บท 24: Before Showdown
The commotion caused by Pinaka and party attracted more people, the crowd surrounding them became higher. They looked at Pinaka and Samyukta in awe, they were seeing them for the first time, how courageous were they, their every move and strike was flawless. Soon few armed men came, they were not soldiers, they greeted Shiva, he introduced them to Pinaka and Samyukta and said that they were his friends. Ten men came and they too stood along with Shiva waiting.. the people experienced a great shock, what was happening.. a rebellion?
Soon there were two soldiers sent as scouts to assess the situation. They saw the extra people standing with Pinaka, they studied the situation and went away. Now one person in the crowd spoke, 'they will come back with a bigger group.. what will happen now.. ' the man whose wife was saved came forward and said, 'I am trained in sword fighting, I will join you and fight..' his wife went into the house and came back with a sword, she handed it over to him. Pinaka smiled at him in encouragement.
Soon some men and women from the crowd came forward and brought their arms with them. There were people carrying bows and arrows, spears and swords. One of them then said, 'we lacked a leader till now, we have a leader now, we can stand with him for what is right.. but who are you.. you seem like a new comer.. why do you want to help us? ' he asked Pinaka, many people looked at him with questioning looks.
Pinaka contemplated for a moment, looked at Samyukta, she slightly nodded as if understanding his thoughts. Then Pinaka said, 'I am the only son of emperor Surya Gupta and empress Chandramati, I am Pinaka Gupta.. ' there was a collective gasp followed by silence which was so dense. It was as if everyone was stuck with lightning. The Prince, he came back, will he help them overcome the tyranny of Devadatta.. will he set them free.. will he help and release the empress.. they were all surprised and looked at him with adoration.
One of them came back to senses and said, 'Prince, what is your plan? ' Pinaka smiled at him and said, 'I don't have a clue, I have not planned anything.. everything that happened so far was unplanned... I could not stand the innocent woman being tortured, so I stepped out.. now I have all of you supporting me..' then Shiva said, 'your majesty, let's wait for some more time and go back to the safe house, we need to assess and plan the situation.. ' Samyukta said, 'yes, but if we go back, what about this family? '
The woman said, 'please don't worry about us, the whole empire is awaiting your return, my life is not so valuable compared to the well being of the whole empire, if they come back, I will go with them, one life does not make much difference., ' her husband too nodded, 'my wife is my woman, whoever tries to profane her cannot touch her soul, she will always be pure.. ' Samyukta was touched by their words, Pinaka came forward hugged the man and said, 'there is no need for that.. she is my sister.. I will protect her with my life..I have a duty towards every person of this empire.. '
Then Shiva said, 'Prince, let us go inside this house and discuss the strategy, we will come out as soon as the soldiers come.. ' Pinaka said, 'Princess, Shiva ,follow me, rest of you all please wait here, stand guard.. ' they went into the house, Pinaka said, 'why did Grandfather not make a move against Devadatta? Gandhara empire is powerful, why did not they try to help? '(empress Chandramati was the princess of Gandhara empire before marriage)
Shiva said, 'though Devadatta held empress captive in the palace, he never harmed her, he treated her with respect, the Gandhara empire was not notified about the fact that you are still alive, even if they wanted to step in, there was neither the emperor Surya Gupta nor you to take over, now that you are here, we can seek their help.. ' Pinaka said, 'do you have any means of contact in the Gandhara empire, who could notify the emperor of my return? ' Samyukta said, 'Gandhara empire is situated below Magadha empire, it will take time to reach over there and speak to the emperor.. meanwhile the situation here could be still deteriorated.. ' Pinaka said, 'Samyukta, we will send messages through our fastest pegions, we also need to send a message to your father too.. we need all the support we could gather.. we never thought that things would materialize so fast.. ' Shiva said, 'ok, we will send two pigeons, one towards Magadha and the other towards Gandhara.. ' Samyukta said, ' be careful to use a code to write the messages, if they land in the hands of an enemy, they should not decipher it' Shiva nodded and went out, Pinaka and Samyukta too came out.
The soldiers did not come back, they could also understand that this was something bigger than protecting the woman,.. they too did not make any reckless move. Pinaka then said, 'why don't we all set up a camp here, we need to be together and face them.. I think soon they will send troops to arrest us.. '
Samyukta nodded, 'it is a good idea, but if everyone comes here and waits, they will be declaring that they are against Devadatta openly, are the people willing? ' Pinaka said, 'children, women who are not trained in combat,and elderly need to be put in one place, they are the most vulnerable, Shiva can you arrange a meeting with the city Council? let's assess their stand.. if they are loyal to the old emperor, then half of the problem is solved.. ' Shiva said, 'yes, I can arrange a meeting, '
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