Page 63 of The Burning Mountain
“Why not? Why do you find that hard to believe?” Virat sat unblinking and stared straight ahead.
Veer decided not to answer that until he had more information. Virat’s unnatural stance made Veer restless. Couldn’t he even blink or twitch, do something to show he wasn’t dead inside?
“What happened on the day you died? How was the princess able to kill you when you had mind-control powers?”
“My memories are sketchy…”
“That’s convenient. You were able to answer my earlier questions about our childhood together and now you say you can’t remember the incidents that happened on the day you died.” Veer crossed his arms on his chest. “Which is it going to be?”
“It’snotconvenient, actually,” said Virat, tonelessly, robbing the words of their significance. “The pattern of my memory loss is weird. The earlier the memories, the longer they stay. While the ones I’ve formed late in life are the ones to disappear first.”
“So, tell me what youdoremember.”
Virat was quiet. “It was my fault. I seduced her maid because I wanted to have some fun. She is quite comely, but I had no intention of marrying her, so I tried to pay her to leave me alone, but the stubborn chit refused. Your wife found us out. We had words, and the argument escalated. Tempers flared, and that led to a physical fight, which I ended up losing. And it resulted in my death.”
“And that’s the truth?”
Virat hesitated. “That’s the best I can tell you. Whether you choose to believe it or not is up to you. There are big gaps in my memory, but this is probably what must’ve happened.”
“That’s not what I hear,” said Veer, struggling to keep the accusation out of his tone. “My wife claims you tried to kill her maid and then her as well, and you used your powers on her.”
A beat of silence registered.
“And you believe her?” asked Virat.
The sound of crickets was loud since Veer refused to break the fraught silence between them.
“I’m certain that couldn’t have happened,” said Virat slowly. “After all, you never took off the entangled bracelets we both wore, did you? Those bracelets were to be our fail-safe, our way of keeping the other in control, to prevent the indiscriminate use of magic. Are you saying you didn’t feel the alarm? That you didn’t know if I was using my mind-control magic?”
For the first time since they had met again, Veer knew he was lying. He couldn’t explain how he knew, because what Virat said about the entangled bracelets was true.
The type of magic Virat wielded was deadly and dealt with the most taboo of things. The usurping of a person’s will was akin to rape. So, they had taken precautions to restrict its use.
They both always wore a pair of entangled bracelets, which would alert one when the other was using magic. Virat had been Veer’s responsibility, and he knew that, and was trying to stoke Veer’s guilt. To deflect the blame onto him in a clever way.
Frustration filled Veer. With this new tale he spun, of losing memories and emotions, Virat had neatly woven an out for himself. Would you still be guilty if you forgot your crime? And Veer had no way to prove him otherwise.
“Do you believe him?”asked Shota, echoing Virat’s question. He was watching Veer like a hawk.
“It doesn’t matter, does it?” said Veer after a long silence, his mind in turmoil, his fingers tapping a rhythm on the stone. “Since we can’t find any evidence—apart from Billadev’s account—the only way to know the truth is to conduct a trial andhave them meet face-to-face without warning. And watch their reactions.”
“So that’s why you were asking about the judicial amulet. You want to put the princess through a test,” said Shota, a glimmer of understanding dawning in his eyes.
Veer gave him a humorless smile. “It’s not a test. At least, not for me, because I do believe her. You were right, Shota. About me acting like I’ve already made up my mind regarding her. But in this instance, I don’t have a choice. She had a public trial about Virat’s murder where she confessed to a crime she didn’t commit. I need to present a strong case on her behalf, and I can do that only when I don’t tell her the particulars, so her reactions are genuine.”
He turned toward his friend. “I need to do this for her, Shota.” Veer was aware that he was close to begging, but that didn’t bother him as much as the failure to clear her name. “When she talks about the past, she glosses over the physical pain of those whiplashes. It was the ostracization that pained her more. I’d let hell freeze over before I’d subject her to the same in Rajgarh. I’m counting on the magical amulet to recognize the truth, so I can remove any doubt from people’s minds that she is the type of person to kill an innocent man without reason. And if that means she is going to yell at me, so be it. I can take it.”
Shota nodded slowly. Veer’s grandfather, whose magical abilities lay in design and architecture, was an eccentric who believed in justice and wanted his kingdom to be strong, with the law applying equally to everyone in the kingdom, from prince to pauper.
He was credited with creating the magical amulets—made of wood and polished with a magical lac—that absorbed power whenever truth prevailed, or justice was delivered. All the magistrates carried the amulets. The powered-up amulets were then later used to strengthen the foundations of many buildingsin Rajgarh, usually set into corbels and brackets around doorways and entrances.
“I hope your powers of persuasion are good, Veer, because I can’t imagine the princess being pleased about any of this, especially if you’re going to keep her in the dark,” said Shota finally.
A shout from below distracted Veer’s attention, just as he was about to say something.
“Prince Veer, would you mind coming down here. There is an urgent problem I’d like to discuss with you.” Samudra waved his hand in the air, hailing him.
The sea king was alone by the time Veer reached him, having dismissed his court. Shota had already left, citing his plans with Billadev. “What is it, Your Majesty?” asked Veer curious, as Samudra bade to walk beside him.
