Page 60 of The Burning Mountain
While Veer was off gallivanting across the subcontinent, searching for the elusive key pieces, Pourava had confronted Surasen. Veer’s request to wait until he returned made the king stay his hand, when he usually preferred to deal decisively against his enemies.
Pourava clicked his tongue in annoyance. He considered Surasen and his cohorts to be nothing more than thieves, but his nephew was more inclined to be sympathetic to their plight. But then, he always felt Veer was too soft for his own good.
Pourava still remembered the day Bheesmala had dropped off a young Veer at Vivismati. He had been brief about the incident in Sanchi, only saying his wife had suffered an injury to her hands. But Pourava could read between the lines and deduced there was more to it, a fact that was confirmed when Bheesmala had left without speaking to his son. Not even to say goodbye.
While Bheesmala plotted and strengthened his army, forming strategic alliances, Pourava watched Veer grow to be a formidable young man.
Pourava had searched for and found Virat—to be Veer’s childhood companion. The far-off desert tribes from his kingdom somehow always spawned people with potent magic. And he felt Veer would benefit from having a friend who understood his gift.
Soon, Veer and Virat had surpassed their teachers and learned from each other.
Pourava, who had only a daughter and no sons, and no intention of marrying again, felt a measure of satisfaction, like the fulfillment of a long-held wish to have a son to carry on his legacy.
He started entertaining hopes that he could eventually have Veer marry his daughter and inherit the throne of Vivismati too.
But where did things go wrong? Why did Veer have to marry that southerner when his daughter was there? Pourava knew without an ounce of parental pride blinding him that his daughter was the most beautiful woman in all of Saptavarsha. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make Veer hate the southern kingdoms with the same intensity he did.
Despite his ruthlessness, there was a kernel of softness about Veer that he couldn’t drive out.
And then there was his daughter herself. He had given Revathi free rein. Others would say he spoiled her rotten. She had grown into a headstrong woman and Pourava, who had bent grown men to his will, failed at controlling his only daughter.
He was aware of her choice, his gaze going south along the coast, toward the kingdom of Sumedh, his lips contorting in disgust.
Pourava didn’t believe for a minute that his daughter had chosen that sea king over her cousin. He must have woven an enchantment spell.
Sumedh. A narrow strip of kingdom that barely had any land that wasn’t a shore. That depended on the sea alone for its living. What was more bizarre was they elected their king not by birth but by some sort of voting system.
Was he really going to stand aside and let that man usurp his greatest treasure, his only offspring, his daughter? By a false king who had nothing to offer, no lasting dynasty of rulers, no rich kingdom? No matter which way he gauged it, it was an inferior match.
Veer was a better choice for her. He was the heir to a great kingdom and was going to be the emperor of the subcontinent. He came from a family that loved his daughter.
But Veer was already married and the kings of Rajgarh were sworn to take only one wife.
They had made that law only a generation ago, when King Bheesmala requested the hand of Archana Devi in marriage.
A law made at Pourava’s behest.
Although Archana Devi wasn’t his biological sister, their fathers and forefathers were chieftains of their respective desert tribes and close friends, and they had grown considering each other as siblings.
When Bheesmala came requesting the hand of Archana Devi, Pourava stood as her honorary brother and vouched for their marriage, coaxing her parents to accept Bheesmala’s suit.
And it had been a good marriage, strategic and advantageous to all involved, and, from all accounts, a happy one.
Pourava had suggested that clause to reassure both parties, to ensure that Archana Devi would be the queen.
He did not know it would come to bite him or give him cause to regret.
Perhaps they had been too cavalier, raising Veer and Revathi together, making them regard each other as siblings. If those blinkers were removed, Pourava was sure they would see each other as perfect life partners.
And if circumstances didn’t allow, then he would do it for them. Even if they’d hate him for it, he was sure they would reconcile in time and understand that he only wished the best for them.
Some would say this might not be the best time, with Meru’s explosion so near at hand, but Pourava believed in the saying “strike while the iron is hot.”
There was no way he was going to sit back and let things progress the way it was going.
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