The Prince's Beloved Stranger

2. Biswasingha

Comments are welcome...

***

I walked through the crowd, unnoticed by the people of Silabhadra. The capital of the Shivasthambh dynasty.

It was one week before my coronation, and I should have already been at the palace. Yet, here I was strolling as a nameless person in the street. If I were anyone else, this would have been a private matter.
But I was Biswasingha Narayan, the Rajkumar of the Shivasthambh dynasty and about to be crowned at the age of twenty-eight.

For years, I had been the chief commander of Shivasthambha, a role I had to give away to my little brother within a week. My mother believed that as a future King, this was entirely unsuitable for me. Even if I wanted to disagree, I had no credibility for such an argument. My little brother, Niladhwaj Narayan was more than happy for the role. After all, he was always alongside me in every battle we concurred so far.

My dynasty was busy to welcome in the upcoming ceremony and I should be happy. Instead, I had a much bigger task: looking after my regents to help prepare for a war I felt sure was coming.

The biggest threat came from Narayangharh last month. In the West. The leader, King Surya Singha, came to Narayangharh unexpectedly. Possibly he claimed of only wanted to pay his admirations. And might that sounded sincere, but I was not deceived.

No, King Surya Singha had come to learn my weaknesses and assess my strengths. He had come to test me.

Before engaging in any conflict with SuryaNagar, I needed time to think, to be sure of myself. So rather than striking, I had told my brother to start investigating without me, then exited myself to get a different perspective here.

Previously this had been my favorite place on the frequent occasions when I needed to get away from everyone.

I walked a few hours here and there and talked to people. Got their thoughts on matters. Went to a tavern and rested there with some travellers.

When it was almost dawn I returned to the royal garden. The radiant flowers were surrounded by tall, dense fences and lined with plants of every variety. In the centre of it, was a marble fountain.

I stood there until the sun was up. Breathing the moisture from the air.

In hindsight, these gardens were the perfect place for a nice and quiet attempted murder.

I had to record everything I had gathered tonight and match it up with Niladhwaj's information.

After less than a minute, the gardener's door opened behind me. That was odd. It was far too early for a guard to be out here, and this ground was forbidden to anyone else unless I invited them in.

I stood at the perimeter of the wall and saw a figure dressed in black making his way forward. This was no servant, who would have announced himself properly if he even dared enter at all.

The figure made a quick survey of the area, then withdrew something from his slacks.

I shook my head, more amused than angry.

Silently, I unlatched my blanket so it wouldn't interfere. Then I withdrew my knife, gripped it tightly in my left hand as I crouched at the side, and leapt directly onto the man's back.

As I jumped, he moved, so I only sheared his shoulder as we fell in opposite directions. I was up first and took a swipe at his leg with my knife, but it didn't cut him. He kicked me to the ground, then knelt across my forearm and wrenched the knife from my grasp, tossing it far from us.

The man caught me in the jaw with a powerful punch that knocked my head against the ground. I was slow to get up, but when he reached for me, I kicked him as hard as I could. He stumbled back and crashed into a tall vase.

"That hurt brother!" Niladhwaj groaned.

It had only been a matter of weeks since I had seen Niladhwaj, yet it seemed like months.

"Then you should have waited until for the real combat," I scoffed but helped him up.

"And waited that long to meet you," He stood up and brushed away his clothes. "We have a bigger problem than your free strolls in the garden, brother,"

"What have you found?" I asked.

"More than we can chew on within a week of your coronation," he scowled at the papers he was holding. "We have to be prepared brother,"

"Surya Singh is preparing for an attack?" I asked.

"It's more than that. He is marrying away his only daughter to Indrajit," he replied and handed over the papers.

"Interesting," I nodded. The travellers in the pub were also discussing that. "If Indrajit get the chance to attack Silabhadha, he will not stop until he seat on the throne,"

"Do you really think he cares about Surya Nagar? He only wants revenge on us," Niladhwaj said and shook his head. "What happened was fifty years ago!"

"Our grandfather betrayed their trust. I can understand their anger. Their pride was harmed," I told him. But Niladhwaj just shook his head further.

"Their daughter ran away too!" he said. "It wasn't our fault,"