‘What Sakas and Tusharas?’ asked Lady Rasha with a twist of her mouth. ‘Spare me such foolishness. You raid their settlements whenever you get bored. And that is often enough, sometimes even when they have paid their tribute. You do not even desire their lands. And you know very well why we need you, Firelord.’

‘I am flattered by your knowledge of me, Lady Rasha. But kingdoms are nothing but lines drawn on a map,’ Kalyavan remarked casually. ‘Constantly realigning them gets wearisome for map-makers.’

‘He’s run from every chance he’s had to rule,’ Shalya whispered to Shishupal. Ah, I can relate to that. ‘Time to bait him. Kalyavan only thirsts for battle, not for power.’ He turned to the Greek. ‘Are you aware of the Usurper’s achievements?’

Kalyavan shrugged. ‘The rags-to-riches story. He is an inspiration to my own herders,’ he said with exaggerated nonchalance.

‘This Usurper defeated Narkasur and brought Pragjyotisha to heel,’ Shalya informed him.

It was well known in the taxonomy of power that Aryavrat Proper has four sides on a map. The enormous South below the Ganga was ruled by the Magadhan Empire. The forested East by the Rakshasa Kingdom of Pragjyotisha. The northern Riverlands, beyond the Ganga, by a score of kingdoms, with Hastina Union being the most powerful. Panchal and Mathura were two others. Then there were the Westerlands, outside what was considered Aryavrat Proper, from where Kalyavan had come.

The Greeks might prowl the lands almost five hundred leagues in the opposite direction, but there was scarcely a Vedan who was not aware of the savage East. In his prime, Narkasur had boasted of an army equal to the rest of Aryavrat combined, most of them almond-eyed slaves from the Golden Islands.

‘The Usurper’s brother, Balram, is unrivalled with his war-mace,’ Shalya continued. ‘He commanded the armies that defeated Narkasur’s army at Guwhat. Lady Satyabhama is said to have slain Narkasur in single combat. Do you see the glory that awaits the slayer of these traitors?’

Despite himself, Kalyavan’s face was an open box of childlike curiosity. ‘I have always wondered how Mathura managed to triumph over Pragjyotisha.’

It was Jarasandh who answered. ‘Narkasur was a mammoth amongst warriors. His defence plan anticipated an attack by someone as powerful as himself, an airavat. Instead, the Usurper worked like a mouse. It does not occur to an airavat the places through which a mouse can scamper.’

‘You think him so low, Emperor?’

‘As a human, yes. As a strategist, no. A mouse is a hardened survivor, after all.’

Shalya nodded. ‘Krishna may be a coward but his mind is unparalleled,’ he said carefully. Seeing Jarasandh nod, he continued, ‘He sees beyond what our eyes see or our minds comprehend. You must have heard of Asrith Tali.’

‘The wealthy cliff-city, whose inhabitants died in the flood,’ Kalyavan nodded. ‘Terrible business.’