Page 64 of The Burning Mountain
“Please call me Samudra. After our agreement, I hope you will count me as a friend,” reminding Veer that this Samudra king didn’t insist too much on formality.
Samudra lengthened his stride and gave Veer an enigmatic look. “It’s a delicate matter concerning your family, so I thought it’s best to involve you. In fact, it’s fortuitous that you are here.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Veer confused. “My family?”
“Your sister and her friend, Princess Revathi, are here.”
“What?!” Veer shout was short, impressive as the crash of thunder.
“Please, lower your voice,” whispered Samudra, glancing around. “I swear I had nothing to do with this. They just showed up and I don’t think it’s because they knew you were here.”
“Why would they come here?” asked a flabbergasted Veer. “To the residence of an unmarried man who is not related to them. Do they want to ruin their reputations?”
Samudra shrugged, but there was something forced about that moment, and Veer got the impression that the king knew more than he was letting on.
His sister,Vireni, shrank on seeing him, while Revathi, daughter of Pourava of Vivismati, stood up straight with apprehensive eyes.
“What were you thinking?” said Veer, addressing them both, his voice low and furious. “Did you forget you are princesses? Your actions reflect on Rajgarh and Vivismati. You cannot behave like common tramps.”
Vireni flinched and hung her head. From the time Veer had appeared demanding an explanation, Revathi had done all the talking, while Vireni hid behind her gregarious cousin, her distressed face, a picture of misery.
“Do you want to be married off to any random person? You want your honor besmirched?” thundered Veer. It was not lost on him that he had done something similar in Amaravathi when he forced Chandra to stay with him that night.
But he was on the other side of the coin this time and not until now did he fully appreciate the enormity of his actions. He thought he was being clever, forcing Amaravathi to acknowledge him, forgetting his actions forced a woman into marriage she might not have been ready for.
“Veer, please, it wasn’t her fault. I dragged her into it,” said Revathi, moving slightly to the front, as if shielding Vireni from his words.
“I’m not talking to you, Revathi. But this goes for you too. Does Uncle know that you’re here?”
“Do you think he would have allowed it if I informed him? Of course he doesn’t know.”
Revathi’s cavalier answer had Veer gritting his teeth. His uncle was too lenient on his only daughter.
“You’re the reason my sister is this way,” accused Veer. “From now on, you both are forbidden from seeing each other. Once you go back, I’ll inform my father about what happened. Mother would be so disappointed in you both.”
“Please, Brother, don’t tell them anything.” Vireni rushed into speech anxiously. “I don’t want to upset her.”
“You should’ve thought of that before you decided to come here without a chaperone,” berated Veer pitilessly.
“It was my idea. I’ll take the blame for it,” said Revathi grimly while Vireni sobbed into her hands.
“Doesn’t matter whose idea it was. You both are guilty.” Veer scowled, thinking. “Now listen to me carefully. The only way we can prevent this from spiraling into disaster is if we say that you both knew I was going to be here and wanted to visit me. Do you understand?”
Vireni nodded and wiped her tears. Veer turned his stormy eyes toward Revathi, who gulped but nodded as well.
Satisfied, Veer said, “Good. Now put yourself to rights. I must take you both to meet my wife.”
28
SURASEN
“Zaabir and Darshil said they won’t be coming back anytime soon.”
Surasen glanced at his subordinate, Vali. “Did they give a reason?”
The midday sun was hot. Sweat trickled down his temples, even when he was sitting in the cool shade of an inverted U-shaped rock formation. The Thar Desert stretched endlessly in uneven swaths of beige, copper, and bronze. The wide, undulating dunes were broken by flat-topped hillocks and other singular rocky formations. A dry breeze swirled over everything, picking up every bit of moisture it could find.
“They found water.”
