When Parasu stepped out of the wicket door of the giant iron gate, Rathi was there to greet him with his weaselly smile. Prince Bali's men were there too, to escort him out of the royal barracks, but there was no sign of the prince.
"I was most distressed when I heard of the news of your arrest." Rathi swayed and twisted his way down the saddle onto the ground. "I sent word to our king immediately, without losing a moment. I have heard tales of how uncomfortable the southern prisons can be. It is no place for our most revered sage."
For a moment, Parasu let the daylight wash over his face. Four days in a dank, dark prison cell, and he felt he had forgotten how it was to be under the sun. It was all a blur once Parasu was taken a prisoner at the Sun Temple.
Parasu had sat atop a horse with his hands bound and followed his holy captors out of the small town, riding down the rocky Deccan path, past the caves by the riverbank, and across a wide stone bridge that led straight into the capital city of Kanchi.
Aditya King Shukra, a god of the Sun dynasty, a droopy little old man, almost jumped with joy when he was told of the circumstances in which Parasu was arrested. The relation between the two kingdoms was strained as it was, and the Book of Asura still alluded Parasu. The last thing he wanted was for King Shukra to use this as an excuse to hold sway over King Digvi.
"You have my deepest gratitude." Parasu bowed to the serpent man, Naga Rathi. "I fear I would not have seen the light of the day if it was not for your timely wisdom." If the naga heard the mock in Parasu's voice, he expressed nothing. Instead, he moved up to Parasu and laid a perfumed hand on his shoulder.
"I would expect the same help from you, dear sage, if I ever get in trouble. Now, perhaps, we should be on our way. We have given the Adityas enough reason to despise us." Naga Rathi ushered Parasu towards an unmounted horse that was saddled for him. "We must head out of this city before we outstay their welcome. There is a greater purpose waiting for us, your noble purpose."
"Has my pupil woken up?" asked Parasu, shrugging away Naga Rathi's hand.
"No, the boy has not woken up, but he is not dead either. He can wait, the universe cannot."
"Since when did you concern yourselves in the matters of the universe?" Parasu asked sharply. Naga Rathi's complete disregard for a dying child irked him. "Last I heard from you in King Digvi's court, you weren't so convinced of my vision?"
Rathi's smile faltered from his face for a second, but then his façade was back. "You must not begrudge me for that, my dear sage. I am a courtier, and you know better than any other a courtier must ask questions and doubt every word spoken in the king's court until they become undeniable facts."
Rathi and his honeyed excuses. But he was right about futile grudges, especially when doom is fast approaching. Parasu scanned the men who had come there to escort him. There were twenty of them, demons and gods, from Bali's retinue, all armored and mounted. At the very front was Lord Narsingh, sitting atop his horse like a mountain.
"Where is Lord Bhringi?" Parasu sensed a bad feeling soon as he noticed the bee demon's absence.
"I am afraid I must disappoint you, Sage Parasu." Naga Rathi's tone was light though the words did not bear any hope. "Lord Bhringi has betrayed us." The serpent noticed the surprise on Parasu's face and offered a regretful smile. "If only we had known before. He kidnapped your pupil. Never saw him as the conniving kind. The tantric is missing, too. Perhaps they conspired together in this."
Lies, Parasu wanted to say but refrained. Instead, he raised his brows to feign surprise, running his hand over his shaggy silver beard. "I, too, find it hard to believe, Lord Rathi. Perhaps he had good reason to leave with my pupil. We must search for them at once."
Parasu slipped his feet into the stirrup, about to mount the brown horse they had brought him, when someone jerked back the reins brusquely, pulling the horse away from him. The horse let out a soft, disapproving whinny.
"Where is our prince?" It was Narsingh, scowling from behind his thick golden beard. His nose flared slightly each time he breathed.
"I know as much as you do, Lord Narsingh," Parasu said truthfully, "I have not seen Prince Bali since the Sun temple. I suspect the portal took them far from here."
"What portal?" Narsingh demanded.
Naga Rathi slithered over to the lion demon's side. "Dear Lord Narsingh, these questions can wait. We all are sick with worry for our prince. But this is no way to treat a prison weary man."
Narsingh suddenly pulled out his sword and pointed it at the naga. "One more word, and you will lose your tongue, naga," he declared hotly and then turned to Parasu to repeat his question. "What portal?"
Parasu sighed and removed his feet from the stirrup. "A magical gateway that the girl created. The Adityas are skilled at those," Parasu lied glibly, "and the prince was swift enough to escape through that. My old bones could not keep up."
If Narsingh heard of how Bali and Aksha disappeared into the portal hidden inside the Pond of Eternal Sentience, he would surely want to storm the Sun Temple, hot-headed and unwise that he was. And that would be an outrage. They were down several men as it was and had just negotiated Parasu's freedom. Any foolishness would put more ammunition in the Aditya king's hands.
The lion demon frowned over Parasu's words, sheathing his sword into his ornate red velvet-covered scabbard. The naga sighed audibly in relief.