The Epic of Kautilya : Born To Be King

by Deepak Thomas

  “What are those?” Saira asked.

  “Astras,” Kautilya said. She would have to use hers too. She stood up and prepared to fire her bow. Suddenly an arrow fell in their midst. Kautilya recognised this one.

  The arrow exploded and a huge wave of water washed over them. Kautilya was knocked over by its force. When she recovered she realised that her arrows had washed away.

  “We need to retreat,” Kautilya said. “We will be surrounded soon. Make three files and retreat through the gap between the horsemen.”

  But the apes were not listening to her. They were preparing for the attack that was soon to be upon them from all sides.

  She saw Saira flying above the melee. Of course, she was a demigod.

  “Retreat,” Kautilya told her. “We’ve lost this battle.”

  Saira nodded and turned to Ādi. “Ādi, pull back. We need to get out of here.”

  “Pull back?” Ādi said. “I’m taking down these mongrels.” He ran off to assist Druma.

  Saira turned helplessly to Kautilya. Angad grabbed her hand. “I will take his position.”

  “Nina, let’s go,” Kautilya said. “Line up with Angad in the middle. We’re leading our forces out.” She picked up a spear for herself, and another for Nina.

  Nina took it and stood by her side.

  Saira flew down to them. “How can I help?”

  Kautilya spoke into Saira’s ear. “You all retreat. Get as many rebels as you can to follow your lead. Run through the horsemen before they close in.”

  “What about you?” Saira asked.

  “I will get Ādi and Druma,” Kautilya said.

  Saira shook her head. “No, you go with the rest. I’ll bring Ādi back.”

  “Only you can fend off the horsemen,” Kautilya said. “And he needs someone who knows astras. Go, as fast as you can.”

  Saira relented, then along with Nina and Angad, she began charging back towards the forest. Their aim was to cut through the charging human reinforcements. Angad called the apes, who began to line up behind them.

  As they charged, more apes began to line up behind them.

  Kautilya turned back in the direction where Varun’s forces were now attacking.

  Kautilya ran into the fray. She flung an Agnyastra in their midst but the resulting explosion was very weak because of the wet battleground.

  When the horsemen recovered from their confusion they raised their spears again, this time pointed at Kautilya.

  Kautilya closed her eyes, waiting for the spears to strike. Suddenly she heard a roar and men screaming. She opened her eyes to see a blood-drenched Ādi standing over two decapitated soldiers.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked Kautilya.

  “I...” Kautilya began.

  Suddenly she saw a spearman preparing to strike Ādi.

  She screamed and pushed him down. The spear entered her shoulder.

  Ādi roared and flung the spearman off his horse. He pulled out the spear and without hesitation plunged his fist into the soldier’s chest.

  He stood up. “Are you all right?”

  Kautilya could not take her eyes off the hole in her shoulder.

  “Ādi, you...” she began to say. Then she groaned and fell to her knees.

  Ādi grabbed her and lifted her onto his shoulders.

  He began racing to catch up with the retreating files. On either side, Kautilya saw apes falling victim to the horsemen who were rampaging through the unorganised ape forces.

  Varun was watching over the carnage contentedly.

  Kautilya sighed. All this death was such a waste, caused by bad strategy, bad tactics and an untrained and unorganised army.

  The horsemen from both sides were almost converging. Kautilya worried whether the squad would manage to penetrate the reinforcements. If they did not, they would be taken down from both sides.

  As the horses thundered closer, Kautilya grew more certain that they would not make it through.

  “Stop!” she said to Ādi.

  “What?” Ādi demanded.

  “Stop,” she repeated, “I can help.”

  Ādi stopped and let down Kautilya. She picked up a fallen spear and tried to fling it, but her shoulder was injured.

  “Let me,” Ādi said and grabbed the spear. Hoping it would work, Kautilya touched the spear and chanted, “Hamsastra.” When she nodded, Ādi flung the spear over the troops and into the midst of the cavalry.

  The spear flew through the air and struck a horseman down. But there was no astra.

  Kautilya cursed. It was the second time the Hamsastra had not worked. Maybe the Goddess was not her patron.

  “What now, princess?” Ādi asked.

  She picked up another spear and handed it to Ādi. This time she chanted, “Agnyastra.”

  Ādi flung the spear and his brute strength imbued the astra with deadly force. It ripped through the converging cavalry, and everything in its path disappeared. In some cases, the whole upper body disappeared leaving only the soldier’s legs.

  The worst part was that the astra also ripped through some of the retreating apes.

  Kautilya was horrified at the power she had unleashed on the hapless soldiers.

  The retreating file of apes leapt over the fallen horses and soldiers and began entering the forest.

  Kautilya turned to the apes who were still trapped. Varun’s forces had now converged on them.

  “Princess...” Ādi said.

  Kautilya groaned and collapsed but Ādi managed to grab hold of her. “I won’t make it.”

  “You will,” Ādi said. “Nothing bad will happen to you. Not on my watch.”

  CHAPTER 36

  The Music

  It was chaos back at the rebel base. Injured apes were brought into the large tower hall every few minutes. The air stank of blood and flies buzzed around freely. Screams of agony intermittently cut through the murmurs of the forlorn rebel army.

  Kautilya sat on one side of the cave stroking a listless Barong who nestled in her lap. Her shoulder had been patched up.

  The other squad members were helping with the casualties.

  Yama and the Lord Chief were walking among the injured, consoling and thanking them.

  Kautilya’s head was swirling from all that had happened that day. There had been so much violence. And the power of her astra had been scary. No one except Ādi knew that she was the one who had unleashed it.

  Seeing Saira in the distance helping to heal wounds, her mind returned to Ādi. The words he’d spoken to her while she was delirious had stuck in her mind. What did he mean when he said he would never let anything bad happen to her? Did he mean it as a friend, or was there something else going on?

  She immediately felt guilty. Saira was such a sweet person, the first to become her friend since Renuka.

  “Barong, boy, let me go and help Saira,” Kautilya said. Barong opened his eyes wide as if asking her to stay. “Others need help too, Barong,” Kautilya said. The disappointed creature jumped off Kautilya’s lap.

  She stood up and went to help Saira, who smiled when she saw Kautilya.

  “Good job today,” Saira said. “The squad owes you our lives. And so do a lot of the apes here.”

  Kautilya shrugged. “Good job to you too. If the three of you hadn’t managed to fend off the oncoming riders we’d still be stuck there.”

  “Thank Ādi for getting you out,” Saira said. “If he hadn’t got you out in time you would have bled out.”

  “You’re really lucky to be with him,” Kautilya said.

  Saira nodded wistfully. She turned her attention back to the ape she was trying to heal.

  “Do you need help?” Kautilya asked.

  “No, I’m fine,” Saira said.

  “You look tired though.”


  “I’ll rest when I’ve finished here,” Saira said.

  Yama and the Lord Chief walked up to them.

  “Good job, Saira,” Yama said. “Keep it up.”

  Kautilya was suddenly aware that the Lord Chief was staring intently at her.

  “Angad told me you did a good job leading the retreat,” she said.

  “Yes, Lord Chief. I was just trying to help,” Kautilya replied.

  “I had told you to stay away from the battlefield,” Yama said.

  Kautilya looked down, ashamed. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t stay back when others were fighting.”

  “Thank you anyway,” the Lord Chief said. “If only all the apes had enough sense to retreat.” She patted Kautilya on the cheek and turned to leave.

  Yama lingered for a bit. “We need to talk, Kautilya. Come to my tent tomorrow.”

  Kautilya gulped and nodded. Yama left.

  “You should go and relax,” Saira said. “You lost a lot of blood.”

  Kautilya nodded again. She walked out of the hall and into the mountain breeze. The cool air calmed her down and she felt peaceful.

  She headed back to her quarters. The whole citadel felt desolate, with everyone in the hall helping out. It felt good to be alone at last.

  But the slaughter had been nightmarish. This was what war was like for an ordinary foot soldier. She sympathised with them.

  Suddenly a sound caught her ear. It was a flute. Kautilya followed the haunting tune and found the musician sitting on a grassy slope facing the stars.

  Kautilya went closer. Wait, did she know this flautist? Of course, it was...

  Suddenly he leapt up and grabbed her by the throat.

  “Ouch!” Kautilya protested. “It’s me.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Ādi let her go. “You startled me. How are you?”

  “I’ll be fine,” Kautilya said. “The spear didn’t do any permanent damage. What about you?”

  “I’m all right,” Ādi said. “It’ll take more than some stupid human to get me killed. And by stupid human I mean you.”

  Kautilya scratched the back of her head. “I didn’t know you played the flute,” she said.

  “It’s just something I do for fun,” Ādi said. “My father used to play.”

  Kautilya looked out at the stunning view. From this vantage point, one could see the forests and the whole Rishyamukh range.

  “Wow,” she said. “This is such a good viewpoint.”

  “Yeah,” Ādi said, sitting back down. “I come here often. The breeze is amazing too.” He tapped the ground next to him.

  They sat in silence for some time, which was awkward. Yet slowly, not knowing why, Kautilya began to relax.

  “Why did you risk your life?” Ādi asked. “Why did you come looking for me?”

  “I...” Kautilya did not know how to explain. It was as if an invisible force had compelled her to find him and protect him. “I was just watching out for my squad.”

  Ādi chuckled. “Good job there.”

  Kautilya scratched the back of her head again in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I was more trouble than help.”

  “No,” Ādi said. “I meant it when I said good job. Saira told me how you managed the retreat. Plus what was that magic thing you did? How does a princess like you know so much about fighting?”

  Kautilya remembered the days she had spent sweating over textbooks and tests, the time she had spent in Akrama’s tutelage and the extra lessons she had taken with Dhanush.

  “I read a lot,” Kautilya said.

  “Interesting. Who would have thought reading can teach you to fight?”

  “It can teach you tactics and strategy,” Kautilya said. “It can teach you the how. Does that make sense?”

  Ādi shook his head. “What was that explosive missile? It was so powerful.”

  “It was an astra,” Kautilya said.

  “Can you teach me how to use astras?” Ādi asked.

  “Do you know who your patron god is?”

  Ādi shook his head. “Let’s not do this if it’s so complicated. How come you don’t use it all the time? I wouldn’t even bother with normal arrows if I had that power.”

  “It’s dangerous,” Kautilya said, “and I can only use it thrice a day. So I keep it for emergencies.”

  Kautilya wondered whether she should ask him about what he had said before she had passed out. What had he meant by it? Did he even remember saying it?

  Kautilya turned to him but was distracted by his smooth silky hair. The strands billowed in the wind. She felt like running her fingers through them. He turned his red eyes towards her and she turned away.

  “Thanks for getting me out of there,” Kautilya said.

  “Don’t worry. I was watching out for my squad too.”

  CHAPTER 37

  A New Plan

  Kautilya was nervous. Yama and Druma were discussing battle plans, determining how to break the humans.

  Kautilya studied the maps and the badly carved figurines that were placed on them. She had deciphered the essence of the strategy that Yama intended to pursue, but she wasn’t sure if it was the best one.

  “Hey there,” Yama said. “Apologies for the delay. I needed to work this out before we go to the next battle.”

  “Another battle?” Kautilya asked. Surely the previous day had been too big a setback.

  “Of course, we are,” Yama said. “The battle might be lost, but the war is still on.”

  “Will it be a battle like yesterday’s?” Kautilya asked. “Will we face the humans directly?”

  “That’s the plan...” Yama paused. “You do not seem convinced.”

  “I doubt that the apes can beat the humans through conventional warfare,” Kautilya said, “Our army is worse-trained and worse-equipped. Our greater numbers will not help against horses and metal weapons.”

  “Do you think we need metal weapons?” Yama said. “We can’t afford them. Regarding horses, you know how the apes would feel about that. You’d have better luck getting them to carry each other.”

  “In that case,” Kautilya said, “I would strongly advise against fighting the humans in a head-to-head battle. The rebels will never win. If we suffer more defeats like that, the apes will lose their faith in the cause.”

  Yama stared at Kautilya. His mask made it impossible for her to read his expression and she wondered if she had overstepped.

  “What do you suggest, then?” Yama asked.

  Kautilya breathed in. “Long ago, when the Warrior Sage declared war on all human kings, he assembled a motley crew of low-caste warriors. They too had no weapons and did not know how to ride horses. The Warrior Sage, however, devised a grand strategy to counter the human kings’ forces.”

  Yama was attentive as Kautilya continued, “There are three phases to this grand strategy. The first is the Hidden War Strategy.”

  “Hidden War?” Yama asked.

  “Yes,” Kautilya said. “We do not attack the enemy headlong, but make sudden attacks and retreats. Instead of attacking the armies we attack their vulnerabilities. Our aim is to create nuisance and drain them of their resources and energy.”

  “The supply lines,” Yama said. “The supply lines bringing food and material to the hills.”

  Kautilya nodded. “Raiding them is also a cheap way to boost our own weapons and resources.”

  “That makes sense,” Yama said. “Why didn’t you suggest this before? What is phase two?”

  “Phase two...” Kautilya began.

  ***

  Kautilya was nervous when she arrived at the squad’s quarters. She was sure things would go horribly wrong.

  Most of the squad were on their beds resting after the previous day’s battle. Ādi and Saira were awake, talking to each other. Nina was lying on her mat, trying
to decipher maps.

  Kautilya walked up to her.

  “What happened, princess?” Nina asked. “Did Yama give you that?”

  Kautilya handed Nina the scroll she had been given by Yama. Nina opened it and puzzled over it for a while.

  “I do not read, Kautilya.” Nina handed over the scroll to Saira. “Read this for me, Saira.”

  Saira took the scroll. “To whom it may concern, as per the orders of Yama, Commander of the Free Army and Lord Chief Indira...”

  She paused, then read the rest of the message silently before looking up at Kautilya, alarmed.

  Saira took a deep breath. “Kautilya has been given command of the Free Army squad as of this day. The current incumbent is to surrender her post and hand over her duties to Kautilya...”

  Nina raised her hand and Saira was silent. She stood up and glared at Kautilya.

  “You filthy backstabbing coward,” she said. “You went behind my back to take over my squad. I will rip your head off, princess.”

  Kautilya did not speak. “It was as per orders of Yama. I did not ask...”

  “Well, go back to Yama,” Nina said, “and inform him that the Free Army squad is mine. I built this squad with my blood and sweat. No one can take it away from me.” She shoved Kautilya, sending her sprawling on the floor.

  Kautilya would not back down so easily.

  She clambered back up and said, “You’re out of line, soldier. You will obey your commander.”

  Nina turned slowly. She looked at Kautilya with wrathful eyes. “Obey the commander? Who will make me?”

  Kautilya looked at her straight. “I will.”

  The next few moments were a blur for Kautilya. She felt an impact on her chest, and she was down on the ground. Saira screamed. Before she could work out what was going on, Nina was on top of her.

  “What did you say?” Nina challenged Kautilya.

  Ādi pulled Nina off Kautilya. “Stop it.”

  But Nina was not in the mood to listen to Ādi. She tried to break free.

  “What did you say?” she repeated.

  Kautilya breathed in. “I am your commander.”

  Nina bit Ādi’s arm and broke free. She grabbed Kautilya’s hair and shouted into her face, “Are you my commander?”