Bride of the City Volume 2 by Acharya Chatursen

Author:Acharya Chatursen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Cernunnos Books Pte. Ltd.
Published: 2021-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 125

In Madhuban

Balbhadra rode out in front with his sword drawn. He rode fast but showed no sign he was desperate. Ambapali followed him, and right behind her were Swarnasen and Suryamall. Swords at the ready, five of Balbhadra’s men, each of them heavily armed, hemmed them in. They crossed the deserted Royal Avenue without incident. The bandits had counted on surprise and had judged their enemy well.

Ambapali wanted to speak to the leader of the bandits. Her heart ached with longing to be by his side. But he showed no signs of wanting to talk. He pressed on at a steady pace. Ambapali was glad the darkness hid the flush of her face. She thought of the lion’s attack and fantasised she was alone in the same hut with the love of her life. She remembered the feel of the ground below her feet as she danced with no sense of control.

She could not stop herself from speeding to catch up with Balbhadra. ‘Sir, how much longer do we have to ride?’

‘No longer’, the bandit said in his laconic manner. ‘We are there.’ He called out, and the horses slowed to a canter before stopping. A dark shape moved to their right. It was a man who could have passed as a ghost.

‘Is all well?’ Balbhadra asked.

‘Yes, Sir’, the man replied in a soft whisper. ‘It happened as you had predicted.’

‘Good. Go to work.’

The black shape melted away. Balbhadra led the riders up a gently sloping path to a plateau where he dismounted and signalled the others should follow suit. He helped Ambapali down. Suryamall and Swarnasen looked shaken at what they saw. On the rolling hills to their south, they saw an endless pattern of fires with groups of bandits around them. Most sat, but some roamed between fires on foot, and others were on horseback. They looked cheerful and at home. Suryamall whispered to Swarnasen, ‘We are in the bandit’s camp. And it is massive. The intelligence we had was right.’

Now something changed in their field of vision. A line of well-groomed cavalrymen entered the scene from their left. Their gleaming weapons and armour shone in the soft light of the moon and the fires.

‘It is our men!’ Swarnasen said, in an exultant hiss. ‘They followed us!’

Suryamall was silent. He tried to decode the meaning of the events unfolding before him – the Magadhans massing for an attack, the bandits carrying on as if nothing was happening. He looked next to him at Balbhadra, who stood head cocked to one side, arms folded across his chest as if he was watching a spectacle of mild interest.

The Licchavi horsemen broke into a gallop, and the thudding of horse hoofs shook the ground. Suryamall and Swarnasen turned to look at Balbhadra again. He stood unmoved. ‘Has he lost his senses?’ Suryamall hissed. ‘If only I had my sword with me!’

Now the Licchavis broke into a thundering charge. Suryamall’s feverish eyes drank in sight, but soon he was frowning in consternation.

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