Nasteya Page 13

  NINETEEN

  BARTER WITH THE PRIEST-KING

  The priest-king walked past us to the guard on our left and with both his hands in the same position as before, he said in a suave tone: ‘These two audacious men have hurt me by proving that my soldiers are not the best in the world—and yet I have invited them to lunch with me at the palace. Will you please escort them?’ The guard nodded. He regarded us with a frown for a while and then walked into an alley. As we caught up with him, he whispered:

  ‘Either it’s going to be too good or too awful for you…’

  What did he mean, I wondered. Nasteya and I were completely puzzled. The alley that we walked through closed in and formed a tunnel with torches burning on its walls. Were they taking us to a dungeon?

  The priest-king turned around and facing us, he kept walking backwards and said, ‘You must, my friends, feel out of the ordinary for being the first foreigners to enter the heart of my palace. You can, if you want, brag about it later ‘if’ you are set free.’

  Just when I was thinking about the dilemma in his ‘if’, the tunnel ended up in a large hall that was filled with a golden radiance throughout and it was then that I realised that we were in the palace. I took a look around and saw that everything in that hall was beautiful beyond compare. The pillars were made of white marble and beautifully carved. The walls, roof and the floor, were all white. There were beautiful paintings carved on the pediments. What was most enthralling was the throne. It was in the shape of a God sitting with both his hands resting on his knees and the index finger of either hand was touching the thumb. When the priest-king sat on the throne, it seemed as if he was sitting in God’s lap. The whole throne was carved out of gold studded with precious gemstones that I had never seen before. Resting on his throne, the priest-king said to a guard with ironic civility, ‘Staring at my face isn’t going to make the food crawl to the table.’ And the guard nodded and rushed out of the hall at once.

  ‘Now that I have invited them for lunch, these men become my guests. Don’t you know I don’t like my guests standing before me bound in chains?’ he said to another guard, ordering him to unchain us. While the guard was unchaining us, Nasteya said, ‘I respect your kindness to set us free rather than punishing us for what we did.’

  ‘I’m afraid you’re flawed in your conclusion, my friend. Unless I myself mention that I’m setting you free, you remain prisoners. For now, you have earned yourself a feast with me,’ the priest-king said with a grin which made Nasteya frown.

  ‘Then what is all this for?’ I questioned out of agitation.

  ‘Pact,’ the priest-king answered.

  ‘What pact?’ Nasteya asked at once.

  ‘Ah! There comes lunch. Let’s talk after some food goes down. I hope you have an appetite as well—and why wouldn’t you, for you have spent your energy in smashing the bones and muscles of my guards,’ he replied and walked to the table which was loaded with different dishes whose aroma pulled me towards the table as well. The priest-king gestured to us to settle down and that is what we did.

  ‘So, what is the pact you were talking about?’ Nasteya asked him as we ate.

  ‘Oh! The pact…When soldiers are recruited to my army, we aim to ensure that a single one holds the potential to deal with ten enemies alone. All the soldiers out there have gone through this test and successfully passed it. Now you two have made me reassess this recruitment procedure. What you’ve done to them is hard for me to digest. Yet you’re standing in front of me, free and unharmed. I’m sure you’d be happy to walk out of here as such but it won’t be free of cost; you’ll have to earn it.’

  Was he asking for a bribe? But we didn’t have much that might lure a king. Then how were we going to earn it?

  ‘What is it that you want from us?’ Nasteya asked, looking him directly in the eye.

  ‘Nothing, my friend. I don’t want anything that you might be thinking I would ask. My reserves are overflowing,’ he replied gently and then he added, ‘but my soldiers want something. They want from you the training that made you capable of beating them and you’ll make sure they get it. This is how you shall earn your liberty and maybe a lot more than that. Agreed?’

  The first thing that struck me was that if we agreed to do what he said, it would take more than a couple of days—which would delay our journey. But the sadder part was that we had no alternative. Agreeing to the king was the only choice we had.

  ‘When do we start?’ Nasteya said.

  ‘Tomorrow would be a bright day, I hope,’ the priest-king replied and continued, ‘By the way, by what name shall I address you?’

  ‘Nasteya; and he’s Vasu,’ Nasteya answered.

  ‘Nasteya! From Saarah?’ The king’s voice rose in amazement. I realised that our Nasteya had quite some fame.

  ‘Yes I am,’ Nasteya replied modestly.

  ‘Then you’re a person who should be treated with honour and respect. I feel lucky to have you in my empire and the best part is that you owe me now. I would be a fool to let this opportunity slip away from my hands,’ the king said in a tone that seemed more selfish than before. The way he looked at us now changed. It was weird. ‘You will now train my men to become as good as you are. From what I’ve heard about you, I don’t think it will be a big deal for you. After you complete the task, I’ll make sure I give you whatever you wish for. For now, you may leave freely…’ Then he turned towards a guard and ordered, ‘Please make sure that these men receive the best of our hospitality. Now, escort them out of here.’

  The priest-king watched us with his arms crossed across his chest as we moved out of the hall towards the gate. To this day, his cunning grin still lurks in my memory. When we were out of the palace, I turned around and saw that the palace was a huge fortress from the outside.

  ‘That old man wasn’t lying, look at this palace!’ I said, awestruck by the splendid architecture. It was built on a high platform, higher from the rest of the city. High walls, six feet thick, surrounded it. Each wall was provided with a gate. There were guards on the walls, in front of the gates and everywhere around the palace. The top of the fortress was in the shape of a pyramid cut in steps, one after another. On the top, a flag waved against strong wind. There was a bull drawn on the white flag.

  But Nasteya was in no mood to admire the carved columns and soaring turrets. ‘That old man, Vasu, where is he and all others? We must find them,’ Nasteya said, biting his lips.

  ‘I do not think we have to find them. There they are,’ I said pointing towards the exit gate beyond which they all stood, waiting patiently. When he saw us, Ayaan came running towards us and Nasteya swung him up in his arms. The cheerful child said, ‘You scared us. I was worried for you both!’ We simply smiled and then walked out of the front gate.

  ‘Either you must have given him a map that leads to mounds of treasure or you must have hypnotised him; otherwise, walking out of the king’s palace in one piece after helping people from the Resistance has never happened, as far as I know,’ the old man commented wryly on seeing us.

  ‘I was simply trying to help a girl,’ Nasteya said.

  ‘Yes. Good old Nasteya was being an affable new neighbour, saving some girl at the peril of his life. He had to do it regardless of the consequences,’ Savaan said in a cold, sarcastic voice. Nasteya started smiling, prompting Savaan to say: ‘This isn’t a joke, Nasteya, you could have faced serious trouble.’

  ‘But I didn’t stand a chance! Look, here we are,’ Nasteya said sanguinely, immediately lowering Savaan’s soaring temper.

  ‘Well, so just how did you manage to walk out of there alive? It’s quite unheard of,’ said the old man.

  ‘Maybe because our destinies have greater plans that don’t comprise dying in vain at some place like this,’ Nasteya answered with a grin as we all walked down the sloping road until it met the city.

  ‘Can we just go home fast? I haven’t eaten anything since morning,’ Ayaan said.

  ‘Sure! Tonight,
I’ll prepare a good meal for my new tenants. Don’t worry, you won’t be charged for it,’ the old man said and set off at a brisk pace. We all followed him except Nasteya, who was staring off in another direction.

  ‘Hey! Nasteya! … What happened?’ I said, but he continued staring in the same direction and when I followed, I saw nothing that seemed worth bothering about. ‘What is it?’

  After a pause, he said, ‘I thought I saw that girl.’

  ‘Which girl?’ I asked.

  ‘The same girl whom we saved earlier. She was standing there, covered with a hood and when I looked at her, she walked away,’ he replied.

  ‘Well, you must have seen someone else. People here are new to our eyes and it is quite likely that you mistook someone else for her,’ I said as we started walking home.

  I was now beginning to doubt whether it was a good idea to stay in Mehrgarh. Maybe we should escape… We had a mission to accomplish—did it make sense to be tied down here? I shared my doubts with Nasteya.

  ‘It is not possible, Vasu,’ Nasteya said, rejecting my idea outright.

  ‘But Nasteya, you know what the consequences of staying here could be! I have some reasons for saying this…’ I said.

  ‘You are overlooking the consequences if we get caught. You know every corner of this city is being watched by guards. And have you forgotten how cunning the priest-king is?’

  ‘But we have the sword!’ I whispered.

  As soon as I said this, Nasteya gripped my shoulder and whispered fiercely, ‘The sword remains untouched and unseen until I’m ready to use it for the purpose I took it for and until then, it doesn’t even exist!’

  ‘Yes! The purpose you took it for, Nasteya, which is what I speak about! It is much bigger than teaching fighting skills to the soldiers here,’ I said. Our conversation had taken the shape of an argument by then.

  ‘I’ve given my word, Vasu. And I will not, by any means, deviate from it,’ Nasteya said. There was hardly anything left for me to say which could persuade him. But there was certainly something that made me turn around and look back.

  TWENTY

  IT’S CALLED LOVE

  Except for the swift, cool wind that played with parched leaves and some stray dogs guarding their territory, there was nothing I could see behind us. But after a few more steps, I had to look back anew because of the same soft padded footsteps and this time I caught a glimpse of someone whose face was shrouded. The next moment, not a soul was there. I kept looking back, suspecting that someone was trying to follow us.

  ‘And it’s good for us to blend in here for a while,’ Nasteya continued, but when he saw that I had stopped at a distance behind him, he said, ‘Come over here. What happened?’

  ‘Nothing… nothing at all,’ I said and ran to him.

  By the time I had wrestled my troublesome thoughts down, I realised that we had stopped outside a house that was no different than all others to its left and right.

  ‘I think it has room for all of you,’ the old man said. We had been talking to the old man since noon, but it was now that I came to know his name—on a wooden board outside the house was neatly written: No Admittance.

  Property of Vedang, the historian.

  ‘So Vedang is your name?’ I asked.

  ‘Vedang, the historian,’ he added proudly. And then he swung open the door and said, ‘This is it, your home from now on and it’ll remain yours as long as you don’t forget to pay the rent. Hey child! Watch out for the spiderweb. Spiders have been the only residents here for some time now... You’ll have to cope with them. You all dust the furniture and I’ll make the kitchen ready to use.’

  The house smelt musty, as if it hadn’t been unbolted for years and when I rested my hand on the table, it sank into the thick deposit of dust that had settled on it. Seeing a bed of his size, Ayaan jumped on it, raising a cloud of dust. Unperturbed, he said gleefully, ‘I’ll sleep here!’

  ‘Come and help me with some cleaning and I’ll get some food for you after this,’ the old man said.

  I was cleaning dust off the windowpanes and as I looked outside, I saw a hooded figure silhouetted against the brightly shining moon, standing on the roof of a house on the other side of the lane, and looking in my direction. As I blinked, that mystic being disappeared from sight. Hardly had we spent a full day in this foreign land when strange things were already happening to us. Who could that be, I wondered? Had the king hired a spy to watch over us? Anything and everything seemed feasible in that strange city.

  Vedang cooked us a fine supper. I was tempted enough to eat more than the actual capacity of my stomach. After our first and quite tough day in Mehrgarh, a cold and quiet night awaited us. Like always, sleep had to battle my troubled thoughts before reaching me and when it finally did, Nasteya drew it away.

  ‘Vasu, are you asleep?’ he asked in a whisper.

  ‘No, I’m dancing,’ I answered in an irritated tone.

  ‘Hey! There’s something that’s bothering me,’ he said. Knowing that a conversation was inescapable, I turned around to face him and sacrificing my hard-earned sleep, I said, ‘Tell me.’

  ‘It’s like, I don’t know, I mean, as if those eyes…’ he murmured, ‘those eyes had something to say, something to convey, something I didn’t quite catch… it’s like…’

  And then I interrupted, saying, ‘It’s like that girl is all over your mind and you’ve been hunted down by her arrows of charm! Congratulations, Nasteya! Now let’s sleep.’

  ‘Stop it, idiot, it is nothing like that. It is something else. It’s like those eyes were… I do not know. I just can’t get them out of my mind. Is it witchcraft? Why is she all in my head?’

  ‘It’s not witchcraft, my friend. In plain words, I can say it is love. After all, every man is ordained to fall in love, someday or the other. Today was perhaps your day.’

  I wanted to bring this conversation to a halt since I was sleepy.

  ‘Nasteya can never fall in… whatever you call it… love! Forget it, you just enjoy your sleep,’ Nasteya finally said.

  ‘And if you meet that girl in your dreams, which I know you will, teach her how to say “thank you”,’ I commented and received a slap on the back of my head.

  Was I thinking right about that girl’s impact on Nasteya’s mind and heart? I would be cruel if I tried to pull Nasteya back but I also didn’t want Nasteya to fall in love because of the reason I felt that if Nasteya got distracted by any kind of romance; who would then lead us to our objective? I knew love had great powers—it could make empires fall to ruins and it could make ruins rise into great empires. What would happen to Nasteya was the question, though I knew nothing could swerve him from his path—or could it?

  The sun’s first rays marked the beginning of our second day in Mehrgarh. A stream of hope flowed through me. Only to be followed soon by niggling doubts. I rose from bed and went to the front door, stepping out into the early sunshine.

  Ayaan didn’t have my problem—nothing could make him feel low. He was already busy feeding and befriending sparrows! At the far end of the lane, I saw Vedang heading briskly towards us with a basket in his hand. The slanting early morning rays gilded the wrinkles on his face. Handing over that basket to me he said, ‘Here’s your breakfast.’

  After we had eaten, the old man said, ‘I guess you’re going to need my help again.’ To which Nasteya responded, ‘And why do you think so?’

  ‘Because I’m afraid I’m the only one here who is familiar with the lanes of this city. Who else but me could direct you to the king’s palace?’

  That’s when I remembered. We were supposed to go to the palace to begin the training session.

  ‘I’ll go with you,’ Ayaan said. ‘What will I do here?’

  ‘Wander around the city with me and your Uncle Savaan,’ Hira said.

  ‘No! I want to go with them. I too want to learn how to fight from uncle Nasteya,’ Ayaan insisted.

  ‘Let him come, Hira, we’ll look after him
,’ Nasteya said, much to Ayaan’s delight.

  On our way to the palace, I noticed something strange about Nasteya that wasn’t hard for me to interpret. His eyes weren’t at rest; they darted here and there, and it seemed as if they were in quest of something, or maybe someone.

  ‘And then you’ll say, Nasteya can’t fall in love,’ I commented.

  ‘What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?’ he snapped.

  ‘No, I am not, but I reckon you are,’ I said, ‘otherwise you shouldn’t be running your eyes everywhere for a glance of her.’

  ‘Stop making assumptions, Vasu. I’m just familiarising myself with things, that’s it,’ he said.

  I gave him a look that showed how little I believed him.

  ‘One day you’ll have to accept it,’ I murmured almost inaudibly.

  ‘Did you say something?’ Nasteya asked with an angry look on his face.

  I just smiled and pointed behind him, ‘Look, there’s the palace!’

  As we drew close to the palace entrance, the priest-king yelled from behind, ‘Northerners! Ever seen a training session inside the palace? Come, follow me to the arena.’

  We went to him and when Vedang was about to bow and greet him, the king said, ‘No need! I know you respect me and an esteemed ruler like me is supposed to be greeted but let’s not waste our time over greeting each other. Do you agree?’

  He spoke in that same old cunning tone which I found repulsive, yet I had to accept it. We followed him to a spacious, round and sandy arena which was occupied by hundreds of men lined up in rows and when we entered, everyone went to their knees at once, in deference to their king. A loud thud was produced as a consequence of hundreds of knees hitting the ground simultaneously.

  ‘Up, everyone! Today, you kneel not only to me but to this audacious man who will be your mentor for the next few days. The skills he will teach will help you a lot. Try to grab as much as you can of what he has to share.’