"Maha Rajah! Our foreign administration council has received another official letter from the eastern kingdom, Ramapur." Exclaimed Ragavendra in an adenoidal voice. As the minister of foreign relationships, official letters like this are no alien to him anymore. Though he had never got a chance to open the previous letter, his declining age has taught him enough to conjecture that this might be a request for a wedding alliance. The king of Ramapur was blessed with an elegant known beauty as his daughter, so why else will he keep sending letters other than seeking an alliance for his daughter?

Minister Ragavendra's voice raised questions among the ministers wondering about how the princess might look like. The royal Durbar of Abhiras is no common sight, the Durbar occupies one by fourth of the royal fort as it was spectacularly crafted and built in a circular way to allow the commoners to get a clear view of their king and ministers, after all, what is a king without his people? The long sculpted pillars were decorated with rich and multi-coloured flowers which bought a sumptuous and expensive look with an unavoidable ultimate fragrance and there, at the end of the Durbar sat a young man in his late twenties on a diamond-studded golden throne. Even his thoughtful and unsmiling looks were calm and relaxing.

"Either this letter has to be a threat for our empire, or as far as I can predict this might be a request for a wedding alliance, your majesty." The minister made a formal bow as he completed his sentence. His old eyes shone with compassion as he glanced at his king. The minister slowly spoke out using a persuasion tone trying to convince his king, "With your permission, can I unseal this one, my lord?"

Arjuna, the king of Abhiras has always avoided those letters which were for a marriage alliance. His people were always happy with his ruling, his decisions regarding his people, and his verdicts towards his people never lacked justice in any manner. Though he ascended the throne in his early teens with the help of his mother and their knowledgeable Acharyas, he got all the righteous knowledge and is skilled in several arts, his reputation was widely spread across the neighbouring kingdoms like an unavoidable wildfire. Yet, all he needs is power and not a queen but unfortunately today the royal court is filled with ministers and commoners not giving him a chance to ignore the letter.

After a small thought, he acknowledged the issue by nodding his head slowly as his rich, deep voice echoed through the Durbar, "Permission granted."

The minister quickly unsealed the pale yellow clothed letter as his eyes rapidly ran through each and every word inked down on the scroll.

"Your Majesty! King Indradas of Ramapur invites you to attend the swayamvar of their princess Priyamvada and if not, he at least wishes for you to come and spend time with their beautiful kingdom to improve the trade relations between the kingdoms." Briefed the minister, setting the scroll of letter aside on a deeply carved wooden scroll holder.

"Excuse this subject, my lord! However, I sense a hidden motive." Claimed Gopinath Rao, the minister of Abiras's Military, as he stood up from his cushioned chair which was placed amongst the ministers, "As we all can see how desperate king Indradas sounds for your visit to their kingdom, the eastern king's increasing letters are not proving otherwise."

And soon the royal Durbar was filled with arguments and disagreements about what is the best choice to be made.

King Arjuna swiftly raised from his throne and concluded the royal meeting by speaking in a dead tone which left no room for any argument, "I acknowledge that our defence ministery has got an acceptable point, and minister Raghavendra, please find out about the trade flows between both the kingdoms and let us discuss this issue in tomorrow's royal court."

After such long sessions of the court he usually makes his way to the training grounds to relax, yet today he had something much more important to discuss, so he sets off to his chambers straight. His long strides were explanatory enough for the soldiers guarding his chambers about not to be disturbed.

His chambers were huge and spacious when compared to the other quarters of the palace, several oil lamps already set around the chambers lighting up the room with their faint golden light as the sun was slowly setting. Right in between the balcony of his chambers stood Vikram Singh, Abhiras's Senaadhipathi.

"You have gone on a long trip, my friend!" Spoke Arjuna with a mirth filled voice and stood beside Vikram, his hands stiffly placed behind on his back as he glanced at the partial view of his kingdom from this elevation.

"Your Majesty!" Vikram did a formal bow, acknowledging his king's presence.

"Oh my friend, will you make me repeat this sentence for a lifetime? Stop being so formal when we are alone!" Arjuna sighed in annoyance as he quickly shot a glare at his old friend.

"A king is supposed to be respected all the time," Vikram spoke with a spark of pride in his eyes and Arjuna wished to facepalm himself hearing those words.

Scowling deeply he shook his head, this world might turn upside down but he might never change Vikram. They both grew up together in the palace and from their childhood to adulthood, Vikram eternally remained loyal to Arjuna through all the ups and downs. But he also maintained a formal wall between them which was almost impossible to break.

"So, were you able to gather information regarding the bandits' issue?"

"There was another small village near our kingdom's border which was looted and burnt up, your Majesty."

Arjuna slammed his fist on the wall beside with uncontrollable frustration, the fragile golden rings stinging in process. These bandits are very cruel and have become a troublesome part to deal with. They leave no major traces behind but the suspicious part was that they were particularly destroying the villages which were near their kingdom. Regardless, wherever they attacked a few marks of black tar were found which again, always raised the question about its mysterious sources.

"It comes across as if these bandits are giving us a silent warning, they specifically destroy the villages near our kingdom's border." Said Arjuna with huge grim lacing his tone as he tried to analyze this problem, he kept staring down at his kingdom, his people were in deep trouble. Hundreds of deaths have been taking place since last year and his men couldn't get hold of a single clue!

"What if these were not only bandits but also soldiers in disguise?'' Asked Vikram, looking straight into Arjuna's eyes revealing no emotions.

"Possible," He replied averting his gaze back to his beautiful kingdom which was widely stretched with no end seen, "But which foolish kingdom would take up the risk of attacking Abhiras?"

"Exactly my king, so the only way they are left with is entering the kingdom through an internal alliance."

"Indradas." The name slipped easily through Arjuna's lips, and he had to take a deep breath to control his rage. Everything falls in place now, king Indradas was always ambitious and greedy.

"We are assuming that king Indradas's army helped these bandits and funded their growth, and soon tried to set foot in our kingdom through the villages near our border but when his plan backfired he is coming up with a wedding alliance to have an easy access to our kingdom." Concluded Vikram as he huffed loudly.

Arjuna always knew that the old king was greedy but a tie-up with those cruel bandits was morally unacceptable. He is a king and he should know better than harming innocent villagers for his greed, he won't spare that old king if proven guilty.

Thin lines of pinkish violet colors were painted across the sky as he stood there watching the beautiful sunset, but a sudden smirk crept upon his face as he thought about how Indradas was playing games, should he join and show that old king how real games are played?

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