Daughter of the Mountains

Prologue

That night, it sleeted. The snowy ground was brown with blood and sloshy with mud and rain. Thousands of feet pounded over them, squelching boots rushing towards the Royal Palace of Shailadesha. The air rent with the howls of men and rakhshashas. Over the din, Mahisha, seated on his favourite buffalo, raised his crooked sword and roared, “Onwards and forwards!!”
Crown Prince Moinak, atop a gargantuan mountain lion, sped towards the Asura King. Mahisha and his buffalo did not hesitate. They clashed in a clatter of steel on steel, and then Mahisha’s buffalo sank one of his horns into Moinak’s thigh. The lion roared and killed the offending creature with a single swipe of one giant paw. But the damage had been done. Moinak fell onto the ground. Queen Mainavati rushed to her son’s aide, spear held aloft.
Mahisha laughed as he watched her come. Pointing to the injured Prince, he taunted, “Foolish woman, are you so eager to follow your son? Is this the mountain you wish to die on?”
Mainavati did not reply. Instead, she barreled on to him and slashed with the blade of the spear. Mahisha’s face went slack with pain. Blood bubbled from the cut across his eyebrow and nose, dribbling to his chin. Moinak’s lion had long carried him away.
Furious, Mahisha lifted Mainavati off her perch with a chokehold on her neck. She struggled against his grip, slashing his arms and chest with the spear she still wielded. “Filth of the Earth,” she screamed, “let me go.”
“Oh, I will.”
Mahisha laughed again, picked up his sword and sank it into her chest in one smooth motion. Mainavati shrieked. Mahisha shook her by the shoulders and flung her away, laughing. “Guileless woman, has no one ever told you of Brahma’s boon? No man, god or animal can kill me! I can only die by a woman’s hand. And they are all worthless like you!”
Close to death, Queen Mainavati trembled with rage. How arrogant the Asura was, to think that he could evade death! How he had thrown her on to the ground, as if she were not a Queen fighting for her kingdom beside her husband and son! When she lifted her head to look at him, thunder clapped across the sky. Mainavati’s words shattered the air around them, “You had a boon, and now you shall have a curse. It will be a woman who kills you!”
Had Mahisha not been so busy celebrating, he would have heard the universe pause to mark that moment. But he carried on, oblivious to the sealing of his fate.

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Inside the palace, it was quiet. Two girls sat shrunken in the corner of a dark room – trembling and alone. The younger one leant towards the older, snuffling into her cloak. “Rupali Didi, I’m scared.”
Rupali, all skinny limbs and barely twelve, twitched, “Me too, Gauri. But be not so. Outside your parents and mine are fighting. The whole army is there. It’ll be alright.”
That wasn’t strictly true, but Rupali was not going to say that to a child not even half her age. She wished at least the royal guards had stayed. What if the Palace was overrun? She herself, as the Commander-in-Chief’s proud daughter, was not afraid. But Gauri was a princess! The responsibility made her chest puff up, and her heart beat like a drumstick under her ribs.
There was a muted crash in the distance. Gauri turned to her with wide eyes. Rupali pressed her long fingers against her shoulder and put a finger on her lips. Footsteps pattered against the marble floor outside. Then came the clatter of doors being swung open. The two girls held their breath. Rupali reached out and plucked a vase off a nearby table. The footsteps stopped in front of their room. Moments later, the door was flung open.
There was a single infinitesimal second when Rupali thought it was someone from their side. Then she saw the curved horns and gigantic frame, and with all the strength of her little body, threw the vase at their unwelcome intruder. He made a guttural sound and stumbled, bleeding from his temple. She did not give him a chance to recover. Lifting her small fists, she flew onto him, yelling all the while, “Gauri! Gauri, run!”
The asura hit out at her as if swatting away an irritating fly. Rupali fell on the carpeted floor and did not move. But this distraction had been enough for Gauri to slip past the disoriented asura. She rushed down the familiar hallways, panting for air. Twice she had to duck behind the oversized flowerpots Queen Mainavati had teased King Himvat for buying. Finally, she snuck down to the large double doors, and found Moinak stumbling in. When he noticed her, he limped forward urgently. Picking up Gauri he demanded, “Is someone in there?”
The breathless child could barely speak, “Big… Asura… Rupali didi.”
“Yabha,” he cursed.
“Bhaiyya,” Gauri clutched the straps of his armour, “Bhaiyya, you are hurt! And didi is all alone by herself!”
“Leave it, I’ll go check.”
Moinak spun around, mace at the ready, but it was Rupak, their trusted Commander-in-Chief. Gauri winced as she realized that she had effectively left his daughter behind. The man rolled his shoulders and said quietly, “Son, take your sister and go to the tunnels.”
Moinak blinked, “But why…?”
“Just go.”
Heaving his bow on his shoulder, he leant forward to press a kiss to Gauri’s head and went into the very danger she had been running from. Moinak gently stroked her head, “Come on, little duckling.”
He bounced her on his shoulders all the way. Gauri snuffled against his shoulder and rubbed her sleepy eyes. At some point, she fell into a restless doze, and woke to her father’s pale face peering into her own. He appeared to be crying.
Moinak shuffled from foot to foot. King Himvat turned to his Commander-in-Chief and Prime Minister pleadingly, “This is shameful, what you want me to do. How can I, in good faith, leave my people alone in such circumstances?”
“My King, you do not understand. This is a war we will not win. But as long as you stay alive, our hopes remain.”
“So you are telling me to run away like a coward, and let that tyrant take over our sacred land?”
Prime Minister Shamant sighed. Hima, Rupak and he had been childhood friends. It was difficult to see them like this. He leant forward, and wrapped a hand around his arm, “Hima…”
The King turned away, then looked at him and without warning pulled him into a hug. He pretended not to notice the shaking shoulders. Then Hima straightened up, once again the stalwart King, spun around and strode down the tunnel, his son and daughter following him.
Rupak rubbed his eyes. There were no tears. He hoped the princess would be safe.