The initial shock having faded, Kalyavan limped to where his squire stood, holding his horse, a faint hint of his old swagger returning, somewhat elevated by a face that was missing an ear. In this realm, where scars were as popular as swords, Kalyavan had finally proven his mettle to all. But there was something different this time. As if, in the span of one duel, Kalyavan had aged a decade.

‘If you surrender by dawn,’ Kalyavan said as he turned at the hole in the Iron Curfew, ‘I will spare the common folk. One night. That is what the War Mistress bought you with her life.’

BATTLE OF MATHURA: PART II

BATTLE OF MATHURA
PART II

Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee.
— Epictetus

KRISHNA tried to keep his eyes on the road, such as it was, chewing his tongue, trembling fingers fumbling with the clasps of his plate, smeared with her blood. He tried to ignore the sounds of weeping that floated through the air behind him. The Wolves had built her a pyre. Many had sobbed even before the flames had begun to consumer her. But Krishna could not have stayed to watch her body turn to ash. Rain had told him that it had been her will that her ashes be preserved, to be mixed with his own, and dispersed in the Yamuna together. Krishna had asked Rain to fuck off.

His teeth were chattering by the time he reached the steps of the Senate. His eyes were dry even though it felt like he hadn’t stopped crying. You whore! he cursed silently as he collapsed. You selfish egoistical runt! Krishna’s eyes watched the sky till the last embers from her pyre had gone out. Anger at her found fertile soil in his heart. He forced her picture from his mind. Her grim nods in public. Her laughter at home. Her cold eyes that only danced for him. The beads of sweat that trickled down her back when she rode him. Her glance of support in the Senate. His part in every dream of hers. Her part in every dream of his. How they had dreamed of ruling a world together. How they had fought for it… And how she had let it all go in a stupid fucking duel! Her selfishness gripped his gut in spasms of anguish. How he wished he could wound her to make her betrayal stop hurting.

He closed his eyes. He did not know why, but for the first time in life, he prayed. To all the Gods. She had always said the Gods were indifferent to Man’s fate. But he had to try. He just wanted it to be undone. Take it all away. Take Mathura away. Bring Kans back. Just bring her back. Please…