A carriage was travelling towards it's destination. It was made of fine Burma teak wood, intricately designed for making a lavish stand of it's owner. The carriage was returning from the royal palace. The one's sitting inside were happy & sad almost at the same time.
Surya Singha Chowdhury the local landlord was pretty upset at the news he had just heard from his nayeb (the deputy/the second in command under a landlord).
Prabin Chandra Roy was a veteran nayeb and he was senior in both his experience & age.
"Is it all true, that I'm hearing! Or is there any gossip included."
"No, my lord. My sources have verified it & it's true!"
"If it's so, can you summarise the total incident or the conflict, in your own word."
"He has killed four of our soldiers, stripped Madan Mohan. Looted the monthly tax. Atleast at that moment Madan Mohan hadn't completed his total collection, or we would have lost a huge a chunk of sum, at that noon."
"Then..."
"Then, sorry to say my lord your younger son, Pralay Singha Chowdhury with Madan Mohan's provocation did something very wrong. They didn't even wait for you, they did send eight of our veteran soldiers to kill that man. They were from the soldiers lot, that you had thought on sending to our King, to support him in his war cause against the foreign invaders."
"Seven of them died and one was injured. He was sent back with bodies, to prove his might. The soldier that returned was so scared of him, he resigned from being a footmen in our garrison."
After taking a few puffs from his aristocratic hookah, Surya Singha Chowdhury finally spoke...
"What is that man made of! That he can even make a soldier resign, who was ready to serve the imperial army."
"Sir, I have detail information on the corpses which were sent back & the way he made a horrible mess of human lives were totally described by our soldier when he came home. And sir in one word, it was horrific!"
"He also told the soldier to convey one message to you. If you send anymore soldier to agitate him, he will come for you & then there will be only slaughter and slaughter untill everything turns to hell."
Surya Singha put down his hookah pipe & glanced into the nature outside. The huge trees, the sounds of birds & even the fluttering wind were in a chorus with the constant sound made by the carriage wheels.
After a while, Surya Singha spoke...
"It is truly a slap in my face as a landlord! I should send 50 or more men to arrest him. Then, prosecute him according to the imperial law."
"My lord you are wise & capable but I personally believe that this man is someone who couldn't be subdued by 50 men or more. I think this man is more dangerous than we think he is! I don't know why, but my instinct says he has not showed all of his cards."
"It's always better to make invincible friends then powerful foes."
These words from Prabin Chandra slammed the mind of Lord Surya Singha Chowdhury...
"Why are you so biased with that man? Or is it that, old Prabin Chandra is so scared in his life that he is even ready to bow to his lord's enemy!"
"My lord, it is true that this man is all mysterious & the most strongest one we have seen or ever faced. Some, even say he is more dangerous than those foreign invaders that we are facing."
"But, I'll tell you two things to make my statement my Lord. If you agree to that you can ask him to have a formal meeting if not then do as you please."
These words were a true displeasure to Surya Singha's ears but he still frowned his eyebrows & said,
"I'm all ears."
"Firstly, he is an Indian, one of us. Plus, he is not like those wild men who would kill without any reason because he has the might to do so. He hasn't been involved in any conflict apart from our footmen within 3-4 days of his arrival here. This means he has a grip over his temper."
"Secondly, he is staying with a widow women from Onga tribe at the city outskirts. He choose a low-key partner to stay with. He's smart, as well as ferocious in time."
"Is he not a profitable asset/ally my lord?"
"I understand what you say but I've also two things that I can't understand."
"I'll try to help you with best of my capability, my lord."
"Okey, that women is not glittery at all. She's from an untouchable tribe. Staying with her would not draw any unnecessary attention. But, after all a warrior belongs to a (Kshatriya) caste. Why would he choose to stay with a women from some untouchable tribe. If this news spreads, he might be even ostracized in his own caste. Why would he risk that?"
"Secondly, if I look past all of these things? Already we have two bloody conflicts with him. Why will he still be interested in joining us!"
"My lord the first confusion of your's is bit complex to understand from our standpoint. We need to meet that guy in person to understand him for this perticular decision."
"Secondly, if he's a reasonable person he would join us for sure. Smart people's always go for the best choice."
"And lastly my lord, if this persuasion fails, we can always treat might with might."
With a pleased face, Surya Singha Chowdhury asked Prabin Chandra...
"So, who do you suggest should go meet this fellow?"
"If you give permission my lord, I can be your sincere representative."
Surya Singha thought for a while, then nodded his head and replied,
"I'm looking forward to this meeting. Hope you succeed in bringing him to us."
"But before you go take some gifts, gold coins and valuables to entice him enough."
Prabin Chandra nodded his head with a grin.
The carriage was almost nearing it's destination and a plan was set in motion, the pitch was ready too.
A curve ball was bowled, while waiting for the batsman to take a shot...
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