Shush!” Urvashi closed the door behind.
“What are you doing in Lady Durukti’s room?”
“Hiding. She’s helping me to stay alive.”
“Oh, what a wonderful lady.”
“Why are you here?” Urvashi arched her brows.
“Lord Kali has employed us. Are you all right, my lady?”
“What do you think?” Urvashi wiped the dust off her face.
“I apologize for Lord Vedanta’s passing . . .”
“Passing? Say it like it was. Beheading.”
“You were there?” the servant shrieked.
Urvashi nodded, wiping her sweaty forehead. “I need to leave. Is there any keep my father left behind? What has happened to the fort?”
“It has become an armoury, my lady.”
Urvashi gritted her teeth. That despicable Kali! And she was in his sister’s room. What are the chances she would backstab her like Kali had done to her father?
“My lady, I have something.” The servant pulled it out from the apron. “I found it in Lord Vedanta’s room before the soldiers came to escort us. It was addressed to you, a letter.”
“And you have been carrying it around?” Urvashi took it, studying the envelope carefully.
“Never found a safe place to keep it other than with me. It might have some important information and I didn’t want to hand it to the usurpers.”
Urvashi smiled. “You did a good job.”
“Do you trust Lady Durukti?”
“I don’t trust anyone, to be honest.” She sliced the envelope.
“What do you intend to do?”
Urvashi softly smiled at the maid. “I’ll let you know. Do not worry. I know one thing for sure. I shall take my father’s throne.” She paused. “Do not tell anyone of my presence.”
The maid was reassured. Urvashi sat down on the bed as the maid left the room and she began reading the letter.
Dear Urvashi,
What I am about to do can bring about some change in the way we have lived so far. But if I don’t survive, I want you to know that I always wanted you to be happy, content. The time
s spent with you have been the greatest and I choose to go with those memories rather than the ones I have spent as a king. A king can always be dethroned in front of his people. I hope I am doing the right thing. I do not know. My fingers shiver as I write this for I feel I might not return from where I go. But I hope when you read this, you form your own resolution. Become stronger. You must realize my death could also be an opportunity for you to fight for the throne. Fight for what’s rightfully yours. You are a queen by birthright. Finally, you can act like one.
Love Always,
Daddy
Urvashi didn’t shed tears. She felt her chest contracting. And then she lowered her eyes, folded the letter, and kept it clasped in her arms.
Urvashi was thinking about how to escape when the door opened again and she hid herself under the bed only to realize it was Lady Durukti. She was wearing a nose ring and a large, shiny diamond necklace. For some reason, she looked unsettled, thoughtful. She was holding and rubbing a pouch in her hand.
“What’s wrong?” Urvashi asked.
“Have you had your food?”
“Yes, I had a maid from my fort to help me.”
“Yes, Kali had enlisted them.”
Urvashi’s blood boiled thinking about Kali being in the same premises as her. If only she could go there and cut him up, but Durukti had warned her from doing anything stupid. Lord Kali went with his guards everywhere.
“What’s there in your hand?”
“Nothing.” Durukti kept it in the drawer at that moment to which Urvashi just felt odd. Durukti was hiding something perhaps, but she shifted her attention when Durukti continued, “I met Arjan. I hope you remember him.”
Urvashi did. For being with Durukti meant conversing about these things. Durukti shared a lot of her insecurities with her. She had tried to convince Urvashi that Kali was not a bad man. She even talked about Kalki and Arjan, though Urvashi could never picture them since she had never met them. But they at least sounded better than Kali.
“What did he say?”
“He wanted . . . um . . . he wanted me to help him escape.”
“Help him?”
“I mean, the prisoners. All of them.”
Urvashi arched her brows. “That sounds ridiculous. It’ll be a riot . . .” and the thought of it just ignited a spark in her mind. It’ll indeed be a riot. And that’ll put a dent in Kali’s regime and she could take him out with their support. There must be more than a hundred prisoners as of now. The idea just kept growing to the point that her fingers danced and she was getting excited about it.
“I know, it’ll be, and I’m just thinking it’ll change everything. But he says they are innocent. And they are mostly those your father had thrown in without sufficient evidence.”
“If he did throw them in, there must be a good reason behind it.”
“Not according to Arjan.”
Whatever. It doesn’t matter to me. What matters is, will they help?
There’s honour among thieves, as the saying goes and they might just be Urvashi’s chance to get Lord Kali off the throne.
But Urvashi had no intention of telling Durukti all this.
“I need to contemplate more about this.”
“Sure.”
Durukti went to bed as Urvashi laid her mattress on the ground. She turned overand started thinking. After a while, she could hear Durukti snoring. She slowly went over to the drawer and opened it up to see the pouch in which she found some blue stones.
What the hell are these?
Urvashi tightened the pouch and placed it back inside. She wrapped the shawl around her that belonged to Durukti and covered her face completely. With one last glance at Durukti, she took her leave from the room. Her eyes were fixed on one goal as she walked the corridors of the fort searching for her maid.
Because she knew what she had to do.
She had to find her bag of all those illusionary tricks that her guru had given her and she had to free those prisoners.
Did she have a better plan?
No.
Would the plan work?
She would find out soon.
Manasa hadn’t slept at all while going back. They returned by the same boat and by this time, Nanda had regained his strength even though he groaned with each row he made with the oar. Manasa’s one hand was absolutely useless, so she had to pummel the waves of the river with her free hand, forcing her muscles to contract in sharp pain.
The were an uncomfortable silence between them.
“I wonder what Vibhishana is up to these days,” said Manasa.
“Lord Vibhisana has no control over his subjects,” Nanda growled as the wind blew on his face.
Manasa understood what Nanda was talking about. In Illavarti, the land was divided in two parts—Udaiyas consisted of Indragarh, Varunagarh, Suryagarh, Agnigarh, and now Dandak. The other side, the lower half of it was called Dakshini which consisted of Suparnika, Naagpuri, Eelam, and Bhanmati where Lord Vibhishana lived. He was the only Manav chieftain of the Dakshinis. Vibhisana was the sole ruler and but still refrained from interfering in the council proceedings of these places. He was rich and abundantly gifted in grain and water, and he didn’t need to rely on anyone. The only other peaceful ruler in Udaiyas was Vedanta. Though Vibhishan had often had conflicts with Vedanta over their ideologies, he had a begrudging respect for the man.
“He has no control over anything,” Manasa responded, as her muscles grew exhausted from the rowing and they finally reached the shores of Naagpuri after a few hours. “I’ve known him since I was a child. My father had sent me and Vasuki out there to be trained with Vibhisana. He was a child back then. We had loads of fun, but he was in fact a quiet kid. He still keeps to himself.”
Nanda rolled his eyes. They had reached Naagpuri at sundown and the place was littered with sapphire-coloured fire lights. They had an ingredient plucked from their own grass reserves that they mixed with the candle waxes to produce the colour of the skies that they worshipped.
“What should we do now?” Manasa asked Nanda.
“Before we meet Kadru, you come with me, and I’ll get a few mercenaries I know around the corner to help us and be on constant guard.”
“Sure,” Manasa nodded. “And do you know these mercenaries as well as you know Maruda?”
Nanda grinned.
Manasa wiped her face clean with the water as she was cooped a small inn. Nanda had managed to get them a room here. The manager owed him.
That man owes to everyone and everyone owes to him.
She would never understand Nanda. He was so many things at once. And as she went over to the bed and laid herself down, closing her eyes, waiting for Nanda to return from his meeting with those mercenaries, she began to picture them together.
If there is no other woman, should I be with him?
It had not been his fault, but Vasuki’s. And she almost felt bad for him. She began to think whether this plan would work or not, or whether she’ll be free enough to control Naagpuri, get favours from Tarakshya, and win the throne of Indragarh from Kali, defeat him and then . . .
Do what?
She hadn’t thought about what she would do after this. It was her revenge plan for basically destroying her army, killing her brother . . . but after achieving the goal, she might just return back to Naagpuri, be with Nanda perhaps, and start a family. That sounded like a plan and a smile came over her face at the thought. Nanda was surely a sore in a person’s life, but for her, he was someone she had taken a liking to. And he was helpful. He was just there for her sake, whenever she wanted.
She studied the intricate designs of the room. The Naagpuri inns weren’t exactly peachy—the décor was just bad, the floorbeds were tainted, the beds were more like mattresses on the ground with a little elevation from the wooden platform, the ceiling had a slight, casual tapestry, there were firelights across the room, blue reflections, and Manasa’s dark shadows danced as she moved inch by inch. She hated being here, but it wa
s a good hiding place, better than being in her own place where Jamun would be waiting for her.
Everyone wants their own revenge.
Why was Jamun taking so much time to start his vendetta? Could he see that the city was weak and just jumped at the chance? Did he learn about Vasuki’s death and that made him want to assume the throne? There were so many questions that Manasa had. She had no idea what Jamun was thinking. The man had no morals. He had gone behind Kadru’s back and let people murder a family.
Oh, how cheerful I used to be!
Even though Vasuki wasn’t perfect, she missed him. She missed those days she had spent with him. Since they were children, he had always teased her but also looked up to his big sister, always asking her for advice.
I couldn’t even save my baby brother.
She didn’t cry, but she did feel her head shrinking, her gut feeling weird. And that was when the door opened and she was startled, jumping up only to realize it was Nanda. He had a straw bag with him from which he pulled out some loaves of bread and a curry to share. Manasa hungrily wolfed it down as she was famished. Nanda sat opposite to her on a cushion and just looked at her for a while before Manasa asked, “What is it?”
“I’ve talked to the mercenaries. They are ready to do it for a sum of money. I’ve paid them as well.”
“You had money?”
“Of course. I don’t go around without it.”
“How’s your rib?”
He touched his wound. “It hurts.”
“I never thanked you for saving me.”
“You don’t have to. I could see it.”
Manasa smiled, and before she could begin the discussion about her and Nanda, Nanda pulled out a strange locket from the bag. “I want you to have this.”
“Where did you hide this?”
“I was carrying it around.” He handed it to her.
Manasa held it in her palms, looking at the sheen of the locket. It was a big glass amulet attached to a ribbon.
“What is this?”
“Got it from a trader when I was travelling before I heard about you coming here, I don’t know.” Nanda frowned. “Thought it’ll look nice on you so I bought it.”