The startled boy fell back, dropping his sword. The hairy monster turned to see who the
woman was calling. The boy quickly picked up his sword and fled, ignoring the searing pain on
his frost-bitten foot as he ran. He was terrified at the thought that the man was chasing him. He
could hear the man’s heavy breathing.
The boy leapt onto the goat trail and sped towards his village. He could still hear the heavy
breathing. It was drawing closer every second. The boy suddenly swerved to his left, pivoted
and slashed back with his sword.
There was nobody there. No sound of heavy breathing. The only sound was the haunting
plea of a distraught woman.
‘Help! Please help!’
The little boy looked back. That poor woman.
‘Go back! Help her!’ cried his inner voice.
He hesitated for a moment. Then turned and fled towards his village.
NO! GO BACK! HELP HER!
Shiva woke up sweating, his heart pounding madly. He instinctively turned around, wanting
desperately to go back to that dreadful day. To redeem himself. But there would be no
redemption. The woman’s terrified face came flooding back. He shut his eyes. But how do you
shut your eyes to an image branded on your mind?
He pulled his knees up and rested his head on them. Then he did the only thing that helped.
He cried.
The yagna platform had been set up at the central square of the Dwitiya platform. For
Karachapa, it was not the usual austere affair typical of Meluha. The frontier city had decorated
the area with bright colours that vied for attention. The platform itself had been painted in a
bright golden hue. Colourfully decorated poles, festooned with flowers, held aloft a shamiana, a
cloth canopy. Red and blue pennants, with the Suryavanshi symbol painted on, hung proudly
from many poles. The entire atmosphere was that of pomp and show.
Jhooleshwar received Shiva at the head of the platform and guided him to his ritual seat at
the yagna. At the governor's repeated requests, Shiva had removed his cravat for the duration
of the ceremony. Parvateshwar and Brahaspati sat to the right of the Neelkanth while
Jhooleshwar and Ayurvati sat to his left. Nandi and Veerbhadra had also been invited to sit
behind Shiva. Though this was unorthodox, Jhooleshwar had acceded to the Neelkanth’s
request. Jhooleshwar governed a cosmopolitan border city and believed that many of the strict
Meluhan laws could be bent slightly for the sake of expediency. His liberal attitude had made
Karachapa a magnet for people from a wide variety of races and a hub for the exchange of
goods, services and ideas.
Shiva looked towards Sati’s balcony, which overlooked the central square in the distance.
Though Sati was not allowed to step on the platform while the yagna was being conducted, she
could look on at the proceedings from the safe distance of her chambers. Shiva noticed her
standing behind the balcony curtain, with Krittika by her side, observing the proceedings.
As was the custom before such a yagna, the pandit stood up and asked formally, ‘If
anybody here has any objection to this yagna, please speak now. Or forever hold your peace.’