by Iram Dana
“Uh … in the Indian Ocean.” said Rain.
“The Indian ocean? How can that be? I know of all the islands surrounding India but I have never heard of the Islands of Nimrohi.”
Rain gave himself a mental kick. Of course she would know all about the Indian Ocean. He tried to steer the conversation away somewhere safe.
“Does it matter where I come from? All that matters … is that I somehow win the challenges posed by a woman of your beauty.”
Rain watched the princess’s features harden. She obviously despised empty words of flattery. Two misses already. This had not begun well.
“Shall we proceed, then?” said the princess, eager to have this over and done with.
“Absolutely.” said Rain.
The princess clapped her hands twice, loudly. Three maid servants entered the room carrying three beautiful egg stands with an unshelled egg in each. The stands were placed in front of Rain.
“Your first challenge …” said the princess, gesturing towards the eggs, “you must tell me which of these three eggs is not boiled.”
“Am I allowed to touch them?” asked Rain.
“You are.”
Rain inspected each egg carefully and then picked the one in the middle.
“This egg is not boiled.”
“Why do you say so?”
“Because when I move it around in my hand, I can feel its weight shifting.”
The princess nodded and one of the maid servants cracked open the egg over a silver basin. It was raw.
“You are correct.” said the princess. “Now tell me, of the remaining eggs, which one is hard boiled, and which one soft boiled?”
Rain covered his mouth with his hand to hide his smile. He had known it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“May I have a small spoon?”
He was given one by a maid servant.
Rain picked up the eggs one by one and gently tapped their shells so that tiny, multiple cracks appeared on their surface. Then, he placed them back on their stands.
“The one on the right is the hard-boiled egg, and the one on the left is soft-boiled.”
The princess raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“I’m curious. How did you know?” she asked.
“Tell me first, if I am correct.”
“You are.”
“In that case … I knew which was which, because when the shell of a hard-boiled egg is cracked, then the entire thing separates from the egg inside along with the hard outer layer. The same does not happen if an egg is soft-boiled.”
“Very well, then. Onto the next challenge.” said the princess.
She got up from the couch and led Rain inside a room packed to the capacity with people squatting on the floor.
“Tell me, which of these persons was the last to enter this room?”
Rain scanned the faces that were all now staring at him. Which of these persons had entered this room last? Could it be the one closest to the door? Not necessarily. That person could just as easily have jumped over the shoulders of the others seated here and found a spot for himself somewhere in the middle. Rain turned his attention to the many shoes left outside the door and picked a pair. He held the pair up high, so that everybody could get a good look at them.
“To whom do these shoes belong?” he asked loudly.
A lone gentle man stood up in the middle of the room.
“He’s the one.” said Rain, turning to the princess.
“He is indeed the last one to enter this room. How did you figure that out?” said the princess.
“Since he was the last to arrive, I figured that his shoes would be right at the outer edge of the collection of shoes here. Also, assuming that he would be worried about being late, I looked for the pair that was left most haphazardly. All of the other shoes were left neatly, but these were flung off carelessly.”
There was the faintest hint of admiration in the eyes of the princess as she addressed him once more. “Fair use of logic, prince Rainier. But it does not end here. You must now point out the man who was first to enter this room.”
Rain once again returned his attention to the pile of shoes. He picked a pair that was close to the door, singling out its owner as the first person to enter the room. He was right again.
“Did you take a wild guess this time?” inquired the princess, looking at him curiously.
“No. This person was the first to arrive, that means, the shoes would be placed right near the door.”
“But there were three pairs closest to the door. How did you know which of those belonged to the man who entered first?”
“I assumed that a person who did not want to be late would be a very conscientious person. Such a person would not want his shoes to come in the way of others about to arrive. So I picked the corner-most shoes, the one’s touching the door frame.”
“I confess, I am impressed.”
“Thank-you. Shall we move on?”
“By all means.”
The princess led him out of the palace, onto the orchard. Rain followed behind, wondering why she appeared more displeased with each task that he completed successfully.
Ahead of him, Rain saw a table that had a large bowl of fruits, an exquisite bow and a quiver full of arrows bearing the royal seal lying on it. The princess lifted the bow.
“This is my bow. And beside it, my personal set of arrows. For your third and last challenge, you must tell me which of these arrows is my lucky arrow.”
Rain lifted up the quiver to closely examine the arrows. In the mean-time, the princess sat down on a chair beside the table and proceeded to pluck a few grapes from the fruit bowl and eat them.
Rain found that it was impossible to tell which of these arrows the princess considered to be her lucky one. There were absolutely no distinguishing marks or indicators on any of them that would help Rain tell even one of the arrows apart from the other. They were skillfully crafted and were all exactly alike. How was he supposed to figure out which of these the princess considered lucky? Under the pretext of examining the arrows further Rain thought hard, trying to come upon a possible solution to his dilemma.
A while later, he plucked a leaf out of a tree and then picked a grape from the fruit bowl. He tossed the grape and the leaf high into the air and then shot an arrow through the bow. The arrow split the leaf, pierced the grape, and then hit the bulls-eye of a target attached to a faraway tree.
The princess froze with her hand midway between the bowl and her mouth, fixing her gaze on Rain.
“Think you can equal that?” challenged Rain.
The princess rose from her seat. “I can better that.” she said with a lift of her chin.
She proceeded to pick three grapes from the bowl and pulled an arrow randomly out of the quiver. She tossed the grapes into the air and pulled the arrow on the bow-string, taking aim and letting it fly. It shot ahead, pierced all three grapes and then hit Rain’s arrow, neatly splitting it into two and hitting the bulls-eye.
Rain turned to face the princess with a triumphant expression.
“That, princess, is your lucky arrow!” he announced.
“What makes you so sure?” asked the princess.
“From what you have just done, it is clear that you are a highly skilled archer. And the possessor of such skills needs no lucky arrow. For one such as you, every arrow is a lucky arrow because your arrows will never miss their target.”
The princess stared at him for a few seconds with an unfathomable expression.
“You have successfully completed all three challenges …” she whispered, as though in a trance.
She walked haltingly over to her chair and sat down on it stiffly.
“If I have completed all your challenges, why do you appear so sad?” inquired Rain.
The princess did not answer. She turned her face to the side, but not before Rain saw a tear roll down her cheek.
“Princess, is something wrong?” said Rain softly, going close to h
er and kneeling down beside her chair.
“You have won fair and square. I cannot go back on my word. You are free to marry me if you wish.”
Rain looked at the guards surrounding them from every side.
“As your future husband-to-be, I demand a moment to speak with you alone.” said Rain, using his most commanding voice.
The princess waved the guards away and they retreated obediently back into the palace, but not out of view. By the time they cleared out of the orchard, the princess had regained her composure.
“You may speak freely now.” she said to Rain.
“I have a secret to reveal. But before I do that, I need some honest answers from you.” said Rain.
The princess took a deep breath. “My father always said, in order to achieve great things, we must be prepared to make great sacrifices. Earning your trust is important to me. I shall, therefore, answer all your questions honestly.”
Rain was sitting there, admiring the bravery and candor of the princess, when he felt something crumble around his neck. Without knowing it, the princess had just given him his next wisdom. In order to achieve great things, we must be prepared to make great sacrifices; Rain repeated the words in his mind and then turned his attention to the matter at hand.
“Princess, I need to know … I have won your competition … yet you appear very disturbed by that. Why? Is there someone else your heart beats for?”
She tried valiantly to keep her composure and it took a visible effort from her to do it.
“Yes, I was in love … with Saleh. He is my father’s foremost advisor. He is intelligent, kind, honest … he has every quality I have ever wanted in a husband. I set up this entire challenge as an excuse for him to be able to marry me. But it seems my affections were misplaced because he didn’t participate at all.”
The princess let out a sad sigh. “And I was so sure that he felt for me the way I felt for him. Nevertheless …” said the princess, squaring her shoulders, “it is too late now. I must turn my heart and mind away from that which I desire, and try instead to make the best of what is destined for me.”
Rain shook his head.
“No, princess. You will have exactly what your heart desires.”
Her eyes locked onto his. “What do you mean?” she whispered.
“I mean, that I didn’t really come here to win your hand in marriage. I came here to find out if you love Saleh … the same way he loves you.”
The princess gasped and the guards drew out their spears. She waved at them and they relaxed their stance. “What are you trying to say? That Saleh loves me?” she whispered.
“Yes. Very much.”
The princess narrowed her eyes, eyeing Rain suspiciously. “Who are you? You are no prince from Nimrohi. In fact, I am sure now that no such Island exists. And why are you doing this? What do you want from me?”
“Whether I am from Nimrohi or not, it no longer matters. Firstly, because I have won your challenge and secondly, because I am a friend and you can trust me. Saleh does. In fact, he’s the one who helped me get here in the first place.”
“Really? Then you should be able to tell me why he didn’t he enter the challenge if he loves me like you claim? It would have been a piece of cake for him.”
“Because you set the competition for princes of all lands, and he is only a vizier. That’s why.”
The princess couldn’t believe her ears. “Are you speaking the truth?”
“On my life, I swear.”
She looked crestfallen as the truth in his words hit her.
“That is all? That is all?! Oh, that foolish, foolish man! Whatever am I to do now?” she said, wringing her hands in dismay.
“It’s very simple. Throw your challenge open to all those who hold any place of importance in their king’s courts. That way, Saleh will not only get a chance to participate, he will also understand that you want him to. Once he realizes that you love him, I can guarantee you that he will be the first in line for your hand.”
The princess’ face cleared and she smiled a dazzling smile.
“Why didn’t I think of that? I shall do exactly as you have advised. As for you …I apologize for my rudeness. How can I thank you, prince Rainier, or whoever you may be?”
“Don’t mention who I am or what I did to anybody.” said Rain with a smile. “Now, I’d like to be on my way.”
“All right. I will have the guards escort you to the city gates. Goodbye and good luck with your life.”
“I wish you the same.”
Rain bade the princess goodbye and left the palace, but not before being straddled with a sack full of gold coins as a token of the princess’s appreciation. Rain distributed most of the coins to the poor, keeping only five for himself as a souvenir, before exiting the city gates.
Once he was outside, he set the horse gifted to him by Saleh free in the woods and sat down to wait. What he was anticipating didn’t take long to happen. When the rushing of the wind stopped all was quiet, Rain found that he was back - not at the desert with Heart and Subodh - but on Ruby Mountain, exactly where he had been when he had been pulled into the city of Marut.
*****
CHAPTER 18
Rain’s first reaction was to punch the air and go: “Oh yeah! Now I get to collect my wisdom!”
Then, he took a look at the bottom of the mountain, where a lone bush stood waiting and the wind fizzed out of his happy balloon.
“Oh, no! She’s still there!” groaned Rain. “How long is she going to remain this way? I’ve been away for a month now and look, she hasn’t budged an inch!”
“In my estimation, she will probably wait for you for the next one hundred years after which, she will finally accept that you are not going to return. By then, she will also understand the folly of falling in love with one who is not of her kind and then … she will either come to seek retribution or she will move on. All of the above is, of course, only an assumption.” said his Geeya.
“One hundred years …” breathed Rain.
“Yes. Demons do not have the same life span as a human. They live for eight hundred years on average. In the next hundred years, she will reach the maturity level of a human twenty-five year old year old.”
“Well, a hundred years from now I’m definitely going to be dead, so I don’t have to worry about her coming to wring my neck in the dead of the night.”
“I guess …” said his Geeya with a pensive frown. Rain peered intently at her pretty face.
“Okaay … I know I have plenty of cause to worry, but why do you look so worried?” he asked.
“Do you remember what Master Shengdu said on the day of the Naming Ceremony? He said; be mindful of your actions, because what goes around comes around.”
“I remember that. But what has that got to do with any of this?”
“Rain, somewhere in this universe you have sown the seeds of betrayal. Regardless of what the demon chooses to do, I am afraid this might come back to you.”
“But it’s not something I wanted to do. I had to save my life.” argued Rain.
“I agree. Besides, on your way up here you freed many sequestors from the curse of Ruby Mountain. Hopefully, that will cancel out the energies of what happened below.”
“You’ve got me really worried now. Whatever happens, I hope this doesn’t have the snowball effect.”
“The snowball effect?” repeated his Geeya.
“You know… roll a small snowball from the top of the mountain and it keeps collecting ice until it’s this giant, destructive thing.”
“Ah, yes. One must hope that that does not happen.”
There was the sound of movement behind and Rain turned to find Naaga appearing from the mouth of the cave followed by the new Queen cobra, and hope flared in his chest.
“So … you have returned.” said Naaga.
“Yes, I had to leave for another Quest at that time.”
“I see…”
Naaga breathed out a plume of
white smoke.
“You have kept your word and brought me my Queen. For your efforts, I would like to reward you. Name it, and it shall be yours.” commanded Naaga.
So this had been a Quest after all. And now he would get to collect his wisdom.
“I would like a wisdom as my reward.” said Rain.
“A queer request… nonetheless, this is your wisdom. ‘If ever you are wronged in life, do not waste your time trying to tell everyone that you are right. Instead … show them.’”
Rain repeated the words in his head and felt a claw crumble to dust on his chain. The Queen then slithered forward.
“You are the reason I am here. Therefore, I would like to reward you as well. Tell me what you would like, sequestor.”
Rain threw an uneasy glance over his shoulder at the waiting bush.
“Could you help me get back to the desert without having to go back down and cross the River of Reptiles?”
“Get on my back and hold on tight.” said the Queen.
Rain climbed onto the Queen’s scaly back and caught her sides firmly.
“I’m ready.”
The Queen Cobra shot into the air and up into the clouds. Rain watched Ruby Mountain and the bush waiting below pass by as they flew above it all. Soon, they were out of the forest. A few hours later, the oasis came into view.
“Over there!” he called out to the Queen cobra, who landed smoothly and then slithered over to the oasis. Rain got off her back when she halted.
“I would like to drink some milk.” said the Queen, her green eyes glittering.
“I’ll get it at once.” said Rain, running off in the direction of their tent.
Heart, who was pulling some water out of a well, came running over as soon as he spotted Rain.
“Welcome back, brother Rain! You didn’t tell us you were going for a fancy dress party!”
Rain looked at himself. He was still wearing the royal finery that Saleh had lent him.
“Oh, these … I’ll explain later. Right now, the Queen cobra is waiting on the outskirts of this oasis and she wants some milk.”