Chapter 39 A wrong that had gone for too long
Veer woke by the enchanted pond for the second time and felt better. His stomach seemed to have turned itself inside out after the most intense vomiting he had ever experienced. He thought he was going to die painfully from all the purging.
The yaksha had informed him, with relish, that the animals that roamed this magical forest were in fact danavas living in exile. It had set off another puking fit and was almost enough to put him off meat permanently. Almost.
He tried to forget what he had seen just before falling into an bone-weary slumber—the torn-apart, half-digested parts of the animals he had thrown up, stitching themselves together until the beasts, or rather the danavas, re-formed themselves.
His head still ached and his stomach was sore, but yes, he felt much better. Veer lifted his hand to make sure the red ring was back on his finger, so he was no longer a danger to anyone.
To his everlasting regret, he remembered everything. Every single thing he had done to her and every injury, every claw mark, every bruise he had given her.
He owed his wife his life, but he wished she didn’t need to put herself in danger to free him from the curse. His feelings of gratitude were overwhelmed by the guilt that he had put her in that situation. And anger at himself.
A small temple was situated to one side, with a small stone statue of an obscure goddess carved out of stone. A vine wound itself around the feet of the statue, sporting fragrant orange blooms. Faded marks of turmeric and kumkum signified that it was once worshiped.
He could hear her splashing in a nearby enchanted pool.
Perhaps, taking a bath. The yaksha had offered her the use of the pool’s waters of healing.
He got no such courtesy for the burn wounds that dotted his torso and arms. But then, he did fare better than Chandra.
Veer wanted to speak to her, yearned to see for himself that she was all right.
But he tarried, too ashamed to face her.
He instead cataloged their belongings—their small satchel containing the healing stone, a couple of pieces of cloth inside, and a few odds and ends lay at his feet.
Apart from the clothes they had on, and their weapons, they had nothing left.
His sword was propped up against a tree trunk.
He knew it was the yaksha who had found everything scattered through the forest. Despite the being’s actions toward him, Veer was thankful he didn’t have to search for their things.
A scream cut through the air. A woman’s scream. His feet made the connection before his brain did. He snatched up his sword and dashed through a dense clump of shrubs to reach the pool.
A giant serpentine body rose from the water, opposite where Chandra was plastered to a rock, immersed up to her neck in the pool
With his sword in hand, Veer jumped into the pool without stopping to think.
“Are you all right?” he asked, attempting to shield her behind him. A cursory glance revealed no life-threatening injuries.
He got a good look at the monster and realized it wasn’t a snake like he had thought.
A giant caterpillar with human arms swayed in the air.
Now Chandra’s fright seemed more explainable. She would have gone for her sword instead of screaming if it had been any other animal. She had a deathly fear of all the things that crept and crawled.
The caterpillar’s arms were held in a deflective pose. It seemed as afraid of the princess as she was of it.
A buzzing sound distracted his attention.
The yaksha had appeared. “What’s happening? Princess, has this man harmed you?”
“Nothing happened,” Veer snapped, annoyed at the yaksha’s jump to conclusions.
Chandra seemed too petrified to answer.
A series of squeaks and many armed gestures came from the caterpillar. Broadly, it seemed to be warding off Chandra, as if it was terrified of her. Veer thought he heard human words, but they were too low pitched for him to make out. The yaksha had no such trouble.
“You saw the caterpillar and screamed?” asked the yaksha, confused. “But why, Princess? Like I told you, nothing here would dare harm you.”
“She’s deathly afraid of all wormlike things,” clarified Veer when Chandra continued to make an impression of a mute marionette.
“I’m sure he is a nice guy,” he said. “It’s probably not his fault that he looks like that.
” He waved his arm at the caterpillar, who was wringing most of his hands nervously.
“I see,” said the yaksha finally. “I hurried here fearing the worst. Took me some time to wake the bees from their slumber. Well, we’ll be off then. You guys have a good night. There won’t be any more interruptions for the rest of the night. I’ll put out a word.”
“Come, Khandi,” he said, addressing the caterpillar.
“When will you learn proper manners? You are about to be a giant butterfly any day now,” he chided.
“We don’t interrupt people when they’re having conjugal relations.
” The yaksha walked away with the sleepy buzz of the bees and the ponderous steps of the caterpillar as it hauled its body out of the water.
Veer heard a choking sound from behind. He realized that since he didn’t have a shirt on, having lost his when he got cursed, the yaksha must have assumed they were taking a bath together. Speaking of which…
He raised an eyebrow. “Conjugal relations?”
Chandra blushed. “Sorry,” she said in a voice faint enough he had to strain to hear.
He floated toward her. The reflection of the moon on the water rippled, breaking into brilliant shards.
As he got nearer, he noticed the injuries that dotted her.
The ugly bruise of his fingers around her neck and the semicircle of teeth marks at her shoulder and farther down, the shadow of deep claw marks visible through the surface of water.
With a sickening comprehension, he realized who was responsible for them.
“Oh, it’s just minor cuts, that’s all. The healing waters are helping,” she said, with a wobbly, uncertain smile.
“I’m going to get the healing stone,” Veer said in a clipped voice.
“It’s not necessary. These wounds are shallow; they’re already healing,” she called, as he waded to the shore to get their satchel.
“I’d feel better if you used the healing stone as well,” he said, placing the satchel on a nearby dry rock and retrieving the healing stone from inside.
“Are you angry at me?” asked Chandra tentatively, when he sank into the pool with her back to his front and placed the stone on the injuries.
“Why would you think so?” Veer struggled to get a lid on his feelings. The more he scrutinized, the more he realized the extent of her injuries and how close she had come to death at his hands.
He pressed the warm stone firmly into the jagged cuts.
“Why would I be angry if you so recklessly endanger your life?” he continued with suppressed anger. “What kind of mad person runs toward a monster trying to kill them?”
The healing stone generated heat as it worked, the initial flare of warmth would soon turn unbearably hot if left for too long.
He felt her wince and shift slightly. Veer immediately held the crystal away and blew cool air over the reddened skin as he surveyed his handiwork and made a noise of disgust.
“There’s no getting rid of these scars, Chandra. This crystal only heals the wounds closed. You’ll have to bear them for the rest of your life.”
“It doesn’t matter. The new ones are just replacing the old ones,” she said quietly.
“What do you mean? What old ones?”
Chandra remained silent. The hands at her back paused as Veer realized what she was talking about.
The punishment, seven years ago, had also included whiplashes.
The silence became uncomfortable until he broke it again. “Were they as painful?” He continued to apply the healing stone to a different area, trying to gentle his touch.
Her shrug was offhanded. “The way my family cut me and my mother off was more painful than any physical punishment.”
Veer knew it couldn’t have been as simple as that and resolved to ask Sameera at the earliest opportunity. He wasn’t entirely sure why his mother had sent Sameera to Chandra, but he was glad she did, and that the princess had at least one friend beside her.
“This was the shoulder that got dislocated, right?” he asked and without waiting for an answer, he got the strips of cloth from their satchel, wrapping them across her torso. “Let me know if it’s too tight.”
Chandra nodded and lifted her arms. “I’m sorry for worrying you.” She shivered and gooseflesh rose along her shoulders. “I couldn’t honestly think of another way to stop you.”
Veer grunted and continued his task. She fit so well in the circle of his arms. As if she were made to be there.
“I mean, the yaksha was ready to put you down like a rabid animal,” she said, twisting to look at him. “I was afraid I couldn’t convince him. He seemed to really hate you for some reason. Something about Ilavu—”
“You should’ve run when I told you,” interrupted Veer grimly, turning her once again, so her back was to him.
“And leave you to die at the yaksha’s hands?” asked an exasperated Chandra.
“You’re the only one who can operate the lotus key. Your life is more important than anyone else’s,” he reminded her.
“Believe me, I haven’t forgotten, since you remind me at least a dozen times daily. I realize that my life is of value only because of the lotus key.”
“I didn’t say that last part. Stop putting words in my mouth,” he said, vexed all over again.
“The sentiment is the same. And it isn’t like I didn’t have a plan to bring you down.”
“The sleeping draught on your hairpin is probably designed to work on humans. What if Ilavu wasn’t susceptible to it?
” A simmering anger began to heat his blood again as he tied off the bandage.
He didn’t know who he was angrier at. Her, for taking risks against such odds.
Or himself, for leaving her unprotected and at the mercy of the demon inside him.