The Aryavarta Chronicles Kurukshetra: Book 3 by Krishna Udayasankar Page A

and then expect it not to burn. The more we prepare for war, the more we make it a reality. Yet, it would seem, to prepare for war may also be the best and possibly the only way to avoid it.’
    Partha asked, ‘Do you mean to avoid it, Govinda?’
    ‘Should I, Partha? Do you think your brother’s right to rule this Empire is worth the bloodshed? What about you, Bhim? How many lives are too many, against your need for vengeance?’ Govinda waved the statements away, while Bhim and Partha stared, lost for words. ‘Never mind. There are no sane answers to such questions. Now, I’m starving. Who’s ready for the morning meal?’ Without waiting for an answer, he wrapped an arm each around Uttara and Abhimanyu and led them out of the room.
    Once they were gone, even the usually recalcitrant Nakul was driven to words. ‘I don’t get it,’ he said. ‘If the intent is only to get Syoddhan to think we want to attack, so as to force him to make peace with us…I’m not sure the kind of muster Govinda has in mind gives that impression. I mean, sending us to meet Uncle Shalya is an obvious step, but what he wants those two young ones to do… Who does he want them to meet?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Bhim said. ‘If you ask me, Govinda is being defensive. Maybe he thinks war is inevitable.’
    Partha said, ‘You heard him…To prepare for war only enhances the possibility of it.’
    ‘It is also the only means towards peace,’ Bhim pointed out. ‘No one wants to fight a war they cannot win. All we need to do is show Syoddhan that this war is not in his interests. Remember how we built the Empire? We just had to get the right kingdoms to swear their allegiance to us, and the rest fell into order of their own accord. It’s no different now.’
    ‘Unless,’ Sadev added, ‘there is more to it?’
    ‘Of course there’s more to it,’ Panchali said. She stood up and casually settled her pleated robes into place as she spoke. ‘I’m surprised that you can’t see the obvious, Sadev. What would a man like Govinda Shauri value above all?’
    Sadev shook his head, ‘I can’t say, Panchali. Who in Yama’s name can be sure what Govinda wants?’
    Panchali did not reply, relishing what was at once the quiet comfort and the unbearably heavy burden of understanding Govinda Shauri. She was vaguely aware that the conversation continued till for lack of finality it was abandoned. A voice – she thought it was Bhim – called out to her a couple of times, but she remained as she was, gazing sightlessly into the distance.
    The room emptied. Panchali realized she had been holding her breath, though she did not know why. She let it out in a rush, a tired sigh escaping with it before she could control herself. Not wanting to be alone for another instant, she made her way back to the room she shared with her husband, Dharma Yudhisthir, to get ready for the day ahead.

10
    SUDAKSHIN THE SECOND, KING OF KASHI, RULED FROM A CAPITAL that was new and spectacular. That in itself would have made most men in his position happy, but not Sudakshin. The young king found the brightness of the walls oppressive and the gleam of the polished floors blinding; the freshness of it all filled him with disgust. He felt immensely comfortable in the deep lower levels and darks corners that had escaped renovation, though these bowers held no trace of the past, or what had been there before. All that remained was burnt rubble and soot-stain, traces of that which had destroyed the past. It was enough for Sudakshin, for what he nurtured in his heart was not nostalgia; it was hatred. For the moment, he found satisfaction in taking it out on the man before him. Wrapping his strong fingers around the kneeling messenger’s neck, he squeezed with all his rage, feeling his bitterness soothed by the gagging noises that left the victim’s throat.
    The demonstration both pleased and astounded his visitor. Devala Asita’s eyes sparkled with obvious delight as he said,