Daughter of the Mountains

Chapter 6

Gauri lost any and all frustration she might have felt during the journey as she alighted at the Devas' temporary residence. It was not Swarga, of course, but to her, it might as well be.

A tall, breathtakingly beautiful lady stood at the gates with a plate of flowers in her hand. Her hair was drawn into a high bun draped with garlands of jasmine. She smiled at them as they came up to her, and Gauri was hit by a visceral need to fall at her feet in supplication. It took her so much effort to suppress this feeling that she nearly missed what she said.

"Namaste, is this our young savior?"

Hari gave her a winning smile, "Namaste, and yes, this is Princess Parvati. Only those extremely dear to her can call her Gauri, and mind you, I'm already on that list."

The woman laughed. Gauri found her tongue, "Namaste, Devi. I am Gauri, and contrary to what bhaiyya says, anyone can call me so."

Hari pouted theatrically, "You won't let me have any fun. Anyway," he turned to the woman, "how are you, Sachi?"

"As well as I can be, in these circumstances."

"And Indra?"

The lady – Sachi – rolled her eyes, "What do you think? Grumbling – as always."

Hari gave her a sly look, "Are you sure he always grumbles?"

Sachi blushed, flustered, "Oh, go away, you horrid man. Gauri, darling, come here. I haven't even introduced myself, how rude of me! I am Sachi, wife of Indra, the King of the Devas."

Gauri turned to Hari with wide eyes. Why had he not told her? How was she supposed to behave around her? She was contemplating the merits of actually worshipping her when Sachi clasped her palm in hers and pulled her along excitedly. Gauri, who was too glad to have been rescued from her dilemma, did not even remember to put up a token resistance.

For the next half prahar, Gauri followed an eager Sachi as she introduced her to the thirty-three principle Deva houses, and their disciples. She met the deity of the moon – the calm Chandra, Varuna – the happy-go-lucky deity of waters and skies – and his companion Mitra, the twins Usha and Nisha – the goddesses of dawn and night, and around a hundred more people. In the end, Gauri began to fear she would not be able to remember their names. She stopped Sachi when she started talking about apsaras,

"Devi, I thank you for your hospitality. But I have come a long way, if- "

Sachi slapped her forehead. It was kind of adorable. "Oh," she cried, genuinely distressed, "how could I forget? You must forgive me Gauri, I am just so happy to have you here. It has been so long since a disciple – a girl at that – has set foot among us. Come, I will show you your rooms."

Gauri trailed after her. Sachi chattered on. It seemed like being the Queen of Gods was a trying task, and in some way she was actually grateful to have an outsider to talk to. She spoke of her husband and his obsession with elephants, Airavat – the best of those elephants (Gauri had as much idea about elephants as she did about horses, which was to say none, and after a while she just nodded indulgently), Indra's troublesome pet ape, her Parijaat flowers – whatever that was, the Kalpavriksha – some miraculous plant which was known to fulfill all wishes and so much more. So engrossed was Sachi that she nearly led them right past Gauri's designated chambers.

The rooms were splendorous. Gauri stood at the threshold and gawked. Her memory of her own castle was shrouded by the cobwebs of time, but she was sure that they never had such luxuries. And they were royalty. How could these people afford to arrange such accommodation while on the run? Some of her disbelief must have shown on her face, for her loquacious hostess smiled at her and surveyed the room with pride.