by Neo B.
“Did you know that Ajatshatru had gone to see the seers before the attack?” the king asked.
“Yes, my lord, but he used to go there often and I didn’t think much of it,” Agniputra said, wondering how Ajatshatru going to see the seers was related to the attack on the king.
“I think he was in some sort of dilemma. The masked man told him things that had confused him. I think he was faithful to me and the kingdom but something shook his faith, and he went to the seers to seek a solution, which he found, erroneous as it was. I was told by the seers that the seers had been motivated to say bad things about me and my methods.”
“Do you know about the curse of the king, Agniputra?” Karkish asked suddenly.
“I have heard stories about it, I am sure you don’t believe in the legend, my lord?” Agniputra looked up surprised. It was the first time that he had heard his king say something that was not in the realm of the rational. The king, it seemed, was changing and that disturbed Agniputra.
Karkish had realised over the past few days that he was in dire need of friends. Followers he had many, but friends he had few and far between, He had felt comfortable talking to Udaybhan, and he wished he had more people like that to talk to. He wanted someone to share his ideas with and get an honest response, but he knew that it would be difficult to get those from his ministers or anyone else. Agniputra was one of the few men in the kingdom who had always expressed his intent and opinion clearly to the king, without worrying about what the king would think of it.
Many thought it was because Agniputra was arrogant and against the king, but Karkish had always felt that it was because of his honesty and simplicity. Karkish had always felt that Agniputra was a man who spoke from his heart and Karkish had decided to see if he could be his friend.
“Sit down Agniputra,” Karkish said.
“I am ok, my lord,” Agniputra replied.
“I am asking you as a friend, and not as your king.”
Agniputra looked up surprised, and sat down.
“You are not only in command of the army, but you are the only friend I have, so tell me truly what you feel about the current situation,” said Karkish.
“I feel that our kingdom is under threat because of the liberal policies that you have adopted. There are many reasons for that. Because of your liberal and progressive policies our kingdom is leaps and bounds ahead of most of our neighbours. This has caused unrest outside as well as inside. There is unrest in all the kingdoms among people as they want their kings to follow your policies. Groups have been formed in most kingdoms that are trying to create troubles for the kings to force them to adopt policies similar to ours. The kings are not enjoying these troubles and they want to get rid of you as the king, in the hope that the new king will revert to the old policies.”
This was not news to Karkish as some of his own spies had told him the same thing.
“I can understand their anger, but why is there unrest inside?”
“Not everyone is happy with the present system. It does not allow the rich and the powerful people to exploit the people as much as they used to. Many believe that I am a lover of war, and this new system is making me unhappy too, but that is not the case. I am always ready for war, because that’s what the commander of armies is supposed to do. It won’t do for the army to become lax just because the kingdom is prospering. In fact, a prosperous kingdom requires a strong army to defend itself.”
Karkish was pleased that he had chosen the right man as the commander of his armies.
“So, the unrest inside is by the powerful and the rich who are not able to exploit the weak and the poor as much as they did in the past?”
“That seems to be the only possible explanation, my lord.”
“There are rumours about you maintaining a personal army, what do you have to say about that?” Karkish asked, smiling.
Agniputra almost blushed, as his secret had come out.
“It’s true that I have a unit of special forces, but it is no secret, my lord. It is a unit that I am readying for special operations where stealth and speed are the key. This unit is more loyal to the kingdom and the soldiers are more skilled. After your attack, I have deployed soldiers from these units outside the palace for your protection. I have kept the identities of these soldiers a secret so that no one is able to get to them. In light of what happened, that seems like a good idea now.”
“I am not sure whether I should be angry or pleased. You should have told me about this unit?”
“You never asked, my lord?” Agniputra smiled, “and I thought it would be best if the rumours about my being unfaithful to the king kept floating around. Anyone who would be against the king would approach me first?”
Karkish couldn’t resist a smile.
“Did someone approach you?”
“Not yet, my lord,” Agniputra said, “if someone does, you will be the first to know.”
“That sounds like a perfect plan. I think we should keep our friendship a secret and animosity public. If this tall dark man that everyone keeps talking about wants to approach one of our ministers, then it should be you.”
Agniputra nodded in agreement.
“How long have you known about the unrest, Agniputra?” Karkish asked, after a moment’s pause.
“It has been a while, but I never thought it would reach to such levels,” replied Agniputra.
“That is what I was thinking too. Something must have changed in these past few weeks, that someone was able to plan such a defiant attack on the kingdom,” said Karkish.
Agniputra was lost in thought for a moment.
“I think you are right, my king. Something must have changed and that something has to do with the tall dark man everyone seems to be talking to,” said Agniputra.
“Find out more about him, and who he has visited,” ordered Karkish.
“I will, my lord.”
After a fruitful meeting, Karkish scolded Agniputra loudly about his mismanagement of the army, and his secret army. Anyone who might have been listening at the door would have thought that the king and his commander had a major argument. Agniputra, on his part, left the room in a huff, muttering to himself. Soon, rumours about an argument between the king and Agniputra spread across the city and the country, because even the most loyal soldiers go home to their wives and say a few things that they were better off without saying.
10. The Dark Clouds Gather
The tall, dark man was worried. He had worked hard in the past year to rally all the kings against Karkish. All the kings had been unwilling to start a war against Pataliputra, even though they were internally against the king’s policies. They knew that the might of Pataliputra was enough to vanquish all the five armies combined. The tall, dark man had spent a tough time convincing the five kings that if they combined their armies together, and helped him, it would be easy to defeat Karkish, even with the army he had.
Now, after the failed assassination attempt, he was afraid he might lose. But losing was not an option. Pataliputra had to be his. He would be the king of Pataliputra and govern it as he pleased. With the army of Pataliputra at his command, he planned to defeat all the five neighbouring kingdoms. He had used threats and entreaties in turns to get the kings to agree to support his plan.
With enough perseverance, he had managed to convince all the five kings that Karkish was hurting them without actually waging a war. Though they had known this for years, he had proven to them how the rebel groups in their kingdoms were being motivated by Karkish and his progressive policies. As long as Karkish was alive and ruling, they had no chance to defeat the rebellion, because the rebels would keep growing. Whatever chance they had of defeating the rebels was by supporting him in his venture against Karkish. The five kings were tired of the rebellions as fighting them was making them internally weak.
The tall dark man had told them that if they helped him win Pataliputra he would change the policies of the kingdom and the rebellions would automatically f
ade away. At first all the kings had laughed at his suggestion.
How could one man, and an unknown one at that, defeat a king, and replace him. But with the power of his words he had managed to convince them to give him a chance. He had promised them that he would assassinate the king and when he did that, the armies of the five kingdoms would help him vanquish the army of Pataliputra and become the king.
Though the planned had seemed foolhardy to all the five kings, they had agreed to support him. If he could kill Karkish, they thought, maybe he could achieve something, and who would be the next king of Pataliputra, they would decide later. Every king harboured in his heart a strong desire to rule Pataliputra, and there is no greater motivation than greed. Once greed takes over, the brain sees only what it wants to see. The kings felt that they had nothing to lose by supporting the tall, dark man in his venture. They agreed to fund him and provide him with the necessary men he needed to carry out his assassination attempt.
But the failure of the first attack meant that he would not be welcome in the five kingdoms. For the time being, no king wanted to be associated with him. All the five kings had heard about the failed attempt on Karkish’s life and though they were impressed with what the tall dark man had achieved, they were also scared of what Karkish would do to avenge the attack. Almost a month had passed since the attack, and the kings were now scared of the silence that had befallen after the attack.
Everyone was waiting for Karkish’s next step, even the tall, dark man. In order to gain the support of the kings he had gone to visit each of the kings. The visits were not very fruitful. All the kings had allowed him to visit their country, but their support was a matter of doubt.
He had decided to call a meeting of the kings, and the kings had reluctantly agreed. He knew all of them wanted to be the king of Pataliputra, and thought of him only as a means to an end. He had to ensure that all of them were scared enough of him not to try to go against him now, and not too scared that they could not harbour the thought. He had to make them keep believing that they had a chance to be the king of Pataliputra. The fact that he had managed to strike at Karkish at the very heart of Pataliputra, made the other kings a bit wary of him.
The five kings Mahendra, Govinda, Kanaka, Samvrata and Devendra had all gathered at Gopalpur, the capital city of Avadha, Govinda’s kingdom. His was the second largest kingdom after Pataliputra, and therefore he would be the guiding light that Dinul had to impress.
Govinda’s palace was a large one and he had invited all the kings to his private chambers. Dinul had been the first to arrive because he had wanted to spend some time alone with Govinda.
“So, your attack failed?” said Govinda, smiling.
“It did, my lord, this time, but when I decide that something has to be done, it gets done, sooner or later,” Dinul replied, determination written over his face.
“You are ambitious, that I must credit you with. What none of us kings ever planned, you have thought and even tried.”
“I hope that is a positive remark,” Dinul asked.
“Why do you always wear this mask?” Govinda asked.
“Because behind this mask is a truth that no one but I know, and when the time is right maybe you will know too. Also behind this mask is a wrong that had been committed 26 years ago. It is this wrong that I am trying to avenge, and since I was the one who was wronged, I am willing to do anything to avenge myself,” said Dinul.
Govinda had a strong urge to ask his soldiers to imprison him, and take off his mask, but something told him that it was not the best of ideas. Dinul usually travelled alone, but this time Govinda noticed that he had brought a few men with him, and he realised that it would be difficult to overpower these men without preparation. Soon, the herald announced the other four kings one after the other into the king’s room. They had all come clandestinely to Gopalpur, as they did not want the world to know that the five kings were meeting and planning something. It would be easily construed as a conspiracy against Karkish, and give Karkish a reason to attack them.
“I am glad that you have all decided to come here,” Dinul said authoritatively, “You must have come to know about my attack on Karkish in the very heart of his kingdom. Granted it did not result in what we had anticipated, but it does show you the depths to which I have penetrated Pataliputra. I hope now you feel confident about my plans to overthrow Karkish.”
None of the kings said anything. Dinul realised that they would need more than this to go on.
“But my original plan to kill Karkish and thus win the kingdom without a lot of bloodshed has failed. Now, we have to put my other plan in motion, a full scale war against Pataliputra.”
All the five kings were clearly shocked.
“We never said anything about a full scale war,” Kanaka was the first to respond.
“It is simply not possible to defeat Karkish and his huge army in a full scale war,” Devendra agreed.
“I have a big army, but even with that I cannot even imagine going to war with Karkish,” Samvrata also agreed.
“Your plan is nothing but foolishness, and bound to fail like your first plan,” Mahendra simply said, “did you call us here to listen to the talk of this mad man?”
Govinda seemed at a loss of words. Dinul had taken him by surprise.
“Why should we listen to you? All of us are kings and we bring something to the table, even if we decide to attack Karkish together, why do we need you? In fact, why don’t I just capture you and hand you over to Karkish?” Govinda said.
Dinul did not look disturbed at all. He knew these were mere words, and Govinda had no intentions of doing that.
“If you want to do that, do it. I have not decided to become the king of Pataliputra on the basis of childish dreams. I have men at my disposal who have prepared weapons more potent than anything Karkish has. I don’t have an army, but I have a band of dedicated men at my service, and if I wanted to, I could win one of your kingdoms easily,” Dinul said with menace.
“Some of my men are protecting your family even as we speak. How do you think they would feel about your plan to imprison me?”
Dinul was bluffing. He did not have any of his men in any of the kingdoms. But he knew that after the attack on Karkish, the kings would believe him. The kings were shocked. They realised that they had made a deal with the devil and there could be no turning back now.
“Are you threatening us?” Kanaka asked angrily.
Dinul did not answer his question directly.
“I am asking you, if you are ready for a war against Pataliputra.”
“We can’t answer a question like that at a moment’s notice, we need time to decide,” Devendra said.
All the kings nodded in agreement.
“OK, you can take your time, but don’t take too long,” Dinul said as he got ready to leave. All the kings left after him, deciding to meet again.
As Dinul rode away from the palace, his mind was focused on the guard who had survived the attack. He was still alive, though he had not been able to speak yet. Dinul needed him to die because he was not sure how much Ajatshatru had told the soldier. The most important thing for him was to keep his identity a secret till the right time. Ajatshatru had not known his identity, but in order to convince Ajatshatru to turn against his king, he had to share with him a few more details of the plan, than he had anticipated.
How much the soldier knew was a mystery to him, and he did not like that, as it could derail his plan.
11. The Soldier Speaks
Karkish was getting impatient. He was waiting for the soldier to wake up. Almost a month had passed and his doctors kept telling him that the soldier would wake up soon, but he hadn’t. Somehow, he felt that he was the secret to the whole thing.
The fact that the tall, dark man was in the kingdom further worried him. He did not have the time any more. He had decided to visit the soldier in his room, and see for himself how he was doing. Just as he had instructed, there was a strong conti
ngent of soldiers guarding the room. They all bowed low as he passed them. Inside there was only a man of medicine sitting beside the bed of the soldier who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Most of his wounds were patched up and he seemed healthy. Only he hadn’t woken up in a long time.
“What’s the latest news, how is he?” Karkish asked.
“He is recovering, but he hasn’t woken up yet. But, we are hopeful that he will be waking up soon,” the man of medicine replied.
Karkish sat down next to the bed and he touched the forehead of the soldier. The soldier, as if by magic, uttered a deep sigh on being touched by the king.
“Has he been doing that?” Karkish asked, surprised.
“No, this is the first time,” the man who was treating the soldier replied in surprise, “I think he is waking up.”
“That is a good thing, right?”
“I think he will be able to talk by tomorrow, my King,” the man of medicine replied.
Karkish was impatient, but it did not bode well for the king to look impatient.
“Let me know when he talks,” said Karkish and walked from the room to his private chamber. It would be a sleepless night for him.
***
In another room, somewhere in the kingdom, the news of the soldier waking up had reached the tall, dark man.
“He must not talk. He must not.”
12. A Visit to Vidur
Vidur was sitting at his desk, writing, as was his wont, his thoughts for the day, when the herald walked in.
“What is it?”
“There is someone at the door.”
“Who could it be at this time of the night?” Vidur wondered.
“Who is it?”
“He won’t tell us his name, but he seems to be of noble birth, He said he had something that you would want to see.”
“Show him in.”
Vidur kept his work aside. His journal was a well-kept secret and he did not want the outsider to know what he was doing.
A tall, dark man entered the door.