"Are they back yet?" Ansh asked his knight, as they were walking up the stairs to the Temple of Agni.
"No your highness. But I have chief Ajay waiting at the port; the moment they return, we will know." Answered Kalam, Ansh's closest knight, "You do not need to worry about prince Blaze."
"You don't get it, Kalam. It's not been long since he lost Nila. And I've been too harsh on him lately as well." Ansh said with guilt in his eyes, "Nila was like a daughter to me; and I just couldn't protect her. I was so busy trying to ensure my family's liveliness, that I forgot that Nila and Blaze are also my family. I lost Nila, I will not let Blaze get hurt anymore."
"I think it would've been better if you told him this yourself, then maybe he wouldn't have gone with the ships yesterday."
"He wouldn't have listened to me at all; he sees me as his enemy. But, it's alright; as long as he's safe, he can think of me as anything he wants."
They finally reached the top of the mount, where the Temple of Agni was. The Inauguration ceremony of the Emperor is supposed to be held at that exact temple. The mount was not that high, but from down the mountain, the temple seemed quite far.
Only the members of Agnihotri family and their servants can enter the temple; everyone else, even the royal emissaries stood down the stairs, looking up at the Beginning of the new Agni Emperor's rule.
"Of all the souls out there, yours and only yours has that fire! The Fire bright enough to enlighten the darkest night. The Fire hot enough to melt the coldest glacier. The Fire that gives life, and the Fire that destroys it." The high priest of the temple initiated the inauguration. "Ansh Agnihotri, you possess the blood rich with Gods' blessings. Do you vow to protect us? Do you believe that you deserve to rule our holy land of fire, our Agnisthal?"
"Yes! Yes, I do." Ansh answered confidently.
The former Emperor, Arjuna, walked up to Ansh, took of his imperial turban and put it on Ansh's head; marking him as the new Emperor of Agnisthal.
"And with this, my son, I have given up my biggest and hardest duty and put them on your shoulders. I hope, you will fulfill your duties, and protect our motherland."
"I will father, I will protect both my nation and my family. No one will ever be able to put even a finger on my family."
And as if just on cue, the fireworks started, and with that began the chants of everyone on the bottom of the mount, "Glory to the Empire!! Glory to the Fire!!"
The chants filled the whole place with life. The emissaries', noblemen's and commoners' chants became indifferentiable. And from amongst those people, Ajay came running. It was not easy coming here, he was stopped at several checkpoints he had to go through; and now that he was finally here, the crowd slowed him down even more. At last he reached the barricade, but the guards posted there stopped him.
"Let me through, I have important news!" Ajay exclaimed in a hurry.
"I'm afraid that is not possible chief. Any and everyone's passing of this barricade has been prohibited. I cannot let you through." One of the guards who knew Ajay replied.
"No, no, no! I must tell them now! Its important!" Ajay was restless, so much so that he tried to force his way through the guard, but the other guards eyeballed him; so he stopped, as he knew they will fire at any sudden movements.
"Chief, I'm telling you again, only out of respect, back off. I cannot let you pass. Your message will have to wait for now." The guard said as he signaled other guards to stand back, "My friends here would love to throw you out. So, please don't make me not want to stop them."
"Fine, fine" Ajay backed off a bit, then he took a look at the guard's rifle; it was a bolt-action rifle. He was about to walk away, but suddenly turned around, his face seemed as if he had a weird thought.
"Hey" Ajay called the guard again, "Is that rifle of yours loaded?"
The guard was confused by such a sudden and rather peculiar question, "Yes, it is. But, why?"
"Oh great! But the bolt is loose on that."
"Loose?" said the guard, and just as he lifted the rifle and looked down at it, Ajay quickly grabbed the riffle and smacked him in the face; then aimed the gun at him. The guard put his hands up, and the other guards charged at Ajay.
Ajay hurriedly aimed the rifle upwards and fired.
*BANG*
The whole crown was shocked by the sudden gunshot. Everyone close to Ajay ran away from him, and everyone else's attention was focused solely on him.
Ajay quickly threw away the rifle and put his hands up, the guards shouted at him, "Don't move!! Or we'll open fire!"
"Guards wait!" Ansh shouted from the top and the guards obeyed their new Emperor, "He is Chief Ajay, let him speak."
"I apologize for creating such a ruckus, but I have to tell you something." Ajay said with moist eyes.
"What message do you have? Have they returned?" Ansh asked with face glowing with happiness that Blaze has safely returned.
"One of the ships has returned to the port; the other one was destroyed."
"Huh?" Ansh was flabbergasted, he seemed as if he had not understood the situation, with a hint of expectation and dread in his voice he asked, "Blaze is in the ship that returned, right?"
Ajay didn't answer that question, rather he couldn't.
"He… He returned safely, right?" Ansh asked again, and still no answer. "Answer me!"
"The Khandavans at the Brig fire their canons at the ship that was in front. The ship was caught on fire, and it sank. All the crew and soldiers on board have died by either burning in the fire or drowning in the vast ocean." Ajay's voice was cracking up, a drop of tear rolled down his eyes as he said, "Prince Blaze was on that ship."
A gust of realization hit Ansh like a boulder, "I killed him."
"No! you did not." Said Komal, Ansh's wife.
"But, if I had stopped him from going, then he would've been alive right now."
"You couldn't know this would happen, its not your fault. They killed him!"
"Who?"
"The Khandavans, they killed him, you had nothing to do with it."
Komal's words helped Ansh to get a hold of himself, he gripped his staff firmly and called his knight, "Kalam!"
"Yes, your highness?"
"How many representatives from Khandava are here?" Ansh asked in a stern tone.
"Three, sire. But why?" Kalam said nervously.
"One should be enough to deliver. Choose one of them to write a letter for me. A letter about how he could've been killed mercilessly, but the Emperor of Agnisthal has spared him, only to deliver this particular letter."
"Why? Why would a letter be so important? Ansh answer me!" Arjuna, the former emperor shouted.
"It is so important because its not just any letter. It's the declaration of war against their home."
Arjuna was shocked to the core; this was the first time he saw his son so determined, so vengeful.
"Ansh! Calm yourself! That is not a decision you can make on a whim." Arjuna warned him.
"It is not on whim father. They have spilled my blood, Blaze was family. Now, they will pay for his blood with every single Khandavan!" Ansh turned towards Arjuna and continued, "And why you of all people are stopping me? Aren't you the 'Great Warrior Arjuna' who burned Khandava, only because they killed some commoners. And now they have taken away one of my family; I am your son, following your steps is in my soul."
"NO! I made a mistake! That was a mistake, I should never have done those deeds." Arjuna was gradually getting agitated, "You must not be like me!"
Ansh looked into his father's eyes and calmly said, "I won't. I will never be like you father. And yes, you did make a mistake; you didn't finish the job. But don't worry, I will finish what you had started may years ago. That is my duty as your son, isn't it."
Arjuna was at a loss of words, as he saw in his son, the image of the ruthless warrior, the conqueror that he was.
Ansh turned around and faced the crowd, and announced, "I, the Emperor of Agnisthal, declare war against Khandava! They will perish, they have to!"
The crowd shouted their support towards their Emperor out loud, the emissaries and noblemen were dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events.
"Your highness!" Kalam called, "You ordered one of the Khandavans to be sent with the declaration, then what about the other two? Should I imprison them in the dungeon or just have them imprisoned in their guest house?"
To which Ansh replied, "No need for imprisonment. Burn one of them alive, and drown the other to death."
Kalam was shocked by his master's merciless orders, but he had no choice other than obeying.