‘Kubera is overseeing the construction of a wall and two watchtowers at the northern gate, sire,’ said Nishanta. ‘The stones have arrived, and work is about to begin.’
They walked along the pier, examining the boats, amid loud clangs of anvil. Some of the men directing the workers met eyes with Jahnavi, and she felt she had known them all her life. Their faces wore the colour of the earth, and their eyes carried the clearness of the morning dew found on Meru’s grass blades. Her lungs ached for one whiff of the mountain’s air. A smarting itch began at the bottom of her throat, too deep to scratch. In the pearly evening ripples of the Yamuna she saw the calm waters of the Crystal Lake.
Nishanta was narrating to the king various details about the armour. Jahnavi found herself listening less and less. With each passing moment, she seemed to hear only the soft commands of the men supervising the work, while the tools became mute.
The evening turned brown. Kamsa nodded to whatever Nishanta said and asked questions. After walking past forty barges and arriving at the end of the pier, Kamsa stopped and looked up at the clamped window on the palace wall.
Nishanta fell silent. Jahnavi touched the crook of Kamsa’s arm. ‘What is up there, my lord, king?’
Her words – no more than whispers – jolted him, and he jerked his arm away. ‘Nothing.’ He turned away from the window toward the river and stared across it at the other bank. ‘Whatever has been there is now gone.’
On the day of the half-moon, thirty days after they had first arrived in Mathura, Jahnavi took Kamsa to the construction site at the northern gate, where Kubera welcomed them from atop a fine black stallion, clad from head to toe in glittering armour.
‘You appear to be set for the fiercest battle of your life, Avinasha,’ said Kamsa, with the familiarity of an old friend.
‘My lord,’ said Kubera, holding a hand up to his chest and bowing. ‘Just this morning we have driven away a cavalry unit that threatened to breach the north wall. Their numbers grow by the day, Your Majesty.’
‘I am not surprised. Jarasandha must have spies in Mathura, and they must tell him we are strengthening our defences. It must force his hand to act.’
‘We are almost finished here, High King,’ said Kubera. To someone in the shadows of the tent he called out, ‘Get two horses, for the king and the lady.’ He looked at her and smiled, as if he had recognized her just then. ‘I trust that Lady Jahnavi is well.’
‘Quite well, Avinasha, thank you.’
They rode out in silence. When they neared the northern gate, the air grew heavy with a white mist.
‘What is this magic?’ said Kamsa. ‘This is midsummer. There is no fog in midsummer in Mathura.’
‘Do not fear, my lord.’ Kubera’s voice came firm and strong. ‘This is a Mystery we learned in Pundra from a visiting shaman from the north a few years ago. The construction of the wall and the towers occurs shrouded within this wall of smoke, so that the enemy’s raiding parties cannot see us.’ He threw them a rope. ‘Hold on to it and I shall lead you through.’
Their horses trotted together in a single file. Deep in the thickest part of the fog, Kamsa’s horse neighed in protest, but a well-aimed kick at the side with his silver riding shoe and it fell back in step. Although it was mid-morning, it seemed to Jahnavi that they were riding through the dead of the night.
‘We are approaching,’ said Kubera. ‘Not that long to go now, Your Majesty.’
The air thinned again. By and by, Jahnavi could see more things. When she looked up she saw nothing but a formless black dome, which was the shroud, she knew. In the light of torches and signal fires, men were moving about, carrying stones, breaking and mounting them, calling out to one another, singing and whistling.
Here, too, she saw the clear-eyed craftsmen standing behind the workers’ shoulders, and although they were as far away from Meru as they could be, Jahnavi felt on her cheek a touch of the soft mountain breeze.
They dismounted. Kubera took the reins of all three beasts and tied them to a nearby tree. ‘We engage Jarasandha’s forces further to the east, Your Majesty,’ he said, pointing away from the gate. ‘Out of the shroud, so that they will never know of these walls until they have been fully erected.’
‘These Mysteries,’ said Kamsa. ‘You say you have learned them from a shaman from the north.’
‘Yes, my lord.’
‘Did he look like a Brahmin priest, this shaman? Did he have a shaved head and a staff of gold in his hand?’
Kubera bowed. ‘Not all of them look the same, I am told, Your Highness.’
‘Never mind,’ said Kamsa. ‘I would like it if someone from my kingdom knew this Mystery too. It could be quite useful during a battle.’
They arrived at a tall, four-faced wooden structure reinforced by iron beams.
Kubera waved an arm at it grandly. ‘With these towers and signal fires in place, my lord, you shall need no shroud to conceal you. Twenty archers may lie hidden in this tower and keep a watch for arriving enemies across the plain. We are building five of them along this gate so that even if Jarasandha sends a hundred horses, your archers will send every one of them to their deaths.’
‘What if they come armed with catapults?’ said Kamsa. ‘If he attacks the wall, Jarasandha will not come just with cavalrymen.’
‘We are building an iron frame around the stone wall, sire, so that it will take at least a hundred catapult hits before it begins to crumble. That is ample time for your archers to pick off the rest of the army. We shall have a group of spearmen on foot as well, standing by behind the gate in order to engage the enemy by hand if necessary.’
‘So there will be a defence outpost here too?’
‘Yes, my lord. We are building an archery range a league inward from here, and we suggest that you train a few archers here as well, so you have soldiers on hand at short notice.’
While walking around the wall, Kubera’s gaze had met Jahnavi’s a few times, and although his eyes remained emotionless, she could read a wealth of questions in them. What did the king think of them? Was there any news of Jarasandha? Did the Magadhans know of what the three of them were doing in Mathura? If so, why had they stayed quiet for so long? If not, how good were the spies they employed?
Jahnavi met his glances with serenity. She did not have any answers. She knew that messengers from Magadha had been arriving over the last moon, but she did not know what news they brought. Every week, a missive went out from Mathura to Magadha as well. Whether these were routine trade scrolls or dire warnings of battle, she did not know.
But now, it did not seem to matter. They had almost finished their work. Two more weeks and they would be out of the city, having finished their mission.
They got on the horses once again and rode through another thick sheet of fog. When they emerged at the other end, in the middle of the eastward slope on which they had fought off the horses the first morning, sunlight streamed down on their faces. Kamsa chortled in surprise and faced the sun with his eyes closed.
Kubera yelled out a command. Jahnavi heard the light sound of running feet.
In no time they were surrounded by blue-clad archers in shining armour and helmets. In their hands they held long reed bows, and their quivers held feathered arrows.
‘Your archers shoot over longer distances now, Your Majesty,’ said Kubera. ‘They don stronger armour and they wield lighter bows. They move faster across the land, so Jarasandha’s men cannot vanquish them as they used to.’
‘Wonderful,’ said Kamsa. ‘Wonderful!’
Kubera bowed. ‘We have also begun to operate a trading post outside the eastern gate of Mathura, my lord. That means all Magadhan trading mules unload their wares over there, and none of them enter the city.’
‘Yes,’ said Kamsa nodding. ‘Wonderful. With all of this, I think not that Jarasandha shall ever take Mathura by force.’
‘He shall not, Your Majesty.’ Kubera pointed with his sword toward the west. ‘We shall build th
is wall all around your northern gate so that it reaches your western and eastern gates. We will station towers along its length so that you will know any time an enemy sneaks up on you.’
Kamsa said, ‘We need more gold for this if we have to train more soldiers.’
‘We have all the gold you need,’ said Kubera. ‘Our mules will arrive at your trading post shortly and deposit all the gold you need to man your towers and keep the usurpers away.’
For a moment, Kamsa did not speak. He looked around at his twenty or so soldiers, crisp and clean and ready for battle. He touched the hilt of his sword, as if in deep thought. Then he looked at Jahnavi.
‘Mathura owes you a mountain of debt, my lady,’ he said. ‘I know not how I shall ever repay the favours you have heaped on us.’
‘My lord, king,’ said Jahnavi. ‘All we need in return is the knowhow of your irrigation canals. If even in this scorching midsummer heat you keep your fields fertile, your river must be truly blessed by the gods.’
‘That it is,’ said Kamsa. ‘All that we know about water, we shall share with you. Shall I ask my constructors to accompany you when you leave, so that they can arrive in Pundra and begin work straight away?’
‘That shall not be necessary, Your Majesty,’ said Kubera. ‘We shall leave and have a dialogue with our king, and he shall send you a messenger bearing his requests.’
Kamsa said, ‘Very well. I shall make preparations, then, for a grand departure for you from the city of Mathura. Let it not be said that we have just taken from you. Let us show you how much your favours mean to us, and let Mathura and Pundra forever be friends.’
Jahnavi and Kubera bowed together. ‘As you say, Your Majesty.’
They opened the new infirmary a fortnight before the midsummer feast. The High King was invited to break two ripe coconuts at the main doorway and to leave a mark of red vermillion on the thatch door to ward off all ill omens.
Jahnavi stood next to Kamsa, holding a vessel of sandal paste. It was at her insistence that the old infirmary had been demolished and a new one erected between the northern and eastern gates. Although day was yet to break, the dawn breeze that rushed up the plain and through the gates had a stinging warmth to it. She thought of Nishanta by the archery range and Kubera in his heavy armour patrolling the gates. Of the three, she had the easiest job, because she did not have to ride or run about in the sun.
An oily smell hung low inside the room. Four lamps had been lit and placed in all four corners. They stood in the middle, the king and she.
‘I take it you have finished your job, Lady Jahnavi,’ said Kamsa. ‘Have our healers learned the ways of Pundra, and are they now better at attending to our soldiers than they were before?’
‘Your healers were already quite knowledgeable, my lord, king. All I did was strengthen their ability to choose from the various herbs found in the forest to the north.’
‘And I hear you have taken the doctors to the archery range for a few weeks.’
‘I did, Your Majesty. Avinasha has taught them how to ride a horse, and from Nishanta they have learned how to string a bow, and some now shoot an arrow as well as I.’
‘Indeed?’
‘Sire. The old infirmary was close to the palace, equally distant from all three gates. This meant that whenever there was battle, the doctors had to be transported to where the fighting was taking place. Now we have built this between the northern and eastern gates, my lord, so that the healers are always within riding distance from battle.’ She placed the vessel in the corner. ‘And we will have four or five horses tethered here, in the yard outside, so that each doctor can travel on his own.’
‘And they all fight,’ said Kamsa.
‘Not as well as the trained soldiers, Your Majesty, but they will be deft enough with sword and spear. They will carry a weapon each, so that in case they encounter the enemy, they can hold their own.’
Kamsa tucked his hands behind his back, puffed his chest out, and strode to the window to look out at the stables, in which four brown full-grown horses were feeding on oats and gram. On the banyan tree that stood next to the hut, Jahnavi had arranged for a target to be painted, and she had asked the soldiers at Nishanta’s archery range to come and mark out distances in indelible blank ink, so that the doctors could practise shooting in their free time.
‘Hmm,’ Kamsa said, looking up at the sky. ‘There is no shroud of fog covering this.’
‘There is none required, Your Majesty. This is safely located within the city’s walls.’
‘But there could come a time after you leave when we need to cast the spell and cover this place in smoke. Would you not say, my lady?’
‘I should not think so, my lord, king. Even Avinasha is unravelling the Mystery at the gates as we speak. From tomorrow, the walls and towers will be fully visible.’
Kamsa nodded. ‘I see. I have been told that this Mystery is yours, my lady? That it is you who have practised it, you who have cast the illusion.’
Jahnavi bowed. ‘That is so, yes.’
‘It would be indeed kind of you if you could teach us the Mystery, Lady Jahnavi. The people of Mathura could make good use of it, and while in possession of it, Magadha could not hope to take us.’
‘It is not as powerful as you think it is, Your Majesty,’ said Jahnavi. ‘While it renders you invisible to your enemies, it bears mentioning that it renders your enemies invisible to you too.’
‘Ah, how we use it is none of your concern. As you have given us the knowledge of your healers and your carpenters and your archers, why not give us some of your Mysteries as well?’
‘My lord, the Mysteries are not mine to give away. The practitioner of the Mysteries is but a custodian. I do not own them, so I cannot give them away.’
She saw blue anger fill up his eyes. For a moment, as she stared into his face, a nameless dread caught hold of her wrists and tugged with enough force to jerk her forward. She thought the king’s mouth twisted into a jackal’s snarl. But the next instant, he was smiling again, although the tightening of the jaw suggested to her that he was grinding his teeth.
‘I do understand, my lady,’ he said. ‘Forgive me if I have asked you more persistently than I should have. I assure you it is just my desperation at keeping Mathura safe from all invaders.’
‘Safe you already are, Your Majesty,’ she said. ‘Your army and defences are better than they have ever been. Magadha will not take you with these watchtowers crowding around your walls and with your archers shooting from the shadows.’
‘And you have given us the gift of fast healing as well,’ he said, spreading his arms around the room.
‘I have, yes. So please be assured we have done enough to keep Mathura safe from all invaders. There is no kingdom in North Country strong enough to breach these walls.’
‘I believe you, my lady, I do.’ Kamsa went out into the courtyard. Jahnavi followed him and inhaled a deep breath of warm morning air. The birds were waking up and calling from the trees. The king’s guards stood by his chariot, waiting. Three priests were seated in a circle around a basil plant. They showered it with sacred water, chanted some Sanskrit verses, and applied turmeric to its stem.
‘The midsummer feast approaches,’ said Kamsa, turning to her.
‘Yes, my lord. We shall not overstay our generous welcome.’
‘I would insist you stay, my lady. All three of you.’
Jahnavi bowed. ‘All the craftsmen and doctors have already left for Pundra, Your Majesty. The three of us intend to stay back just a few more days, to make sure there is no unexpected attack from Magadha.’
Kamsa opened his mouth to speak, but stopped and nodded. ‘You shall send me word about when you need the constructors.’
‘Yes, my lord.’
‘The work is complete, though, is it not?’
‘Yes, my lord.’
‘Then I should like to give you a midsummer feast of my own. In my own chambers. Tomorrow night. Come. Bring Nishanta an
d Avinasha with you as well. I shall arrange for a feast fit for kings.’
‘My lord, king, we are but humble servants—’
‘I insist!’ said Kamsa, and once again she thought she saw the mouth fall away grotesquely to one side. ‘This is my way of offering you my profuse gratitude. On behalf of the whole empire of Mathura!’
Jahavi felt it futile to argue. She bowed and said, ‘It shall be an honour, Your Majesty.’
CHAPTER SIX
T
he first thing Jahnavi noticed on entering Kamsa’s room was that his smile was a touch too broad. The lines at the corners of his mouth dug into his face and his uneven teeth glowed in the yellow moonlight. His violet silk robe hung loosely over his body and his hands disappeared into the sleeves.
‘Ah, my lady, Jahnavi,’ he said, ‘and Nishanta and Avinasha, my dear friends. Come in and please take your seats.’
The three of them looked at one another. Along the far edge of the room, standing under the wall-mounted sheaths and shields, stood six men clad in black, wearing ivory-tipped silver helmets, their swords drawn.
‘Do not mind the soldiers,’ said Kamsa, sitting down on the edge of his throne. ‘I have heard news that Magadha may send spies after my life this night.’ He looked out of the window, up into the sky. ‘Such an exquisite night, is it not?’
‘We have come to tell you that our job is complete,’ said Kubera. ‘I have seen to it personally that every one of your boats has been lined with brass armour. We have mounted catapults on them too, so that now you can return fire.’
‘Yes, returning fire is so important in a battle.’
‘The walls have all been built,’ Jahnavi said. ‘We have strengthened the eastern and northern gates with stone ramparts, and signal fires now burn throughout the night on all your towers.’
‘Ah, that makes me glad. We are safe from Magadhan attacks now, are we not?’
‘Especially because your archers use better weapons now,
Your Majesty,’ replied Jahnavi. ‘And we have trained your mendicants with knowledge of herbs found on the western end of North Country. These will heal your men faster when there is a battle on.’
The Queens of Hastinapur Page 7