Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

Chapter 66: Back to Bidar

After a long detour through the forest,. Harsha finally reached the town of Bidar. It was a fairly big town, with guards patrolling around the perimeters. Viswa and Harsha were looking like hobos trying to sneak into the town to steal.

Viswa looked at the town's guardpost from the cover of the thick bushes close by.

"Your Highness, what should we do?"

"Are you sure there is a base here?"

"Yes, Certainly." He declared it, brimming with confidence.

"Go in and contact them."

Viswa patted down the dust from his clothes and used his hands to comb through his hair. He walked towards the entrance of the town. The guards didn't seem to suspect anything unusual about Viswa. He entered the town with no problem.

Time passed as Viswa weaved through the bustling streets of the town to a stall on the other end of the town. He looked at the stall owner and uttered a word. The expression of the stall owner changed quickly, and he invited Viswa into the shop.

The base set up uses code words to communicate their information and contact one another. Thankfully for Viswa. This base had a regional leader, meaning one of the ten major people who had knowledge of sensitive information.

The stall owner led him past a small alley behind the stall into a building. Entering the building, Viswa was quickly led to the main room of the regional leader by the person working in the building.

A man, his eyes black as coal. The long, disheveled hair and dark circles around his droopy eyes were seated, and books and papers clattered on his desk. The man quickly got up as Viswa entered.

"Greetings, Lord Viswa. I am Sanjay, the regional leader of this area. What can we do for you?"

"You have heard of me?"

"Karna has informed us of Lord Viswa, who works for Master. So we have taken it into account."

"That aside, Master has an urgent message to send to Karna."

Master was the name chosen to refer to the prince in the organization, as they didn't want to leak the identity of the prince while addressing the local leaders and members.

"What is the message?" inquired Sanjay.

"An assassination attempt on Master. This is a grave issue. We need to quickly inform Karna and spread it across our allies."

Sanjay gasped, taking in the gravity of the situation.

"WHAT? Did Master get hurt?"

"No, he didn't. We managed to kill all the assassins somehow."

"Hmmm. Is that so?" He then added, gazing at Viswa with determination, "We will prepare a fast messenger for this, Lord Viswa."

Sanjay looked at Viswa, who was seated on the small sofa in the room.

"Should we mobilize the forces? Lord Viswa"

"The guard entourage should be in Bidar. The guards on the perimeter seemed to have been looking for someone. It's highly likely they were replaced using Rahul's connections." Viswa said as he shifted slightly on the plush sofa.

"So you want to get Master into the town safely and hide for a while?"

"Yes."

Sanjay's face was set in a calm smile at the statement. He gathered up the cluttered mess on his table with one hand and waved the other.

"That's easy. There is a secret passage to sneak into town."

Sanjay took out a small map he had drawn for this purpose. Pointing at the passage hidden in the forest cover.

"You can use this passage to enter and leave the city at all times, Lord Viswa," he continued.

"Meanwhile. We shall make arrangements for the accommodation of Master and also send in the message."

Viswa went through the passage leading him to the outskirts of the town. He inspected the passage first, and then went and brought the prince along with him.

"Your Highness. We can get into the town using this passage."

After they had reached their base again,. This time, Harsha was also coming along with Viswa. Sanjay, the regional head, greeted the prince nervously, as it was his first time meeting an individual of such status as a prince.

"This setup is good and comfy. The building blends in very well. Good job."

"It's all thanks to your Highness's grace."

"We have already made arrangements for your room and food, Your Highness." Sanjay replied, bowing slightly.

"Good, I needed a good rest."

Viswa asked Sanjay with a slight frown on his face, "Did you dispatch spies to check on the Entourage of the Master?"

"I have relayed them the orders. The spies should be done quickly in one or two days."

Harsha got up and leaned closer to Sanjay. "Keep me updated on the situation."

Harsha retired to his room after having a hearty meal after a few days of surviving on soup and grass as they trekked through the forest, avoiding the Large Road due to the potential assassin in these parts.

His mind was racing with thoughts about the assassination attempt on him. He had thought he had hidden his movements well, but in the end, it seems that there was someone who found out about it and thought to silence me.

'Who is bold enough to pull these stunts?'

According to Viswa, the men's dead bodies had daggers with the crests of Qutbs and Yadavs studded into the hilt of the sword.

'They wanted to disguise my death as an assassination by either the Qutbs or Yadavas. Very Interesting'

Harsha threw himself onto the bed, pondering the main question of the orchestrator behind his assassin attempt. Exhaustions from the battle settled in, and his body sank into the bed as he slowly fell asleep.

After a week, grave news circulated through the noble circles and wealthy class merchant circles of the Empire. This took both them by storm, as this was a major turning point in the fight to the throne.

What was the big news for it to be considered a "grave situation?"

The Emperor Krishna Deva Raya had been ambushed and gravely injured; currently, the Emperor of Vijayanagara Empire was in a coma.