Embrace the Snow

SNOWSTORM

Nila's head snapped up, "A War?" she asked, anxiously.

He said nothing for a while before whispering, "Yes"

Nila thought to herself, I must warn everyone. How do I get away from here?!

His voice cut into her thoughts, "Whatever you are thinking, Nila, stop! It's not happening. This war will happen. There is nothing you or I can do to prevent it"

"You can" Nila screamed, "You are the one leading the war, for crying out loud! I saved your life once, so, all I ask is that you don't declare war on my people" 

When he remained unmoved, she said "Please, Mihira! The boy I saved was so much better than this" 

Mihira said nothing in response, he merely sighed, "I owe you a debt of life, so, I am saving you but there are no debts between me and your people. Only debts of hatred and discrimination!"

"It was a long time ago, Mihira" Nila pleaded, "Can't you forgive and forget?" 

Mihira burst into sarcastic laughter, "I wish it were that easy but it is not! You haven't lived my life, Nila. You don't know anything about the life I led because of the prejudice your people have against Huns. They see a monster in me? Fine, I will give them a monster" 

 "You lie" Nila said, "I refuse to believe this is entirely about revenge. You are doing this for ambition too" 

"Of course!" Mihira said coolly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I am a King! I am the King of my people. Gaining territories is part of our duty as Kings. Don't pretend as if your Gupta Kings were saints who never annexed a single territory. Samudra Gupta rained blood across the length and breadth of Bharatvarsh"

 Nila flinched, "Even so, I am a Gupta citizen. I will never be okay with you harming my people. Let me go! Let me go right now!"

"No" Mihira said, "I will not! I cannot let even a single hair on your head be harmed. This war will have terrible consequences. I cannot let you become a victim of this war" 

Nila closed her eyes and prayed, please let him fail in destroying my people. Please, gods, please let him fail. Please let the King of Guptas, Narasimha Gupta muster enough force to stop this Hun invasion. I have not prayed anything for myself but for my people, so, please grant my wish. Please, do something! Anything!!!

"Nila" said Mihira, "If prayers could solve anything, I have prayed a million times. For your people to stop treating me like garbage simply because I have Hun features. Believe me when I tell you from years of bitter experiences, prayers mean nothing. They change nothing." 

For a moment, she considered begging him to spare her people. Her pride rebelled at the thought and she decided to not ask for mercy from such a merciless man. 

Silence descended between them, both were too prideful to try to convince the other person. A Hun rushed into the camp and said, "My Lord, there are signs of a possible snowstorm" 

Mihira swore under his breath and said, "Buckle up! Warn every single man in this camp" 

Nila's head reeled, snowstorm?! Where am I right now? 

Seeing her stunned expression, Mihira answered "You were unconscious for several days. We are no longer in Malwa, we are in Gandhara right now. In a few days, we will heading towards my territory in Bahlika Desa"

Dread made Nila's heart pound, Bahlika Desa! That was miles away from Malwa, she had never been so far away from Malwa before. Nila gasped, the Princess! The poor Gupta Princess, she will be looking all over Malwa for me. I should have left her a note, at least. 

A voice cut into Nila's thoughts, a Hun stepped inside the tent and said, "My Lord, the snowstorm is going to start anytime. We should postpone our plan to stop by Sagala" 

Mihira nodded, Nila asked, "Sagala? I thought your place was in Bahlika Desa"

"I own a vast territory, Nila, extending from Kashmir to Gandhara to Sagala to Bahlika Desa. My military capital is Sagala and my capital is within Bahlika Desa known as Balkh"

Mihira turned to the Hun soldier, "Order every man to cover himself from top to toe. Stock up the food and water rations. Secure the tents and ensure they are strongly grounded and use heavy rocks to hold it down. Start a fire in every tent!" The Hun soldier nodded and left. 

Nila could hear the Hun solider shouting out the orders to everyone. Before she could say anything, Mihira rushed to her side, "Move" he said, she did and he lay next to her. 

Nila blushed red as a Kashmir apple when Mihira pulled her into a tight embrace, "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Trying to keep you warm. I did not save you with such effort from war only to have you die of cold" he replied with a mischievous grin.

Nila could feel Mihira's body pressed to hers so tightly that not even air could escape. He had wrapped himself around her like a protective rug. Nila heard Mihira order for more rugs, when the Hun soldier delivered the rugs, Mihira ordered him to protect himself from snowstorm.

Nila felt the warmth to be suffocating when the four rugs were piled up on top of her in addition to Mihira locking all his limbs around her. She felt as if he was glued to her body and blushed crimson in embarrassment. Nila had not even shared a kiss with a man yet and now, she was in a rather intimate moment with a stranger. 

"Stop struggling so much" Nila heard Mihira whisper and pat her cheek encouragingly, "Just until the snowstorm subsides. I mean no harm. I am only trying to protect us from the cold" 

Nila didn't know why but somehow, she felt she could trust this man. She relaxed in his arms and let him wrap his arms and legs around her. Despite so many layers of warmth, she shivered when she heard and felt the full force of the snowstorm outside. 

GLOSSARY:

Gandhara - modern day Kandahar, Afghanistan

Sagala - modern day Sialkot, Pakistan

Bahlika Desa (Indian name) a.k.a Bactria (Greek name) - parts of modern day Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

Balkh (Indian name) a.k.a Bactra (Greek name) - a town in Balkh Province of Afghanistan