Man Crumbles to Ignorance , Everytime ( Part 7 )

If it isn't, clearly there is no way for their young prince to achieve what he did so quickly. There is no way for him to want to keep going no matter how daunting the task ahead is. He could easily settle as the king of Manas when he ascends the throne in three more years. He could live a quiet and satisfying life while keeping Manas's position as a neutral, diplomatic center for the plateau. But clearly, he wanted more. And he had reasons to want it. He had vision and principle that neither Princess Ashangi nor the Chandra faction had given him. No, he acquired them on his own. Through his association with the Aditya…that pure, original soul who is the charioteer of Rta in this world. To abolish slavery…it was a simple enough goal, but one that requires the entire world to be united under a single rule. More and more, the minister from the Chandra faction thought that they were not the drivers of the sequence of events at all. All the seeds have been planted by Chandras, yet the flowers only bloomed for the sun. How mysterious, and yet how straightforward…

Just as the minister was wondering whether to advise the board to change their position and try not to touch the drylands, the young prince stomped his foot loudly on a low stone table. "Bastard, he is already a god! Now I bet he is gloating that I cannot even touch his hair!"

"Errr…."

"I will definitely win against him one day…" Chandra Kush adopted an extremely serious face and deep voice and declared.

The minister felt a little out of his depth. "In that case, Your Highness, should we go ahead and confirm that alliance between the Asuras and the alliance of the dryland nations led by the Pranaya kingdom?"

"Huh?" Kush irritably broke the table. "But how many times should I tell you that Abhaya is my ally?!"

"My prince, all due respect, alliances shift. Enemies become allies, allies become enemies…when it comes to state politics, all this is very common. Back when you were mutually cooperating with Abhaya, you were representing yourself. Now you are representing Manas. You are not breaking any rules…besides, in return for the support it leant to you, Abhaya also received support from you to ward off the threat from the allied armies. One can even say you have paid off your dues. You don't owe them anything anymore…"

Kush rubbed his chin and continued, "Even so, it doesn't feel good…" Back when he was a guest at the Crystal Arrow tower, Sarapriya looked after him quite well. He had a good impression of her, although he didn't particularly put stock in Yuvaraja Hara of Abhaya. He knew these two were to be married.

"My prince, don't hesitate," the minister urged. "Word is that a princess from Rtadhara has been kidnapped by Yuvaraja Yuga-dheera of Pranaya. He intends to make her his wife. What I mean to say is…Rtadhara kept saying they will give their first princess to Abhaya, and yet they didn't. Now, they secretly wed a princess to Pranaya insisting that she had been kidnapped…My Lord, I'm sure I do not need to tell you this, but that young king who is also your friend is a man of many colors. Now, he is also a god…and man can only say it is hard to understand god's intentions. He might want to unite all kingdoms in the drylands by giving two sisters to two opposing parties. He might want to unite with the four major kingdoms and topple Abhaya with them going by his actions not to give his sister to them despite the promises made. It is absolutely hard to understand his intentions…but one thing is for sure, he is uniting the drylands. Once he succeeds, we won't be able to touch it no matter how powerful an army we bring…

"Normally, it wouldn't be a problem. The mainland can just ignore the drylands like we always did. But people don't unite for no reason, my Lord…Martanda surely intends to do something afterwards when he consolidates his strength. I am only afraid he might hinder your campaigns in the south…at least as far as Eastern Prairies go, you won't be able to touch them."

Kush remained silent for a while. As far as he knew, Vajradandaka never had any intention to unite the drylands. But what his minister says sounds reasonable as well. Besides, Kush suddenly felt Vajra wouldn't tell him even if he had the intention.

Of course, we are rivals…How can he hope to compete with me if he is only this strong in the end?

Kush still remembered those provocative words. I am on way to become god. So we will only be rivals from now on if you acquire the rest of the world…

Kush certainly was on the way to do that. But so what if Vajra was a god? He won't be able to stop his momentum alone. No, he needs the drylands to be united in order to stand on the mountain fortresses of Abhaya if he wants to stop Kush.

With a strange feeling of foreboding Kush asked, "Which sister was it that Yuga-dheera kidnapped?" Among Aryan nobility, when a girl elopes with a boy, they say the boy 'kidnapped' her. It is to protect her reputation and also, because no girl could be seen willingly walk out of her home, the boy really does kidnap her. She might not offer too much resistance, but that doesn't mean she will even take a single step without physical persuasion. It's like acting in real life, but usually nobody is fooled by it. If a man is strong enough to force his way out after snatching his girl from the enemy territory, then their relationship is usually acknowledged by society even if their families are originally enemies.

"It was the fourth princess named Varunapriya, my Lord."

Kush silently sucked a breath. If it was anybody else, he could've believed Yuga-dheera plotted behind Cactus's back…But this was Varu. Cactus will never make a mistake regarding her and he will use his life to stop anything untoward from happening to her. Just like he tried to with his brother. That Yuga-dheera was cocky but dumb. There's no way he could get one over Cactus…Kush rubbed his chin in thought.

Kush still remembered the quirky quick-witted girl who dumbfounded him several times when he was a guest in the palace. There was no way she would do something like this if the brother and sister didn't agree on it together. Yeah, that's just it. They must have cooked up some sinister plot in their secret place on the eves, just like always. Kush still remember all the pranks the two rascals launched on the strong and powerful him. Evidently, when Cactus found himself to be on the losing all the time from Kush's pranks, he finally decided to take it seriously and got himself an ally. Ever since then, Kush was on the losing end. That girl was as devious as she was cunning. Kush wasn't convinced she would simply let herself be taken by the prince of Pranaya if she originally didn't intend to turn the country upside down.

Suddenly all the warnings given by his minister didn't seem so meaningless. Perhaps Cactus really would unite the drylands and bring them into the mainland…And he should! If he takes their rivalry seriously at all, he really should do that. If not what hope he has to oppose Kush once he gains momentum in his conquests?

Vajra was preparing for their eventual confrontation. Kush should as well. Still…it doesn't seem like Vajra's style to bring the drylands against him. In that letter he clearly intended to stand alone, while Kush brought the 'rest of the world'.

Kush truly didn't understand what was happening and he clearly cannot ask Vajra when he is finally taking steps towards fulfilling their rivalry. So he said, "Alright…y'all can go ahead and kick down the mountain gates of Abhaya. But be wary of Yuga-dheera. He's a backstabber."

If Sheesha was here, he would finally understand why Martanda was so sure that his sister's action will bring calamity on them. Giving one princess each to kingdoms who were adversaries made Rtadhara's position highly ambiguous. Grass would not have supported an invasion on Abhaya on account of his friendship with Cactus, but that was provided Cactus wouldn't take advantage of his reticence to spread his roots everywhere else in the drylands and unite it into a stronger entity. After all, Cactus looked at Grass as a friend first, but Grass looks at Cactus as a rival first. The former can see the latter get stronger, but the latter cannot do the same for the former. It was a delicate balance that would not have been broken if it was not for the fourth princess's actions.

"But of course," the minister bowed to acknowledge the order. "It is already clear to us that he intends to take advantage of the alliance to conquer Abhaya and then turn against us. Compared to the Martanda, this man's goals are pretty easy to see."

"Hmmm…" Kush turned away, his eyes travelling back to the drying tree branch. "Also, you said the Martanda almost died in the libation ceremony. I need to know why. Let the spymasters take up a mission to find out what happened."

"Acknowledged."

Just as Kush dismissed the minister, the servant came to hand him the axe Kush asked for. He took it in his hand and looked at the branch that was as thick as a Marut's thigh. It developed a crack in the storm during the monsoon and had withered ever since. However, even after so long, it didn't die, as though it didn't want to give up.

Kush rubbed the rough bark with fondness. It's deep color reminded him of Cactus's charming complexion, it's tenaciousness Cactus's bright eyes. Back at the forest where they first met, Cactus was just like this withered branch that was abandoned by the tree. But that's why he was special. He stood up despite it.

"Never mind," he handed the axe back to the servant, "The tree can afford to lose this bit of nutrients. Let's see if it grows back."

Left alone in the terrace, enjoying the mid-morning draft, he pet the withering branch. "One day, Cactus…one day you'll see that I'm pretty special too. When you lose to me in war…despite all your wits, your planning, your resourcefulness, even your cunning…You'll know. You'll know that I'm quite special. He he he. I'm already looking forward to seeing your face at that time. What will you say to me then? Oh Lord, please spare my life?" Kush burst out into giggles like a little mad man, scaring the poor servants around him.