Patwardhan Mansion, Vijayanagar.
The silence of the midday and the leisure time of Mithun abruptly ended with Karna barging into his solitary room, in which he reads books for recreation.
Karna was huffing heavily and sweating profusely, as if he had run from his base to Mithun's room.
Mithun, surprised, jolted up from the plush sofa.
"What Happened? Why are you here?"
"A.. Mes….. sage"
"Message from whom??"
Karna took a deep breath and calmed down.
"The prince was ambushed on his way."
"WHAT???"
"Calm down. He is heading here. We are to inform the Nayakas quickly and get ready for war. The other princes have begun to move."
Mithun's demeanor changed from the usually frustrated to serious.
"So it's time. Inform all regional leaders to gather up here. I suppose the one in Bidar is coming with the prince."
"Yes. The weapons we stored are going to come in handy soon."
"Also, did my bastard father call up for a loan yet?" Mithun asked.
"Yes."
Mithun let out a chuckle with a hint of amusement, as he was going to bankrupt the Reddy family. He has been lending Reddy's money through various sources. He was slowly eating their land and influence.
"HAHAHA. Lend him the amount, with the collateral being the family itself. That bastard is going to suffer."
He was going to use them to the brim for the prince and throw them away after fully destroying all the family fortunes and history.
"When will the prince reach here?"
"It should be a week. I will go and relay all the messages quickly."
"Ok, I will go talk with Lord Raj and set up something before his arrival at the mansion."
"Understood. We shouldn't disappoint the prince."
Karna left the room swiftly to deliver the messages to Nayakas. Shekhars weren't informed about this because. He was told that their support would wane if they knew about this.
A messenger was dispatched to the Nayakas, reaching them in about a week.
Thanjavur, Vijayanagar Empire.
The Nayakas mansion was brimming with activity at the spread of the news of the coma of the Emperor. Patriarch Rudra Simha was preparing for a war that seemed inevitable as the emperor and the holding thread of the empire factions collapsed.
The Cochin noble movements were notified to the Patriarch by the spies that he had planted to monitor them. Keshav Pillai was leading the charge. The second prince will follow suit with his own army, and Ashokan Nair sets out for Mangalore. It was not a good day; their fast movement suggested they were very prepared compared to the first prince.
Moreover, just before he was notified of the emperor's coma,. A messenger of the youngest prince, Harsha, had come to deliver a message.
Nayakas were cut off from the prince after traveling to Bidar. The patriarch thought something ominous was going on in the background.
Rudra Simha Nayaka, the patriarch, rests his hand on the armrest of his chair.
"What happened to the prince?" His voice was authoritative and cold.
"Lord, the prince was ambushed on his way to Bidar."
"WHAT???"
The patriarch's brow furrowed in frustration, and his fingers lightly drummed on his armrest.
"How is the prince now?"
"He should be leaving for the Patwardhans soon. He killed all the assassins and survived."
"Didn't Rama check for potential threats?"
"Lord, The guard captain, Rahul Shetty, was in cahoots with the assassins, so during the travel, the members were replaced."
"Wh–"
"The second prince found out our involvement with the prince and sent out the assassin's to take care of him. Prince Bhairava doesn't sit around with the threats."
"Damn it, that's going to be a pain now. Get the prince safely to the Patwardhans.
After the messenger had left with the message of the patriarch and the necessary support for the prince,. Bhima and his father were having an ongoing discussion about this situation in the courtyard.
Bhima is walking behind the patriarch, looking around the garden.
"Father, what happened to the prince?"
"He was ambushed on the way to Bidar by the second prince's assassins. Gladly, he managed to escape and is on the way back to the Patwardhans."
Bhima was taken aback by the news, but his mind was racing with some questions he wanted to confirm with his father.
"Father, that means the second prince knows something, right?. Isn't it not safe to be on the prince's side right now?"
The patriarch glanced back with a cold look.
"Bhima, are you saying we betray the prince and side with someone else?"
"Father, that's no-"
"Silence; I guess you have your own doubts. Why I take the side of the youngest prince rather than other influential candidates to the throne."
"Yes, I have seen the prince work; it's commendable. But why did Father choose the prince specifically? is a question that kept plaguing me."
He glanced up into the warm light of the sun, recalling the past, and spoke softly.
"I was once an arrogant fool too. When I was at the peak, I was drunk on power. I felt like I could take on the world, even the emperor. Mind you! I had reasons to think that way."
"What reasons?"
"The Emperor assumed the throne at a young age, and me, being the fool I am, challenged him and lost. I was spared by the emperor."
"How is this related to the prince? Father"
"I saw the same vigor in the prince, even scarier than the Emperor. One that would swallow the whole subcontinent. The feeling the emperor gave me quickly faded when I saw the prince's cold eyes. Something in me told me this was the way."
Bhima knew his father very well; his father's intuition had always proven right. His doubts about the prince still remained, but he decided to trust his father's intuition on this. He wanted to protect his family to the very end.
'I will judge you, Prince Harsha. I will only acknowledge it after I see your handling of this.'
Bhima resolved himself and began preparing.