Page 31 of The Prince Without Sorrow

Chapter Thirty

Ashoka

B LIND INSTINCT DROVE A SHOKA TO REACH FOR HIS dagger. It was only when Harini laid a gentle hand on his arm to dislodge his fingers from the hilt that he came out of his stupor.

Shame flooded him immediately. A weapon had been his first choice of defence, just because he’d heard the word ‘ curse ’. At that moment, he was no better than his father.

‘We come in peace,’ he called out to the approaching figure, a woman, letting his hands drop to his sides. It was only when they came closer, did he recognize her. He had not thought he’d see her again. ‘ Naila .’

The mayakari’s gold earrings shone in the moonlight as she narrowed her eyes. ‘How do you—’ she began but started when he pulled the hood of his cloak down. ‘ Prince Ashoka? Spirits, what are you doing out here?’

‘I came hoping to—’

‘Find another poor mayakari to bow to your request?’ Naila scoffed before turning to Harini. ‘Who are you?’

‘One of the prince’s staff,’ she replied. ‘I’m a poor mayakari, it seems.’

The declaration caused Naila to still. A thunderstruck expression ghosted across her face. ‘A mayakari? Work for the Mauryas?’ she asked, letting out a bitter laugh. ‘Please. As if any witch would be both so foolish and traitorous.’

Ashoka didn’t expect Harini to be so affected by her accusation. Traitorous . But he could hardly fault Naila for her reaction. ‘I really am a mayakari,’ Harini placated, ‘just as you are. We just want to talk.’

‘ Hah ,’ Naila snorted derisively, ‘prove it.’

Harini smiled, then opened her mouth, from which came a steady stream of birdsong and flute-like melodies. Spirit-speak , Ashoka noted, awestruck.

Naila’s jaw went slack. Her eyes darted from him to Harini, and back again, as if confused about their presence together. Though the distrust had vanished from her face, she did not seem completely convinced. She too began to use spirit-speak, to which Harini responded. They seemed to be having a conversation. Ashoka watched, wishing he could understand them but, alas, this was a language neither he nor any human could ever learn.

When their dialogue ended, Naila turned to him. ‘You brought reinforcements this time,’ she remarked.

‘I needed you to believe me,’ he replied. ‘We’ve just seen the Great Spirits. I want to help.’

‘Why?’

‘Because this is senseless destruction,’ he said. ‘Because the land is dying, and you and I both know it. Because the Great Spirits have been harmed and must be saved.’

Naila straightened. ‘The Great Spirits aren’t poor, hapless kittens left to scavenge on the streets, Prince Ashoka,’ she told him. ‘They need appeasement, that’s all.’

‘And have you been able to appease them?’ Harini asked, frowning.

Naila’s silence was all he needed to wheedle in. ‘Intuition tells me this has something to do with my father. The Great Spirits were angered after he conquered Taksila. I likely have more information than you on my father’s time here – we can help each other find the root of the problem.’

‘I understand the hesitation in trusting a Maurya,’ Harini said firmly, ‘but Prince Ashoka is not his father, and I can wager my life on that. Both he and the resistance want the same thing.’

He watched as Naila’s gaze landed first on the statue, and then on Sahry without so much as a blink. She appeared to be deep in thought.

‘Follow me, then,’ she ordered brusquely. ‘If you attempt anything, rest assured that I will retaliate.’

Turning on her heel, she stalked towards the forest. She looked back once to gesture them forward impatiently. Buoyed by her assent, Ashoka and Harini followed.

‘By the way,’ he leaned down to whisper in her ear, ‘what did she ask you back then?’

‘If I was here against my will,’ Harini answered softly. ‘I said no.’

The mayakari resistance operated deep in the forest.

Wayward branches threatened to tear at his clothing and strange little hisses promised to inject venom into his skin as Ashoka, Naila, and Harini trekked through the semi-dark. The moon above them provided little to no help. Minor spirits appeared from shrubs, underneath buttresses, and dangled from vines as they walked. At certain points, Naila conversed with them, the words indecipherable.

‘She’s asking them to warn the others in advance, Prince Ashoka,’ Harini whispered.

The others? It took him a moment to realize she meant the members of the resistance.

Eventually, Naila stopped at a hilltop where Ashoka could make out the entrance of a cave. The sheer abundance of foliage almost covered its mouth, making it pass as a typical rockface, but the dim glare of a lantern light gave it away. What a perfect place to hide. No soldier would dare venture so deep into lands they knew belonged to the very spirits that waged an endless cycle of war.

He didn’t realize he had halted in his tracks until Sahry flicked the back of his neck with her tongue.

‘Even your serpent is impatient,’ Naila called out from in front of him. ‘No time to stand and observe, Prince Ashoka.’

No time indeed.

‘One more thing,’ said Naila. Her gaze travelled to his side. ‘Leave your weapon here. They do not enter a haven.’

Dutifully, Ashoka dropped his dagger. After ordering Sahry to stay outside, Naila motioned them forward.

One lantern light turned into two, then three, the moment they pushed past the foliage and entered the mouth of the cave. It tunnelled inwards, dry and arid. It was the perfect abode for a winged serpent if ever there was one.

‘There will be multiple mayakari here,’ Naila warned. ‘Just remember that they’re more scared of you than you are of them.’

‘I am not scared of the mayakari,’ he replied. For good measure, he patted his head once more, as if to remind himself time and time again that his circlet was absent. They did not need a reminder of Adil.

The tunnel opened into a large cavern, illuminated by the blue light of glow worms on the roof and walls. Hanging in clusters, they gave an illusion of the starry night sky. Lanterns were pinned here and there against the rock walls, providing better visibility.

In this vast chamber were stone and wood tables scattered everywhere. Atop them were parchments and bottled plants, maps, drawings of spirits and women, and flowers in pots that were either alive or dead.

It took Ashoka’s eyes a moment to adjust to the change in his surroundings. The soft hubbub of chatter he’d heard when he’d first arrived had died down and now there was only silence. Worse, he noticed the stares...

The mayakari of Taksila’s resistance were here, and they were watching him.

‘Don’t be alarmed,’ Naila called out to the silent crowd. He could almost feel the nervous energy radiating from the witches. ‘Prince Ashoka Maurya has come without weapons.’

The word Maurya caused a sudden uproar among the women, whose faces watched him with distaste. A clear voice rang through the murmurs:

‘The Mauryas do not need weapons to kill.’

Strong and unhurried, a voice with a slight drawl echoed throughout the chamber. Ashoka turned his attention to the left where the sound had originated. From behind a handful of mayakari sequestered by a table, a woman appeared. She seemed to be several years older than him. In fact, most of the mayakari around him appeared to be around his age or younger. Older mayakari were absent here. The woman’s face was clear, save for a purple bruise that stained her right cheek, just above her mandible. Long black hair was tied into twin plaits. No jewellery adorned her body, and Ashoka noted that most of the mayakari there did not wear any either. Though she only wore a plain black shift and loose trousers, she carried herself with the confidence of a queen.

Ashoka nearly forgot his manners. ‘Ashoka Maurya,’ he greeted. ‘I am—’

‘I know who you are, little prince,’ the woman replied as she approached. Not once did she break eye contact with him. ‘All of Taksila knows who you are.’

‘Then you know what I stand for,’ he said.

‘I have heard of your... unlikeness, yes,’ she retorted. ‘Naila told me about her encounter with you. Thank you for saving her life and helping her carry Saumya’s body back to the forest. But I must say – halting ironwood logging only to reverse your decision was a strange one.’

‘My influence is... limited,’ he admitted. ‘My brother is making sure of it.’

‘Hmm.’ That one sound spoke volumes. ‘If you’re constrained, what is it that you think you can do here, then?’

‘I want us to work together,’ he replied, ‘to halt the Great Spirits’ rampage and return the land to its original state. Rebuild the northern community.’

‘That is exactly what Naila told me,’ she said. ‘How virtuous of you.’

He heard the vitriolic undercurrent, understood it. ‘May I ask your name?’ he inquired.

The woman paused. ‘Nayani,’ she replied after a beat. ‘I currently lead the resistance.’

‘Currently?’

‘We don’t know when we’ll die, Prince Ashoka,’ she replied. ‘Our previous head, Pushpa, was found and burned some weeks ago. This is not a permanent mantle.’

As she spoke, a chest unlocked in his mind’s eye, and Shakti’s voice came whispering out.

Nayani .

‘Do you happen to know another mayakari by the name of Shakti?’ he asked. ‘She asked me to seek you out. Suggested that you might help us.’

Nayani stilled. Her posture went rigid, as if she were bracing herself for a fight. ‘You know what she is?’

‘Until recently, she was working as part of my staff,’ he replied, surprised that she did not even attempt to deflect. ‘Rest assured she is wise enough to lie low.’

Nayani let out a small, secret smile. ‘You don’t know her, Prince Ashoka. She’s a firecracker waiting to be lit,’ she said. ‘But if she’s told you about me, then...’

The mayakari trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. Silence sank and settled in like maggots over flesh. ‘Tell me, little prince,’ she began, ‘what is it that we stand to gain from this collaboration?’

‘I...’ Her question drew Ashoka into silence. In truth, he had not expected a bargain. Some na?ve part of him still thought that the mayakari would stick to their altruistic philosophies, but how could they? Suffering in a world that sought to kill them, they would have no choice but to adapt. Pacifism could not thrive in a hostile, unwilling environment. ‘You will see the spirits pacified; the region renewed. I hope to return Taksila to the way it was before my father’s annexation.’

Silence greeted him, and not the pleasant kind. His dreams weren’t enough for the leader. ‘Anything,’ Ashoka added. ‘Ask me anything within reason and I will do it.’

Nayani laughed. ‘ Within reason ,’ she chuckled. ‘I do have a favour for you, Prince Ashoka, but I’m not so sure you will achieve it.’

Doubt. Misjudgement. He hated it. ‘Tell me what you want,’ he said.

‘Something quite simple,’ Nayani said, her teeth gleaming white. ‘You say you want Taksila restored to its glory days before my kind was murdered, and so do I. But that can only be done by ripping out the weeds by their roots.’

Ashoka could not identify what it was that Nayani wanted, but it unsettled him to receive orders as if he were a soldier and not a prince.

‘One order,’ he found himself saying. ‘One order that I will enact to the best of my abilities, and you will never command me again.’

Raising her eyebrows in surprise, Nayani dipped her head in the smallest of nods.

‘Very well,’ she said with a glint in her eye. Her grin was like a jungle cat, playful and expectant. ‘My one command is that you order mayakari killings to be stopped. Permanently. I do not care how you do it but see to it that you do. We’ve been terrorized long enough.’

He wanted to tell her that the request was simple, that it was easy. And yet, Nayani was asking for the stars. He could certainly enact this order, but it would be swiftly reversed. Any resistance on his part would result in Kosala running to Arush, and then he would lose. So long as the governor played an active role in Taksila, his hands were tied.

So you agree. The governor is the problem , said a small voice in his head. He is the weed you must rip out. He must be gone for you to grant Nayani’s wish. Depose him by dis posing of him.

I... no. No. That is a foul thought , his more logical side replied. You can find another way, but for now, accept her command.

‘I shall do my best,’ he said.

‘Do not go back on your word and stab us in the back,’ Nayani warned. ‘Your father has done that enough.’

‘I do not plan to be my father,’ Ashoka said. ‘I want to work together so that we can unearth the reason for the Great Spirits’ distress.’

‘The reason?’ Nayani repeated his words with a frown. She shot someone behind him a confused glance. When Ashoka turned, he found that her gaze was planted squarely on Naila.

‘You didn’t tell him?’ she asked. Mutely, Naila shook her head.

His intestines strung tightly into a knot. ‘Tell me what?’

Nayani’s voice held the airy quality of a parent forcing truth into a child’s fantasies. ‘We know why the Great Spirits are destroying the northern district, Prince Ashoka, even if you don’t,’ she said. ‘We are here attempting to remedy it.’

Shock hit him like lightning. They knew?

‘What... what is the reason?’ he asked.

‘Something cruel,’ Nayani replied, her lips twisted into a grimace. ‘Terrible. Unethical. Something done by a mayakari that we cannot yet undo: a curse.’

The world around Ashoka started to spin. Had he expected a simple answer? No, but anything would have been better than this. ‘I— are you sure?’

Nayani’s face was grave. ‘Yes,’ she confirmed. ‘The reason that the Great Spirits rampage that land every night is because they have been cursed.’