by Neo B.
Dinul was very angry. He loved his parents very much, and he loved the tribe as much. He had wanted a better life for himself and others in the tribe and the tribe had treated him as if he and his ideas were worth nothing. He did not want to have anything to do with the tribe anymore. He went to his parents, who had come to know of what had happened.
“What are you going to do?” His mother asked.
His father was sitting silently in a corner.
“What can I do? I do not think I have much of a choice. I have to apologise.”
“Yes, you must do that,” his mother said, relieved.
“You must not do that,” his father said firmly.
Dinul was shocked. He had no intention of apologising in front of the tribe and he was glad that his father did not want him to apologise either.
“It is time we told him the truth,” Dinul’s father said.
“No, he is too young for that,” the mother pleaded.
“It is not for us to decide that. Fate has chosen the time for the revelation.” said Dinul’s father.
“Tell me.” Dinul said, wondering what this was about.
“You are not our natural born son, my son,” Dinul’s mother said.
Dinul had known that already as he had heard people talk about that in hushed tones.
“I figured that much, but that does not make you any less of my parents. Why would you make such a big deal about that, father?”
“But no one knows who your real parents are?”
“I know that much as well,”
“But that is a lie,” his father said.
“We know who your parents are,” his mother added, almost breaking into tears.
“Who is it, and why have you kept it a secret for so many years?” Dinul asked.
“Because we had made a promise to the one who gave you to us.” Dinul’s father said, “We had no choice but to keep that promise. Plus, we hoped that maybe we will never have to tell you the truth.”
“Who did you make that promise to?”
“It was an old lady. Our tribe was camped outside Pataliputra and an old lady was passing by with a child in her arms which was newly born. She seemed in a bit of a hurry, and it was by chance that she bumped into us. When we asked her about the new born, she asked us if we wanted the baby, and whether we would take good care of him. We wanted a child badly and thought that it was a God sent opportunity for us,”
“Who was the old lady,” Dinul interrupted his father.
“She was a dai who had helped in giving birth to two sons at the royal palace. You are the son of the Dhumarketu, the former king of Pataliputra.”
This was a shock beyond anything that Dinul could ever imagine. Dinul could not believe his ears. He had only heard about Pataliputra in stories and read about Pataliputra in the many books he had asked his father to get. He could not even imagine what Pataliputra was like. Dinul sat down on the ground. In one day he had learnt two important lessons about life. No one was what they seemed and life could be uncertain.
A few minutes ago he had felt that life was unfair. Now, he did not know what to feel. He could have been the heir to the greatest throne in the land, but instead he had been brought up by the gypsies. They had done their best, but that simply was not enough. He needed more and now that he knew what destiny had in store for him, he had decided he would get it - one way or another. But, he loved his parents a lot, and appreciated everything they had done for him.
“I have to leave now,” Dinul said, “I am thankful to you for everything you have done for me.”
Dinul’s father and mother stood there. They wanted to stop him, they wanted to keep him with them forever, but they had always known that this day would come. They had dreaded this day and it had come much sooner than they had expected. But there was nothing they could do about it. Dinul had decided to leave them and they had to accept and respect his decision.
25. Face off
Karkish was disturbed by the rumours of the tall dark man, who was apparently his brother. He seemed to be everywhere where there was trouble and he seemed to be involved with everything against Pataliputra. He seemed to have taken complete control over the five kingdoms and the kings were doing exactly as he told them to. It was also clear now that there were even some people in his own kingdom who were with the tall, dark man. He had affected them all, and Karkish knew he had to meet him soon enough.
What Karkish did not know that the tall, dark, masked man, Dinul, was just as eager to meet the king, but he was waiting for the right time.
Agniputra walked into the King’s chamber.
“My lord, the reports have come in from all the fronts. Our armies are standing face to face with the enemies. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the ranks, but there is a complete silence from the other side. It seems that they have a plan, but as per your directions we are waiting for them to make the first move,” said Agniputra.
“Good, keep making lot of noise. They should feel afraid. Strike fear into the very heart of the enemy soldiers.” Karkish said.
“That is exactly what we are planning to do, my good sir,” Agniputra said.
“I did not want to be the King at such a time,” Karkish said.
“I know, but this time comes in the lives of all great kings and I have no doubt you are a great king,” Agniputra said.
Karkish was not so sure. He could not understand why this suspicious tall, dark man was after his kingdom. He did not remember having deliberately hurt anyone. He believed that he had been honest in all his dealings. He looked out of the windows and he saw the dark clouds gathering in the horizon. It would be a rainy afternoon and the rains would be coming in for many more days.
Agniputra looked at the king, and felt sorry for him, Karkish had spent so much time and energy in building his kingdom that he had not got any time to learn and understand the ropes of diplomacy and political intrigues. He now had to quickly learn the tricks of the trade and win the great war that was upon the kingdom. Agniputra was sure, however, that Karkish would be a great king and he would learn the tricks of the trade as and when it was required.
“I need to be with the army, when the war begins. No army will feel confident with a king who is afraid of the war,” Karkish said.
“I have kept one unit of the army back and we are ready to move at a moment’s notice. Depending upon the tide of the war, we will be with that part of the army that needs us most,” Agniputra said.
“I think that is a great idea,” Karkish said, and was once again lost in his thoughts.
Agniputra left the king to his loneliness and walked out of the room quietly.
26. Dinul’s Education
Dinul had left his parents behind. It had broken his heart, but he knew he had to move on. To his surprise, leaving his parents behind had hurt more than he had expected it to. He had decided to go to the University of Agarpur and study with the best teachers. He knew education would be his best friend and he wanted to do his best with it.
His parents had given him all the money that they could afford. He felt sorry for them and he had returned most of the money and kept the minimum that he thought he would require on his journey. They were losing their son, there was no need for them to lose all their money too, he thought.
It was a long walk to the University of Agarpur, but he had reached there without any major incidence. The University of Agarpur was situated in the city of Agarpur, a border city of Pataliputra that was flourishing because of it being a trade hub. For someone who had spent most of his life in a tent, travelling from one place to another, Agarpur was a revelation. Once he had entered the city, he saw a neat row of houses on both sides of the street. The houses were huge and very well kept. Most of the houses had a garden in the front. As he moved on to the business part of the city, he saw a lot of people on the streets and they were dressed in all sort of dresses. There were people from different parts of Pataliputra and from the different kingdoms and thus it was a fes
tival of colours on the street, but everyone was better dressed than Dinul and Dinul became painfully aware of the fact.
Dinul roamed the streets looking for what he had come there for. He tried to talk to a few people, but they were busy and for some reason, it wasn’t easy for him to get people to talk to him. He kept walking, roaming around in the streets till by luck he eyes fell upon the University of Agarpur at a distance. He was surprised to see how big the university was. He felt that maybe they would not allow him to study there. He had no formal education and he had no idea what the requirements were for getting enrolled to a University. But, he decided to enter the campus and take his chance.
As he was about to enter the University, a voice stopped him. A soldier had blocked his way.
“Where do you think you are going?”
“To the University,” Dinul said confidently.
“What business do you have there? People like you are not allowed here.”
Dinul did not understand what the soldier meant by people like him, but anger seethed inside him. He wanted to strike the soldier down and knew that even though the soldier was armed he could overpower him easily.
From the gate, Dinul could see young men of various ages involved in different activities. His heart ached to get inside.
“Please let me go inside, I want to see the headmaster here,” Dinul pleaded.
The soldier seemed to feel sorry for the young man.
“I am sorry, but it is my duty to stop unwanted people to get inside,” the soldier said.
Dinul decided to make a run for it. He had not come so far for nothing. He would at least get one chance to speak to the headmaster, he thought. He pushed the soldier aside and ran for it. Dinul was a fast runner and the soldier had no chance to catch him, but the soldier was not going to let him go so easily.
As Dinul looked back over his shoulder to see whether the soldier was following him, he saw him throw a dagger at him. Though he tried his best to get out of the way, he felt a searing pain run through his body as the dagger hit him in the thigh. He stumbled a bit, but he did not stop running through the pain. He was losing a lot of blood, but he kept running to the largest building among the many buildings in the complex.
The soldier had caught up with him now and pinned him down.
“Why did you not listen to me, you fool?” the soldier yelled.
“What’s going on here? What is all this commotion about?” came an authoritative voice.
The voice was coming from behind the crowd of students that had by now gathered to see what was going on. The crowd parted immediately for the man with the authoritative voice to come forward. The soldier too tried to stand up without losing his grip over Dinul.
“He tried to get in without permission, my lord. When I tried to stop him, he ran in, and I had to stop him by force,” the soldier said.
The man looked at Dinul and was surprised why someone would do such a foolish thing.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I am Dinul, and I am here to study, good sir,” Dinul said trying to make a good impression which was severely hampered by the dagger embedded in his thigh. Trying to speak was taking a lot of effort and that coupled with the loss of blood was making him lose consciousness fast.
“I am only here to study,” Dinul repeated with fading breath.
“Take him to the infirmary first and get him patched up, I will talk to him later. You are responsible for his safety,” the man said addressing the soldier.
Dinul heard this with relief. He was going to be in the University and he would not be thrown out. With this pleasant thought in his mind, he blacked out.
27. Dinul’s Stay at Agarpur
Dinul was glad that he had been accepted at the university. It had taken him a while to get himself accepted. The headmaster had objected to his admission at first, but finally he was allowed to stay in the university.
The University of Agarpur was one of the costliest institutions in the kingdom and studying there was the privilege of the rich and the noble. The headmaster had told him as much straight up. The head master had told him that since he had no formal education there was no way he could allow him to study in the university. Only those students who excelled in the earlier levels were allowed to study at the university free of cost. The others had to pay a heavy fee.
The headmaster was an old man of about fifty years. He was one of the most respected and learned man in Pataliputra and he had been the headmaster at the University for more than ten years now. He had not seen anyone like Dinul in his lifetime. Dinul had pleaded with the headmaster, and begged him to be allowed to stay.
When Dinul had recovered from his injury, the headmaster had called him to his room. The headmaster’s room was one of the largest rooms in the University and all the walls were lined with books. The chairs in the room were comfortable and when Dinul walked in, he did not dare to sit on any of the chairs.
“Sit down,” the headmaster said.
Dinul still did not dare to sit. He wanted to make a good impression.
“I would prefer standing in your presence, great teacher,” he said.
The headmaster did not insist on his sitting.
“Why do you want to study at this university?” the headmaster asked.
“Because this is the best university in the country and if I want to be the best student, I need to study at the best university.”
The headmaster smiled.
“Why do you want to be the best student?”
“Because I want to be a king one day,” Dinul wanted to say, but knew better than to say that.
“Isn’t it obvious, sir? If one is to do something, shouldn’t one endeavour to be the best at it, and when I say best I am not comparing myself with other students. I am saying that I want to be the best I can be.”
The headmaster was impressed with the reply.
“But you haven’t had any education before. You know that before entering a university, one requires at least seven years of formal education on the elementary level,” the headmaster said, trying to convince Dinul to give up.
“I may not have any formal education, but my knowledge is better than any entry level student of your university, I can assure you of that,” Dinul said. He wasn’t sure if that was true, but he thought if he appeared confident enough, his claim would not be put to the test. The headmaster had no intention of putting his knowledge to the test and he felt that there could be some truth in Dinul’s claim.
“What about the fees? How will you pay your fees?” the headmaster asked.
“I will pay all my fees by working somewhere, even as I study here.”
The headmaster raised his eyebrows, “Do you think you will be able to find time to work after your daily schedule at the university? No one has ever done that before.”
“I will find the time, sir. Just give me a chance.”
Dinul had pleaded and begged and done everything he could to stay at the university. The master had finally agreed to keep him there but not as a student. If Dinul was willing to work in the institute, he would be allowed to stay there and the masters would teach him whenever they got the time.
Dinul was not happy with this arrangement, but he had decided to play along as this was the only way he could learn from the best. He knew he was a prince and he wanted an education fit for a prince, even if it came by working as a servant to the teachers. He would not let fate snatch from him the education that he deserved.
Dinul was having a difficult time serving in the institute. All the teachers in the institute wanted him to run some errand or the other for them. After serving them, it was difficult for him to find time for other things. Actually, the headmaster had never intended to teach Dinul much. He was impressed with Dinul’s enthusiasm and he thought he would be a great asset to the university as an employee. He did not know that Dinul had educated himself and thought that at this age it was almost impossible for anyone to get a university education. The
headmaster thought that in some time Dinul would not be interested in learning and would be satisfied with the lot of serving the teachers and the students of the high and noble birth.
The headmaster had grossly underestimated Dinul. In a few weeks Dinul had understood that none of the teachers had any intention of teaching him anything. It was only a matter of time. His anger at the world increased, but by now he had understood that it anger did not serve any purpose. There would come a time when he would get a chance to take his revenge on the world. He only kept adding names to the list of people to punish when he was the king, as he was meant to be.
He would bide his time. Dinul had decided to learn on his own time. He would watch in secret when the students were practicing. Sometimes, he would find an excuse to hang around when the students were practicing, and when everyone was asleep he would practice at leisure.
The headmaster expected him to clean the rooms every night and in the guise of cleaning the rooms and the halls, he would practice almost the entire night. Sleep was something he was deprived of, but he had decided that he would get enough time to sleep later on. For now, sleep was a luxury he could not afford.
Dinul would study at the University at odd hours and had the masters known it, he had become the best student in every class. He had learnt everything there was to learn at the university. He was also learning from the books that only teachers read. He was a man with a purpose. Most students at the university did not have a purpose. They were there because their parents had sent them. This education was of no use to them. But, for Dinul it was a matter of life and death. He wanted to know all there was to know before he set out on a mission - a mission to fulfil his destiny, a mission to become the king, like no other. The King not just of Pataliputra, but of the whole world. He would do that at any cost and no power - good or evil could stop him.
Dinul was especially keen on studying history, politics and a new branch that was fast becoming popular in the world - chemistry. He had watched with great interest as students performed interesting experiments in the laboratory, some of which he was sure could be used in the field of war.