Nila had expected a thousand excuses from Mihira. She had expected him to deny, to argue or to even slap her back. What she never expected even in her wildest dreams was Mihira's response.
"I am sorry" Mihira said.
Nila's head snapped up and she looked into his eyes. Mihira repeated, gently holding Nila's hands in his own, "I am sorry, Nila. You are right. What I just did was wrong"
Nila stared at him in shocked silence.
He continued, "Nila, I spent all my life preparing for war and declaring war. I forgot that it would be a hollow victory if the those who believe in me are not safe. In a moment of ecstasy upon victory, I became an aggressor and forgot what it means to be a protector!"
"Give me a moment to rectify my error, Nila" Mihira said, he walked into the tent and sat down beside his injured teammate, "I apologize, I shouldn't have harmed you. It was an accident. How are your wounds now, soldier?" he asked.
"I am alright, my lord, thank you for your concern" the man replied, eyes brimming with tears of gratitude.
Mihira grabbed Nila's wrist and dragged her outside the tent with him. He led her to the stables where he tended to his injured horse, "I am sorry" he whispered to his horse while he patiently attended to its wounds. After caring for the horse, Mihira led Nila to the next stable.
"Now, pick a horse, Nila" he said.
"What?! What for?" Nila asked in surprise.
"So that I can teach you how to ride a horse" Mihira said, "Men!" he called out, a man appeared in his line of vision, "Yes, my lord?"
"Give my bride a bow and a quiver of arrows" he ordered, the man bowed and disappeared only to reappear with a bow and a quiver in hand.
"Thank you, you may go! " Mihira said, "Come now, Nila. We have much to learn"
"Wait, why in the world are you teaching me all this?" Nila demanded.
"I tried to understand your point of view by understanding that I need to be more than a warrior, I need to be a protector. Now, I want you to understand my point of view by seeing what it means to become a warrior." Mihira explained, "I am, also, doing this because I want to teach you self-defence, during time of war"
Nila picked a white stallion, Mihira burst into laughter, "You have picked the most stubborn one here. Is it limited to horses or does it apply to your pick of men as well?" he asked, flashing his even, white teeth in a charming smile.
Truth be told, Nila had picked the horse because it reminded her of Mihira. During her stay, Nila had noticed that Mihira's favourite colour was white.
"Seems like it is not just horses, but also men" Nila said, in a low voice.
"I heard that" Mihira said.
Mihira helped Nila climb up the horse's back and sat behind her. He taught her how to hold the reins and how to navigate a horse. After a week of practice, Nila was able to ride very well.
"You are a fast learner, Nila" Mihira complimented her.
"And you are a good teacher" Nila said with a smile.
A few weeks later, Nila learnt how to fire arrows from a bow with accuracy while on horseback.
"Look at you, barely a month, and you are as good as any Hun" said Mihira, laughing.
"Thank you!" Nila replied, "So, what now?" she asked, "What plans next, Mihira?"
Mihira's voice, suddenly, became freezing cold, "You know what I plan next, Nila. By next month, I will be declaring a war on the Guptas"
"Is revenge so important, Mihira, have you ever considered a life where you let go of revenge?" Nila pleaded.
"I do not forgive insults or offences against me" Mihira replied, curtly.
"When I asked you to think about the price of winning against all costs, you did. Can you not do the same for revenge?" Nila asked, sadly.
"When you asked me to rethink winning, you were asking me to consider my people and my horse. I would change in a heartbeat, for people and my horse, both of whom are extremely precious to me. Now, you are asking me to change my mind about my enemies. Both are as different as sky and earth, so, forgive me, because I will disappoint you"
"I can never forgive you if you hurt my people, Mihira, they are dear to me" said Nila, with hurt in her eyes.
"Okay, once the war is over, leave me and never come back. Never forgive me. Forget me. I can live with that. With your death or rape during war on my conscience, I cannot"
"Alright" Nila said, suddenly, she dug her feet into the horse's sides. The animal reared and galloped forward. Mihira shouted over the rising wind, "Nila, what are you doing right now?!"
She ran headfirst into the edge of a snowy peak's cliff from where she could see a steep valley. With her horse inches away from certain death, she whirled her horse round to face Mihira, "Stop this invasion or I will jump to my death here and now"
Mihira shouted in boiling rage, "Are you crazy? Get back here right now!"
"No!" she screamed back, "Not until you say that you won't harm my people"
Nila took a deep breath, today is going to be my last day. "Mihira, just like how you cannot live with my death on your conscience. I cannot live with the death of the Gupta citizens on my conscience. So, either you back off with this invasion idea of yours or I die, here and now"
"You crazy woman, if you dare to jump off, I will order mass rape of women and murder of the children. I will personally make sure that my men put a baby in every woman of the Gupta Empire. How about you try to die with that on your conscience?"
Nila burst into hysterical laughter, she met his eyes and saw the steely conviction in them. He will do it for real if I do this! Nila backed away from the cliff and galloped towards Mihira. She wondered to herself, will this cruel Ice King ever truly thaw?
YOU ARE READING
Embrace the Snow
Romance"Hailing from Malwa, Nila was used to a riot of colours in both natural and manmade. Here, in the snow-covered landscape, everything had seemed a monochrome of white to her. Today, without anything to protect her from the cold, she could feel thousa...
