Page 5 of The Burning Mountain
“What?” he asked, when she remained silent. “Why do you look at me like that?”
“You care about people,” she said, frowning, the truth dawning on her in degrees. “I don’t understand how you came into your ruthless reputation.”
“I worked at it,” he said flippantly, but then sobered. Veer rubbed the back of his neck as if embarrassed. His tone changed as if he took her question seriously. “A hard reputation has its uses. And I disagree. Iamthat bad. Look at how I have treated you so far.”
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “But if you’re talking about this incident, I really can’t take credit for this con. Something similar happened to me when I was lost for three days in the Thar Desert. A couple of wandering goatherds found me.” A wry smile creased his rough cheek. “I still remember the taste of that thin gruel they had served me. It was slightly bitter but tasted divine after three days of no food.
“After my uncle eventually found me, I went back to those goatherds again, just to get a taste of that gruel, but to my surprise, I couldn’t swallow more than a few mouthfuls. It was so vile. I came to know that it was made from neem leaves, the bitterest plant you could find. That day, I learned a valuable lesson about how hunger blunts the sense of taste and smell.”
“How old were you when this happened?” she asked, tucking her hand under her chin.
“Seven.”
“Your parents must have been so worried when you went missing for so long.”
Veer opened one eye and squinted. “On the contrary. That incident was deliberate. I was left with my uncle for training when I was young. Let’s just say he had…definite ideas on raising children, and as part of my training, he used to abandon me in distant places and have me find my way back.”
Chandra stared at him, nonplussed. “But…you were seven. And a prince. Isn’t that dangerous? What if you were imprisoned or held for ransom?”
“I was a precocious seven. And I had my magic and Vihari to protect me. In hindsight, I needed such lessons because I was notoriously difficult to control.” Veer gave an offhanded but tight shrug. His voice lowered. “No wonder my father punted that task to my uncle.”
Chandra cocked her head, choosing to defer commenting on his obvious discomfort. She could tell this memory of being “left” in Vivismati wasn’t pleasant. “When you say uncle…” She left the sentence unfinished in question, but Veer seemed to understand.
“King Pourava stood in support of my parents’ marriage against all our relatives, so he has been my honorary uncle ever since. There is no blood relation.”
“Still…to do that to a child.” She shook her head, bemused. “At seven, I was riding the prow of my uncle’s ship, and my mother was terrified I would meet my end by falling into the waters.”
“I thought Amaravathi’s coast was so rocky and dangerous that no ships could dock there,” he said, tilting his head in puzzlement.
“Oh, that’s true, but this was in Sumedh,” she said, searching for something to put out the wood fire in the brick stove.
“The sea kingdom?” Veer appeared surprised.
Chandra nodded. She spotted a round earthen bowl and grabbed it, upending it over the small fire of the stove, instantly extinguishing it. “My mother’s from Sumedh. My father kept his marriage to her and my birth a secret for a long time, so we both stayed in Sumedh with my uncle’s extended family, who were all sea merchants. Eventually the truth came out, and we had to move to Amaravathi.”
“You didn’t like it in Amaravathi?” he asked, watching her intently.
“I did,” said Chandra, as she got a large tub to soak the used dishes, remembering how confusing it felt when she had first stepped into Amaravathi, with its long list of rules and proper etiquette expected of a princess. It was daunting for a child who was allowed to run free for most of her life. “Mother was certainly much happier. But I still miss my cousins and my uncles. It’s been so long since I saw them.”
“Why did he need to keep it a secret, though?”
Chandra paused, his question bringing up a topic she had ambivalent feelings about. “Father thought that since my mother was a commoner, the other queens would be offended and make life difficult for her.”
Her mother was her father’s last wife. He had already been married several times before her mother came along. When she was little, she thought it was the norm. And believed the other queens hated her mother because she was the most beloved of them all. But seeing it now, through the lens of adulthood, she was able to appreciate the other side’s viewpoint more, or perhaps recognize their pain better. Queen Rathi Devi had every reason to hate Chandra and her mother.
Veer placed a hand on her shoulder, bringing her out of her musing. “You cooked for us. Now it’s my turn,” he said, takingthe scrub brush from her hands, despite her protests. “Tell me more about Thianvelli.”
Chandra got the feeling he was trying to distract her. She took his place on the cot and watched his movements. He seemed to know his way around the kitchen. But then she already knew that—the soup he had made earlier was perfectly edible, just not as spectacular as the praise it elicited.
“I’m sure you know everything there is to know. Didn’t you come here to Thianvelli first before you made your way to Amaravathi?”
“You’re never going to let me live it down, are you?” he said, slanting her a look, before turning back to the washing. “But yes, that’s right, I came here first, searching for Prince Aditya and the queen. Thought they would be more malleable than the inflexible Amaravathi in helping me find the key. But alas, that didn’t pan out. I couldn’t find their whereabouts, and all that searching attracted the attention of the royal guards, so I was forced to flee from here.”
“We are not so inflexible,” said Chandra, scowling at his language. “I’m here with you, aren’t I?”
Veer gave her a challenging look as he placed the pot against the wall to dry. “On the contrary. Amaravathiisthat inflexible. I had to agree to all sorts of troublesome wishes from my wife to get her to come with me. But I love a good bargain, so I’m not complaining.”
“They weren’t troublesome,” retorted Chandra.
