Samrat Rajnath and Samragyi Kaushalya reached their Kingdom of Pranyakta and behind them Agneya also entered the new world. Agneya could feel some difference in his body as if there is a surge of power as he could feel the intensity. Kaushalya asked Agneya with a smile, "Since your mother is not here, I will try my best to look after you. Never hesitate to ask me anything. Now tell me, what do you want to eat now? I will prepare anything and everything whichever you like". Agneya looked at the couple with no emotions and said, "Its not required Samragyi. I'm not a child that need someone to look after. I am very well capable of taking care of myself. I have been in Gurukul for most of the years with a few months break in between to meet my family. So I can survive alone anywhere. You don't need to worry".
Disregarding Samragyi's reaction, he turned to Samrat and said, "As you have said, I have some problems to resolve right. I will start with my work immediately rather than simply relaxing here". Samrat sighed and asked his tearful wife to order the maids to prepare his room. Then he said, "Agneya, I will introduce you to the culture of this realm later. Before that Get a refreshing bath as you might be tired with your first travel across realms". It was true that Agni was tired so he left to his room as shown by the maids and took a bath in the pool of warm water which was kept ready.
On the other side, Samragyi was consoled by Samrat. Samragyi said, "He is not even calling us with our relationship names. I didn't get to hear my daughter calling me as 'Matashree'. But seems like God is not ready to give me a chance on hearing 'Nanishree'(Grandmother) from my grandson as well". Rajnath couldn't say anything to calm her down so he simply held her while she cried. After a few minutes, he said, "Prepare the dining area and inform all the royal family members to be present there to welcome their new King". Samragyi nodded and went away.
Agneya was resting in the pool with his back against the pool wall and head bent backwards when he suddenly felt a hand touching his arm, which were kept on top of the pool wall. He flinched and suddenly the person who touched him cried out in pain clutching the burnt hand. The pool water bubbled up and the vapour arising from it warmed up the entire bathroom. Agni didn't even turn back and just said, "I don't need anyone's help for bath. Neither do I need anyone inside my room. Inform your fellow maids to never step into my room". The other maid who accompanied the one who is crying on the floor, helped her to stand and took her out.
Agni took a dip in the water and washed off his hand and then came out of the pool with his wet clothes. He saw that there is a balcony in his room so he went out and saw that stars were already visible. He just wondered if it is the same sky for his family as well or it's different for them. A guard knocked on his door and informed that Samrat has called him for dinner. Agni sighed and replied in Affirmation. Then he wandered around the room given to him and found the trunk box which is usually used for keeping clothes. He took one of the dhoti and shawl to cover his upper body and got ready with the ornaments present in the room. He went out and found the guard waiting for him.
Agneya reached the dinner room and then the guard left the place. Agneya stared at the grand dining room filled with a number of people, sat on a small wooden stool with a golden plate filled with varieties of food kept infront of them on a higher wooden stool. Samrat Rajnath called for him to sit on his left side as he sat in the centre and his wife sat on his right. Agni sat on the vacant seat and prayed for a minute before taking a bite. Suddenly everyone started eating at the same time but Agni didn't ask about it. Once the dinner was finished, the maids came to pick up the plates and other utensils. Agni noticed the maid with the burnt hand struggling to finish ber chores.
Samrat said, "Agneya! I want to introduce you with the other family members here. The one sitting near you is my first son, your bade Mamashree and his wife beside him, your badi mamishree. The one beside your Nanishree is my second son, your chote Mamshree and his wife beside him, your choti Mamishree". All of them greeted Agneya politely with folded hands and a smile which he reciprocated with a stern face. Samrat continued, "And this is your cousin, Megnath. Son of your bade Mamashree and his wife beside him with their 5 year old son".
Atlast he pointed at the person sitting in the last corner seat and said, "That is your chote Mamashree's son, Dakshesh". Dakshesh greeted with folded hands but there was a subtle hostility visible in his body language. Agni didn't probe it much as it was unnecessary whether someone welcomes him or not. He is not here for forging family bonds rather it is to complete his task of defeating their unknown enemy. After that Samrat said, "Agneya, you can rest for the day. We will talk tomorrow to get to know about this realm". Agneya stopped him and said, "I want to know everything today. I cannot rest peacefully even if I want to". Samrat asked him to follow to his study with a gloomy face.
In the study chamber, Agneya was waiting for his grandfather to start talking. Suddenly Samrat Rajnath pulled him by his wrist, towards the balcony, from where they could see almost a half of the entire landscape of this realm. Samrat said, "This palace is located at the hill top and this entire hill is designed in such a way that we can look over the entire realm from here. There is another balcony near the Royal court from where we could see the other half of the realm. In your world, the land is divided by water and broken into many pieces but here it is one single landscape surrounded by water on all sides".
(Imagine every ring to be minimum 15kms apart)
Then he continued, "You can see that this hill is divided into 3 parts in a concentric ring format. The pivot of the ring being this palace and the first ring surrounds this palace and some grassland and garden within it. Then comes the second ring which covers a vast amount of land with a storage place for weapons. That place is for the army to practice everyday and also a safeguard for the Royals. The last ring at the bottom of the hill is important for two reasons. One is that the academy for training the youth is situated there".
Agni saw that building which was situated in the third ring and also many other smaller buildings nearby the larger one. It seemed like the capital city back in Rakshatra where important ministers reside nearby the Palace, in their luxury houses. Sensing the silence from Samrat, Agni was about to ask him to continue, when he resumed, "Beyond the Hill, you can see three kingdoms with clear distinction between them by their great compound walls right. These are the kingdoms of Space(Akashpura), Air(Vayupura) and Water(Jalpura). And the other side, there are two more kingdoms of Fire(Agnipura) and Earth(Jagatpura). All these are seperated by compound walls with controlled entries and exits".
Agneya was astonished because he had thought that it is only the power to control fire. He asked, "So there are different powers other than just fire?". Samrat smiled for a moment and then said, "Yes, we have five different powers, known as Panchabhoota. Fire, water, earth, air and space. Each Kingdom consists of that specific power inherited from their ancestors. And there may be some children who might not inherit any powers. They will work as maids and guards. Each of these Kingdoms are governed by the Royals of their speciality".
Agneya questioned, "Since every comman man and woman will have powers, how do they distinguish the Royalty? And if there is royalty for each kingdom then what are you doing here?". Samrat chuckled at his eagerness to know more and then said, "Answering your second question, Every other Royalty will have only one power specific to their Kingdom. But us Royals will have all the 5 powers in us. Thats why we are called as 'Royals among the Royals'. And that is the reason why our palace is also positioned in such a way that every kingdom is equally accessible from here".
Samrat continued, "Answering your first question about how we distinguish the royalty. Although everyone possess powers here, the level of their power varies between 3 levels.
P
eople who possess level 1 powers will be designated as commoners and they do every normal works like that of your world, like Agriculture, business, serving in the army etc.
People who possess level 2 powers are designated with higher services like Ministers, Army Generals and Village heads within their Kingdoms.
People who possess level 3 powers are the Royals. Infact not every member of the Royal family will possess level 3 powers. Only the person who inherits the level 3 power will be the next King/Queen. It is not necessary that only sons will inherit the powers.
Coming to our Family, The King of Kings should possess all 5 powers and all those powers at the highest level of 3. My two sons didn't possess that power and we realized that when they reached five years of age as that is the maximum time limit within which a person will get their powers. The levels within the powers could be developed until 20 years of age. After which the level cannot be uplifted.
So when your mother was born, we hoped that atleast she will get all five powers. And I could actually sense her powers right after she was born, which implied that she will eventually grow up to be the most powerful in our bloodline. But fate had different plans and we had to part our ways with her".
Samrat stopped for a moment to reminiscence the day when they left their only daughter far away in the other realm. Shaking himself out of the thoughts, he continued, "Then years went by and I was expecting atleast the next generation of my grandsons will possess the powers to inherit the throne from me. That didn't happen and then another generation also came. But when Megnath's son didn't possess it, I wanted to check if my daughter's lineage inherited those powers. When I saw you for the first time, I could sense the same kind of powers that your mother possessed".
Samrat became silent allowing Agneya to take in all the information. After a few minutes of silence, Agneya asked, "Till now neither have you disclosed the real reason for abandoning my mother nor the reason for bringing me back". Samrat turned to look at Agneya but kept his silence for a few minutes and then said, "I will tell you everything tomorrow when you will know the real enemies". Agneya didn't reply anything and just stared at the vast landscape surrounding the hill.
Samrat turned to go away and just then informed him, "I missed one thing". Agneya turned back to him. Samrat continued, "There is one exception in the rule of level 3 among the Royal families. The space Kingdom, Akashpura has Royal family with level 2 powers. That is because For centuries there has never been a person with level 3 power of space. So the Royal family will is the only one with level 2 power. Among the people with level 1 powers, those with good academic performance or great warrior ability will be designated as Ministers or Generals". Then he went back to his study chamber leaving Agneya in his thoughts.
Agneya soon left the chamber to go back to his room and thought about the maid who was injured by him. Now he realised why she didn't heal quickly. It's because they don't have any power. He felt guilty for using his power over a powerless person. He reached his chamber and laid down on his bed and soon went to sleep due to his tiredness.
Glossary:
Samrat - Emperor
Samragyi - Empress
Rajkumar - Prince
Bratashree - Brother
Bhabhishree - sister-in-law
Mamashree - Uncle (Mother's Brother)
Mamishree - Aunt (Mother's brother's wife)
Bade - elder or big
Chote - younger or small
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Hi guys,
Finally the first chapter is done. This was hard because it needs to explain everything about the world. Hope you are all clear with it.
Few more explanations will follow in the upcoming chapters.
Guess in which Kingdom, our female lead will be located?
If you like the chapter, do vote and comment.
Thanks,
SM.