Upon a Burning Throne

by Ashok K. Banker

  “I surrender,” Vessa said. “You have nothing to fear from me.”

  “Silence!” said the one directly behind him. “You . . . stranger!”

  “Stranger!” yelled the other four, repeating it in unison.

  Vessa raised his eyebrows. “I am no stranger. Don’t you know me?”

  Silence. An exchange of glances between his five captors.

  The one directly in front of him curled her hands into fists. “Fight!” she said. “Fight stranger!”

  “Halt!” said the one behind Vessa. “No fight!”

  “Fight!” said the one in front, more belligerently. She pointed one balled fist and yelled, “Stranger come! Brum! Fight! Stranger!” Vessa raised his eyebrows in response.

  “Halt!” shouted the one behind Vessa. “Brum no fight!”

  Even the one hanging upside down from the branch over Vessa’s head shouted, “Listen!”

  Brum snarled in frustration, then bent over and punched her fist into the ground. The ground erupted in a small explosion of mud and cow dung, raising a cloud of dust. When the air cleared, the one named Brum was coated in dust, and a hole the size of a large cauldron lay at her feet, with cracks spiderwebbing outward across the front yard.

  Vessa coughed as some of the grit drifted in his direction. He was still holding his wildwood staff in his hand. He lowered it to the ground and tapped the dirt once. At once, the cracks closed, the hole filled up, and the dirt was drawn back into the ground, leaving the floor of the front yard intact and pristine as before. Only the grime on Brum’s face remained, masking her look of utter astonishment.

  The bundle over Vessa’s head somersaulted down to the ground, landing on his feet with acrobatic ease. The other three all rushed forward, all four of them staring at the ground where the hole had been just a minute ago.

  “Magic!” yelled the one who had stood behind Vessa, the leader of the group.

  “Magic!” the others agreed.

  All five of them stared up at Vessa, tilting their heads almost as far up as they would go to gaze up at the tall, gaunt figure.

  “Guru!” said the leader.

  “Guru!” agreed the others.

  The leader bowed down, joining his palms together respectfully. “Pranaam.”

  The others imitated their leader exactly. “Pranaam.”

  Vessa gestured, causing a tiny rain cloud to appear out of nowhere. The cloud hovered over Brum’s head. Vessa uttered a mantra subvocally and it began to rain on Brum, drenching her instantly. Brum stared indignantly for a moment, then realized that the rain was washing the dirt from her face and raised her head, opening her mouth. She filled her mouth with rain and gargled, then produced a spout of water from her mouth. The water splashed over the heads of the other four.

  They didn’t seem to mind. They were busy staring up in awe at the tiny thundercloud over Brum’s head.

  The leader turned back to look at Vessa again. “Guru.”

  The others turned as well, and also said, imitating their leader’s reverential tone, “Guru.”

  Vessa switched off the rain and gestured. The little cloud began to float away, still sparking with lightning as it went. Brum jumped, trying to catch the cloud. A tiny bolt of lightning sparked, striking the tip of her finger. She stopped and looked at the finger, then continued jumping, still trying to catch the cloud. She kept after it until the cloud had dissipated completely.

  Vessa heard a sound from the side of the hut and saw two young women come around the corner, each carrying a pot full of water. The water sloshed and spilled as they both reacted to the sight of Vessa standing in their front yard.

  “Great One!” the elder of the two women cried out as she set down her pot. “Mayla, go tell Shvate at once.” She wrapped her garment over her head and bowed down, joining her palms. “Pranaam, Great One.”

  The younger woman set down her pot as well, spilling most of the water. She turned to run, then stopped, turned back and bowed low, joining her palms. “Pranaam, Great One!” she called out, then ran away.

  Karni picked up her pot and came forward. She bent down and poured water over Vessa’s feet, dusty from the road. She washed his feet, using her hands to clean off the dust and dirt. She touched his feet with her fingertips, then touched the same fingertips to her forehead. “Aashirwaad, Great One.”

  “Ayushmaanbhavya, Karni,” Vessa said warmly.

  Karni stood and looked at the five little children. “I see you have already met our little scoundrels.”

  The leader frowned and shook his head. “Not scoundrels. Krushan.”

  Vessa suppressed a chuckle. “Yes, I have met your Krushan. Their security protocol is quite impressive!”

  Karni stared at her children. “Krushan! Were you troubling our guest? How many times have I told you about that? Poor Seer-Mage Sanathan is still confined to his hut with nervous shivers after the scare you gave him at the riverside last week!”

  Four of them looked down with guilty expressions. Only Brum continued looking upward, staring this way and that, as if searching for something.

  Karni looked at Brum hard. “Brum.”

  Brum looked at Karni. “Cloud. Flew.” She waggled her arms to imitate a bird flying away.

  Karni wagged a finger at Brum. “Brum.”

  Brum pouted and shrugged, then looked down. But when Karni turned away, she sneaked a quick glance again upward, still searching for the lost cloud.

  Karni turned back to Vessa. “Gurudev, pray forgive my little Krushan any rudeness they may have shown you. They are still young and learning.”

  “No apology necessary. They are fine young children full of boundless energy and gifted with great qualities. It is only natural that they would need to exercise their talents.”

  The pattering of feet sounded from behind the hut. Shvate and Mayla appeared from around the corner, running. Shvate fell at the feet of Vessa, touching the sage’s toes.

  “Great One, Father, father of my body and flesh, aashirwaad, Great One.”

  Mayla also touched Vessa’s feet. “Pranaam, Great One. Aashirwaad!”

  “Ayushmaanbhavya, Shvate, Mayla. I was just telling Karni here how I encountered your five Krushan and how meticulously they were protecting the sanctity of your humble abode.”

  Shvate and Mayla immediately turned toward Brum, who happened to be looking upward with one eye closed, her face screwed up with concentration. She suddenly realized that everyone was looking at her and made a face. “Brum! No fight!”

  Vessa laughed. The sound of his harsh, deep voice breaking into laughter made everyone start. He laughed as he hadn’t laughed in years, releasing all his frustration and anger at not finding Jarsun in a long, pealing sequence of amusement. After a moment, Shvate joined in as well, adding his own tenor laugh to the symphony. Karni and Mayla began laughing as well. The five Krushan stared at the adults in astonishment, then joined them. Brum laughed the loudest and the hardest, though she kept stopping to frown and scratch her head, as if wondering what they were laughing at, and squinting up at the sky from time to time.

  3

  “They are asleep at last,” Karni said to Mayla as she returned from putting down the children.

  They had finished their meal and were now sitting on the back porch, enjoying the placid afternoon.

  Vessa indicated the ground nearby, inviting them to sit. Karni and Mayla sat down cross-legged, joining Shvate and Vessa. Vessa puffed on the chillum that Shvate had offered him, enjoying a smoke after the meal. He passed the pipe to Shvate, who took a puff, then passed it to his wives. Karni declined, but Mayla took a long, deep puff, exhaling the smoke with great relish. The tiny creases on her forehead that had appeared in the past year eased a little.

  “It has been a while since I saw the Krushan,” Vessa said. “Has it not?”

  “You were here last on their naming day, Great One,” Karni said.

  “Ah, yes, of course,” Vessa said. “So much has happened since then,
and yet they seem to have grown faster than I recall children growing in such a short time.”

  “They are . . .” Shvate searched for the right word. “Precocious. It is no easy task keeping them in hand.”

  “I’m sure. But that is as it should be. As I was telling Karni earlier, they are extraordinary children with great talents; they must explore their abilities and learn to use them to their advantage. How else will they learn?”

  Mayla nodded. “That is what I also say, Great One. But sometimes their antics are beyond belief. Why, just the other day—”

  Karni touched Mayla’s shoulder gently. “Mayla, let us not spend the little time we have with Great One talking about the children’s mischief. If he has taken the effort to visit us, he must have good reason. Only something of great importance would bring him to our little hut.”

  “You are right, Karni,” Vessa said, exhaling a stream of smoke slowly. “I come on a mission of great importance.”

  “Enlighten us, Great One,” Shvate said. “How may we be of service?”

  Unseen by any of the adults—or so they thought (there was little that a high guru like Vessa would miss)—a small, smooth face had appeared in the window of the second room of the hut, the one from which Karni had emerged a short while earlier. Small hands rubbed the sleep from eyes, and little Arrow, taking care to keep from being clearly seen, peered out at the adults seated on the porch.

  “Not you, Shvate,” Vessa said. “It is I who wish to be of service to you.”

  Shvate exchanged a glance with both his wives. All three of them looked anxious. “You, Great One?” he asked.

  A second face—broader, rounder—appeared beside Arrow’s. Brum grinned as she stuck her head out to see the adults. Arrow shot Brum a stern look. Brum shed her grin and pulled her head back inside, but kept watching.

  A moment later, two more heads popped up beside Brum: Kula and Saha. And then of course, there came a fifth: Yudishira. All five Krushan were now eavesdropping on their parents and their grandfather; though they thought themselves undetectable due to their stealth, the great guru knew their every movement.

  “Indeed.” Vessa set the chillum aside, its work done. “It is time for you all to return to Hastinaga.”

  Mayla’s face lit up at once. Her eyes gleamed. Karni and Shvate exchanged a look which became a shared smile.

  “Now, I know,” Vessa went on, “you will say that you abdicated the throne and took exile of your own volition. But that was when you feared that the rishi Kundaka’s curse would render you incapable of fathering heirs to the Krushan line. That is no longer the case. You have five robust children, each and every one capable of becoming a great leader to Hastinaga and to the empire. All five together are capable of ruling the world—and many worlds besides!”

  The five little faces all lit up with proud smiles. Brum started to speak, but the instant her mouth opened, Yudi turned and looked at her sternly. Brum shut her mouth.

  “Even so, Great One,” Shvate said hesitantly, “I officially and legally abdicated my claim to the throne. I gave my brother Adri my blessing to ascend and even donated all my wealth and possessions.”

  “Wealth and possessions can be regained. Blessings cause no harm to anyone. Your claim was legitimate and well-intended at that time. But circumstances have changed. And these changes in circumstances now cast a shadow on the validity of your abdication.”

  “You refer to our children, Great One?” Karni asked.

  “Indeed. The very existence of the Krushan changes everything. Your son Yudi was the eldest born of his generation. He came into this world well before Adri and Geldry’s eldest son, Dhuryo.”

  The five little faces at the window all silently attempted to mouth the word “Dhuryo,” with varying results.

  “We heard of their good fortune,” Shvate said. “A hundred and one children is a great gift to the Krushan dynasty.”

  Vessa’s face hardened. “One would think so, normally.”

  “But, Great One,” Mayla asked, “doesn’t that contradict Krushan law?”

  “What Mayla means to ask,” Karni added, “is does the fact that they also have progeny give them a legal advantage over us? After all, Shvate abdicated to Adri, and Adri now has children of his own, so legally and logically, shouldn’t the throne pass from Adri to Dhuryo now?”

  Vessa brooded for a moment. “Normally, it might be argued. But the circumstances are not normal. Since Shvate now has children, his abdication is nullified. Therefore he alone is the rightful crown prince, and his eldest born is the next in line.”

  Karni and Mayla exchanged a glance. Mayla gestured to Karni, who then nodded.

  “Gurudev,” Karni said, “Mayla has one more query. She wishes to know whether all at Hastinaga will interpret the law as you do.”

  Vessa nodded slowly. “Possibly not everyone. Certainly not Geldry.”

  Mayla’s eyes narrowed sharply at the sound of Geldry’s name. Karni sighed softly.

  Vessa continued. “But you need have no concerns about any controversy. There will be no arguments over questions of law or succession. I will see to that myself.”

  “You, Father?” Shvate asked.

  “Indeed, my son,” Vessa replied. “I shall accompany you all to Hastinaga and take our case directly to Vrath and Jilana. We need not concern ourselves with anyone else. As Krushan elders, we have a responsibility to decide the fate of the dynasty. This is a matter of family and succession, and we are the family elders.”

  “What about Hastinaga? The nobles, the Senate, the Council?” Shvate asked. “Will they not want to have a say in the matter?”

  Vessa shrugged. “I’m sure they will. Everyone wants to have a say in political matters. But it doesn’t matter what they want or even what they may say. Hastinaga is not a republic. It is a kingdom and a monarchy, and the Burnt Empire is ruled by the Krushan family. Ours are the only voices that matter in this case. But even if it were a republic, this particular issue is one of family succession, not administration or governance.”

  Vessa put a large dark hand on Shvate’s bare white shoulder. “And if it were to come to that, then be sure that the people of Hastinaga love you far, far more than they do Adri.”

  Five little faces smiled brightly at the window.

  “They do, great guru?” Shvate asked, genuinely surprised.

  “Of course they do!” Vessa said, slapping his son hard on the back. “You are the champion of Reygar, the victor of the Battle of the Rebels, the conqueror of Serapi! You won more battles and wars in a short period than even the late Shapaar, your grandfather by law, won in a decade. You are a hero to your people, and they wept grievously when they heard of your abdication and exile.”

  Karni and Mayla exchanged tentative, happy smiles.

  Vessa’s face grew serious again, settling into its deep-etched lines. “But make no mistake about it, Shvate, Karni, Mayla. This is not just about legalities and succession. It is about Krushan.”

  “Shima, Father?” Shvate asked.

  Five little mouths confidentially formed the word “Krushan” silently, proud of themselves for already knowing its meaning and how to pronounce it.

  “Shima, my son. There is a great crisis coming, and it threatens to engulf all Hastinaga, all the Burnt Empire, and even the entire world in its grasp of evil. It is vital that a strong king rule on the Burning Throne. A king who has the strength and courage to fight the vilest enemy. The past decade has already proven that between yourself and Adri, you are by far the greater warrior and king at war.”

  Shvate sighed. “At one time, my brother was quite exceptional too.”

  “Was. But is no more. The crisis approaches now, not in the past. Adri had a spark of courage once but has since lost it. He is now a sad, broken shadow of his former self. I do not wish to speak ill of my own flesh and blood, but it is the truth. He is my son, and I shall always be proud of his achievements, but Hastinaga will not be saved by excuses and compensations.
The times call for a great warrior king. And you are the only one who can fill those shoes. Only you deserve to sit on the Burning Throne. That is why we leave for Hastinaga shortly.”

  “When?” Shvate asked, looking up at the sky.

  At once, five little faces turned to look up at the sky as well.

  “It is late afternoon,” Shvate said. “It will be dark in a few hours. Hastinaga is several days’ walk from here. Even if we are able to find mounts to ride, it will still take two days or more.”

  “And the children,” Karni pointed out, “their little feet cannot walk as quickly as our own over such a long distance.”

  Vessa smiled an enigmatic smile, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the window where five little pairs of eyes were peeping out. At once the five heads bobbed down out of sight. “Your little Krushan have yet to show you the full extent of their abilities. But fear not. We shall neither ride nor walk all the way to Hastinaga. As befits a returning king, you shall arrive home in regal style.”

  Shvate frowned. “But if we neither ride nor walk, how will we travel?”

  “By carriage!” Mayla said, flushed and excited from the conversation—and the chillum. “Royal horse carriage drawn by a team of great horses and liveried footmen!”

  Vessa chuckled. “You shall have plenty of horse carriages and liveried footmen too when you are home, Mayla. Queen Mayla, I should say! But no, we shall make this journey in a far simpler, quicker manner. I shall return tomorrow at sunrise. You must prepare yourselves and the little Krushan for the return home. Tomorrow morning, I shall transport you there using the power of stonefire shakti. We shall take a single step and arrive at Hastinaga in the blink of an eye.”

  The five little faces rose up again at the window, eyes wide with wonder. Guru! they all mouthed silently.

  Shvate’s, Karni’s and Mayla’s faces lit up with joy. Almost at once, the two women looked at each other, then felt their own hair, patting their bodies, and looking down at their hands and feet with dismay.