Aachman was walking back home from work. The sun had already set, and the moon was peeking from the sky. There was only moonlight to illuminate his way.

Aachman felt the village looked very different in the dark, unlike modern India, which had a street lamp to illuminate the streets.

In the village, only a few of the rich households and the village chief can afford to use the torches for illumination at night inside the house.

Aachman's household never used a torch or lamp. Oil was too expensive for a simple farmer to use. So all the works and chores need to be completed before the sunset.

It took him a much longer time to reach the house on the periphery of the village.

When Aachman reached the house, he saw his parents and his elder brother, Aabha, sitting on the veranda.

Aabha noticed Aachman's arrival and yelled, "Aacha is here!".

Bhumi and Kari looked at him.

"Boy, how was your first day?" Kari asked his son.

"You can ask him later. He must be tired. Aacha, go wash your hands and legs. Let's eat dinner together," Bhumi chided her husband.

Aachman nodded. When he came back, the smell that wafted him was not of the usual porridge.

"Heh"

"Your mom made rice and curry for you. After all, it is a special day for her youngest son," the father said boisterously.

Aachman's mouth watered. One thing that disappointed him in ancient India was food. He only ate different porridge. There was no meat, egg, or fish on his diet.

Bhumi was placing pots and plates on the veranda.

"You guys waited for me. " Aachman woke up from a reverie when his mother was placing the utensils.

"Aacha, how we will eat without you," Aabha replied.

Aachman rolled his eyes. "Please mother, can you feed us?"

Bhumi accepted her son's request. The men of the household sat surrounded her on three sides.

Bhumi mixed the rice and curry and made them into rice balls to give her sons and husband.

"Mother, I want my rice balls to be bigger than Aacha's rice balls," Aabavanan demanded his mother.

"Haha, Aabha, are you an elephant? Hey, Bhumi, I cannot lose to boys give me the biggest," Kari urged his wife.

Bhumi made the rice balls so big need two hands to hold them and it was impossible to eat them in one go.

Aachman said what happened in the village chief's house. He also included his observation of the young lady and village chief to his parents. They listened quietly and allowed Aachman to complete his explanation.

Kari looked thoughtful and spoke after a long pause

"Village chief was a self-made man. His father was also the village chief, but that was a very different time. There were no kings and different clans, tribes and families ruled this land."

"Eeh, I thought the royal family unified all the known lands and ruled it for a long period," Aachman questioned Kari.

"They may have ruled it in the long past. The royal family certainly claimed they were the rulers of this land, but fifty years ago, the land was not united and ruled by different groups," Kari took another long pause to clear his mind before he spoke again.

"As I said, the chief was a self-made man. That is why villagers respect him most. He joined the Indran family when they were attempting to unite all tribes, families, and clans. Chief was an exceptional warrior. He became the most sought duellist In his time"

"Duelist?" Aabha asked. His eyes were sparkling, and it was clear what Kari was saying caught his imagination.

"During that time, all the groups were almost similar in size and power. So war might be costly and can be pyrrhic even for the winning side. Different factions used duels as a tool when diplomacy failed to solve the differences between them. Chief was allegedly never defeated in a duel and was also a key reason for the Indran family to rise in power"

Aabha was excited. "The chief was never defeated! He is so cool"

"Hmph, if he is so cool why he is languishing in this village," Aacha made a disparaging comment to douse the excitement of Aabha.

"Envy and maybe politics," Kari declared and glanced at his family members' faces. He saw his youngest son was impatient and his eldest son was excited and eagerly listening to his words. Even his wife was paying attention closely.

“When you are so brilliant and sparkled like a diamond in the life which might earn envy from others. Chief had everything in his life. He had a beautiful wife, fame, lands and money beyond what he could spend in his lifetime.

Chief was a competent warrior no doubt that, but chief's son, Kesava Nayar's talent for martial arts was on a whole another level. There was a rumour that by the age of twenty-five, he defeated the chief in a practice duel.

Chief retired soon after that, and Kesava Nayar took his position as a champion in our country by defeating all the other elite warriors in a duel. Legend was that on the battlefield, over one elite warrior needed to face him off."

...

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"What happened afterwards?" Aachman asked irritably. His father's pace of storytelling was maddeningly slow.

"Haha, don't forget to eat. Where was I? ... Oh yeah, when the land united under one rule created prosperity and power for our nation increased, which created more animosity with the neighbouring country, Vaishali.

So, wars erupted again. The last war was particularly bad. We were defeated and Kesava Nayar did not come back from the war."

...

...

"Father, what happened afterwards? Stop eating and finish the story first," Abha shouted in his frustration.

"Yeah, what happened to the chief's family? Why did he leave with only the young lady?" Aachman questioned his father impatiently?

"Madam, the chief's wife, believed wholeheartedly that Kesava Nayar would come back from war. When time passed, hope turned into despair. One day, madam falls sick and died pretty soon afterwards.

Chief is a hard man. He faced many struggles to succeed in his life, but losing his precious son and his wife in succession made him inconsolable.

It is also rumoured that the Indran family could not help the chief because, after losing the war, they were at a disadvantageous position, at least politically.

Nobles were similar to wolves when they found a weakness. They would go for the kill. Chief lost his towns and most of the villages in the following power struggle."

"Oh, that happened, " Aabha was teary-eyed.

"It seems you are forgetting something important," Kari said pompously.

Aachman thought his father enjoyed the attention too much and made the story needlessly long. He wanted to shout, “say if you want to say”, but he did not want to be whacked in his head.

"Haha, you forgot the young lady. You know she did not grow from the tree," Kari smugly declared to his family members.

...

"Indrani, a young lady's mother, was also deeply affected by her husband's death and she died during child delivery.

These tragedies made the chief voluntarily exile from politics. So he came back to his hometown to take care of his granddaughter properly."

Aabha was openly crying and Bhumi's eyes were watery. Aachman was thoughtful. Only Kari looked satisfied with the effect of his storytelling.

Kari’s stunt irritated Aachman and wanted to change this melancholy atmosphere. He noticed his mother did not eat dinner as she was feeding us.

"Mother, you did not eat your dinner. This time, I will feed you."

Aachman gave up his remaining rice balls to his mother. Aabha and Kari also feed their remaining rice balls to Bhumi.

Aachman noticed his father was clumsy at feeding his mother. "Mother, there are curry stains all over your face. Father did not know how to feed you properly."

Bhumi used her saree to wipe her face. "Hmph, useless husband."

Kari, who was smug until now, portrayed a hurt expression and tried to garner some sympathy from his wife.

Aachman thought even Superman can be kept in line with kryptonite. All he needed for Kari to keep in check was Bhumi.