Two Kings

by Neo B.

  “It shouldn't be long, but I propose that we should ask our armies to stop and take stock of the situation. They should brace themselves for an attack from the front or the back, and only move forward when they have completely secured the regions behind them. I have already asked them to send scouts ahead of them to ensure there are no traps laid out for them. I have already made out the orders for them to stop. All we need is your seal on them. Time is of importance here, my king,” Agniputra said urgently.

  “What do the generals in the field feel about the situation,” Karkish asked.

  “They feel the same as you, except Dhartiputra who has expressed reservations about the way the enemy has been retreating. I urge you to sign the orders, my lord,” Agniputra requested.

  “I trust you completely, but I feel that you are being over cautious on this one. Give me some time before I agree to put my seal on them,” Karkish said.

  Agniputra felt that this could be a fatal mistake, but he did not want to say that directly to the king, and anyway he had agreed to think about it. He would come to the king the next day to ask for his decision. He only hoped that by that time it would not be too late.

  34. Dinul’s Plan

  While Karkish and his men were enjoying the good news, Dinul was waiting with bated breath. He had sent Kairav to Pataliputra and he was waiting for the news about the war. The village was far from Pataliputra, but the northerners used sledges drawn by wolves to travel and they were fast. Kairav had gone to Pataliputra and come back within three days.

  “How was the trip?” Dinul asked. He was worried about his aide’s first trip to Pataliputra.

  “It was good. You had taught me well. I did not feel out of place at all,” Kairav replied.

  “Tell me what’s happening there?” Dinul’s curiosity got the better of him.

  “It is going as per your plans, my lord. They think they are winning and the five kings are acting as per your directions. Dinul was worried whether his directions would reach the five kings in time. He was also not sure whether they would follow his plan.

  He knew that the five kings were difficult to control and they could not be trusted to act in a particular way. He was particularly unsure about whether Mahendra could be trusted. Mahendra was an aggressive king and Dinul’s strategy required him to lay low for the first five days of the war. This was against his nature and Dinul wasn’t sure he would play along. But it was very important that they all did.

  Dinul had asked the kings to stay back and lure the army into their kingdoms and on the seventh night attack them by surprise. He wanted Pataliputra’s armies to feel secure and safe, till they dropped their guards a little bit. It would provide a window for their armies to attack them with more ferocity.

  The second part of the plan was more crucial. Dinul had planned to attack the capital city of Pataliputra with his men on the same night. Just as the king would be thinking they were winning the war, they would be attacked at all the places, including the most unexpected of all places - Pataliputra.

  Dinul had come out to see the preparations of his men. The sledges were ready and the men seemed ready too. The swords had been sharpened, the bows had been ready. Dinul smiled and turned back to his own hut in the village.

  35. The Attack on Pataliputra

  Dinul had brought his men to attack the capital city. He had asked the five kings to ensure that they kept falling back till his men had overrun Pataliputra. He wanted Karkish’s army to keep moving forward and being lulled into a sense of ease, and then when they would hear the news of the attack on the king, they would be like a ship without a rudder. There would be no cohesion between the armies and they would be defeated easily.

  Dinul had trained these men for this day. He had planned it and he knew they were ready for it. There were around 500 men with Dinul. They were moving in from the north. Karkish and the one unit of his army were in the capital city, ready for an attack, but no one had anticipated an attack from the north.

  Towards the north of Pataliputra there were steep mountains and very rarely did any tribesmen come in from that direction. Dinul and his men had waited till the sun had gone down, before they mounted their attack.

  Once the sun had gone down, Dinul was sure that no one would notice the group of five hundred and one men coming down the mountain silently. It was a tough track down the mountain but these men were used to it. They could climb down the mountain as silently as mountain goats and then they would wreak havoc on the people of Pataliputra. The flourishing city would have one last night of peace, after which it would be burnt down, to be built again, as Dinul wanted it. Dinul was addressing the men, one last time before starting down.

  “For centuries, these men of the south have enjoyed a life of comfort and while you have survived in the harsh winters, they have called you animals and savages. It is time for that to change. It is time for you to claim their land and show them who the real master is. Are you ready for that?”

  All the five hundred northerners raised their spears in acknowledgement. Since it was going to be a close man to man war, Dinul had decided to arm most of his men with spears and swords. Their armour was made of animal skin but it was as hard as armour made of steel, with half the weight. Only about 50 of the men were carrying bows and arrows, just in case.

  As soon as the sun set and darkness set in, Dinul began the climb down with his men. It would take about three hours for the men to climb down the slopes and about another two hours to climb up the steep wall north of the city. Dinul was sure that no one would be expecting them there and he also knew that most of the army of Pataliputra had gone out to battle the five kings. Victory would be his, and easily. But no one will be spared, he thought.

  Dinul’s men were trained well and killing was second nature to them, so Dinul was sure that his men could take on an army of several thousands, especially if they were distributed throughout the city. Dinul himself had decided to take on the palace with fifty of his men. He thought that if they could get rid of Karkish first, the rest would follow.

  Less than three hours later they were standing at the foot of the northern wall of the palace, and the impossible climb up was to begin. Dinul looked at his men, and they did not look tired at all. He did not want to stop for rest, so he asked them to continue the climb.

  He was sure that the next sunrise would bring about a change, with his flag fluttering over the palace. Dinul smiled in the darkness. His wait was finally going to be over, and these last few hours of waiting seemed to be the longest.

  36. Sleepless Karkish

  Karkish could not sleep that night. What Agniputra had told him earlier in the day was troubling him. Could it be true? Had his army walked into a trap? For the first time in his life, he felt truly terrified. What if he lost the kingdom his father had worked so hard for? What were the five kings planning? Where was the man, who they said looked like him? Why could they not find him, even though they had devoted all their efforts and resources to find him? Karkish’s mind was weighed down with all these questions.

  Karkish felt that his faith in his army could be based on all the wrong reasons. If his men were really that good, they should have found out who the man behind the attack was. Karkish felt that it was his fault most of all. He had done his best, but, was that best good enough to inspire and motivate people. He looked back at his wife and son, who were sleeping peacefully. They were able to sleep because Karkish had decided not to tell them everything. He did not want them to be worried about things that could not control. He had only told them that they were winning the war easily. He did not want to trouble them with the news Agniputra had given him.

  Suddenly he felt the need to talk to Shakuntala. It did not seem fair to wake her up at this time of the night, especially when she was sleeping so peacefully, but he decided to, anyway. Shakuntala woke up, and this time she was immediately alert.

  “What happened?” She asked, surprised.

  “Don’t be alarmed. I just w
anted to talk to you,” Karkish said regretting his decision to wake her up.

  “I thought…”

  “... that there was another attack,” said Karkish, completing her sentence. “I wanted to talk to you about something that Agniputra said today. He told me that the easy victory of our armies could be a trap.”

  “And, what do you think?” Shakuntala asked.

  “At that time, I thought he was being paranoid, but now I think he could be right, especially since we have not been able to find the tall, dark man, they call Dinul. If our armies were that mighty, we would have found him by now, wouldn’t we?” Karkish asked. He was glad now that he had decided to wake Shakuntala up.

  “I think you should take Agniputra’s words seriously and the fact that we haven’t found Dinul as yet is worrying too,” Shakuntala said, “maybe he is hiding in the north.”

  Shakuntala had said that last part as a joke, but she was surprised by the reaction from Karkish.

  “Why did we not think of that? It must be the north,” saying that he rushed towards the north window and saw nothing but the mountains, darker against a dark sky.

  “Is it really possible to survive in those mountains, they are almost always covered in snow?” Shakuntala asked, joining him.

  “Yet there are tribes that live among those mountains,” Karkish said,” They never come south of the last mountain. It is possible that he is hiding among them.”

  Karkish was now standing near the edge of the window and his eye suddenly caught a movement in the dark. He tried to look down in the darkness but could not see anything. It must be a figment of his imagination, he thought. Shakuntala had noticed that Karkish had been distracted for a little bit.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “It must be my imagination. I thought I saw something move down in the valley,” said Karkish, “or it could be an animal.”

  Shakuntala came to the window and looked down into the valley and suddenly she saw something move.

  “I saw it too,” said Shakuntla, “it definitely looked like the shape of a human to me.”

  Suddenly, Karkish felt a cold sweat breaking on his forehead. He realised what was happening. They had made a terrible mistake. They had underestimated the enemy and the enemy was at the gates, and no one was manning the gates.

  37. Defence

  As soon as Karkish realised what was happening, he knew he had to act fast or all would be lost. No king of Pataliputra had ever imagined an attack from the north and there was no defence on that side of the wall. The wall itself was supposed to be a natural defence. But Karkish had to imagine the worst. The men scaling the wall were trained at this. They would be in the palace soon. Every minute was precious.

  He told Shakuntla to get ready to leave the palace. The palace seemed to be the first place they were going to attack. Then he quickly went in search of Agniputra. He knew Agniputra would be at the camps where the army was encamped, ready to move.

  The soldiers on guard were not expecting the king to run out of the palace like that and the herald quickly announced the king, but the king was out of the palace like the wind, and he had reached the camp in no time, where he was stopped by the guards. It was a moment before they realised who the tall man standing in front of them was.

  They allowed him to enter the camp. The same thing happened with the guards at Agniputra’s tent. Agniputra was not sleeping either, and he had a map of the kingdoms laid before him where he had placed red stones representing his army and black stones representing the army of the enemy. He was lost deep in thought and was startled by the king’s arrival.

  “My lord,” Agniputra said, “What brings you here at this hour?”

  Agniputra wasn’t dressed and Karkish seemed to have put on his dress in a hurry. But, the king did not seem to be bothered about that. He was troubled and he was speaking fast.

  “We have made a grave mistake and there is no time to correct it. You were right. We have been lulled into a false sense of security, while the enemy was planning his move. We are under attack,” said Karkish.

  “That is impossible!” Agniputra replied, “Who could attack us in Pataliputra. Our forces are winning the battles easily.”

  “The enemy is climbing up the north wall right now!”

  “Impossible!” Agniputra cried again. He had never imagined that it was humanly possible to climb the north wall, “How many are there?”

  “I don’t know, it is impossible to see in the dark. It was merely a lucky chance that we found them out. But we must get the army ready for defence as soon as we can and as best as we can,” Karkish said.

  “We must get you to safety first,” Agniputra said.

  “I am not going anywhere. I need to stay at the front. My people must know that I am a fighter as much as they are. If I am right, Dinul is with the men too. He must have been hiding in the north and that is why we were not able to find him till now. If he is there with the men, I want to be there to face him,” Karkish said, determination written clearly on his face.

  Agniputra did not waste any time and asked his herald to wake up the army and prepare them for battle. It was almost 2 A. M. in the night, and almost every soldier was fast asleep after a hard day’s practice.

  Hearing the conch blow at this time of the night was a new thing for the soldiers and they thought that they were under attack by the enemy. But this was the heart of Pataliputra and that they would be under attack here was unthinkable. They thought that maybe it was a drill of some sort. They quickly got ready with their arms and tried to assemble at the grounds. But even in their hurry, it took them about fifteen minutes.

  Agniputra and Karkish had returned to the palace which was situated at the edge of the north wall for safety. The reason for which the palace was built on the edge of the north wall had put the palace right in the path of danger. They tried to look down the edge, and they could see nothing. But every now and then, they could see a movement, a dark figure moving up the hill.

  “They should be up here in less than two hours,” Agniputra muttered under his breath.

  “Two hours? What can we do in two hours?” Karkish said in despair.

  “Whatever time we have, we must make the best of it.” There was determination written over Agniputra’s face now.

  Karkish was angry, and he was ready for a full on attack too.

  “We must not take them lightly. The men who can scale this wall would not be ordinary men,” Agniputra said.

  “Can we stop them from getting up?” Karkish asked.

  “I don’t think we can and even if we try they might climb up from some other point. The north wall is a wide place and if we try to stop them at one place, they may try to climb up at another point. We will be stretching our already scarce resources. It is impossible to stop them now. We must be ready for them when they come.”

  “But we can’t fight them in the palace, our superiority in numbers would be lost, and if they win here, they will destroy the city. We must form a barricade somewhere behind.” said Karkish.

  Agniputra readily agreed with the king. It would not do to fight the enemy here. They must fight them on their terms.

  “We will be ready for them. Get all the soldiers ready. There must be the least loss of life and property. If they think they can get us like that, they are mistaken. Also get the army ready. I will be talking to them soon,” Karkish said with determination.

  Agniputra liked the tone of Karkish’s voice. The King would save them yet, and they would do their best to help him. With these thoughts in his mind Agniputra left Karkish’s side and went to gather his army.

  38. The Clash of the Princes

  Dinul and his men were soon up the north wall and from there the king’s palace was a few steps away. The palace was well lighted and Dinul could not wait to get inside. Dinul divided his men into five teams of hundred each and sent each group to the nearest palace. They were to silently creep into the palaces and kill all the guards, after which
they were to assemble back at the same place. They decided not to damage property because the property would be useful when they started living there.

  Dinul had decided that he would bring the northerners to Pataliputra and they would start a new civilization where they would be the new masters of the land. With a silent nod of his head, he gave the signal to attack.

  It was still quite dark and the men were stealthily moving as they approached the palaces they were going to attack. In no time, the men were at the palace. They had decided to wait till each of the attack team was at the palace they were going to attack, and then they would signal to each other and once each of the team was ready, they would attack at the same time, surprise would be on their side and the unsuspecting victims would be dead in no time.

  In a few minutes, the men at the king’s palace sent out a signal and the signal was reciprocated by the four other teams. The attack teams were ready and as if to signal his intention and his intent, Dinul blew on his horn. The air was filled with the sound of Dinul’s horn and the attack began.

  All the men moved into the palaces with swords in their hands and blood on their mind. They were yelling war cries in their native language and the screams were such that they would strike fear into the heart of any enemy. But there was no one there who would be afraid. All the palaces were empty and the attacking force was met by silent and empty rooms.

  Since there was no time to organize a defence at the palaces, Karkish had decided to move all the people out of the palaces and the nearby areas. There was no way they could have saved all of them and Karkish didn’t want an unnecessary loss of life just because he and his lieutenant had made a miscalculation. The people of the city had gathered behind the army unit that had been left back in Pataliputra and they had prepared a defence against the attacking force. The number of attackers was not known, but it was difficult to imagine a very large force coming from the north, as the northern lands were sparsely inhabited. Karkish and Agniputra had estimated their number to be less than a thousand, and that had given them hope.