Ganesh stopped breathing while Kartik held his head. ‘What now, dada?’

‘Get mausi here, Kartik,’ said Ganesh, asking his brother to fetch the Queen of the Nagas, Kali. ‘We know what we have to do, but baba’s wrath will be terrible. Mausi can stand up to him. We need to know if she agrees with us.’

Kartik immediately left the room.

A shocked Bhagirath stared at Ganesh. ‘I hope you are not thinking what I fear.’

‘Do we have a choice, Bhagirath? Maharishi Bhrigu will try and contact Parvateshwar at the first opportunity and whisk him away.’

‘Ganesh, Parvateshwar is my sister’s husband. We cannot kill him!’

Ganesh raised his hands in exasperation. ‘Kill him? What are you talking about, Bhagirath?’

Bhagirath remained silent.

‘I only want to arrest General Parvateshwar so that he cannot escape.’

Bhagirath was about to say something when Ganesh interrupted him.

‘We have no choice. If Parvateshwar goes over to their side, it would be disastrous for us. He is a brilliant strategist.’

Bhagirath sighed. ‘I am not contradicting you. What needs to be done has got to be done. But we cannot kill him. I will not be responsible for making my sister a widow.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of killing a man like Parvateshwar. But we’ve got to arrest him. For all we know, Maharishi Bhrigu may already be attempting to make contact with him.’

A moonless night hung over an eerily quiet Assi Ghat in Kashi. The normally busy Port of Eighty did receive a small number of ships at night, but the darkness had kept away even the few brave captains who attempted night dockings.

A silent and pensive Parvateshwar was walking back from the ghat. He had just dropped a shrouded Bhrigu to a waiting rowboat which would take him to a ship anchored in the middle of the river. Bhrigu intended to stop at Prayag for a short while and then proceed to Meluha.

‘General Parvateshwar!’

Parvateshwar looked up to see Kali. The flickering light from the torches revealed that she was accompanied by Ganesh, Kartik and about fifty soldiers. Parvateshwar smiled.

‘You’ve brought fifty soldiers to down one man?’ asked Parvateshwar, his hand resting on his sword hilt. ‘You think too highly of me, Queen Kali.’

‘Were you planning to escape, General?’ asked Kali.

The soldiers rapidly surrounded Parvateshwar, making escape impossible.

Parvateshwar was about to answer when he saw a familiar figure next to Kartik.

‘Bhagirath?’

‘Yes,’ answered Bhagirath. ‘This is a sad day for me.’

‘I’m sure it is,’ said Parvateshwar sarcastically, before turning to Kali. ‘So what do you plan on doing, Queen Kali? Kill me straight away or wait till the Lord Neelkanth returns?’

‘So you admit that you are a traitor,’ said Kali.

‘I admit to nothing since you haven’t asked anything.’

‘I did ask you if you were attempting an escape.’