Patwardhan Mansion, Vijayanagar.
The silence of the midday and the leisure ti of Mithun abruptly ended with Karna barging into his solitary room, in which he reads books for recreation.
Karna was huffing heavily and sweating profusely, as if he had run from his base to Mithun's room.
Mithun, surprised, jolted up from the plush sofa.
"What Happened? Why are you here?"
"A.. s….. sage"
"ssage from whom??"
Karna took a deep breath and cald down.
"The prince was ambushed on his way."
"WHAT???"
"Calm down. He is heading here. We are to inform the Nayakas quickly and get ready for war. The other princes have begun to move."
Mithun's deanor changed from the usually frustrated to serious.
"So it's ti. Inform all regional leaders to gather up here. I suppose the one in Bidar is coming with the prince."
"Yes. The weapons we stored are going to co in handy soon."
"Also, did my bastard father call up for a loan yet?" Mithun asked.
"Yes."
Mithun let out a chuckle with a hint of amusent, as he was going to bankrupt the Reddy family. He has been lending Reddy's money through various sources. He was slowly eating their land and influence.
"HAHAHA. Lend him the amount, with the collateral being the family itself. That bastard is going to suffer."
He was going to use them to the brim for the prince and throw them away after fully destroying all the family fortunes and history.
"When will the prince reach here?"
"It should be a week. I will go and relay all the ssages quickly."
"Ok, I will go talk with Lord Raj and set up sothing before his arrival at the mansion."
"Understood. We shouldn't disappoint the prince."
Karna left the room swiftly to deliver the ssages to Nayakas. Shekhars weren't inford about this because. He was told that their support would wane if they knew about this.
A ssenger was dispatched to the Nayakas, reaching them in about a week.
Thanjavur, Vijayanagar Empire.
The Nayakas mansion was brimming with activity at the spread of the news of the coma of the Emperor. Patriarch Rudra Simha was preparing for a war that seed inevitable as the emperor and the holding thread of the empire factions collapsed.
The Cochin noble movents were notified to the Patriarch by the spies that he had planted to monitor them. Keshav Pillai was leading the charge. The second prince will follow suit with his own army, and Ashokan Nair sets out for Mangalore. It was not a good day; their fast movent suggested they were very prepared compared to the first prince.
Moreover, just before he was notified of the emperor's coma,. A ssenger of the youngest prince, Harsha, had co to deliver a ssage.
Nayakas were cut off from the prince after traveling to Bidar. The patriarch thought sothing ominous was going on in the background.
Rudra Simha Nayaka, the patriarch, rests his hand on the armrest of his chair.
"What happened to the prince?" His voice was authoritative and cold.
"Lord, the prince was ambushed on his way to Bidar."
"WHAT???"
The patriarch's brow furrowed in frustration, and his fingers lightly drumd on his armrest.
"How is the prince now?"
"He should be leaving for the Patwardhans soon. He killed all the assassins and survived."
"Didn't Rama check for potential threats?"
"Lord, The guard captain, Rahul Shetty, was in cahoots with the assassins, so during the travel, the mbers were replaced."
"Wh–"
"The second prince found out our involvent with the prince and sent out the assassin's to take care of him. Prince Bhairava doesn't sit around with the threats."
"Damn it, that's going to be a pain now. Get the prince safely to the Patwardhans.
After the ssenger had left with the ssage of the patriarch and the necessary support for the prince,. Bhima and his father were having an ongoing discussion about this situation in the courtyard.
Bhima is walking behind the patriarch, looking around the garden.
"Father, what happened to the prince?"
"He was ambushed on the way to Bidar by the second prince's assassins. Gladly, he managed to escape and is on the way back to the Patwardhans."
Bhima was taken aback by the news, but his mind was racing with so questions he wanted to confirm with his father.
"Father, that ans the second prince knows sothing, right?. Isn't it not safe to be on the prince's side right now?"
The patriarch glanced back with a cold look.
"Bhima, are you saying we betray the prince and side with soone else?"
"Father, that's no-"
"Silence; I guess you have your own doubts. Why I take the side of the youngest prince rather than other influential candidates to the throne."
"Yes, I have seen the prince work; it's comndable. But why did Father choose the prince specifically? is a question that kept plaguing ."
He glanced up into the warm light of the sun, recalling the past, and spoke softly.
"I was once an arrogant fool too. When I was at the peak, I was drunk on power. I felt like I could take on the world, even the emperor. Mind you! I had reasons to think that way."
"What reasons?"
"The Emperor assud the throne at a young age, and , being the fool I am, challenged him and lost. I was spared by the emperor."
"How is this related to the prince? Father"
"I saw the sa vigor in the prince, even scarier than the Emperor. One that would swallow the whole subcontinent. The feeling the emperor gave quickly faded when I saw the prince's cold eyes. Sothing in told this was the way."
Bhima knew his father very well; his father's intuition had always proven right. His doubts about the prince still remained, but he decided to trust his father's intuition on this. He wanted to protect his family to the very end.
'I will judge you, Prince Harsha. I will only acknowledge it after I see your handling of this.'
Bhima resolved himself and began preparing.
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