Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

A merchant caravan was traveling through the newly completed roads. The wheels were softly crunching against the clay mixture of the road. There were many carriages moving in a neatly arranged formation along the road.

This was the usual merchant caravan that traveled from one city to another for the sale of goods. The caravan was headed by a man in a turban with dark eyes and a droopy posture. The man was Sanjay, and sitting inside the carriage were Harsha and Viswa.

The caravan was just a decoy to get Harsha safely to the Patwardhan mansion. The carriage riders and all the men employed to help the caravan were trusted personnel from the base of Bidar.

Sanjay turned back to Harsha, who had his eyes closed and a sword resting on his shoulder.

"Your Highness. We will be reaching soon."

Harsha opened his eyes to the bright sun ray filtering through the small pores of the canvas covering the carriage.

After reaching Patwardhan's mansion, Harsha was seated in the meeting room, and Viswa stood beside him as his guard. Everyone in his personal army was gathered, including the Patriarch of Patwardhan and his son.

Harsha scanned the room and spoke.

"So, a war erupted in the end."

Raj Patwardhan looked nervous in the presence of the prince. It was his first time seeing the prince after his encounter once in the palace. The prince's demeanor was overwhelming and spoke of the authority he held.

"Keshav Pillai is marching to the capital. In retaliation, the first prince sent Govinda to quell Keshav."

"So, Lord Raj. Who would win in that battle?"

"It should be Keshav, Your Highness."

"Why do you think so?"

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"Your Highness, Keshav, is a battle-hardened veteran. Govinda doesn't have any battle experience to begin with, although he is bright. On the battlefield, the experience speaks for you."

"I see. Moving on with the Emperor's case. I highly doubt he was injured by his personal guards; that's total nonsense." Harsha said with a frown.

"What do you mean, Your Highness?" Mithun asked with a curious expression.

"Think about it. A emperor known for his martial ability was injured by four of his guards. Unbelievable. Someone else is involved in this."

Viswa stroked his chin in deep thought, standing tall beside Harsha with a sword hung on his waist. His one hand was on the hilt, ready to protect the prince.

"Do you think we should investigate this?"

"Investigate? At this time,. We cannot afford to do that; they will reveal themselves in due time."

Raj Patwardhan looked eager and spoke.

"Let's move onto our agenda, Your Highness."

"Right, we will be entering the war soon. Be prepared for the worst." He declared coldly.

Harsha began passing down the documents and papers detailing the strategy of their future actions. All the members gathered, including the regional leaders, read the papers brought forward by him.

A tall, burly man raised his hands and stood up, his eyes trembling, looking at Harsha.

"Um, Your Highness. This says battle; none of us have real battle experience."

After his question, he sat down, heaving a heavy sigh of relief.

"Yes, you guys may not have battle experience. That's why I am personally leading the army of your inexperienced people."

"Your Highness. That's quite dangerous. What if?

Raj was cut off with a wave of his hand. Harsha looked at him coldly; a shiver ran down the spine of the patriarch, and he fell silent.

"Patriarch, I have to lead them. They were trained based on my preference, and do you doubt my prowess?"

"No," Raj muttered.

"That's settled, then. How many men can we spare for a battle?"

Karna, who was listening silently, spoke up quickly.

"It's close to 20,000 men, Your Highness. We have cavalry, archers, and infantry spread across the bases."

"How long will it take them to gather?"

"In one week, I have already gathered them close in the area after the news of the Emperor's coma reached us!"

"That's great. Prepare them for a battle. All the regional leaders will be leading in the battle, and that's final. I want battle-experienced people, and this is a great opportunity to do that."

Harsha handed a separate note of information to Karna. It was the report gathered in the Base of Bidar on Rahul Shetty movements. He was staying put in Bidar, presumably due to orders from above.

"Kill Rahul Shetty. That is your mission, Karna."

"Understood, Your Highness."

Mithun stood up and presented a report to Harsha.

"Your Highness, This is the report of the debt the Reddy family owes us. That bastard thinks he took loans from different people, but in actuality it was our men disguising as different each time to loan him money."

"Hooo! , So you decided to trap your father at last."

Mithun slightly chuckled and continued.

"The issue is, how do we use them now? We already have 30% of their land, and we have lent more money using their family home as collateral."

"Use the Shekhar family. We can aim for the mutual destruction of their army."

Harsha explained his plan to use Shekhar to fight Raghav Reddy when he is in the midst of a battle and, at the same time, leak the ambush information to the first prince and let the prince finish Shekhar.

"That's a great idea, Your Highness. But Shekhar won't budge like that at your orders."

"We will use the old man Nayaka, pledge his support for the mission, and withdraw at the last moment."

Mithun's face was set in a smirk at his idea. Mithun could finally get his revenge for his trashy father's actions towards him and his mother.

"By the way, Lord Raj. Do you have gun powder available?"

"No, I think so. Your Highness, we never bought them."

A regional leader eagerly raised his hand.

"Your Highness, we have gunpowder. I bought it from a European merchant. I thought it would be useful for something."

Harsha smiled lightly. "That's great; it's going to be useful for my next invention."

"Invention?"

"Wait and watch," he smirked.

Author Note

2 more chapters coming up today as we hit the 100-powerstone goal