Chapter 1— Abhyuday

Rakhshatra

It is early in the morning and the servants of the palace had already started working in their allocated sections. The palace of royal family of the Rakhshatra, spread over acres of land, is protected by large 12 feet compound walls which remains closed always, except the time of "court of common people", when the common people would be allowed to meet the king and put forward their problems, requests and ask for justice directly in the court.

The entire vast palace is designed in round shape and there is a lot of space between the palace and the compound walls, which is utilized for different purposes like daily martial practice, horse stables and a vast garden. The garden is present in front of the palace, the horse stable on one side while the special building for martial practice along with weapon storage is built at the back of the palace which is called as 'Shastrashala' (Palace of weapons).

There is a big forest at the back of the palace compound which is separated from the Shastrashala by that one compound wall. All the important ministers and Army Generals, along with their families, live in the capital city of Rakhshatra while there are certain chieftains who will look after the provinces within Rakhshatra.

In the palace, a man dressed in Silk Dhoti and Angavastra (a long piece of cloth placed on one shoulder of the upper body) with some gold ornaments adorning his upper body came to the Shiva temple. He stood in front of the shivling (a form of statue of Lord Shiva) and prayed for a few seconds before he looked around for someone. And when he couldn't find anyone else, he went out of the temple and asked the guards standing outside the temple, "Where is Yuvraj Abhyuday? "

The guards informed him, "Young General, Yuvraj already completed his morning prayer rituals and went to the underground basement".

The palace is of two stories and an underground basement which is the prison for accused people before the case is solved. Once the judgement is given then the proven accused will be sent to the large prison constructed on the east side of the capital, away from people.

The ground floor of the palace mostly consists of the royal court, the common puja (prayer) room with human form statues of God Shiva and Goddess Parvati and also some halls where ceremonies could be held. And the top floor where the royal family members and their children lives. This floor is segregated into four wings east, west, north and south. North and South wings consists of two chambers each for King with his Queen and Yuvraj (the crown prince) with his Yuvrani (the crown princess) respectively. The couple could live together in a single chamber or can live in their own chambers, while both the chambers will be connected by a bathroom in between them for common use.

In the case of Yuvraj Abhyuday, he designed a private prayer room in his wing, where no one else could enter without his permission. While East wing is for the children who will have separate chambers, the West wing is for the other wives of King. Yuvraj and other royal males who will have normal-sized chamber compared to the main wives with titles. Along with the other wives, there will also be courtesans for the entertainment of royal male members but these girls will not have separate chambers. In case any one of the girls is called to spend a night with a royal person, then they will have to go to the chamber of that person.

The Young General named Parth, went towards the basement in search of his childhood friend cum future King, Yuvraj Abhyuday. He knows very well about his friend, that the latter wouldn't miss his prayer early in the morning. And today it seems like his friend woke up too early. While he was halfway to the basement, he saw a mighty figure of a man coming towards his direction and stopped in his tracks immediately.

As the figure came near, Parth sighed at the bloody sight of his friend. "Yuvraj, what happened that you suddenly went to the basement early in the morning? ", Parth questioned his friend Abhyuday, who didn't stop walking towards his chamber. And Parth followed him to his chamber as well to get his answers. When they both reached Yuvraj's chamber, Abhyuday took off his upper cloth which is simple cotton comfortable for night wear and went towards the bath area. Parth looked at the bloodied clothes on the floor and sighed again at his friend, who becomes tight-lipped when he gets angry. Parth could already guess what could have happened.

Finally Abhyuday came out after taking a refreshing bath once again and looked at his friend who hasn't left his chamber yet. Parth is his childhood friend who has been by his side through thick and thin, during the most crucial and vulnerable time of his life. Parth asked, "Once again an assassin? Don't they get tired? I mean how do they keep themselves motivated even after hundreds of failed attempts? "

By looking at the kinds of faces that Parth makes while talking about those people, anyone would have laughed or atleast chuckled but, not Abhyuday. Abhyuday simply nodded at Parth to confirm his assumptions. "What to do now? Is he even alive now? ", Parth enquired. To which Abhyuday replied," He is alive. And you know what we do generally ". Parth grinned and said, " Ofcourse, another target for our archery practice ". After the first few assassination attempts, the King has given full permission to Yuvraj to deal with them on his own, since he anyways catch them red-handed. But everyone finds it mysterious, as to how come the assassins get inside the palace compound with increased security. Thinking of some insider help, the King had once ordered for investigating everyone in the palace and search each of the rooms without exception. But still nothing was found.

In the Shastrashala, Abhyuday and Parth finished their archery practice and the dead body was cleared off by the guards while Parth went with them to dispose the body. Just then the second Prince Kaushal came to the place. "I heard of the assassin just now. Are you fine Brother? ", Kaushal asked Yuvraj Abhyuday. While these are the words from his mouth, the thoughts in his mind are different from the ones he uttered now. Abhyuday looked at him in his eyes and replied with a blank face," I'm good. You don't need to worry about me".

Kaushal nodded but then Abhyuday added, "And I have already told you many a times that it's Yuvraj for you. Not any relation". Kaushal was about to apologise but Abhyuday stopped him with a hand gesture and said,"Beware of your slip of tongue. It happens too many times that my patience might cease to exist at some point ". This has happened far too many times that Abhyuday knows what he would say for apology. Parth came just that moment and said,"Abhyuday, it's time to check the practice of our soldiers". Abhyuday nodded at his friend who has the right to call him by his name. Abhyuday nodded and went for supervising the practice of soldiers and future army aspirants who are in their teens.

After the two friends left, Kaushal clenched his fists and murmured with clenched jaws,"While he allows that servant friend of his, to call by his name, he doesn't allow me to call him as Brother. It's as if I'm the servant and that loyal dog is the royal. Abhyuday, there will be a day when you will beg me for mercy and I won't be merciful". After his murmuring, he left the Shastrashala to meet his mother.

Kaushal, although a trained prince who got the same training as Yuvraj Abhyuday under the same Guru, is a bit lazy to train everyday. He goes towards his mother's chamber in the North wing, which is next to his father's chamber, to discuss about their failed plans and further steps. As he reached near his mother's wing, he is able to hear his mother's angry voice scolding some maids regarding her makeup not being good. He rolls his eyes at his mother's high pitched voice which he can hear even from outside the chamber. And then a maid goes to inform his mother about his arrival.

Later he enters the chamber, following which his mother gives out orders for privacy and all maids go out. He asks his mother,"Mother, don't let out your frustrations on the poor maids ". Oormila's frustrations didn't cool down but she simply glared at him. Both of them were silent for sometime and then he asked," What are you going to do now mother? Why don't you stop sending assassins even after failing numerous times? "

Oormila glared at her son and said,"Is your father getting any younger? Or that Abhyuday is a child that I can get rid off him easily? Previously his mother was alive and she had a strong hold on your father that I could not dare to take any step to kill him. Once I got hold on your father and his mother was dead, he was already a teenager and immediately went for Gurukul. You know very well how guarded your Gurukul is. Not even a fly can enter without the knowledge of your Guru. And when he came back, he was a warrior. And now he has become invincible. I'm desperate to remove the only obstacle between you and the throne. If he is no more then we don't even need to wait for your father to pass on the crown ".

Kaushal knows about his mother's cunningness and viciousness all along. So it is no big deal that she is talking about eliminating his father who is the ruling King. Just then both mother and son heard the announcement by the guard that the King is coming towards the chamber. Both of them got alert and felt fortunate that they were discussing in a low voice.

The King entered and smiled at his wife and said,"It's good that both of you are here. I came to inform you that we need to depart by next week for Hridaypura. I hand over all the responsibilities of the wedding to you. So I expect no problem in the wedding ". Oormila nodded at his words with a gentle smile which the King reciprocated. The King looked at his son and asked," Why are you not training in Shastrashala at this time? " Kaushal started to stutter,"Father, th....that I... I" when Oormila came to his rescue and said,"I have called him here".

The King nodded and left from there. The mother and son sighed in relief but Kaushal's face turned ugly when he remembered about the continuous lectures that he gets to hear from his father about learning from his brother.

On the other hand, while walking towards the court, King Virendra thought about his eldest son Abhyuday and felt sad. Why his son's life is in danger continuously? At some point of time, he even thought that it might be Oormila or Kaushal as they are the closest ones to benefit from taking Abhyuday's life. And he started to watch their activities through his trusted guards but nothing suspicious was found even after another attack. So he left that idea and could only tighten the security of the palace as well as the boundaries to try and protect his son who is hell bent on not getting any help from him. He just wishes that he could hear his eldest son calling him as Father once again rather than addressing as King. Leaving all his thoughts, he went to proceed with the court.

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𝙷𝚒 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜,

𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎.

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍.

𝙳𝚘 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜.

By:- sahawrites

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