Shivaditya's generals wondered people of the north had never been mastered before, how would they fare on this day?

The Imperial Army was dispersed into smaller teams and they made their way through the rocky terrain. Shivaditya was riding with one of the middle battalions.

He said to Jayaraj "Tell them to stay together, they are one army, let them be one, surround our opponents. Cut them off."

The Imperial Army followed their new instructions and soon had surrounded the less experienced and smaller rebel army of the north. The men left of the northern rebels were disarmed and shackled.

The Prince eagerly walked through the rows of captured soldiers. The imperial army had managed to identify their leader among them. Shivaditya stared down on this man.

"Why do you fight against the empire?"

The man defiantly spoke up to Shivaditya"We would rather fight than be ruled by you. You are tyrants!"

Shivaditya smiled and spoke for everyone to hear.

"None of you will know the pleasure of serving your King! Kill them all after interrogation!"

He walked away as his army bound the captured men.

He was sitting in his tent planning the next strategy when one of his generals arrived panting.

"Your highness! We have captured some more rebels from around the woods."

Shivaditya replied "Great! Then execute them, Venkatesh. You dont need to come to me for such trivial things."

The general hesitated "We cant... We cant do that your highness...they are....please you need to see them yourself."

Shivaditya furrowed his brows "This better be worth it general." He said and followed him out.

General Venkatesh guided him towards a clearing a little away from their camp.

A motley crowd of 20-25 women and children was standing surrounded by his soldiers.

Shivaditya looked at Venkatesh in anger "What nonsense is this! We dont capture women and children."

He had reached them by now. The kids ranging from 10-16 years, were a mix of boys and girls. All were dressed in very simple clothes and what looked like homemade armours! They were made of jute, straw, wood, bits of iron and whatever was available.

" Your Highness these are the weapons we confiscated from them," Venkatesh said.

The 'weapons' consisted of pheasant tools like pickaxes, sickles, hammers, homemade bows, and arrows.

Shivaditya didnt understand what to make of it.

"What is all this ?"

"Your highness they were hiding to attack us. They say they have taken up weapons against you. These are rebels."

Shivaditya looked at the crowd of peasants and proceeded towards them. They had such hatred in their eyes he was surprised.

Shivditya folded his arms and looked at the crowd.

"This is a battleground. Its no place for kids what are you doing here ?"

The motley crowd shrank back. One little girl broke into sobs. A young boy barely 15 who seemed to be their leader looked at him arrogantly, " we have come here to fight! fight with us !"

Shivaditya repressed his laugh "What is your name boy ?"

"Kumar," the boy said

.

"And why do you want to fight me ?"

"Because you are a tyrant! " He shouted.

The guard standing next to him slapped him in anger "How dare you raise your voice in front of his highness."

Shivaditya stopped the guard "leave him! let him speak."

"So Kumar why do you think I am a tyrant ?"

"You have taken away our crops, our money, everything. Now you have killed our fathers who rose against you and massacred everyone."

Shivaditya looked puzzled "I dont kill women and children its against the law. Rebels died on the battleground fairly."

"You lie!" One of the women who looked barely 20 shouted.

"You massacred everyone in Ramnagaram. Even after winning your people pillaged through the town killing men and ruining women. I was ruined." She broke down crying.

Shivaditya's face clenched in anger "I ordered no such thing!"

He had never felt so helpless in his entire life. He could handle fiercest of warriors but couldn't handle a bunch of starving, scared children staring defiantly at him.

"I will make sure you get justice girl" He spoke kindly to her.

Then he turned toward Jayaraj "Feed them then send these people to the nearest ashram(A charity place run by the religious leaders or groups). Tell them they are wards of the state, make sure they are looked after well."

"We dont need your charity, just kill us like you have killed everyone" the boy shouted.

Shivaditya gave him a piercing look then ordered " bring that boy to me. "

He turned and left while the soldiers scrambled to carry out his order.

All Shivaditya had ever known was to fight in wars. He rarely managed the administration or bothered to question his father's decision. The southern expedition was the expansion of their territories. Fighting and taking control of the southern kingdoms.

They were all ruled by token kings now who were loyal to the Empire.

But the northern expedition was different. He had to subdue a rebellion! It wasn't a direct war. Direct wars were easy.

The armies met on the battlefield, fought fairly and one of them used to be victorious. But a rebellion was different. Here you had to fight against your people.

Some of his opponents were so untrained that he refused to engage with them in combats and let his soldiers handle it.

They had to fight gorilla attacks, avoid being ambushed, and now face a bunch of peasant kids!

"Why do they hate me?" He thought.

He reached his tent and the boy was brought to him soon after.

"Remove his shackles" Shivaditya ordered.

"Sit down Kumar," He ordered.

The boy blinked and looked at him puzzled.

"Are you hungry ?" Shiv asked.

Kumar didnt reply.

"Get some food for him" Shiv ordered the guard.

The table was soon covered with platters of different dishes while the boy looked at it hungrily.

"Sit down. I dont bite" Shiv smiled.

Kumar sat down grudgingly and picked up a bite....soon he was wolfing down everything.

Shiv gave an amused smile.

After he had eaten and drank to his fullest. Shiv asked him "So tell me boy what happened at Ramnagaram ?"

The anger and hatred were back in his eyes "You won against us then your men massacred everyone."

"And when did that happen ?"

"5 days back."

Shivaditya mentally calculated the dates. Ramnagaram was the first town they had got under their control. After executing the rebels and giving the control back to the local feudal lord he had left along with his army.

He never ordered any such action against the townspeople.

"Why are you against the king Kumar? Aren't you happy ?"

Kumar looked at him incradelously " how can anyone be happy when we can barely survive. Your tax collectors beat us and forcibly take away everything."

Shivaditya was quiet. This was deeper than he thought. As far he knew the taxes were not raised.

The taxes were carefully decided through a complex system. A percentage of it was kept by the landlords and provincial leaders and rest were given to the Empire.

In the last few years, the share which was kept by the landlords and provincial leaders had been decreased because of the wars. The state needed more funding for it. The leaders had shown resentment and some even protested but Bhojraj had dismissed their complaints as it didn't affect the general people. They would be paying the same taxes as before.

Then the rebellions had started in the northern provinces. Some leaders had allied with his uncle Shubhraj and rebelled.

On his previous mission, Shivaditya was investigating the feudal lords, when he had come upon Chitrangada in the woods.

But now it seemed like the people were also rebelling. He wasn't sure why.

"Who are these tax collectors who have been beating you?" Shiv asked Kumar.

"They are from the landlord of course! Why are you pretending as if you know anything about this ?"

Kumar replied impatiently.

"Because I knew nothing about this," Shiv murmured.

He left his tent again and gave a fresh set of orders to Jayaraj

"Dont kill those captured rebels. Send them to local custody. Ask the army to turn back. We are going back to Ramnagaram."

"But your highness! What about the campaign for Vijayanagar ?"

"It's not required for now. If my hunch is right I know the reason for these rebellions."

"As you command your highness" Jayaraj replied.

"Oh ! and that boy will come along with us," Shivaditya added.