Page 58 of The Burning Mountain
“Blood is sacred, unique to a person. It’s where the magic lives.” Veer frowned. “Theoretically, it is possible, yes, and I didn’t want to take any chances. Aditya wouldn’t be hurt by the small amount that was spilled. He had worse problems than a shallow cut.”
“And then?” she asked, morbidly fascinated by all that he had planned.
“We replaced Aditya’s unconscious body with the dead one in the bag, making sure to partially burn the corpse’s face to render the features unrecognizable. It was the only way to fool Ketuvahana. It was all part of the plan.”
Her mind raced. The plan was risky, wildly implausible, and had only the barest chances of success. So many things could have gone wrong. It was also, Chandra was realizing, the kind of plan that was right up Veer’s alley.
“So Aditya is safe?” she asked once again, still needing that confirmation.
“They’re being protected, yes. Aditya was in bad shape when we rescued him. And he still needed to be purged of the poison from thenagamani. But I’m confident he’ll make it.”
Relief made her legs tremble so hard she had to sit.
“Oh. Thank the goddess,” she prayed fervently. She glanced down at the ring glinting so innocently in the palm of her hand and recalled what her mother had told her about getting one. There were only a couple of ways to get a one-of-a-kind,handcrafted nose ring from Thianvelli—either you were born or wed into their families, or you did them a significant service.
This was Gauri Devi’s way of both reassuring her she was safe and showing her gratitude for their help. A gift beyond the value of the jewel.
“I still find it difficult to believe,” said Chandra absently, still gazing at the jewelry. “I almost thought that…” She faltered to a stop, her eyes flicking to him guiltily.
“That what?” asked Prince Veer, leaning back against the table. He folded his arm across his chest, his expression forbidding. “Go ahead and finish your sentence, Princess.”
“Well, Samyukta and the others believed that you hated Harideva’s guts and couldn’t wait to see his family perish,” she said, a touch defensively. “And you acted like you didn’t care that Prince Aditya had died in the rescue operation.”
Veer looked away. “It wasn’t acting. That part about me hating Harideva was true. He gave me plenty of trouble when he was alive.”
“But…did you plan all this from the beginning?”
“Of course. I saw the fallacy right away when the queen asked for our help in rescuing Aditya. As long as Aditya and Gauri Devi were alive, they will be hunted incessantly. If the current rulers were able to get a wizard to help, then who’s to say that next time they wouldn’t resort to even more desperate measures? They’d only stop if they believed him to be dead.
“Aditya and Queen Gauri Devi should be moving out of Thianvelli now and will be going incognito for a while,” he continued. “Maruthi and some guards are with them. I’ve asked them to head toward Rajgarh or Kalpeet if they ever need help. Rajgarh would willingly provide aid until Aditya is old enough to take the reins of his kingdom back from the usurpers.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all this from the beginning? Why did you allow me to think…”
Veer nudged at a shallow copper dish that held betel leaves. “Because, Princess, I have seen you lie, and you do a poor job of it. The drawback of having a clean conscience, I suppose, but you have little experience there. It was best to keep it a secret from you. You had enough on your plate, with getting the key piece and then you got injured. People were always around you after that, and then we were on the road.
“If it helps, you weren’t the only one. Besides me, Shota, and Samyukta, no one knew the truth. Even Queen Gauri Devi didn’t know until later. I was planning to reveal everything but not right away and definitely not when we were still in Thianvelli.”
Veer pushed away from the table and went to one wall, where a maritime map was stretched across its entire length.
“I do have to give props to the queen, though,” he continued, his tone impressed, his hand tracing the drawings of sea monsters on the borders of the map. “Didn’t expect she would be bold enough to pull a stunt like she did. I discouraged her against it, of course, but she wanted to give the people of Thianvelli some hope that the heir will return—even if it meant risking everything we had worked so hard to achieve. Say, are all these pictures accurate?” he asked.
Chandra who was still trying to process everything, looked up in confusion and saw him pointing to the map. Unlike the others, this one was woven instead of drawn on sheepskin. The rich threads interposed with beads made the mythical creatures seem almost alive.
“Yes,” she said absently. “The waters along this coast are teeming with them. One of the reasons why my mother dreaded sending me to the sea with my uncles when I was younger.”
“Interesting,” said Veer examining them with speculative look. Silence swelled between them, until he finally turned to look at her.
“What?” he asked, with a puzzled expression. “Why do you stare at me like that? Did I do something wrong again?”
“I’m not objecting that you helped them, of course not,” she said, shaking her head. “But I’m at a loss to understand why. Like you said, you hated Harideva’s guts, so why would you help them this much?”
“I had no grudge against his widow and son. And as much as I hated his guts, I respected his acumen.”
“Even so. Most people wouldn’t go above and beyond to help them out.” She paused, and her face fell, her eyes filling with moisture. “I would know. My own family refused to lift a finger to help them, and we are related. Despite Guruji begging Father for over a year, he wouldn’t change his mind.”
“I’m not like your father, Chandra,” growled Veer, as if insulted to be compared to him. When Chandra continued to stare at him, he shifted and gave a deep sigh, edged with half embarrassment and half exasperation.
“Look. Come here for a minute,” he said moving to the table once again.
