‘But I should have withdrawn earlier.’

‘You withdrew as soon as you saw the effect on the elephants. You had no choice but to go in with the cavalry, otherwise our soldiers would have got massacred. Practically our entire army is still intact. You did a great job to ensure that we didn’t suffer even higher casualties.’

Sati looked away unhappily, still feeling terribly guilty.

Shiva touched her forehead gently. ‘Sweetheart, listen to me...’

‘Leave me alone for a while, Shiva.’

‘Sati...’

‘Shiva, please... please leave me alone.’

Shiva kissed Sati gently. ‘It’s not your fault. There are usually enough tragedies in life that we are genuinely responsible for. Feel guilty about them, for sure. But there is no point in burdening your heart with guilt over events that are not your fault.’

Sati turned to Shiva with a tortured expression. ‘And what about you, Shiva? Do you really think a six-year-old child could have done anything to save that woman at Kailash?’

It was Shiva’s turn to be silent.

‘The honest answer is, no,’ said Sati. ‘And yet you carry that guilt, don’t you? Why? Because you expected more from yourself.’

Shiva’s eyes welled up with the agony of that childhood memory. There wasn’t a day in his life when he didn’t silently apologise to that woman he hadn’t been able to save; the woman he hadn’t even tried to save.

‘I expected more from myself as well,’ said Sati, her eyes moist.

They empathised with each other in a silent embrace.

Shiva and Sati’s convoy of ships had just reached the last navigable point on this distributary of the Saraswati. From here on, the river was too shallow for the ships. Even farther, the Saraswati ran dry on land itself, unable to push through to the sea.

Shiva had avoided the distributary which led to Mrittikavati. He was on the southern-most part of the inland mouth of the Saraswati. From here on, his army would march to the frontier stronghold of Lothal. Leaving the empty ships behind was fraught with risk. It was only a matter of time before the Meluhans would get to know about it. Shiva would, in effect, be handing over twenty-five well-fitted military ships back to the Meluhans, which would allow them to move their army up and down the Saraswati with frightening speed. The decision was obvious. The ships had to be destroyed.

Once his entire army had disembarked and the caravan that would march on to Lothal had been readied, Shiva gave orders for the ships to be burned. Fortunately there had been a break in the rains which had arrived early this year, allowing the fire to consume the ships quickly.

Shiva stood observing the massive flames. He didn’t hear Gopal and Chenardhwaj as they stepped up to him.

‘Lord Agni consumes things rapidly,’ said Gopal.