The Prince of Patliputra

by Shreyas Bhave

  Shiva did not speak, but continued to move the deer. “You still haven’t told why you are here?” He said, after a few moments.

  “Before you tell us why you are here,” Hardeo said loudly, from behind, “first tell us how you are here?” Asoka and Shiva both turned to look at him behind them. Hardeo was still standing, with his arms folded.

  Asoka laughed. “I thought you’d be impressed, Guildmaster.” He said, “I followed you from a city which you claim to completely rule.”

  Hardeo stamped his feet on the rock. “It surely seems that somebody has betrayed me.” He said loudly. “Somebody must have told you where I was going. Somebody must have provided the horse with which you followed me.”

  “Well, it’s easy to guess who that person was, isn’t it?” Asoka said.

  Hardeo thought for a moment, and then clenched his fists and cursed. “I trusted Kanakdatta.” He said, sitting down too. “I treated him like my own son. And now….”

  “There is one thing you must know about us men of the southern wars, Guildmaster,” Asoka said, looking at Shiva, “all of us went through hell fighting there in the south. We were like brothers against death itself. The bonds between us are stronger than any other bonds forged afterward.”

  “Yes, we went through hell there,” Shiva said, standing up. “But some of us went through hell even after that.”

  Asoka and Hardeo turned to him.

  “Not my style you say,” Shiva said with rage. “Do you think I love to play thief, planning attacks from the rear in the dark? Do you think I love to think of killing my one-time comrade, who saved my life once?”

  “He saved your life?” Hardeo asked.

  “Mine and Kanaka’s,” Shiva muttered. “It was a mission that went wrong. If it was not for Asoka, both of us wouldn’t even be alive.”

  “And they have saved my life too, countless times,” Asoka said. “Do you know how battlefields are, Guildmaster? They are breeders of chaos. But those who survive it are brothers forever.”

  “When I heard you were the one leading the army being sent to Avanti,” Shiva said, “I fought with my father. I told him I wouldn’t fight against you.” His voice was as if a lump had formed in his throat. “I even avoided seeing Kanakdatta, when he sold us the weapons.” He said. “I knew he too would tell me to stop this rebellion.”

  “Raja Avarak has no reason to love me,” Asoka said. “He has never met me. Yet I have heard about him and command great respect for him.”

  “That’s not how he spoke of you,” Shiva said. “He told me all the Mauryas were scum. He told me that killing you would bring me punya.”

  “So you came?” Asoka asked.

  “Look,” Shiva said, “the last governor in Avanti was a tyrant. He was corrupt, he was evil, and he disrespected my father. I slew him myself.”

  “So that’s how your rebellion started?” Asoka asked.

  “You know I’ve always been hot-headed,” Shiva said. “On the battlefield, having a hot head was an advantage. Not so in normal life it seems.”

  “What happened?” Asoka asked.

  “My father was never angry when he was dismissed from the post of governor,” Shiva said. “He even gave up his palace to the next one. The palace owned by his own ancestors. Nor was he angry when he was asked to give away his crown. But he was angry when the new governor became a tyrant. Then he said that Samrat Bindusar was nothing his father was and trembled with rage.”

  “I have heard stories about Raja Avarak’s rage,” Asoka said. “You yourself told them to me during the southern campaigns.”

  “The governor called my father of low caste,” Shiva said, his teeth clenched with anger,. “I slew him then and there, right in the courtroom, cut off his head with this sword.” Shiva unsheathed his sword and looked at it.

  “If he was a tyrant,” Asoka said, “then I say he deserved what he got.”

  “But there were repercussions,” Shiva said. “The governor had soldiers in his pay. They tried to kill us. I had to rescue my father from the city and go to the jungles. That was the hard part.”

  “What was the easy part?” Asoka asked.

  “The next part was easy,” Shiva said. “The populace was already brimming to rise against the Governor’s tyranny. Once they had their beloved Raja Avarak behind them, they went mad with anger. I led them to take back the city of Ujjain. It was a bloodbath, I tell you. All the soldiers in the governor’s pay were slaughtered. His own wife and kids were boiled alive.”

  “And you had upon you a rebellion.” Asoka said. “One act of rage made you a rebel.”

  “What is there to hide from you?” Shiva said, looking away. “I wasn’t looking for this. I have had more than enough of my share of blood and gore in the southern wars. But now here I am against an uncertain future, wielding the sword once again against a powerful foe.”

  “And by foe, “Asoka asked, “do you mean me?”

  The deer had begun to burn into coal by now. They could smell the burnt meat in the air, yet nobody moved to lift it off the fire.

  “Avarak’s rebellion they called it,” Shiva said. “My father is so old, he can’t even piss on his own now, let alone start a rebellion. It was my rebellion, which I started for his honor.”

  “You’ve always been good at following orders,” Asoka said. “And now you are the one to dispense with them.”

  “Frankly, I am still not good at giving orders,” Shiva said. “That is why it is I who am here, on your trail. Ujjain is defenseless at this moment. I don’t even know what I am doing, Asoka, let alone how it shall finish.”

  “Look at the both of you,” Hardeo said slowly. “You don’t look like enemies at all.”

  “That’s because we’re not enemies, Guildmaster,” Asoka said, looking at him. “We are two friends, discussing their problems with each other, and finding means to solve them.”

  “This rebellion was a mistake, Asoka,” Shiva said, looking into the fire.

  “Then rectify it.”Asoka said. “Stand down. Stop your rebellion.”

  “My father will never agree,” Shiva said. “He is Maharaja Avarak now, and it is his honor at stake.”

  “But it is your life which is at stake,” Asoka said. “Why should you gamble with your own future for his pride?”

  “It’s not just about pride, Asoka,” Shiva said. “If I stand down now, my people won’t respect me. They would spit on me.”

  “They will respect you very well if you offer them peace and prosperity,” Asoka said.

  “Peace and prosperity?” Shiva laughed. “Patliputra will not treat us with kindness if we surrender, Asoka. We shall all be slaughtered. Our women shall be raped. Our houses shall be burnt.”

  Asoka looked at Hardeo who was sitting at the side, completely silent. Then he looked at Shiva. “True, Patliputra shall not treat you with kindness,” he said, “but I will.”

  “You will what?” Shiva asked.

  “I will treat you with kindness,” Asoka said, “if I am the new Governor of Avanti.”

  Both Hardeo and Shiva were looking at him now, wide eyed.

  “So that’s why you are here, Prince,” Hardeo said. “You want to be Governor of Avanti.”

  Asoka looked back at him. “Yes, Guildmaster,” he said, keeping his arm on his waist, “Why do you think I asked to be sent on this mission to Avanti in the first place? If it were anyone else, the men of Avanti would be butchered and their homes laid to waste.”

  “You don’t understand,” Shiva said. “It is a matter of my father’s pride now. The people of Avanti support him, not me! As long as I do what my father says, the people will support me too. But if I dare cross his wishes…”

  “I will convince Raja Avarak to step down,” Asoka said calmly. “The people of Avanti respect him. If he tells them to stand down, then they will. And they will still love you, for you did follow your father unflinchingly.”

  Shiva’s eyes were wide too. “It’s not so easy.”
r />   “When did I say it was?” Asoka said. “I merely said I’ll convince him.”

  There was silence for a moment.

  “And you shall take his place?” Shiva asked.

  “Yes,” Asoka smiled. “And I will disobey any orders to punish all of you from Patliputra.”

  “And what if Patliputra sends another army against you?” Hardeo looked at him, “And what if that happens?”

  “My father hates me,” Asoka said, looking at the sky, “but my elder brother is a reasonable man. And if some sources are to be believed, my father is dying. My brother Sushem will be Samrat after him, and I’d be able to make a deal with him as the succession occurs. I am sure he would want me at his side when he becomes the Samrat.”

  “What is your game here?” Hardeo asked. “What are you trying to achieve?”

  “Not all of us have a game, Guildmaster,” Asoka smiled. His face was glowing due to the light from the fire. “Some of us just want to save their friends from impending death and dishonor.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Shiva asked, awaking from his trance.

  “Give my army safe passageway to Avanti,” Asoka said, “and not stain the walls of Vidishanagri with blood obviously.”

  “What, are you going to blindly do as he says?” Hardeo shouted, “Have you gone mad, Shiva?”

  “No, I haven’t,” Shiva said angrily. “But now that you mention it, I shall ask him here.” He looked at Asoka. “What if you betray me?”

  “Then you can kill me too like you killed the last governor,” Asoka smiled.

  “You shall have safe passageway to Avanti,” Shiva said.

  “Good.” Asoka said. “I promise you that my army will not harass any village on our way to Avanti. Once we are inside, I want you to arrange my meeting with your father.”

  “All this is well,” Shiva said. “But what if you can’t convince him?”

  “I will.” Asoka said.

  “Wait a moment,” Hardeo said, standing up. “What do I stand to gain in all of this? I am worse off now than I began. My involvement with the rebels is known and so is my arrangement with Raja Utamacharya. What’s to stop Patliputra now from having me imprisoned?”

  “The fact that I’m going to keep your secret,” Asoka winked. “What Patliputra doesn’t know can’t hurt them. And it can’t hurt you.”

  “I know Shiva can trust you because you are an old friend from the southern wars,” Hardeo said. “But you and I haven’t ever fought in any battle, Prince. Why should I trust you?”

  “You’ll have to take my word as trust,” Asoka said. “Though you can take it from the fact that I am in love with your daughter, if that is not apparent enough until now.”

  ‘I am a merchant,” Hardeo said, “I don’t deal with words.”

  “But you do gamble in your business,” Asoka said. “Think of this as a gamble. A risk which you must take for a higher reward.”

  “That is a good argument,” Hardeo said.

  Shiva had sheathed his sword, as he watched his soldiers returning to them. He turned to Asoka. “I would hug you to prove our friendship,” he said, “but my soldiers are watching, and you still are the other side.”

  “Not for long,” Asoka said, as he turned towards his horse. He got back on it. Hardeo and Shiva kept watching him.

  “I am leaving you now, and putting my trust in you.’ He told them. “Don’t betray it, and I give you my word that I won’t break yours.”

  Then he heeled his horse, and swept away into the darkness.

  It was still dark when he reached the guild house. The building was almost deserted now and bore no signs of the festivities earlier. He could see guards napping at the entrance, having drunk all the leftover wine from the ceremony. He faced the windows and counted five from the left. Those were Devi’s chambers. From where he had followed Hardeo.

  Asoka climbed softly up to the window. There weren’t any guards in the neighboring corridor either. Slipping away from there to follow Hardeo had been hard. Now going back there was simply a matter of climbing back up. He didn’t even try to not cause much noise. He jumped into her room and was surprised to find her awake.

  “You’re awake!” He said.

  She was sitting on her bead, her hair undone and one leg over the other. She smiled at him. “And were I asleep?” she said, “Would you have taken advantage of me?”

  He walked closer to her. “I don’t take advantage of those who help me.” He winked.

  “Oh is that a threat, or are you thanking me for betraying my father?” She said loudly.

  As he came nearer, he could inhale the smell of the sourness upon her breath. “You’ve drunk too much wine.” He said.

  “Yes, I have.” She glared at him. “You had left me here, I was bored - what was I going to do!”

  Asoka smiled. “Well, you could have slept.”

  “Yes,” she said, “after a man had just climbed down from my bedchambers! If a man can climb down from my bedchambers, he can surely climb back up too. How was I to sleep with that anxiety?”

  Asoka laughed. He tried to touch her, but she moved back playfully.

  “Not now, young prince.” She said. “You have had your chance and you chose to go follow my father.”

  “That was a nice act you put up in the hall for me,” Asoka said. “It almost felt real.”

  “And you feigned nice surprise on seeing me.” She said. “I almost believed that you were really shocked. That we had not met before the ball and not discussed what was going to happen.”

  She still looked beautiful as she smiled. Asoka tried to move near her but she playfully retreated.

  “Now, you just sleep.” She winked. “You don’t get to do anything else.”

  Asoka looked at her smiling and running away. She looked ravishing. But he was feeling tired too. His wounds had not yet healed.

  “I’ll feel safe sleeping with you in the chamber,” He said. “No one can kill me when you are around.”

  “I myself should kill you.” She said, with mock anger. “You forsook me when I was all over you and went away to follow an old man.”

  “I thought it was all an act,” Asoka said with mock surprise.

  “Maybe it was.” She said, coming near now. “Maybe be it wasn’t.”

  She was too close to him again. He could almost smell the fragrance of her hair. She playfully moved back again.

  “Now as your punishment,” she said, “I am going to seduce you like this all night long.”

  Asoka laughed, as he moved closer. “Maybe you won’t have to.”

  Her lips moved first and touched his. Her arms wrapped around his body as her lips moved over his.

  “That’s all you’re going to get,” she winked as he broke from the kiss. “Now sleep, my prince. You’re going to need it.”

  Asoka fell down on the soft bed. He was asleep almost immediately.

  He was in his own chambers in Patliputra, but everything was so misty. It had to be a dream.

  A man entered the room. It was a handsome man. It was his brother. It was Sushem.

  Asoka rose up to greet him. “Maharaja.”

  “You don’t have to always call me that,” Sushem said, sitting down. “Only in public.”

  “Yes, Maharaja,” Asoka said.

  “Now don’t be sarcastic,” Sushem said. “I know you don’t like me. And I don’t blame you. But I want to tell you something.”

  “I am all ears,” Asoka said.

  “The Samrat asked me if it should be you who goes to Avanti,” Sushem said.

  “I made that request myself,” Asoka said.

  “And I’ve been thinking about it,” Sushem said. “I have to give an answer to Father, before I leave to go back to Taxila.”

  “And what answer are you going to give?” Asoka asked.

  “I am not sure,” Sushem said. “That is why I want to ask you.”

  “What value does my opinion have?” Asoka said.

&nbs
p; “I’ve never been kind to you in the past,” Sushem said, “but I have never been too cruel either.”

  “You have always looked at me like filth, which you should stay away from,” Asoka said.

  “I want to ask you what you want to achieve by this mission,” Sushem asked.

  “I have lived all of my life in the army,” Asoka said, “I just want command.”

  “You truly are the best man to send on this job,” Sushem said. “Having been there before. But I sense some kind of sinister motive behind it. I don’t think that it is just command that you want.”

  “I may have personal reasons for wanting this,” Asoka said, “but those reasons do not concern you. All that concerns you is whether or not I shall become a thorn in your way to the throne, isn’t it?”

  Sushem looked him in the eye. A smile crept upon his face. “Yes.” He said.

  “If you want me to say it, I will say it,” Asoka said, “I will not betray you, Brother, if you do not betray me.”

  “I believe you,” Sushem said, getting up. “I will tell Father that it must be you who goes to break down the rebellion in Avanti.”

  “I thank you,” Asoka nodded.

  As he was leaving the room, Sushem turned. “I am starting the Ashwamedh Yadnya in Taxila.” He said. “I’ll soon have no time to observe you. Don’t let me live to regret my decision, brother.”

  It was the first time he had ever said that word. Asoka got up too. “I won’t, Brother.” He said.

  Sushem smiled. “No you won’t.” He left the room.

  Then Asoka saw himself being attacked in his own tent, and even in his sleep, he wondered.

  Was it Sushem?

  Chanakya

  Patliputra, 50 years earlier

  They bathed me in lukewarm water, but the touch of it upon my skin made me recoil with horror. The water reminded me of Captain Shesha’s torture, of almost drowning in that cauldron of water, the entering of water into my nostrils and the pain in my lungs.

  “No water.” I told them. They looked at me, confused. “Just hand me the cloth.” I told them.