Now Chandra’s fright seemed more explainable. She would have gone for her sword instead of screaming if it had been any other animal. She had a deathly fear of all the things that crept and crawled.
The caterpillar’s arms were held in a deflective pose. It seemed as afraid of the princess as she was of it.
A buzzing sound distracted his attention.
The yaksha had appeared. “What’s happening? Princess, has this man harmed you?”
“Nothing happened,” Veer snapped, annoyed at the yaksha’s jump to conclusions.
Chandra seemed too petrified to answer.
A series of squeaks and many armed gestures came from the caterpillar. Broadly, it seemed to be warding off Chandra, as if it was terrified of her. Veer thought he heard human words, but they were too low pitched for him to make out. The yaksha had no such trouble.
“You saw the caterpillar and screamed?” asked the yaksha, confused. “But why, Princess? Like I told you, nothing here would dare harm you.”
“She’s deathly afraid of all wormlike things,” clarified Veer when Chandra continued to make an impression of a mute marionette. “I’m sure he is a nice guy,” he said. “It’s probably not his fault that he looks like that.” He waved his arm at the caterpillar, who was wringing most of his hands nervously.
“I see,” said the yaksha finally. “I hurried here fearing the worst. Took me some time to wake the bees from their slumber.Well, we’ll be off then. You guys have a good night. There won’t be any more interruptions for the rest of the night. I’ll put out a word.”
“Come, Khandi,” he said, addressing the caterpillar. “When will you learn proper manners? You are about to be a giant butterfly any day now,” he chided. “We don’t interrupt people when they’re having conjugal relations.” The yaksha walked away with the sleepy buzz of the bees and the ponderous steps of the caterpillar as it hauled its body out of the water.
Veer heard a choking sound from behind. He realized that since he didn’t have a shirt on, having lost his when he got cursed, the yaksha must have assumed they were taking a bath together. Speaking of which…
He raised an eyebrow. “Conjugal relations?”
Chandra blushed. “Sorry,” she said in a voice faint enough he had to strain to hear.
He floated toward her. The reflection of the moon on the water rippled, breaking into brilliant shards.
As he got nearer, he noticed the injuries that dotted her. The ugly bruise of his fingers around her neck and the semicircle of teeth marks at her shoulder and farther down, the shadow of deep claw marks visible through the surface of water. With a sickening comprehension, he realized who was responsible for them.
“Oh, it’s just minor cuts, that’s all. The healing waters are helping,” she said, with a wobbly, uncertain smile.
“I’m going to get the healing stone,” Veer said in a clipped voice.
“It’s not necessary. These wounds are shallow; they’re already healing,” she called, as he waded to the shore to get their satchel.
“I’d feel better if you used the healing stone as well,” he said, placing the satchel on a nearby dry rock and retrieving the healing stone from inside.
“Are you angry at me?” asked Chandra tentatively, when he sank into the pool with her back to his front and placed the stone on the injuries.
“Why would you think so?” Veer struggled to get a lid on his feelings. The more he scrutinized, the more he realized the extent of her injuries and how close she had come to death at his hands.
He pressed the warm stone firmly into the jagged cuts.
“Why would I be angry if you so recklessly endanger your life?” he continued with suppressed anger. “What kind of mad person runs toward a monster trying to kill them?”
The healing stone generated heat as it worked, the initial flare of warmth would soon turn unbearably hot if left for too long. He felt her wince and shift slightly. Veer immediately held the crystal away and blew cool air over the reddened skin as he surveyed his handiwork and made a noise of disgust.
“There’s no getting rid of these scars, Chandra. This crystal only heals the wounds closed. You’ll have to bear them for the rest of your life.”
“It doesn’t matter. The new ones are just replacing the old ones,” she said quietly.
“What do you mean? What old ones?”
Chandra remained silent. The hands at her back paused as Veer realized what she was talking about.
The punishment, seven years ago, had also included whiplashes.
