Chapter 11 A Cave, a Tale, and an Argument #2
Chandra cleared her expression fast. “Then you should know that written records are not all that we have left of the past,” she said.
“During his reign, Amaravathi had expanded, trade boomed, our kingdom became a center of culture. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that people lived safely in those days, free from the fear of invasion by the barbarians of desert hordes. You only have to look at these magnificent buildings he built to know he was a great ruler.”
The comment about barbarian desert hordes had struck a little too close to home for Veer, whose ancestors, before they formed a kingdom, had lived in the desert as wandering tribes. “And yet the monuments you praise, that he had built with so much pride, do not stand anymore,” he retaliated.
Chandra looked perplexed. “What do you mean? The royal palace, the temple at Devarakonda, are all standing. Not to mention Kalpeet, the Brihadeeshwar Temple, and the panch-pashu throne,” she said, counting them off her fingers.
“Yes, two buildings out of all the others remain standing in Amaravathi. What of the King’s Pathway?” he asked.
“I thought there was a King’s Pathway in Amaravathi’s capital city,” said Billadev, frowning. “Didn’t you tell me so, Shota?”
Veer’s lips curved into a snide smile. “The one in Amaravathi is fake, Billadev,” he said.
His eyes bored into Chandrasena, daring her to deny it.
“Several centuries ago, one of Amaravathi’s ancestors built an imitation of the King’s Pathway to discourage treasure seekers from ever going after the original and losing their lives. ”
“The location of the original monument still remains lost,” continued Veer. “Same goes for the Amphitheater of Bali. Lost to time and ignorance. How incompetent do you have to be to lose large monuments like that?
“King’s Pathway is one monument,” countered Chandra. “What about the rest of the monuments I mentioned?”
“Yes. How unfortunate that of all the ones you listed, only two remain in Amaravathi. It has lost all claim to both the Brihadeeshwar Temple and the panch-pashu throne. And we all know the issue about Kalpeet, don’t we?
“Maybe it isn’t Amarendra who is at fault. Perhaps it is the later generations of Amaravathi who were incapable of retaining their monuments. But then, maybe there is something to the saying ‘if the seed is weak, the tree doesn’t grow strong either.’”
The sharp intake of her breath was so satisfying to Veer.
“How dare you!” she shouted, She seemed to have finally been goaded beyond bearing.
“Do not forget you are standing on Amaravathi’s soil before you start insulting your host. Perhaps you should talk when Rajgarh has withstood the passage of times, like Amaravathi has done, and emerges unscathed. ”
“Are you making a prediction, Princess, or is this all wishful thinking?” said Veer, still smiling, although a muscle bunched in his jaw.
Chandra’s answering smile was sweet as poison. “You misunderstand me, Prince Veer. How could I predict such a thing? I can do nothing but listen when you make pathetic claims about what you have obtained as a mere technicality rather than by the dint of your superior prowess at battle.”
Veer could feel the grind of his molars as he clenched his teeth. His smile slipped and anger rose swiftly like a tide. Chandra seemed to be taking a leaf from Queen Rathi Devi, and the memory of how they tried to get him to surrender Kalpeet was like pouring oil onto hot coals.
“You are right,” he said softly, his voice at odds with the temper steaming his blood. “When your father begged me to take you off his hands in exchange for Kalpeet, I should’ve refused.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he wished he could call them back.
Chandra’s face went pallid. Hurt bloomed in her face, her eyes widening at his gross insult.
“Veer, that’s enough,” Shota snapped in an undertone. “If you guys want to have a row, do it in private, for heaven’s sake. People are watching.”
Veer glanced at the circle of men, some of whom were openly gawking, others pretending to look elsewhere. He relaxed his hands when he realized he had clenched them into fists. She didn’t deserve his vitriol in front of others.
He was angry at himself and appalled at his loss of control. What was it about her that made it all too easy for her to get under his skin? He shook off his foul mood.
“I apologize, Princess. I shouldn’t have said that,” he said in a low voice. Her head was turned away and she gave no indication she had heard him.
* * *
“Are you sure about this?” asked Veer.
“No. But it seems a likely possibility. I wasn’t sure how you wanted me to proceed and that’s why I’m asking you,” said Shota with a meaningful look.
Veer got the gist of Shota’s unsaid words and glanced at Chandra. She was sitting alone, her sword planted on the floor between her legs. A dull scraping noise came from the sharpening stone she was using.
Since their argument, they had been avoiding each other. Chandra spoke to only Shota or Billadev if she needed anything. Veer stopped going to watch her practice and instead contented himself with the knowledge that Vihari kept an eye on her.
He felt guilty for saying those words and wished he could unsay them.
It wasn’t his intention to hurt her. She got more than enough of that from her family.
He had hoped to develop a somewhat cordial relationship now that they needed her help in this quest. But something inside him snapped when he heard her sing praises of another man, when she hardly ever smiled in his direction.
Even if the said man was her long-dead ancestor.
It was a sad realization that in the last seven years he hadn’t developed armor against her influence.
It was time he put things in perspective and worked on cultivating, if not affable, then a polite relationship.
They needed to work together to complete this quest, and he needed to rein in his baser impulses, not butt heads constantly, no matter how tempting it was.
“Let’s ask her. Maybe she knows something,” he said.
* * *
Chandra came and crouched over the map Shota had spread on the floor, anchored at the edges by misshapen stones.
Shota’s neat and precise handwriting marked the locations of the caves they had explored. The caves were, more or less, uniformly distributed through the plateau.
“See this?” Shota pointed to a blank area on the map. “This is right behind the bas-reliefs. Our last few days of exploration have revealed caves in every direction except behind these sculptures.”
“Are you even sure there is something behind those bas-reliefs? It could be rock for all you know,” Billadev said, joining them.
“Or maybe there is a way through. An entrance. Is anything marked on the original maps?” asked Chandra hopefully.
Shota spread an old palm leaf document on top of his map. “Nothing. This area was blanked out here as well.”
They all looked at Chandra. She felt their stares like needle pricks.
“Do you know anything about this, Princess?” Veer put to words what everyone seemed to be thinking.
“If I knew, I would’ve told you long before.” Defensiveness made her words sharp and short. “I don’t know. And I am speaking the truth.”
“We trust you, Princess,” said Veer quietly. “Just wanted to know if maybe you remembered something, that’s all.”
Chandra shook her head. Her brain felt woozy and stupid. Maybe the lack of proper sunlight was finally getting to her. It had rained straight for three days now and showed no signs of quitting. She had to restrict her practice to the cave interior and missed feeling the sun on her face.
But if she was being honest, Veer’s words from before disturbed her greatly and she found herself unable to concentrate on anything. More so, because she had been wondering if what he had said held a grain of truth.
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” said Veer, and rolled up the parchment sheet. “Looks like we have to keep doing the same as the last few days…”
Chandra gazed after him in confusion. It sounded like he gave up on the idea of something behind the bas-reliefs rather quickly.
A huge rumble rocked the cave where Chandra and Girish were stationed. She ducked automatically, holding hands above her head, but when nothing happened for a few seconds, she cautiously raised her head. The ceiling appeared intact.
“Are you all right, Girish?” she called to her bodyguard.
“I am fine, Princess,” said Girish, already looking around, coughing slightly. “Where did the sound come from? What is happening?”
Chandra hurried toward the bas-reliefs. As she neared them, she heard the unmistakable sound of metal striking rock. Suspicion formed like a dark cloud in her mind. She burst through the chamber to see Billadev swing his pickax at the bas-reliefs.
“Stop! What are you doing? You are going to disfigure them,” she cried.
Veer caught her easily in his arms when she tried to run past him. “Sorry, Princess, it has to be done.”
“Let me go,” she said through clenched teeth, struggling to free herself. His arm was a steel band across her waist. He trapped her flailing wrist in a firm grip when she swung back at him. “You have no right,” she spat.
More rock crumbled as Shota joined the action in bringing the wall down.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked desperately, trying to make sense of this appalling damage.
“The answer has to be behind these sculptures,” said Veer.
“You don’t know that for sure!” She watched in horrified fascination as Billadev embedded the point of the pickax right where King Amarendra’s statue was.
A vein of fault spread up from his strike, cleaving the giant statue in half.
King Amarendra was split in two, one half of his face carried the distinctive half moon mark.
And then the whole statue crumbled. Dust clouded the air, making it opaque and thick.
When it cleared, they saw the perfect arch of a doorway.
The disfigured face of the king rolled to a stop at her feet. “Now we know for sure,” said Veer, as he slackened his grip. She wrenched herself out of his hold and glared at him, too angry to speak—her throat thick with tears.
“You,” her voice trembled with disillusionment, “are despicable.”