Parvateshwar moved his attention away from those sitting with him and cast a look outside the window of the Karachapa governor’s residence. They were on the dwitiya or second platform of the city, and from this height, Parvateshwar had a clear view of the Western Sea, which stretched far into the horizon.

‘The sea is the only way we have,’ said Parvateshwar.

Bhrigu and Dilipa turned towards Parvateshwar. Dilipa’s Ayodhyan army had finally arrived in Meluha, many months after the Battle of Devagiri. They had sailed on to Karachapa to join Parvateshwar’s Suryavanshi forces.

‘But General, isn’t that the entire idea behind coming to Karachapa?’ asked Dilipa. ‘To attack Lothal by sea? What’s new about that idea?’

‘I’m not talking about attacking the city, Your Highness.’

While there were now four hundred thousand troops based in Karachapa under the command of Parvateshwar, he knew that it was not really enough to defeat a well-entrenched force of two hundred and fifty thousand in the well-designed citadel of Lothal. And despite all attempts at provocation, Sati had resolutely refused to step out of Lothal, thus giving Parvateshwar no opportunity to bring his numerical superiority into play in an open battlefield. The war had, for all practical purposes, ground to a stalemate.

‘Please explain, General,’ said Bhrigu, hoping the Meluhan army chief had come up with some brilliant idea to end the stalemate. ‘What is your plan?’

‘I think we should send forth a fleet towards the Narmada River, making sure that these ships are visible.’

Dilipa frowned. ‘Have your spies discovered the route that Lord Shiva took?’

The Meluhans were aware that Shiva and Gopal had sailed to the Narmada, but they had lost track of them thereafter. They assumed that the duo may have used the Narmada route to steal into Panchavati or Ujjain. To what purpose, was still a mystery to the Meluhans.

‘No,’ answered Parvateshwar.

‘Then what’s the point of making our ships sail out in that direction? The Neelkanth’s scouts and spies will surely get to know that our ships are sailing to the Narmada. We’ll lose the element of surprise.’

‘That is precisely what I want,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘We don’t want to hide.’

‘By the great Lord Brahma!’ exclaimed an impressed Bhrigu. ‘General Parvateshwar, have you discovered the Narmada route to Panchavati?’

‘No, My Lord.’

‘Then I don’t understand... Oh right...’ Bhrigu stopped mid-sentence as he finally understood what Parvateshwar had in mind.

‘I’m not aware of the Narmada route to Panchavati,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘But the Lord Neelkanth’s army doesn’t know that I don’t know. They may assume that we have discovered this precious route and that the Lord’s life is in danger. Furthermore, the Nagas are a substantial segment of the warriors in that army. Will they keep quiet in the face of an imminent danger to their capital Panchavati, the city established by their Goddess Bhoomidevi?’