Chapter 40 The Evening Where Everything Changed
Seven years ago, Amaravathi, the evening after Veer and Chandra’s wedding
The somber light of the crescent moon guided Chandra as she walked through the royal gardens. It wasn’t very bright, but she didn’t need a torch to guide her through the familiar paths.
Everyone expected her to stay put in the royal palace like a good bride on her wedding night, but the daylong ceremonies made her feel claustrophobic and she wanted a break, even if it could only be a short one.
She knew she needed to return before they noticed she was gone.
Now that she was married, she probably didn’t have as much freedom to indulge in nightly expeditions as before.
A weird noise caused her steps to falter.
It was coming from the densely shrouded gulmohar tree.
The tree was in a red bloom, but at night the colors were muted to shades of periwinkle and indigo.
She had meant to go in the other direction, but as she debated whether to investigate further, the noise stopped.
Shrugging in the darkness, she turned away, her mind once again on her own problems. The message on the parchment weighed on her mind. It was from the prince. Her husband. What did he want to talk about that couldn’t wait a few more hours when they were…forced to be together?
Chandra shied away from thinking about…that. She hoped, perhaps naively, that she could convince the prince to wait and get to know each other first.
Ever since her father told her she would be marrying him, she hardly had enough time to think, much less process, how she felt about it all.
She had refused in the beginning, of course, since she had no intention of marrying anyone or of leaving Amaravathi just yet, but her father had been unusually adamant and angry this time and refused to hear her excuses.
Chandra knew that negotiations of surrender and a marriage proposal between the kingdoms of Rajgarh and Amaravathi had been going on for weeks. In this regard, perhaps Prince Veer was as helpless as her.
Their marriage was one of political alliance, not love. And she needed to think of it that way. But was it wrong to wish for it to be otherwise. Her parents loved each other, it was tinged with bitterness and jealousy, true, but she would rather have experienced it once than never know it.
She wished she could talk to someone, but everyone had been too busy with the wedding preparations. Even her maid and best friend, Kalpana, had seemed strangely reticent and troubled these days.
Chandra had attributed it to her recent discovery of being pregnant without having the legal protection of a marriage—a situation Chandra was intent on rectifying once her wedding festivities were completed.
The best thing was at least Kalpana would now accompany her, since her lover was from Rajgarh, and she could continue as Chandra’s maid.
Maybe she could even speak to Prince Veer and see if she could get Kalpana’s would-be husband in a higher position in the army, thought Chandra.
The noise abruptly started again. This time it was more audible, and she knew instinctively that it was the sound of someone choking.
Hitching up her heavy bridal saree, she ran through the trees and came upon a small clearing. A man and a woman were locked in an embrace, but as she scrutinized closely, she realized it was not a passionate one.
The moon rose behind the desultory clouds and clearly illuminated the man’s hands locked around the woman’s throat.
“Stop,” shouted Chandra.
The man let go and the woman fell to the ground, coughing and massaging her throat. As Chandra ran toward them, she saw with a burst of horror, it was Kalpana.
Chandra turned to the man, shock coursing through her as she recognized Veer’s friend, Virat. She remembered him from her time in the Navari Woods when she was imprisoned by the prince. Confusion vied with alarm. How did the prince’s friend know Kalpana?
Virat still had the same charming smile, but as she watched closely, she noted his eyes were like stone, cold and hard with calculation.
“Kalpana, are you all right? What’s going on?” she asked, crouching and putting an arm around her maid to help her up. She ran an eye over her, looking for injuries.
Kalpana’s eyes were swollen from crying and tears tracked the kohl of her eyes down her cheeks. The imprint of Virat’s fingers stood out prominently on her neck. Anger spilled into Chandra’s blood. What if she hadn’t run across them in time? Her friend would have died at this man’s hands.
Kalpana had recovered from her coughing fit, but her voice was still hoarse, and she spoke haltingly.
“He is…the one I told you about. The father of my child. Hyadrik.”
Virat must have given a random name to keep his involvement with Kalpana a secret, thought Chandra.
“Hello, Princess,” said Virat, giving her an affable smile. “We meet again. Though not in the most opportune of moments, I have to say.”
“Just what’s going on here? Why were you trying to kill her?” she asked furiously, watching him closely. He seemed relaxed and didn’t even reach for the sword at his waist, which left Chandra with a sense of unease.
What was he so confident about, that he didn’t even think of having a weapon out? While she, on the other hand, had slipped one of her twin daggers out. He may be Prince Veer’s friend, but that didn’t mean he could do whatever he wanted.
“He doesn’t want to marry me,” wheezed Kalpana. “He…tried to give me coin to make me go away.”
“Did you tell him you were pregnant?” she asked.
“Yes.” Kalpana was openly crying now, her being racked with sobs. “And he told me he didn’t believe it was his. Then when I threatened to tell others, that’s when he…he…”
Chandra placed a consoling hand on Kalpana’s shoulder, understanding.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” asked Chandra, incensed on behalf of her friend.
Virat shrugged and walked indolently toward them. “Today is a full moon night.”
“What?” Chandra watched his movements warily. Why wasn’t he worried? He had to know that his actions would be found out.
“Full moon night is very auspicious for rituals. Especially the ones that deal with sacrifice,” he continued in the same tone, like he was discussing pleasant weather.
“What’s he talking about?” she asked Kalpana, who cowered behind her.
“Princess, he’s a wizard. We must run,” whispered Kalpana.
“What! A wizard!” Magic users were forbidden from entering the kingdom without royal permission. Her father, in particular, loathed them.
“I’ve killed before,” said Virat, moving closer.
“Stay where you are,” snapped Chandra, but he didn’t seem to hear as they circled each other. Chandra tried to avoid getting boxed in by trees, but they were in a grove of them, surrounded on all sides.
“Innocent animals and such, but nothing beats a human sacrifice,” continued Virat. “But an expectant woman as a sacrifice would be…” Chandra’s hair rose on her arms as he smiled with imagined pleasure. She felt sick to her stomach, understanding his meaning.
Dread crept into her, insidious and thick.
Wizards were said to be powerful, cruel, and obsessed with magic.
They were the stuff of nightmares, nursemaids’ favorite bogeyman to make unruly children behave.
She didn’t anticipate running into one of them, ever in her life, and was now confronting one. On her marriage night no less.
A drop of sweat rolled down her temple. Was Veer aware who his friend was? She was suddenly afraid, for herself and Kalpana, that they wouldn’t make it out of this situation alive.
She could fight but had no defense against magic. No one knew her whereabouts. She was supposed to meet the prince at a white marble pergola, but she had detoured off that path.
“Too bad. I’d planned to take her away once she lost consciousness, but you just had to interfere,” he said. For the first time, something other than benign enjoyment showed on his face. Rage that his plans were thwarted.
But just as quickly, he got it under control, a half-smile draping over his face, but his eyes narrowed as he observed their every movement. “Do you think Veer will be upset if I kill you, Princess? I’ll have to lie to him, of course, but it wouldn’t be the first time.
“Come now, don’t be shocked. Obviously, I can’t let this come out,” he said out as he spread his hands, as if urging them to see his reason.
Fear skittered along Chandra’s spine, seeing his nonchalance.
Her dagger handle was slippery with sweat.
Her instincts screamed she was in the presence of a dangerous predator, one who enjoyed their distress, one who seemed a stranger to human compassion.
She felt Kalpana’s tremble as she continued to cower behind her.
“How else am I going to keep it a secret other than by silencing you?,” he continued nonchalantly. “And what better way to silence you than death. But because you have been such a pain, Princess, you get the honor of killing your best friend.”
“Tvam ayashyam cha karuthi.”
The spell he intoned arced through the air like a whip, latching onto her.
Her hand moved without her volition, and she felt the sharp edge of her dagger at her own neck. She tried moving her arm and found every muscle in her body resisted her command.
Horror drenched her in a cold sweat, as she strained her muscles to their limit. It was useless. She couldn’t break his hold. She felt a crushing pressure in her brain as she felt an alien presence in her mind.
She understood suddenly why he didn’t reach for his own sword. Why he was so calm. He didn’t expect resistance or a counter to his own power.
And because he planned to leave no witnesses behind.
Chandra’s daggered hand moved again, slashing through the air. Her eyes widened as he puppeteered her every action. Only reflexive actions like blinking and breathing seemed unaffected.