"Get up, both of you. There is no emperor here this afternoon, just the old man, Indraneel. Therefore, can my maternal uncle and my best friend forget the royal chasm between us for the next couple of hours?" said the most powerful man in Mandhaar.
"Huh! If you are old, then what am I? A ghost?" Vallabh muttered discontentedly to himself.
At the age of 45, Raja Indraneel still retained quite a bit of his youthful charm despite the crow lines which had emerged around his eyes and mouth.
Inheriting the scholarly charming look from his mother, Raja Indraneel had added the kingly aura to it and his high forehead and clean looks were enhanced by the shoulder length, salt-n-pepper hair which were bereft of the crown at this moment.
Dressed in a knee length deep red kurta with an off-white dhoti, his face emanated intelligence and the usually absent warmth.
General Chandraveer straightened up and stared at the face, which was more than sixty percent similar to someone he knew closely.
Raja Indraneel clasped both arms of the general with his hands and squeezed them. "It's been a long time since I last saw you, my friend!"
Vallabh, who had recovered from his cough and his slightly petulant bout, chimed in. "It is better to have this conversation inside the chambers. Emperor, you came out of the room without even a shawl on your shoulders. If you fall sick under the care of this poor man, your dear queens and subjects will drown me in the sea of their accusatory saliva. Have mercy on me!"
It seemed that Vallabh had taken the emperor's previously spoken words to heart and hence, was speaking without any restraint. Otherwise, for saying the word 'sick' in front of the royal monarch, he would have been beheaded by now!
But the emperor just looked at his old uncle and gave a short bark of laughter. "Mama*, you are such a nag, especially as you grow older. No wonder you are still unmarried. Which woman would want to marry a man who could defeat her in grumbling and fault finding hands down!"
General Chandraveer was trying to hold back his laughter but he couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out. "Pfft…"
Vallabh gave the evil eye to both the men whom he had seen grow up in front of him.
"The two of you are long past your youth. Moreover, both of you are known for your stern stature and unflappable demeanor. If any of your subordinates were to hear this juvenile conversation, I wonder if they would despise you or mock you," he said severely.
"Ah, Vallabh uncle, don't be such a sore spot. Our emperor has always been like this, you know it better than I do," General Chandraveer tried to pacify the man by reverting back to the title instead of the formal one earlier.
Still upset at being made fun of, Vallabh sulked and snorted.
But the duty ingrained in him reared its head again and he said reluctantly, "Go in, both of you. I will bring in some tea and snacks."
Deciding not to provoke him any further, the two chortling men made their way inside. Raja Indraneel crossed the threshold and quickly shut the door.
At General Chandraveer's inquiring look, he explained. "I am assuming that you have brought it with you. Take it out quickly and let's have a couple of drinks before the old man comes back. You don't know how tough my life is these days. He doesn't let me touch even a single drop of alcohol. Tell me, have you heard of any emperor who doesn't drink???"
The general shook his head at the mischievous glint in his friend's eye.
Still, he pulled out a small bottle from the inner pocket of his cloak. This was the wine made from a plant called Soma* which was found only in the highest mountain peaks. Its juice was mixed with honey and milk to finally become an intoxicating drink.
Since it was an extremely potent liquid, Somras* could be imbibed in extremely small amounts.
It was something that Raja Indraneel first tasted during his latter years of education at Sarvaan gurukul and the person who had introduced it to him at that time was Chandraveer. The young and otherwise straight-laced, Chandraveer had smuggled this highly revered wine out of his father's army tent.
Not believing the exaggerated claims regarding the Somras, the two young lads had really given it a go that night.
It resulted in the near expulsion of both of them from the prestigious gurukul, especially since they had decided to swing from one tree to another, screaming from the top of their lungs during the wee hours of the morning.
It was solely due to their noble backgrounds and good academic and military performance respectively, that they hadn't been booted out of the institute.
Till date, this remained as the most embarrassing moment in the lives of the esteemed noble ruler, Raja Indraneel and the ferocious General Chandraveer!
Of course, none of those who were present that night would dare mention the event in front of others.
After surviving that debacle successfully, it became an unspoken promise between the two men to have this drink everytime they met henceforth, no matter the circumstances.
"Are you sure that you want to risk it? More specifically, will you be able to survive the aftereffects? You have always been something of a light-weight when it comes to drinking," General Chandraveer asked the emperor with a smirk.
*Mama - Maternal uncle
*Soma - In ancient India, an unidentified plant, the juice of which was a fundamental offering of the Vedic sacrifices. After it was offered as a libation to the gods, the remainder of the soma was consumed by the priests and the sacrificer. It was highly valued for its exhilarating, probably hallucinogenic, effects.
*Somras - Drink made out of Soma plant