Veer inclined his head in agreement.
“Will you be coming toward Vivismati anytime soon?” King Pourava asked. “Your cousin, Revathi, was asking about you.”
Veer doubted that. His cousin was a mischievous woman obsessed with adventure and often got into scrapes. She drove Veer’s mother mad with her schemes that usually involved Veer’s sister, Vireni. They grew up together like cousins, and he could never see her as someone other than a girl, like his sister, no matter how much his uncle wished otherwise.
Pourava seemed to hesitate but finally spoke his mind.
“How you handle your wife is your matter, Veer, but I’d caution you not to forget that she’s from Amaravathi. You can’t trust those people.”
“I can handle it,” said Veer, hiding his irritation. Veer respected his uncle and relied on him. But he would be the first to admit that he could be prejudiced against the people of the southern kingdoms.
“I know you can. But I want you to be alert, as well. You are my only nephew and I don’t want any harm coming to you,” he said before leaving.
Chapter 29: The Lake of Lights
The temple pond was a serene, quiet place. Wide, rectangular granite slabs were laid in a stepwise fashion along its three sides, descending to the water, so that the devotees could reach the edge of the holy waters of the temple pond without getting wet.
On its fourth side, the pond maintained a free connection with the River Tripti, potentially a source of flooding in heavy monsoons were it not for the presence of a dam upstream.
Today was a special day, however. The waters of the pond were lit with thousands of lamps. Shallow saucer-like “deepa,” filled with oil and lit with a wick, were set on small floats made of lotus leaves. They undulated in the serene waters of the pond.
Veer hadn’t meant to come here, but it was either this or staying inside the hut that they had been provided. After entire days spent cooling his heels, he wanted the freedom to move about and not encounter a wall.
Veer leaned back against the sun-warmed stone and tucked his hands behind his head. It had been a good couple of days, notwithstanding his recent escape from the jaws of death.And now, that he had healed, it was time to take leave of this place.
Vihari had retrieved the key piece yesterday and he planned to have Chandra join it to the lotus key this eveningbefore they left the temple city for good. The news his uncle had given him regarding Surasen had cheered up his spirits too.
A flock of egrets flew directly overhead, dazzling white against the pure blue of the sky, their raspy croaks bouncing across the temple pond. But dusk was encroaching at the edges of the horizon, bright orange shot with purple and periwinkle.
If there was a single cloud shading Veer’s contentment, it was that they couldn’t find any information regarding the wizard who had called up the storm. Vihari had nothing to report. Shota had sent scouts immediately afterward to the place where the wizard appeared. They couldn’t find anything other than traces of heavy weather magic.
It occurred to Veer that if not for the wizard, they would’ve never found the key piece at all. He didn’t know what to think about that, but knowing there were other players with hidden motives across the board, filled him with a vague disquiet.
He was tempted to investigate the place himself but stopped when Shota reminded him that it had only been days since he was grievously wounded and had regained consciousness. Seeing him roaming around would make the temple elders suspicious.
The jingle of anklets made him tilt his head. He had thought he was alone since all the devotees were at the temple for the start of the evening festivities.
Chandra set the plate of shallow earthen lamps down on the stone, their flames gaily dancing in the gentle breeze. She wore a deep blue saree with a red border that was handspan thick. The light from the lamps gave her dusky skin a luminosity, delineating her large sloe eyes over expressive brows. Her dark hair was bound into a plait, with loose strands framing an oval face and a thick snowy-white garland of jasmine was tucked into her midnight tresses. The red and blue glass bangles on her wrists clinked gently.
“You’re wearing the earrings I made for you,” remarked Veer.
Chandra reflexively touched her hand to her ears, as if abashed.
Her regular jewelry was limited to a simply designed hairpin, some glass bangles, and nondescript gold studs that she had now replaced with the ones Veer had gifted to her. The hair pin seemed her favorite, since she never took it off. Something about the ornaments niggled at his intuition but Veer silenced his doubts today.
“It seemed like the right time to wear something new,” she said, shrugging, busying herself with rearranging the contents of her ceremonial plate.
“What did you do with your old ones?” asked Veer. He felt a primal satisfaction at seeing his hand-crafted jewelry on her. He knew himself to be possessive, but not until his wife did he realize that it extended to people.
If left to him, he would try his best to have her wear nothing but stuff that he’d make for her. Veer blinked, wondering where that distinctly compelling thought came from.
“Matangi needed some heavy incentive to go disguised as me to hoodwink your kite,” answered Chandra oblivious to his inner thoughts.
Veer paused for a bit, then asked, “Was it really worth it? Vihari wasn’t obvious.”
“I value my freedom,” she said firmly. She took one earthen saucer lit with a wick and gently placed it on a shallow float made with lotus leaves. “I would’ve allowed it if you’d told me beforehand and the reasons behind it, but I don’t appreciate beingwatchedwithout my consent.”
“Why do you do this?” he asked, ignoring what she just said. Privately, he thought over her words, conceding she had a point. Chandra had changed a lot since the events of seven yearsago. There were still shades of rebelliousness and impulsiveness, but both her actions and words carried a maturity that he hadn’t seen before.
