Page 103 of The Burning Mountain
She stretched her body and tried to loosen her cramped muscles.
Chandra peered out the covered bullock cart and discovered a crisp breeze and blinding sunshine. They were surrounded for miles by dusty plains, which farther toward the west, gave way to sandy deserts. Toward the north, she saw the faint outline of the mountains—her first sighting of the lower ranges of the Vindhyas.
Despite the situation they were in, the sight filled her with excitement. The Vindhyas meant Rajgarh, and Rajgarh meant Veer. If they were able to make it without mishap, she would see him soon. She missed him terribly. Enough time had passed, and Chandra hoped that Veer had successfully completed his mission and was back in Rajgarh. But since her imprisonment, she had no way of learning any news.
Chandra scanned the crowd of travelers and found Billadev on foot just a little behind. He saw her watching him and nonchalantly increased his pace to walk abreast the cart.
“How are you, Princess? Are the merchants treating you right?” he asked in a low voice, pulling the cowl low over his head to hide that he was talking to her.
For safety, they didn’t travel together as companions, but they crossed a merchant’s hands with silver, so Chandra was given the false identity of the merchant’s sister, while Billadev posed as a wandering saint.
They had run into a couple of sentry points along this road manned by Vivismati’s soldiers, and their disguises seemed to work, for they were not questioned too much.
There were many routes between Vivismati and Rajgarh, and most of them were well maintained and protected from the desert brigands. They didn’t know how much of a head start they had due to Princess Revathi’s trickery, but they wanted to get to Rajgarh as soon as possible.
That was made more difficult since Billadev chose to go for the longer route that went around the upper perimeter of Vivismati and Rajgarh, closer to the desert lands where the nomads roamed.
Chandra stared out at the desert and spotted, not for the first time, giant circular mirrors mounted on flat-topped hillocks. She had asked Billadev about them and he informed her that they were built for communication across large distances.
It was an intricate network. King Bheesmala had the mirrors built, imbued with his magic, and Pourava used his ability to strengthen things to slow down their rapid degradation. The mirrors stretched across the length and breadth of both Rajgarh and Vivismati, protecting their borders and allowing safe passage across the trade routes.
Images from these mirrors were fed into certain magical artifacts, she was told. An enchanted table-map in Rajgarh and a magical telescope that Pourava always carried with him.
Chandra had gone silent after that explanation. One part of her was amazed at how ingrained the use of magic was in the northern kingdoms. While another part was dismayed. She didn’t want to be a bone of contention between the two kingdoms who had such a degree of cooperation.
“You seem tired, Billadev,” she remarked, noticing the dark circles, visible under the overhang of the cowl, and the pinched expression that didn’t sit too well on his normally jovial face. “Are you all right? Maybe you should rest for a while or maybe purchase a horse for a lap of the journey.”
“I’m fine, Princess. I’ll rest when we’re back in Rajgarh. Being out in the open like this makes me antsy. Especially so close to the desert lands.”
“What’s the deal with the desert lands?”
“Surasen controls the various tribes of nomads and had turned himself into a pest, because he wants autonomy over the far reaches of desert lands. There have been many skirmishes in the past with us. But lately, they have taken to robbing travelers along this route since they don’t feel their needs are addressed.”
“Oh.” Chandra remembered hearing Veer mention the name Surasen once or twice, and now that she thought about it, it was usually when he was in conversation with his uncle.
“Make way! Make way for the royal messenger,” came shouts that were followed by the hoofbeats of a fast rider.
People jostled out of the way as they allowed for the rider’s speedy pass.
Murmurs rose like dust after the messenger disappeared out of view.
“Did you hear? Rajgarh is going to face some danger soon.”
“What danger do you think?”
“They didn’t mention…”
“Another war, do you think, like the one we had seven years ago?”
“God, I hope not. I lost my brother-in-law in that war.”
“There’s another sentry point just up ahead. We can ask for more information.”
Chandra listened with alarm. Somehow, the truth was starting to spread, putting Rajgarh in peril at this crucial juncture.
Suddenly, yells and hoofbeats sounded in the distance once again.
“Bandits! Everyone run for your lives!” came shouts, throwing the crowd into complete pandemonium. There was a wild neighing of horses, squawks of multiple animals, and panicked shouts from people of the caravan.
