Devburman was staring at the petite girl standing in front of him with her weird request. He liked her. She had big wide eyes, and a perpetual scared look of the deer caught in a trap, but she was tenacious.

"You want me to take you to the dungeons to meet some old lady?" He asked, closing the book he had been reading absentmindedly.

She nodded.

He burst into laughter, "of all things you are asking for this !"

"I am just following the princess's order. Since she won't be allowed to visit, I offered to help." Poonam replied, a little miffed at his arrogance.

"Do you do anything else other than carrying out your princess's errands ?" He asked with a smirk.

"I am here to serve her and that's what I am doing. So, will you help me, your highness ?" Poonam replied stiffly, she didn't like his attitude.

He picked up a quill from his desk and twirled it in his finger, "that depends on what you can do for me."

Poonam coloured.

She found him very intimidating. He was big! as in very tall and muscular. Taller than her father.

Her mother had advised staying away from royal men.

They could take advantage of commoner girls with their sweet words or even by force. It was better to stay in your class than aim for the moon and get heartbroken.

She had religiously followed her mother's advice until now. She was forced to work with Prince Devburman, he unsettled her in ways she could not fathom.

"What do you want your highness. I will try my best to fulfil it." She asked.

"I want a deal." He replied, finally getting up from his chair and walked towards her.

"What kind of deal ?" She asked, unconsciously taking a step back.

He stopped and folded his arms. Then placed a finger under his chin as if thinking.

"Let's see, you seem to be good at running errands. But I don't need an errand boy. I already have too many." He mumbled.

He looked at her as if had made his selection.

"Come to meet me every day, and narrate whatever you did the entire day." He said.

Colour drained from her face and she looked terrified " I can't do that, your highness."

"Why not?" He asked stepping further.

"I can't do that sort of thing.....I am not that kind of a woman." She looked ready to run if he just moved a finger.

He raised his eyebrows and laughed loudly, "Oh no! I dont mean that kind of favours. Unless you are willing of course !" He smirked.

"I just want you to talk to me that is all."

She was still suspicious.

"No harm will come to you. This is my word. I just want to talk to you that's all. You just have to meet me every day and talk. I won't even touch you. I promise."

She looked relieved yet puzzled "Why your highness?"

"I just like your voice." He smiled."And its kind of boring here, all I do here train the soldiers and talk about wars. A change of scenery would be nice."

She blushed and looked away.

"So do we have a deal ?" He asked.

She hesitated then nodded.

"Good. So tell me about this woman you want to see."

Poonam narrated the incident of their trip to the market and how that woman attacked Chitrangada.

His brows furrowed "This was bound to happen. The king will need a bigger jail to accommodate those people who are going to suffer and curse the royal family."

"I dont understand your highness," Poonam said.

"Tell me when do people start rebellions ?"

"When they are not happy."

"Exactly! people are not happy. These pointless wars need soldiers and money. That comes from the citizens. It's taking a toll on normal people. This will get worse." He said, his brows furrowed.

Poonam looked worried. She recalled his previous warning of incoming rebellions. She didnt understand politics much but she knew that wars were always bad.

She needed to warn Chitra.

********

Shubhraj was somewhere in the northern wilderness. Sitting with the provincial leaders who were with him. After getting exiled he had used his supporters and fled to the North.

It had been easy to provoke the local landlords. The people were anyway restless due to taxes, and a failed monsoon had brought a drought.

Instead of relief, the provincial leaders had increased the taxes. Now there was a double rebellion. People against the state and leaders who wanted to break away from the Chalukya empire because they were unhappy with Bhojraj's policies.

They sent false reports to the centre hence the king was unaware of the seriousness of the drought and blamed the people of rebelling against the state.

His ambitious wars in the south though got him new territories. It also took a toll on normal people. Many of them lost their loved ones, their property, etc.

It gave also Shivaditya the reputation of being ruthless. He didn't spare those who were captured, they were simply slain. He had been undefeated for 6 years and captured the entire south. All southern states were vassals of the Chalukya empire. A future king with such reputation was not being taken kindly by the people.

"So the imperial army is about to reach the province of Vijayanagar," Shubhraj said to the leaders.

"My assassins will get him there."

"But your highness. Your previous assassination attempts have failed. What makes you so confident that this will be successful ?" One of the leaders asked.

"This time they are special assassins brought from the northwest Sindh. They are experts in a special weapon called 'Gadansa'. They will ambush and kill Shivaditya before he reached Vijayanagar." Shubhraj said with a self-assured smile.

"But how does that solve our problem. He is the crown prince. Killing him will simply infuriate the King and he would send more forces. How will be deal with the entire army?" The leaders asked?

Bhojraj smiled.

"My brother is powerful only due to his son. You eliminate Shivaditya, the empire will crumble like a house of cards. Then you all can declare independence or do whatever, I don't care as long as I am getting a throne." He finished off with a sly smile.

To be continued...