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The same thought occurred to Akrur as well. The younger man said in a strangled tone that failed to disguise his anger: ‘The devils don’t even know that two of the enemy are right in their midst. We could run amok here before they realize it.’ Vasudeva replied quietly: ‘Oh, they know all right. They just don’t care. Even if we run amok, what would we achieve except get ourselves killed in a hurry? The lion doesn’t tremble when a rabbit enters its den.’ ‘Speaking of which, how are we supposed to find this lion? Do you want me to ask somebody where their commander is billeted?’ ‘Not just yet.’ Vasudeva thought that while his mission was most certainly one of peace, there was no harm in learning as much as they could about the Andhaka camp. As the cart rolled on, Vasudeva’s heart sank. Any doubt he might have had about the camp’s purpose was made abundantly clear as they took in more and more of the sights. There were people putting up solid wooden cabins and raising thatched mud huts. There were cooks and cleaning people and all manner of craftsmen, all hard at work. This was no temporary camp or even a token ‘border’ brigade.This was indeed an army being mobilized. He heard the sounds of elephants lowing not far away and realized that there were soldiers in the woods as well, probably clearing more areas to either side of the main clearing. He realized that it was impossible to tell the full extent of this operation; but one thing was certain – this
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