Satyabhama, however, was not finished. ‘Somewhere inside, you are worried that this may be it. That you have finally taken a misstep and you will either lose, or die. And you don’t know which is worse.’

Krishna groaned at being forced to look into the mirror of his soul.

‘What are you the best at?’ she asked.

‘Livestock and manipulating minds,’ Krishna said wearily. ‘How does it matter?’

‘Are you done feeling sorry?’ Satyabhama took his hand and they walked to the window, looking out across the burning city that was theirs. ‘You know why I fell in love with you?’

He gave a throaty chuckle. ‘For my dashing good looks?’

‘You didn’t have the arms of a warrior. You were a lowborn cowherd, so there was no climbing up in station. Yes, you became rich, but so were many others. You wore the most bizarre clothes! Not to forget the small matter that you already had two wives.’

‘I get it. I wasn’t much of a catch.’

‘It was your mind I loved, Krishna.’ She held his face between her palms. ‘You have a beautiful mind that can see a lighthouse through the densest fog. I try to stay two steps ahead of my enemy. You, on the hand, make the enemy take the steps you want. You can fool Yama if you put your mind to it. You are not Krishna because you have Garud or Syamantaka. You have Garud and Syamantaka because you are Krishna.’

He looked into her eyes, then leaned in for a kiss. She pushed him away. ‘Are you serious?’ she snapped.

‘I thought we were having a moment...’

‘If you were the Krishna I love, you would have known he wasn’t getting any till he dazzles me. Maybe then…’ she leaned close, ‘you will get what you want.’

‘Ahem…’ someone coughed.

Krishna turned to find Rain at the door. She saluted. ‘Dire news. We were counting on the alleyways to slow down Kalyavan. Turns out he is using his airavats to raze the buildings on the way to the Iron Curfew. The alleys, turns and tiers won’t matter as they are falling away like children’s blocks. In a matter of hours, he will have cleared a straight path to the Curfew.’

Krishna straightened, willing the shivers away. His eyes had an odd glint. ‘Come, Rain. Let’s teach that boy some manners. But first, fetch me some livestock.’

IV

The sun was high but the duststorm kicked up by the crusading airavats effectively blocked it out, casting a pall over everything. The mahouts7 goaded the great beasts with their hooks till they rushed forward in maddened fury. There was little to distinguish their trumpeting from thunder. They smashed through the buildings of the Second District as if they were made of spider gauze instead of brick and mortar. There was no need for the Greek army to fight their way to the Iron Curfew. The layered and tiered defence Balram had spent months creating was levelled in moments. The archers riding in towers atop the airavats, rained down arrows on any Republican Army soldier who tried to stop the beasts.