Chapter 6 Backdoor Meetings #2
Chandra glanced at the box, and her movements stilled, her face blank. Sameera knew she had chosen the toy lute inside the box with great care after hearing her eldest sister, Aswini, had just delivered a girl.
Ever since her father, the king, banished Chandra from the capital city of Amaravathi, the rest of the family followed his suit in ostracizing her.
Except for her half brother, the crown prince of Amaravathi, who didn’t really abide by his father’s decree.
It had been seven long years since any of her family spoke to her.
Kalpana, ever attuned to the princess’s mood, said nothing. But Sameera saw the outrage on her friend’s behalf.
Sameera hated that their only free day after several delays ended in arguments.
She swallowed her sigh and started putting away the bangles she had brought.
Chandra had always been partial to them and was usually on the lookout for unique designs and colors.
It was something they had bonded over the first time Sameera met the princess.
Six years ago, when the queen of Rajgarh had asked Sameera to become the princess’s confidante and find out about the events of the past, she had agreed, mostly to flee from the mess her life had become. She had no idea she would end up staying in Amaravathi all these years.
Or that she would come to care for Chandrasena like a true friend. But if the rumors she had been hearing about unexpected visitors were correct, things would be changing from now on. Whether it was a change for the better or worse was something to be seen.
* * *
Chandra gazed absently at the horizon. The sedate Narmada meandered around the hills, winking in and out of view. A solitary catamaran steered by a fisherman was slowly drifting along the current, its sails flaccid, a silvery net trailing behind.
Her life in the temple city of Devarakonda was slower compared to Tripura, the capital city of Amaravathi, but she didn’t regret it.
Much. Being here meant she could train more, spend time with her mother and friends, and not waste her time in unnecessary rituals and duties expected of a princess.
She didn’t have much patience for such things and could only wonder how her sisters tolerated it.
Her mouth turned down when she recalled how Aswini had returned her gift. She had hoped that she at least, would have forgiven her. They were close, once upon a time before the incident that changed Chandra’s life forever.
The full moon hung fat and globular in the twilight sky. She raised her hand and tried to make it fit in the circle created by her thumb and forefinger, her mind on the recent failed mission in the Borderlands. Perhaps they might have had better success if she’d gone instead of her bodyguard.
Her thoughts then turned toward the man they had unexpectedly caught, who had managed to escape them. In the middle of a thunderstorm, no less. Her intuition twinged, as if her subconscious was trying to tell her something.
“You used to do that when you were little,” came a fond voice.
She turned around, dropping her hand. A smile broke across her face seeing Guruji.
She came down from her perch on the parapets and touched his feet in blessing.
Although he was getting along in years, he was still unbent, his mind sharp as a blade.
A three-stranded rudraksha chain with an unassuming pendant was his only adornment on a plain dhoti and shirt.
“May you have a happy family, husband, and kids,” he said, brushing his hand over her hair in blessing.
Chandra froze. Guruji knew the true events that happened on her wedding day and yet he never changed his blessing, even knowing it was an impossible dream.
“What news from Thianvelli, Chandrasena?” he asked as she straightened. “You came empty-handed, that must mean Queen Gauri Devi refused our offer of asylum.”
Chandra nodded sadly, but she wasn’t surprised he already knew this. Guruji’s sources were excellent.
Shresta Guru, or Guruji as he was affectionately called, was once the prime minister of Amaravathi, who had come out of retirement a few years ago at the behest of King Chandraketu.
He had spent a greater part of his life as a teacher to the royal family, having taught three generations and was revered in the kingdom because of his long service.
He turned away and beckoned her to follow him. They moved away from the ramparts built into the side of the hill, toward the well-tended gardens of the royal quarters.
Devarakonda was the name of the hill where their ancestors had built a temple in honor of their patron goddess.
A city grew around it catering to the needs of pilgrims. The royal family also had separate quarters built to reside important guests when they happened to be visiting.
Chandra and her mother weren’t allowed to live in the royal quarters, but she was granted entry to go in and leave as she pleased.
“Why do you think she refused, Princess?” asked Guruji over his shoulder.
Chandra had been pondering the same thing earlier while waiting for Guruji.
“She must have help from someone else,” she said slowly, thinking back to that night.
How she wished she could’ve gone to meet the queen of Thianvelli instead of her bodyguard, Girish, but Guruji had been unusually adamant that she wasn’t to cross the border into Thianvelli.
Something about it being a nightmare of epic proportions if she were to get caught.
Since the incident of Chandra’s marriage and her subsequent fall from grace, Guruji had taken her under his wing.
It was on his advice that she trained under the sect of sages in Devarakonda and was able to master the latent powers granted to their clan by their patron goddess.
She would be forever grateful to him for his unstinting support during those difficult times.
So, when Guruji approached her with the task of finding the whereabouts of the queen of Thianvelli, she didn’t hesitate to agree.
She knew Guruji’s loyalty to Amaravathi was absolute, and he would never do anything to jeopardize that.
The only reason he had asked her was because her father, King Chandraketu, was sick and her brother Bhupathi was unavailable, having left in search of a cure.
He led the way toward a short stone table set a little above the sloping paved path in the gardens of the temple city.
“Any news about my brother?” asked Chandra anxiously.
“No, Chandrasena.” Guruji sat on the stone bench and gestured for her to do the same. She sat at the opposite side of the table. “I have no news regarding Prince Bhupathi.”
Her heart twinged with a worry that grew more acute as time passed.
She wished her brother would return soon.
The current ruling body of Amaravathi was a triumvirate, which consisted of her stepmother, Queen Rathi Devi, the general of Amaravathi, and Guruji.
Because of the divided power structure, the operations were rarely smooth.
Guruji was often at loggerheads with the rest of the triumvirate. It wouldn’t have mattered so much if they knew where her brother was, but a few months after he had left on his search, they lost his trace.
“Do you know the story about the devas and danavas and Meru’s explosion?” asked Guruji.
Chandra was startled at the abrupt change in topic and tried to shift her mind from her musings.
“Oh…of course. How could I forget King Amarendra’s legendary exploits?
Everyone knows about the story of Meru and the lotus key.
But like so many myths that surround King Amarendra, I’m not sure if there’s something more to the legend than a story written to build his reputation as a fearless leader. ”
In her childhood, she used to pester her father, or anyone willing, for stories of the most famous of Amaravathi’s kings.
She could remember and recite almost all Amarendra’s lore by the time she was six and had dreamed of going on adventures as a child.
It had taken her a long time to realize that some of them were very much embellished.
“It’s not a story, Princess,” said Guruji. Chandra was puzzled at the urgency in his tone. “It is very real, and it’s almost time when the mechanism atop Meru needs to be keyed again.”
Chandra’s mouth fell open in shock and confusion. “But…they are bedtime stories. Surely you’re not serious.”
“Listen to me, Chandrasena,” he said. His eyes blazed with intensity, as if trying to impress the seriousness of the situation on her.
“Meru’s explosion is a disaster and would affect the entire Saptavarsha, not just the kingdom that sprang up in the foothills of the Vindhyas.
King Amarendra took this matter seriously and made this knowledge of Meru widely available.
It has always been the duty of rulers of Amaravathi, his direct descendants, to preserve the knowledge of the key, to make sure it is passed down, to ensure the continuity of the line who can operate the lotus key.
” He paused. “In fact, his descendants are the only ones who can operate it.”
Chandra listened with dawning horror. “But if that’s true, my brother’s missing, my father’s sick…who can get to Meru in time?”
Guruji stared at her with a strange expression she couldn’t immediately interpret. “The heirs of Amaravathi don’t exclude the women, Princess.”
Silence fell as she was struck dumb by his revelation. “You want me to go in his stead,” she said, a numb feeling enveloping her, understanding finally why he had called for this urgent meeting.
“Yes, that’s right,” said Guruji grimly. “But it is not a simple task of turning the key alone. After its last use, for reasons unknown, King Amarendra had the key broken down into its components. You will need to find them all first before using it.”
“But it makes the task more difficult. Why would King Amarendra do that if this key is something that can save lives?” cried Chandra.
“That’s something I haven’t been able to find an answer to,” said Guruji, his brows pleated in frustration.
“And I had the royal scholars go over the documents extensively for the past few months. If there’s a reason, it’s probably lost in the great fire we had a decade ago, which had destroyed our trove of scrolls. ”
“How can we find all the component pieces when we have little information about where he hid them?” she asked, piqued at the enormity of the task and how little she had to go on.
Guruji’s brow cleared at her question. “Fortunately, I have been able to find the answer to that question. The key is magical. It seeks to repair itself. It will guide you regarding where you can find the next piece.”
Silence reigned once again. Chandra struggled to absorb the information Guruji had doled out.
Her hands clenched into her lap. If she were to leave, then who would look after her mother, who had left her life as a queen in protest over Chandra’s punishment.
Who would cajole Kalpana into accepting Girish’s suit?
Sarun was sick, too, and the task Guruji set her would remain incomplete—not that she had any illusions that she was the only one Guruji relied on, to keep peace in the kingdom, or to further whatever political schemes he was hatching.
Her life was here. Amaravathi had been her home, ever since she turned eight, when she left behind a life and a childhood in the sea kingdom of Sumedh, her mother’s native place.
But women always had to leave their ancestral home at some point in their lives—when they married into their husband’s family, for example. This just came a little late for her since she was supposed to have gone to Rajgarh after her wedding, had her husband not decided to abandon her here.
She tried to convince herself with various reasons that this might be an adventure, but a hollow feeling still filled her heart.
The temple bell pealed across the wooded hills, the familiar sound vibrating inside her. It felt like an omen today.
“When do you wish me to start?” she asked finally, accepting her fate.
“There is something else, too, Princess.”
Chandra leveled a questioning look at him. “The kingdom that stands to lose the most with Meru’s explosion, haven’t you realized it yet?” he asked.
Brows pleated, Chandra thought it through. Meru was a mountain in the Vindhyas, and she strove never to think of the Vindhyas because of him. “Rajgarh is in the foothills of Vindhyas,” she said slowly, the implications dawning on her as her eyes filled with panic.
He gave a solemn nod. “That’s right, Princess.
The kingdom that’s going to be most affected by Meru’s explosion is Rajgarh.
Your husband is here in Amaravathi already and has requested a meeting tomorrow with the triumvirate.
We had to convince him to meet us in Devarakonda, instead of the capital, because of your presence here.
And that’s why I hastened to meet you. So I could warn you ahead of time. ”
Guruji’s eyes peered up at her from beneath his bushy white eyebrows and she finally understood the emotion behind the strange look he had given her earlier—it was a mixture of pity and apology, overlaid by duress.
It almost felt like her consent to this quest was somehow vital to him.
“I’m sorry, Chandrasena, but you’ll have to find a way to work with him. ”