‘Of course,’ said Bhagirath. ‘But at least we now know about their back-up plan of marching through the impenetrable forests to the north-west of Ayodhya.’

‘Yes, that is useful information, Bhagirath,’ said Ganesh.

Kartik suddenly sat up. ‘Prince Bhagirath, did you meet Maharishi Bhrigu personally?’

‘Yes.’

Kartik looked at Ganesh with concern.

‘What’s the matter?’ asked Bhagirath.

‘Did he look into your eyes while speaking with you, Bhagirath?’ asked Ganesh.

‘Where else would he be looking if he was talking to me?’

Kartik looked up at the ceiling. ‘Lord Ram, be merciful.’

‘What happened?’ asked a confused Bhagirath.

‘We’ve been told that Lord Bhrigu can read your mind by looking into your eyes,’ said Kartik.

‘What? That’s impossible!’

‘He’s a Saptrishi Uttradhikari, Bhagirath,’ said Ganesh. ‘Very few things are impossible for him. If he was distinctly looking into your eyes, chances are he has read your conscious thoughts. So he may have some very sensitive information about our plans.’

‘Good Lord!’ whispered Bhagirath.

‘I want you to carefully recall what you were thinking about while speaking with Lord Bhrigu,’ said Ganesh.

‘I spoke about...’

Kartik interrupted Bhagirath. ‘It doesn’t matter what you spoke. What matters is what you thought.’

Bhagirath closed his eyes and tried to remember. ‘I thought that my imbecile father could not have been the true leader of the conspiracy.’

‘That’s no secret,’ said Ganesh. ‘What else did you think about?’

‘I remember a feeling of dread when I realised that Lord Bhrigu is the true leader.’

‘I would have ideally not let him know your fears,’ said Kartik. ‘But this too cannot harm us.’

‘I recall thinking that Lord Shiva had sent me to Ayodhya to discover the identity of the true leader.’

‘Again,’ said Ganesh, ‘this is not very harmful information for an enemy to have.’

Bhagirath continued. ‘I thought about being attacked by the joint Meluha-Ayodhya ships at Panchavati and how we repelled the attack.’

Ganesh cursed under his breath.

Bhagirath looked at Ganesh apologetically. ‘So Maharishi Bhrigu knows about the Panchavati defences... I’m so sorry, Ganesh.’

Kartik patted Bhagirath reassuringly on his arm. ‘You did not intend this to happen, Prince Bhagirath. Was there anything else?’

‘Oh, Lord Rudra!’ whispered Bhagirath.

Ganesh’s eyes narrowed. ‘What?’

‘I thought about Parvateshwar wanting to defect to Meluha,’ said Bhagirath.

Ganesh stopped breathing while Kartik held his head. ‘What now, dada?’

‘Get mausi here, Kartik,’ said Ganesh, asking his brother to fetch the Queen of the Nagas, Kali. ‘We know what we have to do, but baba’s wrath will be terrible. Mausi can stand up to him. We need to know if she agrees with us.’

Kartik immediately left the room.

A shocked Bhagirath stared at Ganesh. ‘I hope you are not thinking what I fear.’

‘Do we have a choice, Bhagirath? Maharishi Bhrigu will try and contact Parvateshwar at the first opportunity and whisk him away.’

‘Ganesh, Parvateshwar is my sister’s husband. We cannot kill him!’

Ganesh raised his hands in exasperation. ‘Kill him? What are you talking about, Bhagirath?’

Bhagirath remained silent.

‘I only want to arrest General Parvateshwar so that he cannot escape.’

Bhagirath was about to say something when Ganesh interrupted him.

‘We have no choice. If Parvateshwar goes over to their side, it would be disastrous for us. He is a brilliant strategist.’

Bhagirath sighed. ‘I am not contradicting you. What needs to be done has got to be done. But we cannot kill him. I will not be responsible for making my sister a widow.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of killing a man like Parvateshwar. But we’ve got to arrest him. For all we know, Maharishi Bhrigu may already be attempting to make contact with him.’

A moonless night hung over an eerily quiet Assi Ghat in Kashi. The normally busy Port of Eighty did receive a small number of ships at night, but the darkness had kept away even the few brave captains who attempted night dockings.

A silent and pensive Parvateshwar was walking back from the ghat. He had just dropped a shrouded Bhrigu to a waiting rowboat which would take him to a ship anchored in the middle of the river. Bhrigu intended to stop at Prayag for a short while and then proceed to Meluha.

‘General Parvateshwar!’

Parvateshwar looked up to see Kali. The flickering light from the torches revealed that she was accompanied by Ganesh, Kartik and about fifty soldiers. Parvateshwar smiled.

‘You’ve brought fifty soldiers to down one man?’ asked Parvateshwar, his hand resting on his sword hilt. ‘You think too highly of me, Queen Kali.’

‘Were you planning to escape, General?’ asked Kali.

The soldiers rapidly surrounded Parvateshwar, making escape impossible.

Parvateshwar was about to answer when he saw a familiar figure next to Kartik.

‘Bhagirath?’

‘Yes,’ answered Bhagirath. ‘This is a sad day for me.’

‘I’m sure it is,’ said Parvateshwar sarcastically, before turning to Kali. ‘So what do you plan on doing, Queen Kali? Kill me straight away or wait till the Lord Neelkanth returns?’

‘So you admit that you are a traitor,’ said Kali.

‘I admit to nothing since you haven’t asked anything.’

‘I did ask you if you were attempting an escape.’

‘If that were the case, I wouldn’t be walking away from the Assi Ghat, Your Highness.’

‘Have you met Maharishi Bhrigu?’ asked Ganesh.

Parvateshwar never lied. ‘Yes.’

Kali sucked in a sharp breath, reaching for her sword.

‘Mausi,’ said Ganesh, pleading with the Naga queen to keep her temper in check. ‘Where is the Maharishi, General?’

‘He’s back on a boat,’ said Parvateshwar, ‘probably on his way to Meluha.’

‘You know what comes next, don’t you?’ asked Kali.

‘Do I get a soldier’s death?’ asked Parvateshwar. ‘Will you all attack me one by one so I have the pleasure of killing a few of you? Or will you just pounce on me like a pack of cowardly hyenas?’

‘Nobody is getting killed, General,’ said Ganesh. ‘We Nagas have a justice system. Your treachery will be proven in court and then you will be punished.’

‘No Naga is going to judge me,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘I recognise only two courts: the one sanctioned by the laws of Meluha and the other of the Lord Neelkanth.’

‘Then you shall receive justice from the Neelkanth when he returns,’ said Kali, before turning towards the soldiers. ‘Arrest the General.’

Parvateshwar didn’t argue. He stretched out his hands as he looked at the crestfallen face of the man handcuffing him. It was Nandi.

Shiva, Sati and Gopal were dining in the Neelkanth’s chamber at Magadh.