Back in the Prince Shantanu's camp the atmosphere was still tense as the Kashyapa Clan messenger delivered all the news of the clan and along with all messages he was asked to deliver by the forefather and commanders of the Kashyapa Clan's main army. After that he stayed for a moment to listen and take the orders the prince had to gave him. A while after taking the prince's permission to leave he bowed and left the camp with an officer.
The strategic discussion about the battle with the Prayag Kingdom they were having came to halt as a strange atmosphere had been created inside the camp. Almost every commander, vice commander and other officers were bowing their heads like a sinner, maybe thinking of that night when the incident occurred or maybe thinking of best plan to conquer the Prayag Kingdom to show his usefulness or maybe even cursing themselves for not being able to capture that assassin even before he attacked the prince, then he would be like a bright star in Prince Shantanu's eyes, different and distinguished from everyone else present there.
Just when they were bowing their head and thinking all of those things, vice commander Medhavat was looking at the face of Prince Shantanu and the prince was looking at his. There was a little smile hidden inside the plain and calm face of they had on outside. That smile signifies their victory and a part of success of their plan. The plan to bring forefather and use him as a show of force to scare the Prayag King and the kingdom was half successful as forefather was coming. Now they need to make an appearance of him alongside them in the battlefield in front of the Prayag King. Then there was very surety that the Prayag King will surrender without even fighting. He would not dare to confirm the recent rumors he had heard about the forefather.
But till it was confirmed without a slight doubt that they will surrender for sure, he was not going to drop the preparation of the battle. Even if there was a slight possibility that the Prayag King will chose to fight instead of surrender then they will have to prepare themselves. So the Prince signaled the vice commander to speak and clear the strange atmosphere to continue their discussion.
"Your Highness, two soldiers posted at the outer circle of the camp have come and asking permission to meet you."
A soldier guarding outside the prince camp came inside and reported.
"Don't you know that we're having a strategy planning here?"
Everyone inside the camp, commander, vice commander and officer was feeling grateful towards the guarding soldier for breaking the strange atmosphere that had been created but still an officer rebuked him as even if there was a strange atmosphere but still they were in between a strategic planning and they were disturbing the meeting.
On hearing that the soldier bowed his head fearfully and was about to went outside.
"Your Highness they wouldn't have come from the outer post to meet you just for an insignificant matter. They must have noticed something unusual or seen something strange that they wanted to report you as soon as possible."
With a calm face the vice commander of the Ratharohi Regiment, Medhavat voiced his opinion to the prince just when the guarding solider was about to leave.
"Wait."
"Had they told why they had come?"
Prince Shantanu looked towards the guarding soldier and asked. What vice commander Medhavat had said was right, if the soldiers posted at the outer circle of the camp had nothing very important to report they would not had dared to left their post and came so far from the outer circle.
But even if the soldiers had something important to report they would have reported to their senior or the commander or vice commander of their regiment they belong to first. But they had come to see the prince and report instead then it must be something big or very unusual. They wouldn't had dared to ask the audience in front of the Prince Shantanu if not for that.
"Your Highness, they told that someone approached outside the camp and left a letter for his Highness there."
When two soldiers from outer circle came before the prince's camp and asked for an audience in front of him, the soldiers guarding the prince's camp were just a little surprised cause most of the time someone else either their superior or the officer in-charge of that circle used to come to do the reporting whenever they saw a strange movement.
But this time two soldiers had come. The soldiers guarding thought that the officers in charge who usually used to come must be busy somewhere else to send his subordinates to report so they asked the two soldiers to wait till the meeting inside the camp over.
But both the soldiers insisted on seeing the prince immediately. Surprised seeing that when the guarding soldiers asked what was the news they had come to report, the soldier named Vasant told him everything that happened an hour ago outside the camp and the soldier named Navaj showed him the letter given by that black robed man. After hearing that and seeing the letter the first thing that came on the mind of the soldiers guarding there was to rush inside the camp with that letter.
But after carefully thinking they soon calmed themselves as one of them went inside to report the matter without any delay thinking about the strangeness of the incident. But after entering before he could even tell about the incident happened outside, he was rebuked by a superior.
So when the Prince Shantanu asked him that, he took a sigh of relief inwardly and after which he explained everything what the two soldiers from the outer post had told him.
"What?!"
A surprised shout came out of someone's mouth just as the soldier finished telling him everything. He could see everyone standing in front of him had their brows raised or arched as even the usual plain looking or slight smiling face of the Prince Shantanu also had narrowed eyes as if he was thinking something or trying to understand something.
"They told you that the black robed told them that letter was for me?"
Prince Shantanu confirmed, he was not a war monger or maniac who loves fighting and only fighting but could not use his brains. He was a prince of an ancient clan so even if he love wars and battles that love could not grow as strong as to blind him and make him useless by brain. Having a bloodline of an ancient clan within him gave him some inherited qualities and one of those quality was 'Cautiousness'.
In spam of last few years since he had began his conquest of the kingdoms nearby his clan, he had also made many enemies and many of them were unknown to even him. He had also heard a lot of incidents when a letter whose inside used to painted in a very thin coat of poisonous liquid for instant kill or sometimes the tiny, almost non visible threads were made as hard as needles by poison coating to just pierce the layer of skin and deliver the poison inside and giving a instant or slow unknown death delivered to some kings for poisoning them.
That was very common for an unknown messenger to deliver these kinds of letters for some kings and nobles. So the prince became very much cautious when he heard some black robed man delivered some letter addressed to him. The enemies he had made and know surfaced into his mind one by one and he slowly started searching the most possible suspects and he finally stopped at Shakya King Shubalaraja, he was the one of the most likely man to do it, the prince thought. He could even get away with it without anyone knowing cause there no one know who the messenger was.
"Call them inside."
Prince Shantanu calmed his mind as he asked the solider to bring the two inside.
"Who are they? Navaj, Vasant. Anyone from the nobles sides?"
The prince turned and asked one of the officer.
"No your Highness, they are not from the nobles' side. They're just ordinary soldiers I think."
The officer reported.
Soon two soldier entered in the camp, one of them was relatively younger in age than the other one. The younger was almost the age as vice commander Medhavat but his facial features were less defined than the vice commander. They were wearing a golden armor and one of them was carrying a Karpasika Pata in his hand.
When both the soldiers entered inside the camp, there was a visible nervousness in their eyes as they kept on looking downwards towards the red carpet on which they was standing while entering in the camp, not even daring to raise their head in front of men before them.
"Soldier Vasant, pays his respect to his Highness."
"Solider Navaj, too…."
"Huh?"
"Sol….Soldier Navaj also pays his respect to his Highness."
Just as they came in front of the prince, they immediately knelt down on one of their knee and bowed their head more like some sinners awaiting for the judgement of their crimes while saying that.
"Stand up."
The prince ordered with serenity in his voice.
"Yes, your Highness."
"Yes, your Highness."
Finally both of the kneeling soldiers took a sigh of relief as they stood up and looked at the face of the Prince Shantanu. It was like some beautiful flowers just bloomed in their hearts and mind as they saw the prince from that close.
They had always wished to see and talk to the prince one day, but even in their dreams they had not thought that their dream will come true so quickly. They kept on staring at the prince's face. Most people considered that an unruly act and bad mannerism. And definitely not a sane man would even dare to stare at the face of the prince but both of the soldiers kept on staring at his face. It was understandable as that was their first time meeting to the Prince Shantanu and they were feeling it was like a dream.
On seeing their unruly mannerism Prince Shantanu didn't get angry instead he gave a slight smile. There was even a little tinge of helplessness in his smile as he had faced these kind of unruly behaviour wherever he had gone or visited outside the Kashyapa Palace in the market or on the Kashyapa Capital city streets since his childhood. At starting he used to find those gazes uncomfortable but when he told the forefather about that, the forefather told him that those gazes were of admiration and of hope they had in him and so soon he got used to those constant staring and gazes.
"Cough…."
After a little while the two soldiers were still staring at the prince, someone behind him coughed. Hearing the cough both of the came back to the senses as they as fearfully bowed their head instantly not knowing what to do.
"P…pl..please forgive this rudeness of ours your Highness." The relatively young soldier voiced in a shaky voice without even daring to show his face.
"Your Highness we were just surprised on seeing you, we had never imagined to see you this closely so we were lost for few moments there."
The other soldier with him tried to explain their cause as he clearly know what they had done was nowhere respectful towards anyone much less a prince.
"It's alright."
"Now what was the report you have to tell?"
Prince Shantanu tried to remove their neverousness they were feeling and also to change the awkwardness in the camp he immediately asked for what they had come for.
"Yes your Highness, just an hour ago a strange black robed came outside the camping area and delivered a letter saying that it was for you."
"Can you tell his features?"
" Forgive this servant your Highness, but I couldn't see anything as he was even covering his face."
Brows shrunk and eyes narrowed of everyone who was present there on hearing that, 'even face was covered?', that was suspicious, if he had good intentions, he wouldn't had covered his face.
"You didn't tried to catch him or apprehend him?"
Someone asked from behind the vice commanders.
"Your Highness, this servant chased that man for little but then thought it could be a trap setup by the Prayag Kingdom to capture a soldier and get a informations about our preparations. That's why I didn't dare to chase him far and came back."
"Hmph.. useless bunch of cowards."
Someone snickered while looking at a commander from whom regiment that soldier belong to. But he was ignored.
"You noticed anything strange or rather anything which you think can tell about his identity?"
"Please forgive this servant's incompetence your Highness, that man had hidden himself perfectly well inside his black robe and even he had his face covered so we couldn't see anything.
But I felt somewhat strange, even when I pointed my arrow at him and warned him of shoting himif he wouldn't stop, that man seems fearless as he didn't even stop to look backwards and much less have fear or showed hesitation."
The soldier named Vasant tried to remember everything he noticed anything about that man while he reported everything he could think about that black robed man.
"Sigh...."
"So where is that letter?"
The prince looked towards Navaj while asking.
The relatively younger soldier named Navaj was silent all this time while bowing his head downwards and seeing his leather shoes he was wearing and maybe listening to the conversation going on there or maybe lost in his own thoughts. But he shudder a little when he heard what the prince had said. He slowly moved his head upwards to look at the prince, then he brought his both hands upwards to present the letter to the Prince Shantanu.
"Y... you Highness..."
"Its alright. So you haven't opened the letter to see what is in it?"
"No your Highness, we didn't dare to, thinking that it might be something private information just for you."
"Hmm.
"Untie the thread knot and put that letter there and then open it slowly and carefully."
The prince said while looking at Navaj and pointing at an empty table a little away then all of them.
"...…"
Navaj wanted to say something but he couldn't open his mouth to refuse the Prince's order. The judgement had come and he just had to follow the judgement without a choice. He walked toward the table with a little bit shaky legs and meanwhile praying to all the gods he can think of as well as cursing himself for being rash.
Along the way he kept on praying that he never reaches the table or prince change his mind and order someone more trusted to open the letter. But slowly he reached in front of the table and untied the thread knot around the letter.
'The time had come', he thought with almost moistened eyes while remembering everything, every mistakes he had done, remembering his friends and family, thinking of all the dreams he had dreamt of, remembering the planning he had made for his old age even remembering the girl he had his first time in the brothel with whom he fallen in love with and after few months he asked her for marriage but was refused.
Alas every sweet and sour memories surfaced in his mind as he put the letter on the table and then looked backward with a hope in his eyes that someone else will volunteer for the job or at least someone will tell him to stop but his hopeful gazes were returned with a slight nod of heads of everyone telling him to 'go on'. He felt like a little lamb going inside a lion's den as a sacrifice. He even started cursing his father for not being even a low class noble and making him join the army. If he wouldn't had asked him to join the army he might never have joined the army much less going to die so soon.
With no hope of rescue from his situation he slowly closed his moistened eyes remembering his mother and started opening the letter.
One second passed….. two seconds passed… a minute passed…. Five minutes passed.
He wanted to open his eyes and look but the fear that if he would open and would not see the place where he was standing and opening the letter previously made him shut his eyes even more tightly. In one side of his mind he kept on praying, 'please not hell'... 'please not hell'.
"Navaj are you alright?"
Someone said from behind him. Navaj trembled hearing that voice. First he thought that he was in front of King Yama as he spoke his name and was about to announce his judgement of his life, thinking that made him tremble. But soon he realized he had heard that voice before. This was the voice of Vasant.
'He also died?' He thought but soon shook his head thinking that as a ridiculous thing, he was standing far from him. He calmed himself as he slowly opened his eyes. His vision had gone blurry due to closing his eyes so tightly for too long so he moved his head here and there for understanding what is going on, thinking that he had become blind. He immediately blinked his eyes five or six times and before he could shout that he had gone blind, he slowly started seeing things clearly.
He took a sigh of relief as he looked backward. Seeing him alright everyone else also took a sigh of relief. A soldier dying even before the start of the battle was bad sign for them.
"Everyone please head outside for a few minutes. If this letter is not planned for poisoning me then this letter must have something that need my attention and by the way it was delivered, it shows it must contain something very private information that informant doesn't want anyone else to see."
Prince Shantanu ordered as he explained everyone to move out of the camp for a little while so he could get a privacy to read that letter.
Hearing his order everyone moved out of the camp and soon only the prince was alone inside the camp standing before the table and looking at the letter.