nearly got herself killed for her pains. It was one of the worst days of my life. I think it is the
same impulsiveness which worries Veerini as well.’
Shiva looked at Sati. There was no expression on her face.
‘That’s why,’ continued Daksha, ‘I am suggesting that you keep her restrained. Then there
should be no problem.’
Shiva glanced again at Sati. He felt a surge of admiration coupled with the boundless love he
felt for her.
She did what I couldn’t do.
The next morning, Shiva found himself seated next to Daksha in the Meluhan royal court.
The magnificence of the court left him wonderstruck. Since this was a public building, the usual
Meluhan reticence and understated designs had been bypassed. It was built next to the Great
Public Bath. While the platform had been constructed of the standard kiln-bricks, the structure
itself, including the floor, was made of teak wood — easily carved and shaped, yet strong.
Brawny wooden pillars had been laid into set grooves on the platform. The pillars had been
extravagantly sculpted with celestial figures like apsaras, devas and rishis — celestial nymphs,
gods and sages — amongst others. An ornately carved wooden roof that had been inlaid with
gold and silver designs crowned the top of the pillars. Pennants of the holy blue colour and
royal red colour hung from the ceiling. Each niche on the walls had paintings depicting the life of
Lord Ram. But Shiva had little time to admire the glorious architecture of the court.
Daksha’s expectations would be apparent in his speech and were causing him considerable
discomfort.
‘As many of you may have heard,’ announced Daksha, ‘there was another terrorist attack
yesterday. The Chandravanshis tried to harm the royal family on the road from Mount Mandar
to Devagiri.’
Murmurs of dismay filled the court. The question troubling everyone was how the
Chandravanshis had discovered the route to Mount Mandar. Shiva meanwhile kept reminding
himself that this wasn’t a terrorist attack. It was just a kidnap attempt.
‘The Chandravanshis had planned their attack with great deception,’ said Daksha, drowning
out the murmurs with his booming voice.
The talented architects of the court had designed the structure in a manner that any voice
spoken from the royal platform resonated across the entire hall. ‘But we beat them back. For
the first time in decades, we beat back a cowardly terrorist attack.’
An exultant roar went up in the court at this announcement. They had beaten back open
military assaults from the Chandravanshis before. But until this day, the Meluhans had found no
answer to the dreaded terrorist strikes. For the terrorists usually launched surprise attacks on
non-military locations and fled before the Suryavanshi soldiers could arrive.
Raising his hand to quieten the crowd, Daksha continued, ‘We beat them back because the
time for truth to triumph has finally arrived! We beat them back because we were led by Father
Manu’s messenger! We beat them back because our time for justice has come!’
The murmurs grew louder. Had the Neelkanth finally arrived? Everyone had heard the
rumours. But nobody believed them. There had been too many false declarations in the past.