Rishbala SS: Upakhyana..Last part Pg12 - Page 4

The court was called at an earlier hour than usual. A much tensed up king surrounded by equally strained courtiers were assembled to discuss and decide on the imminent danger that had befallen the kingdom. Senapati Giriraj was too displeased with his son, "Rishabh, you were responsible for keeping an eye on anything untowardly happening in the state. How could this escape your attention? Where were you last night?" Every eye in the court focused on Rishabh at that moment and he had no answer to give to those questioning eyes. "Where is your special task force?" asked the king, without mentioning specifically about the espionage. "They have all been slain, and thrown in the river," answered Chaturanan, before Rishabh could convey the message in a subdued manner. "What special task force Mahamantri?" asked one elderly courtier. "A task force to keep a watch on the enemies. And our brave Rishabh was supposedly their commander in chief. But it seems poor Rishabh could not keep his own task force safe, so god knows how he plans to keep this kingdom safe!" exclaimed Chaturanan. "Mahamantri, this is not a time to accuse one another. It's time for action. The enemies have infiltrated Vishishthapur from all direction. We have been caught completely unaware and unprepared," brooded the king. "Maharaj, we are prepared, the army is prepared; we can stop the enemies and fight them back. Trust me!" pleaded Rishabh. Giriraj and Chaturanan looked at the king for his response. "Don't fail me this time Rishabh," said the king and dissolved the assembly.

Rishabh could not believe what had conspired the last few hours in the kingdom. All his espionage members were brutally killed at separate places but at the same time. The enemy soldiers had infiltrated the forests and the small villages surrounding Vishishthapur and could launch assault any moment. He felt himself at the center of a big conspiracy, only he did not know who to blame. For a moment the face of Madhurya flashed in front of his eyes. No, he did not have any time to waste on thinking. He had to save Vishishthapur, his men, his Madhurya. He rushed to the barrack where he assembled all the battalion leaders and started planning out how to combat the ambush.

By the evening the army had prepared itself for the battle that had been already evoked by the enemy camp in the form of a formal message to king Narasimha stating Vishihthapur had been sieged by the neighbouring kingdom of Narendrapur. King Vikramaditya of Narendrapur had sent an ultimatum to king Narasimha to surrender to his reign; else his kingdom would be massacred.

Rishabh was in the infantry camp when a messenger gave him a letter. It was from the princess wishing him victory in this battle. Rishabh regretted not meeting the princess once before coming to the battlefield. He prayed to his god to keep him alive to at least see the princess one more time.

The war began with the dawning of the new day. The Rohila battalion, being the most aggressive and efficient, was leading the infantry and was commanded by Rishabh. Abhimanas and other warrior chiefs were assigned the cavalry and the armoured divisions. The battle went on for hours. Men were being amputated and killed mercilessly. Thundering cannonball blasts tremored the earth. Blood covered the soil of Vishishthapur leaving no trace of the vitality it held just a day before.

Rishabh was commanding his battalion most courageously and seeing his vigour, his soldiers were all the more motivated and gave their best effort to keep up with the enemy and push them back. But the Narendrapur army had already brought the cavalry in the frontline, posing greater vulnerability to the Rohila infantrymen. Rishabh looked behind at Abhimanas and signaled him to come forward with his cavalry. But to his surprise the cavalry division had thinned out much more than it was at the beginning of the battle. Most of the horsemen were diverted to other areas where the enemy was yet to come forward. Rishabh was outraged at this negligence but he had to save his men from being pitilessly decapitated in the hand of the enemy soldiers. He sent out distress messages to the other chiefs but to his dismay there was none to reinforce his falling men. By the dusk, thousands of Rohila men were lying in heaps of corpses around the battlefield.

Rishabh returned to the camp, drained and dejected. He had failed his men, failed his king. But he could not comprehend why there was so much of miscommunication with the other army units at the time required. The king had been informed about the situation in the battlefield and he had grown all the more worried.

Meanwhile, in the opposition camp, a man stealthily entered the tent of king Vikramaditya. "My highest regards to you Maharaj Vikramaditya." "Welcome my friend Abhimanas. It's very difficult to find a trustworthy friend like you in a battlefield," mocked the king. Abhimanas, unaware of the intended pun, said, "I have delivered you everything as promised. Now it is time for my reward." "No, no, Abhimanas. Only letting my men into your kingdom and killing the espionage team does not fulfill your commitments." "But today I diverted the cavalry and the armoured division in the battlefield. It made it much easier for your men to take on our infantry." The king thought for a moment and said, "True, had you not diverted your men, my army could not have overpowered your infantry. The commander of your infantry fought like a tiger. I would be proud to have a commander like him in my army." Abhimanas gritted his teeth hearing praises for Rishabh. But he had to get other things right first. As a reward of helping king Vikramaditya, he was to be enthroned as the king of Vishishthapur, as had been promised by the monarch of Narendrapur. Then he would have everything, and of course princess Madhurya, whom he would treat as a maid for all the insults she had bestowed on him so far. "I want to meet your king, Abhimanas, and make him surrender before me. I believe he has had enough blow for a day in the battlefield to call for a truce."

Next day a devastated king Narasimha agreed to meet the opposition king. The two monarchs had a private meeting where none of the courtiers were allowed. At the end of the meeting king Narasimha promised king Vikramaditya that his conditions would be fulfilled in exchange of stopping this bloodshed. Narasimha headed straight to the inner palace. Madhurya was sitting in her room, thinking about the crisis in their kingdom when her father, the king entered her room. "Maharaj, is everything fine? Has the war been stopped?" asked Madhurya. "Rajkumari Madhurya, we are in a grave situation. Thousands of lives have been sacrificed for the safety of this land. But the rest can be saved from this bloodbath only if.." "Yes Maharaj, what can stop it?" enquired the princess. "Only if I give your hand in marriage to king Vikramaditya," said the king.

P.S.: Please don't be mad because there is no Rishbala moment in this update , but this happens to be an important episode to take the story forward. And trust me, I would not let you down with Rishbala moments 😳.