Page 84 of The Burning Mountain
But in the bright light of the day, she couldn’t ignore that she had been there for more than two weeks and was no closer to finding anything about the key piece. Veer had put such a significant responsibility on her, and every day that passed without them discovering anything felt like a personal failure. She felt like a wick that was being burned on both ends. The slow-drawn tension allowed her no peace and she resorted to meditation more than usual, to calm and “center herself.”
A slight movement at the top of the waterfall’s ridge drew her eyes toward the coterie of guards watching over her safety. That was another one of her troubles, right there.
What misfortune was expected to befall her in these serene surroundings that it required the presence of that many guards? Their appearance, right around the time when Vireni and Revathi had left, filled her with unease. They always seemed to watch her every movement, to the point where she felt more like a prisoner than a guest.
Chandra looked at Billadev’s drawn face and realized he had been battling his own demons. Billadev hadn’t completely beenhimself since their debacle in Thianvelli. She knew Matangi’s death had affected him too. That he blamed himself for the torture she had suffered at Ketuvahana’s hands.
She had talked to him about it. But as much as Billadev loved joviality and gave the impression he didn’t take anything seriously, she was realizing he was equally stubborn when it came to shouldering blame.
A plop sounded nearby. They turned their heads and saw a spotted green bullfrog launch itself into the water, paddling toward a floating lotus leaf, being buffeted by waves in the pool.
“Do you have any new ideas about the pillars, Princess?” asked Billadev, giving voice to the chief among her anxieties.
Chandra craned her neck up to gaze at the towering falls. From her seated position at the base, they looked almost as mighty as the Vindhyas. Or what she imagined they might look like, having never seen them.
The rocky face of the waterfall was cut naturally, by erosion, into steps. These shallow steplike cuts were one of the reasons the falls made a tremendous sound. So much so that the rumble of it was heard from miles away. The other reason was the deep forge the water fell into. The surrounding cliffs amplified the sound; multiple echoes reverberating, creating a unique experience, akin to living inside a percussion instrument.
“As if my other ideas were anything to write home about,” said Chandra ruefully, glancing at the pillars, by far the most puzzling feature of the place.
Made of the metalmoola dhatu, they were cylindrical with smooth walls, six feet high and the width of asaltree, with horizontal gouges toward the upper end. The reason behind their existence was lost to time and no one living remembered their purpose.
They stood stoically under the force of the waterfall, seemingly mocking her with their stubbornness to be as unrevealing as possible.
King Pourava had been generous with his help—whether it be security or learned scholars who had varied theories on the pillars—he didn’t stint on them.
Chandra struggled to feel grateful when the presence of too many people only added to the confusion. She missed the easy company of Revathi and Vireni. But they both were whisked away the minute they stepped on Vivismati’s soil.
She had thought that after an incident in Sumedh, they had grown closer, if not exactly friends. But every day that passed with no word or visit from them dimmed that hope.
At least she still had one friendly face, Billadev, with her.
“Do you think we would find something if we broke open one of them?” asked Billadev.
Chandra considered his question instead of automatically rejecting it. There were days when she felt desperate enough to chance it, but…
“What if that one pillar is needed to crack the puzzle? I can’t take that risk,” she said, shaking her head.
“If that’s your opinion, Princess, then you should tell them that in no uncertain terms,” said Billadev harshly.
His tone was barely civil, making her glance up at him in surprise. He wore a worried expression, but interestingly, his hands were clasped together, fingers laced, thumbs up, and aligned with each other.
“Are you questioning my decisions, Billadev?” she asked, as she too slowly brought her palms together, fingers interlaced in the universal sign for permission to speak.
Relief seeped into his eyes at her understanding. “We had to break the wall in the caves of Amaravathi before. If we hadn’t, we would still be stuck there. So yes, I question your decision tolet the pillars be. Who knows, maybe the answer is inside them. Have you thought of that?”
And as he talked, he continued gesturing with his fingers—employing the sign language he had picked up in Amaravathi.
“I sense your unease, Princess. I don’t like it either. There are way too many guards.”
“I thought so too. But I wondered if maybe Veer had insisted on it,”she gestured, taking care to hide the movement of her hands as best as she could.
Billadev took his time answering, his fingers pausing.“Maybe Veer did request this. But my intuition says no.”
“What do you think Vivismati means by this? What do they gain?”
“I can’t say, Princess. But the key is extremely valuable to Rajgarh at this crucial juncture. And you… I’m afraid they only see you as someone who tried to murder Prince Veer. I don’t like this.”
His reply made her wince. She had traveled with their troop so long that she had forgotten that they, too, had regarded her with suspicion at first.
