“Yes.”
“Then why’d you keep your distance?” came his puzzled question.
“Do you remember Virat?”
“Isn’t he your friend who died?” observed Ilavu. “The whole reason you climbed the mountains in search of me, because you thought I could help you.”
“That’s correct,” said Veer. “She’s the reason he’s dead. On the evening of our wedding, we were supposed to meet at an isolated location, but she arrived there with the intention of ending my life. Instead, Virat became her inadvertent victim. She killed him, thinking it was me.”
“Ah. That explains why you feel you need to hate her.”
“I don’t feel I need to. I just do. Hate her, that is.”
“Ah…” Ilavu’s voice in his head assumed a sly slant again. “Hate and love are but two sides of the same coin. But what did you do? To make her hate you that much?”
Veer was silent.
“Oh. I see. You aren’t completely blameless. I can pick up some fragments of guilt from your mind. What did you do? Disappoint her in bed? Cheat on her? Don’t tell me you bored her to death?” He clicked his tongue in fake sympathy. “No worse crime in my opinion.”
A muscle ticked in Veer’s cheek at the obvious amusement in Ilavu’s voice. He refrained from explaining that their relationship didn't even progress that far, beyond tying the holy thread around her neck that made her his wife. “She belongs to an enemy kingdom and claimed she could never see me as her husband.”
Ilavu went blessedly quiet for a while, his silence, a commiseration and then, “I see no reason why you deny yourself.”
“Haven’t you heard a word I just said?” asked Veer, ruffled. “She killed Virat.”
“Yes, I hear you loud and clear. But the way I see it, if you take her, you would be only using her. There’s no danger of you falling in love or caring for her or some such nonsense, is there?”
Veer remained mute, reluctant to inform the demon of the promise she extracted from him, knowing he would just find it hilarious.
“And I can tell its eating away at you. You think you ought to hate her for killing your best friend. Well, hate away all you want. Doesn’t mean you can’t indulge in some mindless lust. After all, once the bloom is cut off, it only has to fade away. Must say, you have an odd taste in women, though,” continued the demon. “She appears more like a warrior than a—”
Ilavu’s words stumbled to a halt. Chandrasena finished one of herasanasand turned so they were able to see her face clearly. “Princess,” he breathed, and Veer could feel his astonishment.
The demon occupied the part of Veer’s brain that controlled his left arm, but Veer’s thoughts remained his own—a boundary never to be crossed. However, because of their connection, intense feelings and emotions spilled over occasionally. And Veer distinctly felt Ilavu’s shock and reticence in discussing the topic. For the first time since knowing the demon, he tried to initiate leaving.
“Wait. Why are you leaving? Yes, she is a princess of Amaravathi, but how did you know that? I don’t believe I’ve mentioned it before. Is there something you aren’t telling me?” called Veer inside his head.
“There are a lot of things I’m not telling you, Prince Veer,” came his snappy answer. “Just like there are lots of things humans ought not to know in this era. Like the knowledge to bring back the dead, for instance.”
When Veer first encountered Ilavu, he tried to bargain for that information. That experiment resulted in catastrophic failure.
Veer was startled by the sudden outburst of Ilavu’s laughter.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Oh…oh…the irony. Do you remember me saying when I first met you that of all the people, it was my misfortune to encounter you? Well, I take it back. Nothing this interesting has happened in a while.”
Chapter 11: A Cave, a Tale, and an Argument
Chandra was rinsing her hands, having just finished her breakfast of fire-roasted potatoes andjowarflatbread peppered with dry spices, when Shota accosted her.
“Princess, perhaps we should go over the wall inscriptions again,” he said.
Chandra nodded and followed him. It had been weeks now and so far, they had nothing to show for their meticulous search. They had come across several wall sculptures and carvings, some detailed and some eroded, but it was enough evidence that these caves once saw human presence, perhaps were even used as dwellings.
And although the lotus key showed them the general location, it didn’t give the exact details.
She wished she could be of more help. But apart from knowing the script ofBrahmi—an ancient tongue no longer in day-to-day use and the language the inscriptions were written in—she possessed only a rudimentary knowledge of the caves.
