Once the ritual was complete, the youths who had migrated away from the earth realm reappeared, looking baffled but unharmed.
"There are your friends, dear child," Sage Mahathi remarked as he stood up and approached Prince Surya, "and the man I came here looking for."
The child ran up to Surya and wrapped his thin arms around his legs. Surya looked the same as the sage had seen him last, at King Shaktidev's court, the same shine to his forehead and bulk to his arms. Only his cheeks looked blood red and eyes somewhat wild, likely from the mental affliction he was suffering from. What a tragedy to happen to a healthy, young child like him! Sage Mahathi's heart ached at the thought.
"I apologize if my little play has puzzled you. I only saw it fit to test the man in whose hands the future of the five kingdoms rests." Sage Mahathi moved right up to the prince. "And if his Kshatriya vows are solemn and pure as the water from river Ganges."
