Downfall – Part 17

“Did you see how long Neelkantha was stuck on that ledge? You should have been there with us, it was hilarious.”

“Shh, not so loudly, you imbecile! You’ll get what Ramani got if you don’t keep your mouth shut.”

The four soldiers sat in a large niche where a small building had once existed in the old city of Amaravati. Leaning against the crumbling stone walls, a rather precarious-looking remnant of a roof above them, they were bent over their bowls of hot rabbit and parsley stew.

“All right, all right,” the first man said, blowing on a spoonful of the stew. “But I wish you’d been there. Me and the boys must have spent an hour laughing about it after.”

“Shows what you do when you’re not given any work to do,” the second soldier spoke. “How’d you even qualify for the army?”

“Will you stop being such a pompous ass, Vasu?” said the third soldier. “You’re not even a rank above Bharani, what have you got to show for all your hard bloody work?”

“For god’s sake, it’s lunch,” the fourth man said. “Can we please talk about something more pleasant than the stick up Vasu’s arse?”

Everyone laughed except Vasu. Bharani turned his head in the direction of the wide building with the domed ceiling Karna had appropriated for his meeting chambers. It was the only building of its size that the engineers had deemed structurally sound, and Karna had at once set about having the building swept and cleared of unsightly creepers and cobwebs. The work hadn’t been easy, lasting several days — and this was after his army had been forced to retreat from a war they were losing badly. Morale had been at its lowest then, and even the ironfisted lord had had to deal with insubordination from his men.

But things seemed to be looking up. For now, at least.

“I wonder what they’re talking about in there,” Bharani said absently. “It’s seems like hours that they’ve locked themselves up in there.”

“We should just push a boulder in front of the doors and go back home,” the fourth man, Keshava, said. “We’d have no more bloody wars to fight because Karna has his eye on a girl half his age.”

“And Neelkantha’s men?” Vasu said in the acerbic fashion they’d all come to recognise so well. “And all the other kings’ armies? I suppose they’ll just let us go.”

Keshava laughed. “They can come with us, too. I don’t think they’re itching to die in this war, either.”

“You’ve got to stop taking things so literally, Vasu,” said Anil, the third soldier, chuckling as he blew on a spoonful of stew.

“Do you think Neelkantha knows about the princess?” Bharani said, still staring at the conference building. “They couldn’t have taken her very far—“

“Will you shut up, Bharani?” Keshava said, glaring at him. He lowered his voice to an angry whisper, shifting his gaze about him so he knew no one was too close to eavesdrop. “Don’t you remember what Karna said? No one breathes a bloody word of it to anyone. There’s men in our army who still don’t know we have her. For god’s sake, man, think for a second before you open your mouth.”

Vasu shook his head disapprovingly. “I told you he’s a blockhead.”

Bharani’s hurt expression did nothing to soften the glares he was receiving. “I wasn’t going to say anything. I was only asking if—“

“There’s really no need to,” Anil said. “Karna has his own plans for her is my guess. Why else keep it all so secret? If Neelkantha knew, we’d all know he knew by now.”

“And if we can all shut our mouths about it, I think we’d all be better off,” Vasu said.

The next few minutes passed in silence, as the men slowly ate their stew, the sounds of slurping and chewing taking the place of conversation. It was a while before Bharani spoke again.

“Is that where they took Ramani, do you think?”

“That old dog?” Anil said. He grinned as he leaned back against the wall, setting his bowl down. “God knows where they’re keeping him. They best keep her away from him, though. He’ll try something if not, I guarantee you.”

The others laughed at that. “Still,” Keshava said, “I’d have liked to ask him how he got Naveen’s wife to let him warm her bed like that.”

Vasu smirked. “From what I heard, the woman wanted it. Badly. Naveen’s no picnic to be around, you know. I think Ramani just got lucky finding her. Could have happened to any of us.”

“Oh, I bet, Vasu. I bet Suvarna’s legs would have spread the moment she set eyes on you. You’ll charm the blouse right off her shoulders, won’t you, you animal?”

Vasu glared at the others as they doubled over, laughing.

“Oh, I think he’s getting angry,” said Bharani, chuckling harder. “I think it’s our cue to look afraid.

The four soldiers sat there for a time, talking and joking as an hour passed by. But then it was time to return to work, for the lord they served was planning their next expedition, and he knew that if he were to have a chance this time, his army couldn’t afford to be idle.

---

The meeting chambers echoed with the sounds of impassioned voices, the old, pocked granite blocks still capable of echoing their voices. The air was stifling and stagnant, as if it had already entered the lungs

“If we were to approach from the east, we’re simply exposing either side of the army to attack. If they manage to skewer us down the middle, we’d be split in half and have no way of regrouping.”

“Exactly! We have to take the canyon pass. Only one side of the force will be open to attack, and that’s where we can put all our shield-bearers. Besides, the canyon could provide us with a swift mode of retreat if something goes wrong.”

“Or it could give the enemy an easy way to approach us unseen and take us by surprise. The sword swings both ways.”

“We should split the army into fronts. Approaching the Pallavas from multiple directions will make it harder for them to form a solid defence. Bhagiratha can’t be everywhere at once.”

“But if the factions are too small, we’ll be easy pickings for a bigger force. We need to be there to support each other on the field.”

Lord Karna sat with his elbows resting on the wide, makeshift conference table at the centre of the room, head bowed as volley after volley of words were shouted from one end to the other. Over the last half hour he’d watched as control had slowly been wrested from his hands and the meeting had lost all semblance of order. This was hardly the way he’d seen this meeting going, given his vision for the direction the war would take. It was only the first meeting, he tried to convince himself. But first appearances always counted for something.

Neelkantha was silent at his corner of the table, sitting beside Queen Ranganayaki with his arms folded. There was rarely one voice at the table, but his sharp, observant eyes followed one man as he spoke, regarding him with great focus until his gaze shifted, almost randomly, to another man who’d just begun talking. Occasionally he’d confer briefly with Ranganayaki, who was also silent all this time. Karna frowned.

Why isn’t he saying anything? All he’s done this entire time is sit and watch these men bicker over petty details. They’ll listen to him, and he knows it. He’s the one with the most stakes in this war, and yet he doesn’t think it necessary to intervene?

The sound assaulted Karna’s ears. He could barely make out anything coherent anymore, a jumble of words that he only heard but couldn’t possibly understand. He could hear snatches of argument as they broke through the riotous churning of voices, echoing back from the lifeless grey walls, adding to the confusion. Even the clothes Karna was wearing seemed to irritate his skin, an acute sensation that seemed only to have crept in now. His face was growing flushed and hot, and he felt unbearably warm in his silk shirt and dhoti.

He balled his fists and stood suddenly.

“My lords,” he said, loud enough that everyone heard it over the sound of their own voices. They turned their heads in his direction, a hint of surprise on their brows. When he spoke again, he did so with a neutral countenance, his voice steady.

“Is it fair of me to ask you, my you lords and kings, to travel two hundred miles with your armies, into a forest you’ve never seen before, all so that we can sit here in this council room and banter? I’d be doing all of you disservice if that were the case, but it’s not. We’re all experienced military men, are we not? And you as well, my queen. But the more I think on it, the more I understand that this war is anything but ordinary. You have fought wars, my lords, but none like this one. I say that with unshakeable conviction. For it’s not merely the Pallavas we’re fighting. The Vani kingdom, the Mukthis, the Shauryas. All of them are allied with Bhagiratha, among others. They will fight to their last man if it means their honour.

“The enemy’s threat is a far bigger one than any of us has ever faced before. Strategies that have held you in good stead all these years are of no use to you anymore. Not against them. And more important than anything else — we can’t let us get in each other’s way. We’re all fighting this war against Bhagiratha together. We need to work that way, too. A council room of discord and confusion will only serve to break apart any discipline on the battlefield. For the sake of our kingdoms and our people — and ourselves — we must take more care we don’t lose sight of the horizon for what lies before it.”

The council room was steeped in a silence Karna didn’t quite know how to interpret, but he didn’t get the sense that it was anything pleasant. He felt their gazes upon his person and as his eyes scanned the room to look at their faces, he saw there was little warmth to be found in them. He felt a slight panic in the back of his mind, for he’d chosen to interrupt a room full of headstrong kings and noblemen, men who took none too kindly at having their words questioned. They wouldn’t hesitate to abandon this venture altogether if they felt their dignity was hanging in the balance.

If even a few of them decide to leave, I can be sure no one will have the confidence enough to stand by me any longer.

A voice spoke then, breaking the silence. “Is that what we’ve been doing?” Karna turned to see that it was Neelkantha. His heart dropped. “Is it, Karna? Have we been getting in each other’s way and harrying your attempts to plan this war?”

Karna could have averted his gaze from the Chedi king’s, but something compelled him to lock eyes with the man. He swallowed. “Yes…your Majesty.”

Was it disdain in the faces of the other lords? Was it disgust? Or perhaps outrage. He couldn’t say, for he didn’t look. He was only looking at Neelkantha as he leaned back in his chair and gestured to all of the councilmen. The king had a sad smirk on his face.

How did it slip from my hands so easily?

“My lords,” Neelkantha spoke, the sound like a death knell to Karna’s ears. “He speaks the truth.”

Karna started. Not quite sure he’d heard him right, he watched the king straighten in his chair.

“We’ve sat here for how long, my lords? Half the day has passed, and that’s nearly all the time we’ll spend in this building together. But what has come of it? We’ve decided we can’t consolidate our armies into one large group, but that doesn’t take a war council to work out.

“Karna spoke the truth when he said we’ve never faced an enemy this numerous. You’ve all fought battles in your day, but a war between half the continent isn’t a matter that affords time for internal conflict. You all wish to contribute, and for that I’m glad, but when someone lays down an idea only to have another knock it aside to make place for his, we can’t build anything strong enough to face the Pallavas. That will be our undoing.”

There was an uncomfortable shift in the air, and Karna felt the hostility aimed at him souring into shame. He still couldn’t believe that Neelkantha had said what he had. He saw some of the lords, heads bowed, muttering to each other. Some of them nodded, others shook their heads. Karna was always afraid the roof in conference building was weak, that it wasn’t fit to be used for anything despite his engineers’ reassurances. And yet in that moment he wished the roof would cave in and tumble to the ground, if only to let some air and sun into the stale, gloomy interior.

Neelkantha stood abruptly. “I think we’ve all had enough of councilwork for the day. I suggest all of you think deeply on what I said. It will serve you well in the days to come, or you will not serve our cause any further. I leave the fate of our kingdoms in your hands, for no one can know the stakes of this war better than the ones fighting it.”

As the king pulled his chair aside and stepped away from the table, he swung his gaze in Karna’s direction, meeting his eyes. With a nod of his head, he gestured to the part of the room that was empty, walking slowly towards it. Chairs scraped noisily on the ground as the councilmen themselves stood and replaced their seats under the table. A low murmur pervaded the echoing chamber, and it seemed as though the whole hall was filled with a soft, encapsulating hum of sound.

Karna walked up to where Neelkantha was standing. He ignored some of the looks he got, the glances cast in his direction as he stopped in front of the Chedi king.

“Your Majesty,” he began, shaking his head as he looked down at his feet. “I must thank you for intervening there. In truth, I thought I was the only one who felt as I did. I was beginning to think the others would abandon the effort entirely. If you hadn’t—“

“There’s no need to thank me yet,” Neelkantha said, raising a hand. “These men are proud and their egos are easily hurt. They won’t abandon the war for a perceived slight like this. Alliances have been formed on both sides, and neither I nor Bhagiratha take fickleness lightly. But you can certainly look forward to petty thrusts and jabs coming your way in the coming weeks. Maybe even for as long as this whole expedition lasts. One can’t really say.”

“I’m not too worried about that, your Majesty—“

“You should be. Men do terrible things if it means they get the upper hand.”

Karna didn’t say anything to that, but their gazes were locked together, and he saw the intensity in Neelkantha’s eyes. He could see a thousand different thoughts churning behind them, a constant storm of thoughts freshly stirred by the council meeting he’d just ended. He couldn’t read Neelkantha’s expression, but somehow he sensed trust wasn’t among them.

“But you spoke honestly today,” Neelkantha said tersely, his lips characteristically taut. “They needed to hear the truth, and it wouldn’t have struck them quite as hard coming from me. For that much I’m glad. I wasn’t sure you had it in you.”

“Is that why you asked me those questions?”

A wry smirk touched the king’s lips. “Just a little test. To see if you’d hold your ground or cave like half the buildings in this bloody city.”

Karna snorted. “And did I pass it?”

“It isn’t over yet.”

Neelkantha glanced one last time his way before he turned towards the open doorway, striding out of the building.

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Downfall – Part 16

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Oh, Shashi, if only you were with me right now.

Nalini sat in a corner of the damp, desolate cell, head nestled between her knees as she stared emptily at the iron bars standing between her and the corridor beyond. Two inches thick, she reckoned, certainly not more. Two inches was all he needed to keep Nalini trapped in there, to keep her from escaping and running back home into the arms of Father and Mother. If even one of the bars were to disappear, she could slip through the opening and…

And what? Run back home? How? I don’t even know where I am. How would I find my way out of a forest? They’d set their hounds on my scent and catch me before I got two miles.

Nalini shook her head, raising her gaze so she looked up at the cold stone ceiling. The mortar holding the great granite blocks together looked old, brittle. She wasn’t sure how strong it was. She imagined one of the blocks right above her breaking loose, crashing down on top of her. Her skull would be shattered, crushed under the impact. Maybe the whole building would come crashing down on top of her after that. It wouldn’t matter then, she’d be dead already. Her body never to be found under that huge pile of damp, slick stone.

Would that be a better fate than what Karna plans for me, I wonder? It would be faster, to be sure. Over in a second, almost painless. At least the king and queen wouldn’t need bother themselves looking for me.

She leaned back, stretching out her legs before her. The smell of excrement reached her, mixed with urine, carried to her cell on a draught through some tiny window on the other side of the building. She’d gotten used to the smells by now, and windows the size of arrowslits did nothing to spare her of them.

Were they even searching for her, she wondered. Father wanted to send me off. Marry me and watch my back as I left the city on a strange prince’s chariot. Both of them, Father and Mother, they always told me they loved me, but did they? Or were they supposed to tell me those things? He said it was for the war, but Father seemed so eager to watch me go. Perhaps he doesn’t even care. Or perhaps he’s just hoping to get me back so he can save face before those ingratiating lords of his. Maybe that’s all I am. An object of his ego, of his family’s bloody dignity.

Her eyes were wet, clouding over, but she didn’t want the tears to flow. It was warm here in the cell, but she felt so cold. Insects and vermin she’d never seen before skittered across the ground, their hideous bodies briefly visible when they passed under one of the small windows. But the sounds they made were always there, and she could never tell how close or far they were. They could be scurrying around the far end of her cell, or they could be right there, next to her, crawling on the slick floor on their little insectile feet. She didn’t even want to think about the rats, or where they went after she fell asleep.

At the far end of the building she heard a heavy wooden door scream on its hinges. She remembered that door. Karna, not wanting to take any chances, had blindfolded Nalini until they’d arrived at the prison. The sight of the decrepit old ruin, fraught with thick creepers that seemed to strangle the stone structure in a leafy net, had made her whimper. But Nalini hadn’t wept, nor had she sobbed. Not in front of Karna or his men. The door they went through was warped, rotting in places, but it was so thick it didn’t matter. They’d pulled her inside, dragged her to her cell past a long row of empty ones. She’d felt a keen, icy fear dig into her spine as she looked around her, realising she was the only one in this place. She’d never been by herself in the king’s palace, let alone…here.

And now she heard that same door open for the second time that day. It was too early for lunch, wasn’t it? Had she so totally lost track of time? Nalini didn’t hear any voices, only footsteps as they descended to the cell floor level. There must have been at least three. Hard boots, those only soldiers wore, and what sounded like thin leather slippers slapping against the stone steps. A prisoner?

Her heart jumped for a second. If that were true, she wouldn’t be alone down here anymore. There would be someone else. Someone to talk to, at least, and –

You’re in a prison. What kind of people do you think they send to prison, Nalini? Don’t be a fool. You’re probably worse off now than when you were alone.

The footsteps drew closer, stopping two, maybe three cells away. She crawled to the cell bars, trying to fit her head between two of them and see what was going on. All she could make out were the uniforms of two of Karna’s soldiers. They pushed a man roughly through a cell door, shutting it behind him. There was a scuffle as the man got to his feet, but the guards were already turning the key to the lock.

“How sure is he this place won’t collapse?” one of the soldiers said to the other.

The second man chuckled, shaking his head. “He’s pretty damn sure, but that’s hardly good enough, is it? He’s no mason.”

“Shouldn’t we tell him? Just so he knows? She’s in here after all-“

“Shut up, you idiot! Didn’t the lord tell you not to speak of her? Neelkantha’s here, and his whole damn retinue. Can you imagine what they’d do if they found out?”

Their voices grew fainter as they walked away, climbing up the stairs. When the door closed, the walls echoed with a deep boom, and it seemed to fill the entire building. Nalini was still gazing down the corridor when her mind went to what the soldiers were speaking about. Her eyes widened suddenly.

Neelkantha? King Neelkantha? What the hell is he doing here? Does he know where I am?She was still looking out of her cell when she saw hands wrap around the cell bars down the row, a portion of the man’s head poke out as he turned left in the direction he’d come from, as if looking for the guards. He started to turn right.

Nalini gave out a small cry as she pushed herself away from the bars and ou of sight.

“Huh?” she heard the man faintly grunt. “Anyone else here? Hello?” There was a pause for a moment.

“Oh, come one, don’t be so silent,” the man said. “It’s going to get awful lonely down here soon enough, and I hate not having someone to talk to. Don’t you? Come on now, let me hear a name. Just a little hello, at least. Anything.”

Nalini crawled soundlessly to the corner, staying deathly silent as she listened to the man’s curious droning. He sounded rather young – in his late twenties, she guessed. But she didn’t know what to say to him. What could she say? Look at this place! It’s dark and damp and crawling with vermin and there’s a strange man three cells away from me and no one else. What the hell am I supposed to do?

She sat in the same corner of her cell, listening to the man ask the cold, deaf walls for a name, for a voice, for anything so he’d know for sure there was someone else down there with him. She didn’t reply.

---

Nalini was awakened by the sound of the door to the prison building screeching open. She bolted upright, wincing at the pain in her neck. She must have slept in the wrong position, sleeping against the wall, and for a moment it felt as if she couldn’t even move her head. A guard trotted down the stairs, and he came closer, then stopped. He opened a door that gave out a small creak. Must be the meal doors. Lunchtime.

Nalini hated that she was having to eat food offered to her like a caged beast, and by her father’s greatest enemy no less. She felt like an animal, being thrown scraps of meat through the cell doors. But then a pang of hunger gripped her stomach, and she felt her belly rumble painfully. Dying for her ego didn’t seem to her the smartest course of action to her. Especially not starving to death.

The guardsman walked further down the corridor to her cell.

“Where are you going with that?” the other prisoner called out. “Is there someone else in there?”

Nalini assumed the prison guards were forbidden from speaking with the prisoners, because the man didn’t so much as react. He just opened the small metal door in the cell bars, placed the dented tin plate on the floor, closed the door and walked back the way he’d come.

“Please, it’s quieter than a abandoned bloody cellar in here,” the other man said. “Can you at least tell me who you got in that cell over there? What did he do?”

But the guard didn’t respond, walking past his cell as if he’d heard nothing. The voice went silent for several seconds. When they heard the great wooden door close shut, the voice perked up again.

“Silent type, aren’t you?” the other man said. “You’ve got to be feeling lonely down here. Bored, at least. Come on, tell me who you are. My name is Ramani.”

Nalini said nothing, staring at the plate with two rotis and a watery curry poured in it. He knew she was there. What was the harm in speaking with him a little? He couldn’t get to her if he wanted to. At least the iron cell bars gave her that solace. She was safe, and she was dreadfully lonely.

But she still felt some trepidation. She didn’t know why, but she did. Her thoughts were being chased at their heels by an inexplicable, irrational fear. She didn’t know the man. She hadn’t even seen his face, let alone meet him. Who could say who he was, and how much of what he said was the truth? Besides, she was no ordinary prisoner. What if he knew people? For certainly there were people, she was sure of it, who’d pay handsomely to see her head mounted on a spear. King Neelkantha’s image rose in her mind like a ghostly apparition, forming out of the depths of her dark imaginings and stepping into the fore. That one image pushed aside all her other thoughts as if they were wisps of cloud, and she quaked at the thought of who might pass through that door next.

Those guards spoke Neelkantha’s name. Didn’t they? They said he’s here with Karna. I couldn’t have heard that right, could I? Why would Karna have invited Neelkantha here? Unless…

He means to sell me off to him.

There was no other explanation. Nalini breathing grew faster, and she felt cold hands wrap her limbs, close around her throat. She shut her eyes, half-expecting to be grabbed by those hands and pulled out of the cell, thrown at Neelkantha’s feet, left to his mercy.

And what mercy would he show me? He must think I’ve killed his son. Everyone must think that. What do they know of the truth?

A million thoughts swirled restlessly inside Nalini’s head, and she didn’t realise she’d been watching that same plate for the past several minutes. The only sounds were the sounds of the forest outside the building, faintly audible through the thick stone walls. The floor beneath her was cold and hard against her skin that had all her life only touched silk and soft velvets. There was no warmth, there was barely any light, not even something soft to sleep on. Her lips shook as she sat there, her eyes welling with tears. She wiped them, reaching forward to pull the plate toward her. The roti was tough, the curry bland and cold. Nalini slowly chewed, and now she didn’t care to wipe the tears as they flowed down her despondent face.

When she had eaten, she slumped forward, pushing the plate back towards the meal door. Just then she heard a voice.

“I hear you, you know,” Ramani said. “I don’t what you’re trying to do, but keeping to yourself is rather pointless in a place like this. I’m not asking for much. Just a small hello. Tell me your name. Or if you don’t-“

“For god’s sake, please shut your mouth,” Nalini said. Her head was starting to ache, a dull, throbbing pain that felt to her like invisible fingers trying to crush her skull from all sides. She sat against the wall behind her, legs splayed out in exhaustion.

“A girl?” Ramani said, genuine astonishment in his voice. “They put girls in prisons like these? I had no idea. You sound so young.”

“What is it to you?” Nalini said, burying her head in her hands.

“Nothing,” he said. “It’s nothing to me. But I’m surprised. I underestimated how ruthless Karna was. He can be a real bastard, can’t he? Either that, or he’s just got nowhere else to keep you.”

Nalini stayed silent. What did he want from her? Why couldn’t he just stop talking?

“So what are you in for?” Ramani went on. “What did you do? Must have been pretty bad, they don’t put girls in here because they lifted a purse.”

She still didn’t say anything. She reminded herself that she wasn’t an ordinary prisoner. People were spreading rumours about her, she wagered, and none of them would be anything good.

But he’s a simple peasant. Or he sounds like one at least. He won’t shut up if I don’t answer him, that’s for certain. He’s harmless.

“That bad, eh?” Ramani said, snickering.

“I didn’t do anything,” Nalini snapped. What does he think of me? That I’m some sort of criminal?

“Oh, everybody says that,” he said, still laughing. “So what did you really do?”

Nalini shifted on the stone slab she was sitting on. She took several seconds to answer. “I’m not a criminal.”

She thought she heard him sigh. “Look, I know it’s not my place to judge you for what you did. I’m no saint, that’s obvious enough. But there’s got to be a reason they dragged you all the way here, isn’t there? They don’t put girls in a prison like this unless they really had a reason.”

“What reason did they have to bring you here?” Nalini said quickly.

“It’s…well, it’s a long story.”

“Does it look like we’re short on time here?”

“So this is what it sounds like when I talk,” Ramani said.

Nalini snorted, cracking a small smile. “Well? What’s your story?”

“It started a while ago,” he said. “Before we even came to this forest. I have a – had – a friend. Naveen. We were stationed at the same fort. You know Fort Durga, don’t you? It protects Malli city, where Lord Karna lives. So that’s where the two of us were. Night duty on the fort walls. Did it rain? Doesn’t matter. Did it chill our skin to crackling frost under our armour? Doesn’t matter, you were on night duty and if they saw you slacking off or – God forbid – sleeping on your shift…it’s not something I like describing.

“Anyway, this friend of mine, Naveen, he has a wife and two children. Beautiful family. But his wife…oh lord, that woman. I shouldn’t be speaking such things to a young woman like yourself, but you should have seen her. She was bewitching, oh that she was. I couldn’t lay my eyes off her the morning Naveen brought me home for a meal. Never could forget her, not in a hundred years. How a fellow like Naveen wound up with that jewel will be a mystery I couldn’t for the life of me figure out. She was all I wanted since that day.

“I got to meeting her more often after that. Right charming I was, saying all the right things to sweeten her up. Oh, you should see her blush. Suvarna looks like a rose has kissed her cheeks when she smiles like that, all shy. Her eyes trapped me like a caged bear in heat, I swear to you. Nothing I’ve ever felt before has ever been so surreal, and nothing after, either. Naveen had never treated her right, and it broke my heart. The way he’d shout at her because she didn’t put enough salt in his curry or dry the bread too much over the flame. How do you treat that perfect lotus so brutish? That man was an animal, I tell you.

“I didn’t want to see her hurt anymore. I’ll admit, I had my own interest in the matter myself, for who can resist that beauty? But it was mostly I wanted her to be happy. So I paid this medicine man a little extra and got him to make this little powder for me. Nothing too fancy, I wasn’t planning to kill poor Naveen. Just wanted to nudge him the right way.”

Ramani paused, and Nalini could hear him shifting in his cell, as if trying to find a more comfortable position to sit in in preparation for what was to come next.

“So I took that powder, slipped it in a pocket where no one would look and went to the mess hall early one evening. Got one plate for myself and one for Naveen. Dinner before night duty is always had at the mess hall, you see. Just a rule in the army. Some say it’s so the wife’s cooking doesn’t churn your stomach in case there’s enemies you’ve got to fend off. Dinner’s always balanced, feels just right. So I got us our plates and I sat down. I had to make sure no one was looking, and I took a couple of pinches of the stuff, spread it on Naveen’s plate. Mixed it up a bit and waited for him.

“You should have seen the way he slept that night. Don’t think I’ve seen hogs sleep that peacefully. Nothing I did could rouse him. What did do the trick eventually was the lieutenant’s shoe when he drove it between Naveen’s legs.”

Ramani laughed aloud. “How that boy howled.” He chuckled for some time, sighing as his voice tapered off.

“He was dragged off to the army prison. If you think this place is bad, you’ve never seen army prisons. At least here you’re not beaten within an inch of your life every other day. Poor Naveen, the things he’s had to endure because of that one dinner he ate. But that next morning I strolled into his house and took Suvarna in my arms. She was scared at first. What if Naveen got back and saw us? No chance of that, I told her. She laughed when I told her the story. I still remember that laugh. Just as sweet as the rest of her.

“It was late afternoon by the time I left her house, though I wished I didn’t have to. I visited her nearly every day after that for a month. The best month of my life. But then it was time for Naveen to be released. He’d languished long enough, the cellkeepers probably decided. He was like a dog when I saw him come out. Pathetic. Just so…it was just pathetic, there’s nothing else to say.

“The next week, Lord Karna arrived at the fort. He’d had to retreat after that Bhagiratha fellow drove him back. So we all packed up and left for this damn forest. No deeper sorrow have I felt than that day, for that was the day Suvarna and I were forced to part ways.

“All that time I’d thought no one had seen me enter her house after the night shift was done, but somebody must have. Rumours spread. Slowly at first, is my guess. And then suddenly everyone knew. All the men in my regiment. Some of them clapped me on my back, some others looked at me all green and jealous. But most warned me word would eventually reach the wrong ear. I never paid much heed to those. What would Naveen do? I thought. That was a mistake.

“That bastard knocked down the door to the armoury when I was in there just getting my breastplate mended. I’ll admit, I felt real terror in my heart when I saw that look in his eyes. Like a wild animal. Don’t think I’ve been that scared before in my life. ‘Suvarna wouldn’t even touch me,’ he said. ‘She wouldn’t even come near me, and all this while I wondered why. I blamed myself, thinking it was because I’d gone to jail.’

“So I told him, ‘You ought to blame yourself. No one treats a wife the way you treat her. I took care of her, but all you did was spit on her and stamp her down. She came to me. Don’t you go thinking she’d ever cared about you for one moment.’

“And then he just…exploded. He leapt over the table where all the tools were and jumped right on me. He might have gotten weak, but the bastard still punched hard. You’d know it if you could see me. When I kicked him off, he yanked me towards the smithy fire, pushed me in toward it. I can still feel the heat of those flames when I close my eyes. Sweat was pouring down my face, and I could barely breathe. He nearly smeared my face on those bloody red coals.

“I don’t know how I got my hands on it, but the hammer I found saved my damn life. Spun around before he could throw me in, smashed his jaw apart. He fell against the table, but he wasn’t down yet. Oh no. It takes more to bring down a man who’s got nothing else to live for. So I bashed his brains in. You should have seen the way the pieces flew. Blood gushed from it like a fountain, so thick and red. Never knew there was so much of it in the head. I struck him thrice before the armourer stopped me.

“He’s getting a ceremony, a whole burning pyre with people praying around it for what he did. This is where I wound up. I didn’t do anything wrong, you know. I killed a man, true. A brother of my own regiment. But no one can treat a woman that way and get away with it. The bastard deserved every last blow of that hammer.”

The silence that followed grated against Nalini’s ears. Even as her mind’s eye filled with horrific images, unwanted but involuntary, she felt a profound stillness envelope her like a suffocating blanket. She sat absolutely still, knees huddled under her chin, staring emptily off into space as she contemplated the nature of the man who sat not ten full paces from her. She forced herself to swallow as the events he’d just recounted interred themselves within her brain. And suddenly her own brain felt vulnerable. She felt…fragile. A hammer could split open her skull, too. Couldn’t it? Of course it could. Why don’t you ask him? He’s already seen it happen.

Nalini’s body quaked as she sat very quietly in her spot.

“What’s wrong?” Ramani said, his voice almost playful. “Did the things I said frighten you? Oh, there’s no reason to fear me. I’d never hurt a young girl like you.”

Somehow, for some reason she couldn’t for the life of her explain, she wanted to believe him. His voice was almost…inviting.

“It’s strange that there’s a woman down here in the prison when I’ve yet to see even one in the camp,” he said. “Tell me, girl, who are you? Why have I never seen you before?”

Nalini didn’t reply. She couldn’t reply, whether out of fright or good sense, she didn’t know. But she wanted to.

“There are rumours my friends have been hearing,” he went on. “Rumours I wouldn’t possibly believe because they didn’t half make sense to me. That is, until now.”

An ominous silence followed his voice, like a dark, depthless shadow that follows a lonely figure trudging through a narrow, candlelit corridor.

“I wonder,” Ramani dragged the word out to feign being deep in thought. “Are you that princess everyone’s looking for? The one Neelkantha wants to meet so badly? Karna got his hands on you, didn’t he? He’s a clever man, we’ve all come to respect him for that.” His voice was plain, unassuming; as though he were speaking to a good friend.

And yet when he paused, when she heard nothing but the sound of her own heavy breaths, she felt ice climb up her spine.

“But I wonder what he means to do with you. Nalini.”

To be continued…

Hey guys! Aneesh Bhargav here. If you like my work, please follow my blog and share it with all your friends! Let me know what you think in the comments! Hit me up on Twitter: @aneeshbhargav

Downfall – Part 15

Neelkantha’s horse slowed as it approached the top of the hillock, littered with rocks that seemed to grow out of the sparse grass like hard, grey warts. The side of the hill before him was sheer, dropping off at a steep angle not two paces from where his mount had stopped. Ranganayaki came up next to him, and both their gazes searched for something, anything but trees in the woods that lay below.

“Gods above, where is this place?” the Pashupata queen said, running her hands through her ample hair, shaking her head to let her sweaty scalp breathe. “Where are you taking us, man?”

They both turned to Karna’s envoy, a slender man no older than twenty five.

“I trust you know how many men I have at my back, boy,” Neelkantha said. “You don’t want to give them a reason to hunt you and your posse down.” The king’s frown had grown to become a perpetual feature of his face the past few days.

The envoy looked alarmed, but smiled nervously. “Of course, m-my lord, of course,” he stuttered. “I’m well aware, as is my lord Karna. We couldn’t possibly think of laying an ambush, my lord, certainly not. We’re but minutes from the place, I promise. Not far from here.” He quickly turned away, leading his mare down a narrow path that avoided the larger boulders on the hillside.

Ranganayaki passed by him, but Neelkantha inspected the small path leading down, his frown deepening. He called to his general, a stout, heavily built man sitting atop a horse twice as tall as him. The man coaxed his horse astride the king’s.

“My lord?”

“That path this fellow’s taking, it’s too narrow. It will take far too long to get all the men down. Let the auxiliaries stay back and two-thirds of the footmen. One company of archers will do fine. And have the cavalry go around here and find a swifter exit. No need to be conspicuous about it.”

The general nodded. “Of course, my lord.” He spun his horse around, moving to the small glade where the first of the troops had emerged.

Neelkantha followed the other lords and kings down the path as it weaved around the boulder-strewn hillside. It must have been man-made, for it cut through the hillock itself, making the descent far less steep. When the company had reached the bottom, the envoy patiently waiting ahead of them, they advanced through a copse of trees.

Neelkantha rode past the other men, coming abreast of Ranganayaki. “Where’s this bastard taking us?” he whispered to her.

The queen didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes fixed on the envoy riding ahead of their group, straight-backed, not turning around whether out of fear or something else, she couldn’t tell. She looked at the hem of his tunic, at his neck, his sleeves, trying to see if she could make out the glint of chainmail. He didn’t appear to be wearing any, judging from the way he moved, but it only occurred to her now to look. She turned to Neelkantha.

“Do you believe Karna’s capable of something like that?” she asked.

The king frowned. “Of course he’s capable. He took on Bhagiratha in open rebellion, for god’s sake.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Ranganayaki said. “Is this man stupid enough to try something with us? I can’t see how he could be, but you never can tell with men.”

“No, Karna’s anything but stupid,” Neelkantha said, his frown deepening. “That’s what makes him so damn dangerous. Make no mistake, he doesn’t see any of this as pemanent. I’m quite sure of that. That man works on expediency only. Once he’s sucked us dry, he’ll want us out.”

“So what’s the point of all of this anyway?” Ranganayaki looked troubled. “Neelkantha, we’re not playing at kings and queens here. There’s men – thousands of men – whose lives hang in the balance. Anything we say or do can tip that, one way or another. And you say you trust this man not to stab us in the back when he’s gotten what he wants from us?”

Neelkantha shook his head. “No, my trust isn’t easily earned. But you and I both know that even if we do wage war against Bhagiratha and win, Karna will still need us. You don’t see the situation he’s in, but it’s precarious. I can’t see how Karna expects to take the Pallava throne all for himself. Even if none of us contest it, there are the lords he brought to his side when the rebellion began. Do you think they’ll let him sleep at night?”

“I suppose not,” Ranganayaki said thoughtfully.

“The whole damn continent will crumble if Karna dares touch us,” Neelkantha continued. “Our kingdoms will be swallowed in civil wars, and what Karna won from Bhagiratha will slip through his fingers like water when he’s stuck fighting for a throne that’s meaningless. Trade will die without the stability we give it.” He looked at the queen, a smirk on his face. “You give yourself far less credit than you deserve, my dear.”

She gave him a crooked smile, then turned to look straight ahead. The envoy had stopped his horse, wheeling around.

“My lords, we’re here. If you would dismount, we can enter Lord Karna’s stronghold.”

“Dismount?” one of the kings behind Neelkantha said, driving his horse forward. “What on earth for? Doesn’t your lord have stables? Doesn’t he have any cavalry?”

One of his companions joined him in front. “You lead us for two days through some godforsaken forest, giving no indication where in hell Karna’s encampment lies, separate us from our army, and now you ask us to dismount? What does this Karna think of himself?”

The envoy almost shrank back, visibly rattled at the sight of the two irate kings. His voice shook so badly he could get no words out as he watched the kings loosen their blades in front of him.

“Karna thinks of himself as no more than an instrument of fate, your Majesties,” called a voice from behind the young man. As if emerging from the moss-covered rock itself, Karna surfaced, smiling genially at the gathering of kings and lords in the clearing. A comely man in his early thirties, Lord Karna stood tall before them as he approached. He gestured to the envoy who was wearing an expression of relief now, nodding to him as he came forward. The man leapt off his horse and hurried to tie it to a tree.

“Where the hell is your stronghold, Karna?” the first king said. “This…boy has been leading us like a pack of lemmings through the forest. It feels like forever since I saw anything but a damn tree, and here you finally appear and expect us to leave our horses behind? Half our men have hung back as it is. What are you planning?”

Karna gave him an apologetic smile, bowing in admission. “Forgive me, King Yashodhar. The fellow I sent to bring you here is young, too young, some of my advisors said.”

“They’re damned right about that,” Yashodhar said. “Shook like a bloody leaf the second we spoke up.”

“He has much to learn, your Majesty, that I don’t doubt,” Karna said. “But I’m of the opinion that a man can never learn until he’s made to. I’m sure Gokul has learnt some important lessons from the expedition.”

“That he has, I’m sure, but what of the rest of us?” the other king said. “Where’s your army, Karna? Where has your man led us?”

“Unfortunately, my lords,” Karna said, turning around, “to get there, you’ll have to leave your horses behind. There’s only one path for horses to get into my hold in the forest, and it isn’t this. Besides, my stables are overfull, and the smell…well, I suppose you can decide for yourselves when you get there. But there’s really nothing to worry about, for I’ll make doubly sure not a hair on these magnificent beasts will be touched so long as you are in my care.”

He turned around, putting two fingers in his mouth and whistled. There was a sound of footsteps, many of them, and as the kings watched, several dozen soldiers poured out from behind the rock Karna himself had come from. The watched them approach with caution, hands hovering by their scabbards. But none of these men was armed, not even a dagger on their waist. They relaxed somewhat.

Neelkantha was the first to dismount.

“I suggest my lords to leave some small trinket in your saddlebags that we can identify you by,” Karna said. “In case one horse looks too similar to the next.”

One by one the lords and kings present followed suit, handing over the reigns of their horses to the soldiers, who led the animals away, presumably somewhere they could tie them and let them graze.

As some of the men muttered amongst themselves, Neelkantha approached the rebel lord.

“Quite an enigma you’ve turned out to be,” he said, his expression humourless. “All this bloody secrecy’s cost us good time, Karna.”

The lord smiled. “Would you be here if you thought it wasn’t worth it?”

“I don’t appreciate the wit. What makes you think we need your help finding Bhagiratha’s daughter?”

Karna laughed at that. “I don’t know about that if I’m to be truthful. But I’m guessing that’s not all you have on your mind at the moment.”

“What are you suggesting?” Neelkantha said, crossing his arms.

“Your Majesty,” Karna said, inclining his head, “I’m hardly a man to demand creature comforts, and even so, I should think the conference chamber in my hold would be a more suitable place to talk. Shall I take you there, your Majesty?”

Karna’s deliberately saccharine tone annoyed Neelkantha, and the friendly smile he wore even more so.

“Let’s go, then,” Neelkantha said, catching Karna’s arm before he could turn away. “And don’t patronise me with that bloody smile. Understand?”

Karna’s wide smile shrank, a dignified curve of the lips as he nodded deferentially. “Of course, your Highness. After me.”

The last of the horses were being taken away, although the trickle of soldiers from the hill-pass would keep Karna’s men busy for some time. The rebel lord turned back towards the mossy rock, walking away from Neelkantha. The others saw this and followed him, the sound of their voices dying out, giving way once more to the sounds of crickets and birds. The sound of the men’s footsteps was muffled by the undergrowth, and somehow it even unnerved Neelkantha.

The rocky outcropping Karna had emerged from was short, the ground hardly five paces below where they stood. Karna climbed down first, nimbly lowering himself along the ridged rock until he dropped down. Neelkantha went to do the same, feeling around the surface for a groove to put his hand in, but as he lowered himself down, he felt his fingers slip. He gripped the rock surface, clinging to it tightly. If he let one hand leave its grip, he was certain he’d fall. He clenched his teeth, his face flushing with embarrassment and – he hated to even think it – fear.

“Careful, your Majesty,” Karna said, and that only enraged the king more.

“I know, you fool!” he said. “I can’t let go, or I’ll fall.”

Digging his feet into the rock, he cautiously placed his hand a little lower than before, inching his way down.

“Your Majesty, let me help you,” Karna said gently. “You’ll find it -“

“No!” Neelkantha said, straining as he removed one foot from its space, trying to find the next foothold as he lowered himself down. “I’m a king, damn you. I think I can handle a simple climb down a rock.”

A small cluster of men had formed at the top of the outcropping, a few of the lords above leaning forward, watching silently as the king tried climbing down. One of the men knelt, his face two feet from the king’s, and he said, “Your Highness, there’s nothing to it. Just think the footholds are stirrups. It’s no harder than mounting a horse.”

If he could, he would have pulled that man over the ledge, along with all the other men standing there. He knew they were all watching him. He was the reason they were waiting, and for what? To climb down this blasted rock?

“Your Majesty,” Karna spoke once again, and Neelkantha was just about ready to smash his face in. “I can support you as you climb down. You just need to relax a little, my lord, don’t be afraid.”

Neelkantha couldn’t see the lord’s face, but he could swear on his kingdom that just from his voice he could tell Karna was smiling. Smirking. That arrogant, insolent bastard.

“I am not afraid!” the king said. “What sort of man keeps his army in a forest and makes it impossible to get to? Five crates you could have placed here! Five bloody crates and we’d all be down there by now.”

Neelkantha heard low voices whispering above him, and he swung his head upwards. His fingers were numb from holding on to the rock, and he didn’t feel it when they slipped. Almost as if in slow motion he watched the rock wall move away from him slowly, and he gave out a sharp cry. The air was knocked out of his lungs as he landed, a heavy thud that drew gazes from all the lords standing above him. Karna rushed to his side as the other men gasped and called out to him. They began scrambling down the wall to reach him.

“Your Highness, are you hurt?” Karna said, kneeling next to the king, gently helping him up. In truth, a slow, dull ache was spreading across his back, and pain shot down his back when he moved, but Neelkantha shook his head.

“I’m fine. I’m fine. Let go of me.”

Already the king’s face was colouring a dark red as Karna and two others helped him to his feet, and he shrugged them off irritably. He refused their flasks of water, placing his weight against a tree as he waited for the pain to pass.

What an idiot I made out of myself. What an abject fool I looked before all these men, all these damn kings and lords with their upturned noses and tongues that don’t stop wagging once they start.

It took some more mintues before the men of royalty and nobility had all assembled down there. The pain in Neelkantha’s back seemed to be ebbing, for now at least. Karna didn’t speak much as he gestured for them to follow him. The Chedi king didn’t meet the other’s eyes as he walked with them.

“My lords, my kings,” Karna said, “I can’t tell you how glad it makes me that you heeded my invitation to come here. I believe I understand your position well enough that I can offer you my assistance. And it’s no surprise to anyone that I need yours. Badly. I think it will serve for all us of us to be perfectly honest with ourselves, so here, I lay the truth unadorned in front of you. However long I manage to stay in this game, no throw of the dice can change where it’s headed. I’m a dead man without all of you, my lords.”

“Is it Pallava kingship you want?” Neelkantha said brusquely. Some of the men around him looked taken aback. He shrugged. “The man says he wants honesty. I’m asking him an honest question, one I think we’ve all wanted an answer to. What were the rest of you thinking of?”

When the others said nothing, Karna smiled. “I’m glad to hear it, King Neelkantha. As for my answer, I’d have to say I don’t truly know what I can expect in the event of a victory.”

“Horseshit,” Neelkantha said, to muted laughter among the lords. “Everyone knows what they want. That’s not the hardest part. It’s getting what you wanted that’s hard.” He frowned, his eyes passing over Karna as if trying to read him. “So what do you want, rebel?“

“Everything.” Karna’s gaze was fixed straight ahead, his face inscrutable. “The Pallavas. The Pashupatas. The Rudras, the Anandas, the Vakras. Even the Chedis. I want everything.”

The silence that followed was so complete, it made everyone’s skin crawl. Some men had stopped in their tracks, shocked into losing their tongues entirely.

“That’s what I want, at least,” Karna said at last, “but I can’t get most of those without asking you for it. Why else do you think I called you here?”

Neelkantha looked at him for several moments, and for a second even Karna couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Then the king laughed.

“What man doesn’t want everything he sets eyes on?” he said, and started walking again. “War and fate can turn tides quickly enough, it’s true, but it usually happens that when a man wants something badly enough, he gets it. And once you’ve tasted a little, you won’t want to stop till you’ve had the rest.”

The group fell silent as they walked further through the forest. It was then that Neelkantha began to hear sounds. What he’d thought to be the sounds of birds and animals far off amid the trees he could now clearly hear were different. The sounds of men talking. The clang of metal on metal. Of men working, of a saw being driven through wood, of a cart being pushed across the uneven ground. Even laughter.

“How close are we?” Neelkantha asked Karna. The lord didn’t say anything, but instead passed through a thick copse of trees, beckoning the others to follow. As he batted branch and leaf aside, the king passed through the trees, emerging on the other side. When he saw what lay before him, his breath caught in his throat.

An granite arch stood before him, cracked and disfigured, wrapped in the tendrils of a creeper climbing the tree beside it. The long stone pillars came down on either side like the lower half of a great, bowlegged giant, ancient and weatherbeaten. He could see it had once been ornate, the intricate handiwork all but destroyed by the scourge of invaders, human and natural. There had almost certainly been a larger structure around the arch, a gate of sorts, perhaps, and a wall encircling the area. He suspected it was all lost to the forest now, or the attackers. But the style of architecture was hauntingly familiar to Neelkantha, even in its decrepit state.

Beyond the arch, perfectly framed in the stone structure, lay a fabulous ruins that stretched off far into the forest. Dozens of Karna’s men milled about the place, working at smithies or sharpening weapons or cooking food. The area itself was overrun by vegetation, weather-worn stumps of pillars and spires that were once tall, now covered in creepers and poison ivy. Tall, hairy grasses springing from tiny crevices and cracks in the stone like the body of an unkempt vagrant. Small shrubs, flowering bushes teeming with fresh blooms and butterflies grew out of the very walls. Blocks of stone twice the size of a man lay strewn about the floor or atop crumbling roofs, blanketed in thin green moss.

There had been grandeur here, true beauty that spoke of a pride and arrogance Neelkantha still sensed when he saw the place, as if the men who’d built it had interred their own spirits within the stone before their passing. It was old, ancient beyond memory so that it seemed these buildings had seen every age of the earth since the first man had set his foot on the soil, set chisel to stone. He almost felt as if he’d known the very builders of this city when he set eyes on it.

“My lords,” Karna spoke as all of them assembled at the arch, “welcome to the real Amaravati.”

To be continued…

Hey guys! Aneesh Bhargav here. If you like my work, please follow my blog and share it with all your friends! Let me know what you think in the comments! Hit me up on Twitter: @aneeshbhargav