“How is the news from Oodpur?”

Bhagat placed the letter down on the desk, finding Vishar standing attentively to the side. In all that had changed in the last three months was Vishar’s childish face, now replaced with a clean beard. Perhaps he couldn’t bother to clean his face because of all the work he had lined up.

“Well, the situation hasn’t gotten worse. That’s a win at least.”

“So… it’s under control?”

“Well… I wouldn’t say that,” he replied. He rose from the chair he’d been glued to for the past few weeks, stretching out his legs and glancing out towards the scenery that lay just past the window. Above were the grey rolling clouds that had plagued the land for the past three months, imposing its will on the people of the land with gloomy days and bleeding rain. But now change was taking root. Now —within the layers of clouds so high above— small beams of light ripped through what had seemed to be an invincible fortress. Still it rained quite a bit, but soon the threat of flooding would fade to the back of everyone’s conscious.

“Lady Aabna is very… well, how should I say it? She’s ruthless? Or calculating? Perhaps both? She basically pulled a Bismarck and brought the detractors into line.”

“But is that going to help Oodpur’s stability?” he asked, effectively ignoring to ask who Bismarck was.

“Stability?” Bhagat faced his Taal student. “When did you become a governor?”

Vishar’s face reddened. “My… my apologies Bhagat.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Bhagat smiled, waving his hand. “There’s no need to apologize! Honestly, it’s probably a good thing that both you and Meethi want to learn the principles of governance. Yes this tactic will cause instability, especially since Sudhists make up a third of the city’s population, our brute force tactic won’t be enough to avoid dissatisfaction from the Taals or the Haraans. Plus there’s the public relations problem outside my territory, but it seems it’s been handled well enough among the peasantry of Lohaan that I’ll only need to deal with the lords.”

“But was threatening the upper-castes worth it? I mean, these people have power and influence after all.”

“Yes, but they don’t have cannons or flintlocks, now do they?” Bhagat turned back to the window, gripping at his grandfather’s pendant. “Vishar, always remember this. The state, even if I die or a whole millennium passes in the blink of an eye, is immortal. It will never die unless the people lead it to it’s death. You could say that the state itself is the upholder of Dharma, but that’s besides the point. Now imagine if I had given the upper-castes their demands, that they be subjected to a different set of laws, that they and not the state should judge their perpetrators and that they’re freed of the taxes paid by everyone else in my territory. There could be others demands that might come afterwards, like having the right to bear arms and stuff like that, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, cool. I do that. Now what did I do? I’ve essentially created a state within a state, a different society that plays by a different set of rules. By doing that, I’ve essentially weakened the power I wield over them. Is that bad? Absolutely, because now that impedes my ability to govern. I wouldn’t be able to collect revenue or men from them. That’s why I don’t see Aabna’s actions as incredibly damaging to Oodpur’s stability, since she put the interests of the state above either her desires or the fools. If she had accepted their demands, they would’ve become entrenched in Oodpur’s governance and that would only create more headaches.”

“I think… I understand it now. I never thought of things in that way before.”

“Yeah, but there’s hell of a lot more variables that we need to be wary of.”

“Such as?”

“The Rakshaani princes.” Bhagat turned again. “The Grand Prince died some time ago, probably before the monsoons arrived. He has three living sons, all of whom are one year a part in age which has led to some… complications in the right of succession.”

“What does that have anything to do with Oodpur?”

“Well, any of them could try to take Oodpur. I’ve heard each of them have men ranging in the 2000s to 3000s. Oodpur only has 1500 men, half of whom are properly equipped. Gahkhpur has 3000 though, but I’ll need them to defend against Afraari incursions and… well… other things.”

Vishar nodded.

“See? Pretty complicated stuff—

The door to the study burst open as a tall figure interrupted the two, followed by a scholar.

“What can I help you with, Meethi and Kalaan?”

“The carriage is prepared, My Lord.” Spoke Kalaan hastily.

“Okay, what did you need Meethi?”

“It’s not that I needed anything My Lord, but I have two things to report.”

Bhagat gave a nod to Vishar, then left the room for the carriage in the courtyard with the two men following close behind him.

“Does it concern Mayur’s adventures?”

“Yes.”

“Go ahead then.”

“The men have returned home safely with no injuries or damages. We’ve collected the profits and placed them into the treasury.”

“How many coins did we profit in this time around?”

Meethi pulled out a scrap of paper. “My Lord had given them 12 barrels of high-quality salt to sell at a minimum of 4 gold. We couldn’t sell two barrels due to… inconveniences, but other than that, we generated 60 gold.”

“Cool, so from 10 barrels we made 60… wait…” Bhagat scratched his cheek. “People paid 6 gold on average. Well, Mayur is a merchant after all, so he can sense when demand is high. What of the merchants’ salt?”

“Well, the merchant wrote here that he had heard bickering amongst the traders in Surajpur regarding the inferior salt sold by the merchants for extravagant prices.”

“Well, that’s to be expected. Imagine if you had paid 7 gold for a certain product for a good decade or two only to finally realize it was just a big scam.”

“He states here that their salt was still being sold for 7 gold in Surajpur, though upon checking the prices in Vhaddawalia’s territory on his way back, they had been reduced to 6 gold.”

“What?” The three of them descended down the stairs. “6? They’re trying to play the long game with us.”

“Well, it goes to show how out-of-touch they are with the local markets.”

“Well… perhaps…” Bhagat gave Meethi’s words a thought. “After all, they’ve controlled the market for so long. But 6 gold… you know what, let’s go lower with our pricing regime. We’re making more than enough profit to satisfy our treasury from the salt trade with the Afraaris at 3 gold a barrel and 8 gold a barrel options anyways. Once we expand our commercial links across all of Lohaan, we’ll be able to solidify our hold over Lohaan and kill their remaining business. For now, lets lock the prices at 2 gold a barrel and look into increasing the Gahkhar Salt Committee’s fleet size.”

“Understood My Lord. There’s also something else I must report on.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“A group of men with links to the merchants tried to kill Mayur on the road to Kahlpur; however they were dealt with swiftly thanks to your innovations.”

“Well, that’s good to hear for sure, though we all agreed they’d do something like that, right?”

“Yes, I’ve already interrogated the men. It seems they were employed by Jattwalia.”

“Jattwalia, huh? Well… he wouldn’t have sent his men if he was going to get the salt mine in Oodpur, which would mean that he finally had the brain to look at what he signed.” Bhagat chuckled, turning the corner into the long hall.

“My Lord, what exactly did you make him sign?”

“What did I make him sign, you ask?” Bhagat chuckled. “Well, for one, he needs to contribute 30% of his earnings to the treasury in Surajpur. And the treaty is only voidable if we both consent to sever it, the penalty being one year of income. Oh, and he can only have the salt mine if he pays a million gold.”

“A million?” questioned Kalaan. “Only the Asmaani Queen has that kind of treasury!”

Bhagat turned. “Well, I wanted him to understand that I’m following in my grandfathers footsteps and that I won’t have this country succumb to their whims and wants.”

“But how did Jattwalia not catch your trick?” asked Meethi. “I did everything you had asked, but it still doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Well, think about it this way. Everyone would expect a lord of Lohaan to succumb to the power of the merchants. If I had given in, I would’ve just become another lord who lost to the merchants, but instead I came out on top because I knew the mentality in which Jattwalia operates. I made you appear like a typical Lohaani aristocrat. Feisty, prideful, arrogant. My grandfather used to be like that back in the day after all. I wanted you to intentionally lose all those games of chess so that you could give off the typical ‘defeated noble’ vibe, lowering his servant’s guard so that he could lower his master’s with all the insults he hurled against you, and in extension, me.”

“That’s insightful My Lord!” exclaimed Kalaan. “Really! I would never had thought of such a tactic!”

“Well…” smiled Bhagat. “These sorts of things come naturally when you’re a lord. Besides, I’ve got bigger fish to fry, if I can’t do something as simple as that then how can I call myself a lord…”

Together they exited the hall and into the courtyard where, flanked by mud and lush green grass, were three carriages prepared for the voyage to the capital.

“My Lord!” shouted Avignon, leading a column of warriors. He stopped in place and gave a salute, donning a blue and white uniform from his homeland abroad. “The men are all equipped.”

“Excellent.” Bhagat turned to Meethi. “You will have to deal with Gahkpur’s troubles until I return. Vishar will stand to assist you with any monetary needs. Also, increase Mayur’s convoy to up to a dozen warriors.”

“Yes My Lord!” shouted Meethi, giving a salute. “What of Lady Aabna? I thought she was to going to the capital as well?”

“She’ll be there, Param will maintain order in Oodpur.”

Meethi nodded.

Bhagat nodded towards Avignon, who ordered the warriors into the two carriages. With the men in the carriages, Bhagat, Avignon and Kalaan took their spots in the third carriage. With a lash at the front, the horses neighed into action, slowly dragging the cart onwards and past the gates, Bhagat watching as his home slowly faded into the distance.

“My Lord?”

“Yes Avignon?”

“I’ve had the chance to drill the recruits from the other lords’ camps. My one complaint is that they’re severely undisciplined, especially those who hail from Dhariwalia’s territory. Hell, they aren’t warriors at all, but mere peasants.”

“Well, that’s to be expected. Don’t worry, Meethi will continue your drilling methods in your place.”

“Understood.”

“I had a question if you don’t mind, My Lord.” said Kalaan.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“What did you mean by having ‘bigger fish to fry?’”

“What do I mean by that?” asked Bhagat, still facing his fading home. “Well Kalaan, I can see Lohaan either continuing its stagnation or succumbing to a new war. And my hands are tied, because it’s either we won’t have the political willpower to effectively unite against Afraar or we fight amongst ourselves and give Afraar the chance to finish us off once our truce ends.”