To rip away his shades and reveal herself for what she was—mistakes and all—no. She wasn’t ready yet. And besides, what urgency was there anyway?
Chandra shook herself out of her reverie. “Never mind that. How are things back home? Any news about the whereabouts of my brother?” she asked, changing the subject.
Sameera looked like she wanted to say more but gave her an inscrutable look before following her lead and dropping the matter. “They have tracked his journey to as far as the borders of the Kingdom Manipura, after that, all his trace disappears.”
“If they haven’t found anything concrete, we can still hold out that he is alive somewhere. I hope he is safe and returns to us soon,” remarked Chandra, paying the puppet master.
“King Chandraketu’s condition is stable, though, so that is some good news,” said Sameera, buyingsoan papdifrom a nearby street vendor. Kids flocked to her once she began distributing the flaky sweet set in a cone-like receptacle.
“That is good news, indeed. If he gets better soon, things may stabilize in the kingdom,” remarked Chandra, having a taste of the sweetmeat herself.
“We feel your loss, but things are holding,” said Sameera, dusting her hands. “At least the arrival of Prince Veer scared most of the council into behaving. And Thianvelli also seems to have gone quiet. We hardly had any attacks on the borders since the last one, when they burned villages to the ground.”
“I’m glad.”
“Chandra—”
“Oh, look, there are acrobat performers. Let’s go watch,” said Chandra, turning away, eager to avoid hearing what her friend was trying to say.
“Chandra, stop.” Sameera grabbed her arm. “You can’t run away forever. The prince deserves to know the truth.”
Chandra watched as the acrobats soared high, bouncing off a stretched net over a metal frame, turning somersaults into the air to the wide cheers of people. Another was nimbly traversing a rope stretched between two poles, carrying a heavy horizontal shaft for balance. She had loved such shows as a child.
But the realization that things invariably changed and to move forward was to invite the possibility of pain was such a hard concept for her.
“Why!” she said plaintively, turning away from the spectacle to face her friend. “Why can’t things stay the way they are? Everyone goes home safe and happy.”
“It’s not the same, Princess. Imagine if you were in his shoes.” Sameera’s large doe eyes widened with a sort of understanding that made Chandra feel itchy on the inside, knowing she was right.
“I thought you would be on my side even if Kalpana isn’t,” she said defensively, to hide the hurt.
“Chandra, I am your friend, I only wish the best for you.” Sameera’s voice was soft with compassion.
“Then don’t ask me to do this.”
Sameera gave a deep sigh. “I’m afraid that is no longer an option for us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sarun’s health took a turn for the worse. None of the medicines are working for him. He…once levitated himself. He has more than a little of his father’s blood in him. Kalpana is taking him to Rajgarh, hoping his grandparents would know what to do. She is going to come clean about everything.”
Chandra’s felt the blood draining from her face.
“So, you see,” said Sameera, squeezing her hand, “you better tell Prince Veer before he comes to know from others.”
The panicked trumpets of the elephants were the first indication that trouble was heading this way. Chandra turned her head toward the commotion and saw that a large elephant had broken through the paddy fence and was lumbering his way through the main street. His haphazard walk was enough to panic the people into getting out of his way, before anyone noticed the mad gleam in his eyes.
Almost ten feet tall, the elephant crushed his way through the erected market stalls paying little attention to anything caught under his foot, and this included some unfortunate small animals as well as debris. The cries of several people caught under the wreckage of fallen stalls went unheeded in the general din.
The street cleared rapidly. Chandra and Sameera were dragged along with everybody into the crowd, hugging the walls of the huts that lined the street. “Stay back,” barked a guard. “The animal has gone mad. Let it pass through, and you will be safe.”
A number of mahouts with long, spike-tipped poles attempted to rein in the elephant, but the giant animal picked one of them and crashed him into the guard walls that surrounded the city, splattering the stone with bloody smears as he fell to the ground, unconscious.
Another person was almost trampled underneath, making the other controllers retreat for their lives. As if sensing an advantage, the animal barreled through the main street, seeing it was the shortest route to the outside.
Chandra’s gaze went past the mostly deserted street to the makeshift puppet theater, which remained on its last rungs,ready to tip over. A lone puppet dangled by its strings from where it had been left abandoned by its puppet master. A child was underneath, jumping up and down to reach the doll, oblivious to the danger coming its way.
She tried to call the guard, but people were too busy staying away to pay much attention to her shout.
