“If we alert the guards, we run the risk of blowing our cover, Princess,” explained Shota. “We will need to reveal who we are and what we were doing here. On the other hand, we can still leave under the cover of this attack with no one being the wiser. We got what we came for.”
Her mouth dropped open at his callous suggestion. “But these people have offered us a place to stay. They have been our hosts. How can you not take that into consideration?” she said in indignation.
Chandra and Shota both looked toward Veer, who stood in deep contemplation. His eyes still burned with the gold of his kite.
“We fight,” he decided. “I want to know who is behind this attack.”
Chandra watched the people huddled inside the temple compound. The ringing of the bell had alerted everyone and directed them to the temple, but a substantial number were still outside, at the mercy of the intruders.
The temple doors were closed a while ago, as the number coming in trickled down and the sounds of fighting grew ever closer. Now, all that was preventing the intruders from entering the temple complex were the majesticgopurasand the twelve feet concrete walls.
Fear and worry pinched the assembled faces. Most of them were women and children. The menfolk had gone to intercept and fight as soon as it became clear the enemies had broken into their city.
A few temple guards remained, since the idol needed to be protected at all times. Agrani was there, along with the temple elders, but Aradatta was conspicuously absent. He was the captain of the guards, in charge of all security, so he went to fight the intruders once Chandra had finished explaining why she had rung the bell. Veer and the others had accompanied him.
Before leaving, Veer had given her strict orders to stay at the temple and to not venture out. Chandra wanted to protest but decided to pick her battles when time was of essence.
“What do we do now?” asked Radha, Agrani’s granddaughter. She wore a pinched and frightened look, still carrying all the manuscripts she had carefully written over the summer months. Matangi was among the crowd, too, her eyes wide with fear. With a short knife in one hand, she gripped Radha’s tightly with the other. Chandra realized that for all Matangi’s street smarts, she was still a girl in her teens, practically a child.
Chandra counted the number of remaining guards. They didn’t have enough to adequately protect both the temple, and the people assembled here.
Agrani clutched her wooden stick and hobbled her way to the front of the crowd. She met Chandra’s eyes but didn’t say anything.
Agrani hadn’t asked any questions about Chandra’s presence this late or how she came to know about the attack. Nor did she comment on the clothes worn by Chandra or the weapons in her hand.
“The women, the children, and the weak must all move to the inside, to the temple proper, thegarbhagriha,” she said, her raspy voice steady despite the situation. With thick stone walls and sturdy doors, the chamber that housed the actual idol was the most secure room in the temple.
“But…Agrani…” The head priest’s face showed reluctance at the thought of allowing all manner of people entrance into the most sacred of the temple chamber.
Agrani seemed to understand his objection. “Got a better idea, Head Priest? Let’s hear it, then,” she snapped. “They’re our people, for heaven’s sake. Surely lives are important to you, too, or would you rather just save the Lord’s idol but not the people who worship him?”
Chandra couldn’t keep silent any longer. Their game of disguise was up, anyway.
“I’d like to offer help, but we need to round up everyone here who is willing to fight. We need to be able to defend the temple.”
“What’re you saying? Why would the intruders come this way to the temple?” asked the head priest, looking around nervously.
“Because the idol is the most valuable thing in this temple city, isn’t it?” Chandra pointed out logically. “We need to be prepared.”
Everyone looked to Agrani for guidance. She nodded at them. “Do what she says.”
“I hope you have a good explanation for all this, once everything is over, Chandra. If that is indeed your name,” Agrani said quietly, once Chandra finished giving out instructions.
A gentle breeze began blowing.
Chandra waited in silence and stillness, crouched on one of thegopuras. The new moon provided them with enough shadow to cloak themselves in.
From her vantage position, she observed the city, wreathed in smoke that came from the decimated huts and buildings on fire. Muted sounds of battle were borne by the breeze, driftingthe charred smell of smoke toward them. The streets were dark and lifeless, not a stray dog or cat roamed them.
The few trained guards who elected to join the fight were up with her, hiding on these four tallgopura, one for each wall surrounding the temple. The rest, who wanted to stay guarding the idol, had given up their long-range weapons, like arrows and spears, knowing they would need their swords more. These went in arming the few able-bodied citizens
There was an air of still expectation inside the temple courtyard. The customary lone lamp, theakhanda deepam, which was always kept lit, was dead, its oil used up.
Briefly, she wondered how Veer and his friends were faring. Technically, she wasn’t breaking her promise to Veer. She was still within the temple.
Chandra couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was more to this. Especially when you took into consideration the attack at the three-river confluence. It appeared as if someone else had a vested interest in the idol. Or perhaps, the key piece.
But it was too bold a plan. The thieves roaming the Borderlands were mostly displaced people of Thianvelli, ordinary people who turned to a life of crime out of necessity. They wouldn’t suddenly throw away their beliefs and launch an attack on a temple. No, this spoke of meticulous organization and planning.
