Embrace the Snow

When Nila galloped back to Mihira, she burst into tears. She desperately hoped against hope that she could somehow convince him, only to fail miserably. 

When she came towards Mihira, he grabbed the reins of her horse and led her and the horse back to the Hun camp. 

When they returned, everyone noticed Mihira's bad mood and fell silent. Mihira grabbed Nila's waist and put her down from horseback. He, then, took away her weapons and threw them into the snow. He led the horse into the stables and securely tied the animal.

He grabbed her arm and led her with him to a hot spring. Steam curled from the hot spring, "We have both exerted ourselves a lot today. We are sweaty, let's take a bath" 

Nila did not even protest when Mihira began to strip. She quietly undressed herself, tears pooling in her eyes. Mihira jumped into the hot spring and Nila followed him, getting into the water herself. Mihira ordered for a pair of towels and a fresh pair of clothes for the both of them to be placed by the hot spring. 

For a while, neither said anything.

"I am sorry, Nila" Mihira began, softly, "I was furious that you would carelessly use your own life to negotiate with me. This battle is inevitable and it's time that you made your peace with it"

"Nila" Mihira called out again only to hear more sniffling noises. Nila felt Mihira move closer and tentatively wrap an arm around her bare shoulder. Nila pushed Mihira in the chest and scooted away from him, "Leave me alone" she said, angrily, "I am sick and tired of your never ending revenge plans" 

 "You uprooted me, Mihira" Nila said, "You took me away from the colorful splendor of Malwa. You brought me into this desolate, barren place where everything is white and nothing but white. This land is cold, the people are cold and you are colder than the iciest mountain. How damn cold-hearted and cold-blooded are you, Mihira? Does your heart never thaw? Do you even have a heart? How can you be so heartless? You claim you want to protect me. Yet you want to destroy everything that I want to protect? What kind of a beast are you?" 

Nila nearly choked on her sobs while Mihira gently rubbed her back, "I have not been able to adjust to this place, Mihira. I miss my home, I miss my people, I miss the colorful beauty of Malwa. I want to leave this accursed land. I want to leave you. Now. I want to go far away and never come back to this desolate place" 

Mihira sighed, "Alright, Nila, I will make sure that you go home. Just give me as short while to make the arrangements. I am sorry that I made you unhappy. There was nothing I wanted more than to keep you happy and repay my debt of life to you. Looks like I achieved the exact opposite of what I intended for you. I will let you go home, I will not keep you here any longer, I promise. However, before I do that, I have a small favour to ask of you" 

"Why bother with niceties?" Nila hissed in fury, "Simply say that you will personally impregnate the women of the Gupta Empire. I will become as obedient as a kicked dog after that" 

"That was said in a moment of desperation, Nila, I thought I would lose you at that moment. I did not mean any of it" said Mihira, his eyes full of regret. 

"Of course, you meant it. You are just like this snow, cold and devoid of warmth" Nila screamed, "Anyway, what is the favour you wanted of me?" 

"I want you to embrace the snow for once" Mihira pleaded. 

"What?!" Nila asked in confusion.

"Till now, you have viewed this icy mountain, the snow, me, the Huns as the 'Other'. You believe you can never truly adjust here or become a part of the Huns. You see me as someone who stole you from where you rightfully belong. Your heart always and forever belongs with Malwa and the Guptas. I want you to give me a chance and try to see that your heart can belong with us, the Huns, too" 

"Please" Mihira asked, his voice soft as a feather. 

Nila sighed, "Alright. Show me how I can embrace the snow" 

Mihira got up from the hot spring and wore a towel around his waist. Nila made a move to get up but Mihira only handed her a towel to wrap around herself. 

"What about our clothes?" Nila asked, confused. 

"Just trust me on this" Mihira replied. 

Nila rose from the pool and wrapped the towel under her armpits, she followed Mihira. 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 thousands of icy fingers on her body. Snowflakes swirled around her and she finally saw the snow for what it was - a breathtaking beauty.

"Don't fight it!" he whispered, pulling her into his embrace, "Embrace it! Embrace the Snow!"

Nila closed her eyes and let herself soak in the experience of the snow with all five of her senses. She observed the white foam of snow. She slowly inhaled and exhaled the cold air. She tasted the snowflakes as they melted on her tongue. She heard the whooshing sound of the snow whirling around her. She closed her eyes and felt the tingling sensation of biting cold from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. 

"How is it?" Mihira whispered, his lips moving against her forehead. For a while, Nila had no words to offer, "It's beautiful " she replied. 

"I took you away from Malwa when you were celebrating Holi and Madana Utsav. Tomorrow, the Huns will celebrate Holi with you and our women will celebrate the Madana Utsav with you. I am tired of the pale cheeks of my territory, its time it blushed with bright colours" 

"Wait, you mean...?" Nila began

"Yes, colour the snow for me. Think of it as a blank canvas and yourself as an artist"