Daughter of the Mountains

Chapter 1

"Baba!" Gauri giggled, running inside the crooked cottage that had been their residence for the past year and half. 

Himvat looked up absently. "What is it, little one?"

"I'm not little!" Gauri protested, but she pulled out a flower from her hair and waved it at him anyway. "Look what I found! In the middle of winter, no less."

Himvat gave her a distracted nod and tried to smile. In front of him on the table play stacks upon stacks of paper- maps charts and stock sheets. Himvat bit his lip. Their present location was strategically placed, at a few miles from Gangotri – the point of emergence of the river Ganga. It meant that they could cut off water supply to the plains ruled by Mahisha. It also meant that anytime they tried to stop Mahisha by doing what they planned, ordinary people would suffer from famines and droughts. Personally, Himvat was of the opinion that Mahisha could not care less about what happened to humans, so it was a moot point anyway.

More than a dozen years had passed since that fateful night when he had left his native land. Moinak was now nearing thirty and Gauri was almost eighteen. Disappointment had crippled the runaway king. Over the past years, Mahisha had conquered one kingdom after another with reckless ease. Now with the Gangetic valley and the Sapta Sindhu under his reign, he controlled practically all aspects of agriculture. Even the ports and trading routes had come under his power. Himvat could not bear to see people starve and die as Rakshashas and Asuras snatched their yield and crippled the trade. And his children, despite being of marriageable age, were yet to be wedded. On top of that, last week, two of his trusted men had been found by Mahisha's soldiers. When the demon king had finished his business with them, their mangled bodies were hung up in Mahisha's capital to make an example out of them. Himvat had not seen it himself, but the descriptive words of his usually unimaginative messenger had been enough to make him throw up.

"Baba?" Gauri was hovering over him now, running worried eyes over him. Outside, it was snowing. It reminded Himvat of home. He shook himself and placed a large hand on Gauri's head. She snuggled closer, surprised. The door opened and Moinak came in, trailing snow into the room. Himvat dearly wished he would take a leaf out of his sister's book and wipe his feet before entering. The young man took in the whole situation, then shrugged and said, "Looks like you're having a moment. Gauri, come see me after, the lake has frozen over beautifully."

Gauri bit her lip and looked between her father and brother, clearly torn. Himvat sighed. "Go, but don't you dare get on the ice. You are not children anymore, and if the ice cracks under you, that will be pretty much the end of it all."

Moinak rolled his eyes. Himvat already knew he wasn't going to listen. Gauri clapped her hands and ran to fetch her cloak. At least one of his children had turned out sensible.

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"Baba said we should not go on the ice."

"Oh, come on Gauri, you are here to pull me out if I drown, aren't you?"

"I won't do that for you. You eat too much bhaiyya. You will be too heavy for me."

"Oh, really? You will desert your only brother like this? Little rascal! You must do something at least."

"I will tell baba if you go in," Gauri threatened.

"Huh. Look at you, naughty little duckling. Did no one tell you that snitches end up in ditches?"

Gauri kicked his foot. Moinak doubled over, snorting. They bickered on their way to their destination.

In all honesty, it could hardly be called a lake. It was more like a huge, shallow depression in the ground, filled with water that froze over every winter. It was, however, startlingly clear, and when the sunlight bouncing off the surface softened towards dawn and dusk, one could see the flashing shadows of silver-skinned fishes swimming inside.

Bounding over like an overexcited dog, Moinak stepped on to the frozen surface and immediately slipped. Laughing, he crawled over it and yelled, "Gauri, look, this fish just smiled at me!"

Gauri rolled her eyes. "No, it did not! You are thirty bhaiyya, for crying out loud. Stop acting like a baby."

Her brother ignored her. Gauri huffed and walked around the edge of the lake, peering into the surface. To the east, she knew, there was a large network of natural caves and a few meters from there, a gentle cliff. Gauri love the exploring the cave system, even though her father and brother insisted that she not wander too far. But her Baba was away at the cottage, and Moinak was rolling on the ice like there was no better pastime in the world. For a while, Gauri hesitated. What if the ice cracked, and he fell? Then she looked longingly at the caves, shook her headful of raven hair, took a deep breath and stepped in.

It was dark inside, as usual, and much colder. Gauri shivered, wrapping her cloak tighter around her frail body. She pressed her hands to the smooth stones, running her palms over the curved surface.

Today she chose to take the leftmost passage, which was, for all intents and purposes, the only one that she had not gone in yet. The top of the cave hung low and it was all she could do, bent as she was, do not hit her head on the russet boulder. Fifty paces after came a steep downward slope and Gauri did not dare go further. She leant over to side and felt around the cave walls. In the furthest corner, there was a little dark niche. Gauri loved these niches. She could sit in one for ages, and no one would ever come to disturb her. 

Gauri moved to squeeze herself in, and stepped on the hem of her own cloak. She tripped over and lost her balance. Frantically, she clutched at a jutting out rock. It shifted in her grasp with a low creaking sound. Something moved at the deep end. With a rumbling hum, one of the seemingly solid boulders rolled away, opening up a hollow space.

For an infinitesimal moment, Gauri was afraid that she had awakened some long slumbering monster, but there was no one inside. Two cautious steps later, she noticed the faint golden glow pouring out. A long silver scepter lay on the floor, with a spear on one end and three forks on the other. Slender golden streaks wrapped around it, giving it an inviting shimmer. Gauri beheld it with drunken avarice. It seemed to call to her, that beautiful piece of weaponry, and against all common sense, she picked it up. The trident thrummed in her hand. It wasn't even particularly heavy. 

Something creaked outside. Gauri jumped, cheeks hot with guilt. There was nothing she could see, but her nomadic life had taught her long ago of the existence of things beyond the perception of mortal eyes. She gave the cavelet a furtive glance, a little scared, gathered the hem of her cloak and sprinted all the way out into the cold winds, still carrying the trident in her hands.