“I want you to be happy, Kalpana.”
There was a sudden sawing sound as she switched to a different implement. It seemed like she had come well prepared.
“I know the king forbade you to speak of it,” said Kalpana sounding curious. “But did the prince really treat you well that night?”
“Well enough, I suppose, given the circumstances. His men were very courteous. He, of course, skirts the line, but never steps over it.”
Veer could practically hear the maid’s nosiness. “He burned the Navari Woods days later?”
There was a pause in all sound and Veer wished he could see her if only to know what she was thinking.
“Yes,” she said finally. “He has his reasons for that.”
“But everyone hates him for what he has done. The tribal people who live there curse his name because he destroyed their livelihood.”
The princess’s voice turned sharp. “He’s not to blame. I told you there is a reason behind that and if only people would listen to me…” Her words faded to grumbles.
There was a crunching sound as if someone bit into a fruit. “Oh yes. You kept mentioning something about freeing the Nature Spirits that were trapped there.” The maid couldn’t have sounded less interested if she tried.
Chandra grunted and kept sawing.
“All this is all right,” said the maid again. “But what I really want to know is what he looks like. Is he as fierce as they say?”
“He is quite tall, perhaps a handspan taller than my brother. Well built and extremely good with a sword, but then, he would be, since he is a general in his father’s army.”
“But what does he look like?” persisted Kalpana. “Is he fair or swarthy? Handsome like a nobleman or rugged like a hardened soldier?”
“You sound very interested, Kalpana,” came the princess’s voice, sounding amused once again. “I thought you were in love with someone?”
“But I’m not married yet and there’s no harm in wondering about other things. The people at the fair…you wouldn’t believe the things they say regarding him. It’s like he is a demon orrakshasato hear them tell of his conquests.”
“He’s just a man, Kalpana. And to answer your question, yes, he’s handsome, and I suspect he knows that too. But a ruder man you’ll not have met. Rude and arrogant and mistrustful and paranoid and…and—”
“And?”
“And so maddeningly perplexing. Every time I thought I figured him out, he would turn my assumption on its head. Ithought I could write him off as a brute…but that isn’t all that he is. He just happens to have his own reasons for doing things. Reasons that aren’t immediately apparent at a single glance. He’s kind when it suits him, responsible for the people under him, and not as much of an ogre as everyone fears him to be. Or maybe I am just being naive.”
Veer heard the frustration in her voice, and it echoed what he felt about her. This woman, who had cooked a meal for his men for “protection” and had asked if everyone was safe when she woke up from the enchanted sleep.
“Sounds like he made quite an impression on you, Chandra,” said Kalpana with laughter in her voice. “I’d hate to point this out, Princess, but it sounds like you almost like him.”
“What! I most certainly do not.”
“Then why are you blushing?”
“I’m not! Stop teasing me. It’s hot here and I am doing all the work without any help from my maid, that’s why. Lend me a hand, please.”
“So, you don’t have anyone you like?” asked Kalpana, after some time had passed.
Veer suddenly realized that if they were breaking apart the dam, it would be dangerous to remain on the bridge and risk being swept out into the river.
But he was loath to leave without knowing the answer to Kalpana’s question. He was perhaps more interested than the maid to hear the princess’s answer to that question.
“No. I want to enjoy my status as an unmarried woman for as long as I can. I guess when the time comes, I’ll be given aswayamvara, same as my other sisters were. There is hopefully plenty of time before that happens.”
There was a sudden quiet as footsteps approached through the vegetation.
“I didn’t know you were that eager to get married, sister. I’ll speak to our father to arrange aswayamvarasoon so you can get hitched,” said a new voice.
