*~The Adventurous Tale Contest~* || Team Pratap || - Page 17

But soon, Udai Singh wanted to do the rajyabhishekh of Pratap to the position of yuvraj, the next king. When he asked the queens' suggestion, Dheer bai refused straightaway but Jaivantha bai said that he needs to be taught some basics. He needs to be sent to a gurukul. After completing his education can he take the throne.

*Banner-Gurukul...freinds and enemies*

While all the teachers left their retirement to train Pratap or travelled a long way for the honour, there was one person who showed Pratap the mirror of harsh reality. This man was Acharya Guru Raghvendra.

Acharya Raghavendra: A man of principles and discipline, he was Pratap's guru. Trained well in combat and weapons, he was specially great at archery. With his concentration and focus, he could move huge rocks and heavy objects with his bare hands. Unlike others, who praised Pratap and worshipped him, he was the one who showed Pratap the downside of his personality too. He was the one who gave way for Pratap's development by making all tasks tougher for him. Strict as he is and a man with a heart of stone as he appears to be, he is actually really soft, is well aware of his surroundings and holds the power to calculate beyond what seems. He taught Pratap exceptionally well, making him able to even fight with wounds and never to give up in the face of what seems to be the end. In the end, Pratap was even declared as his best student.

He refused to teach Pratap in the castle and despite of Dheerbai's constant efforts to defame Pratap in his eyes, Jaivantha bai kept check and it was the Guru's words and Pratap's will power, his strong awareness of his surroundings, that he was able to dodge all the obstacles in the way, including the assassin Bassar Khan who had been hired by Shams Khan to kill Pratap.
While Pratap and his brother Shakti were training, Dheer bai gave birth to a son, Kunwar Jagmaal, and he came with all the marks of darkness, of apshaguns, of distress and unhappiness, of an unprosperous future. Pratap loved his brother, despite of all the predictions, and then came the point where Pratap and Shakti would have to battle it out for the position of the Yuvraj. In this fight, Pratap defeated Shakti but what he didn't notice was that Shams Khan had returned under disguise and had placed a deadly trap for him, to kill him there and then. It was then that Pratap's best friend Sohm sacrificed his life to save his best friend. Pratap, overcome by grief of the loss, didn't think twice and killed Shams Khan at that spot.

*Banner-Life takes a turn...from Pratap to SakhaVeer*

The end of Shams Khan and of Sohm marked the beginning of a new period in Pratap's life. While Pratap almost saved his brother Shakti from death sentence, he also had to leave the palace and live life as a commoner in Talhatti, a small village, where resided his friends, Chakrapani Mishr and Vyenidas Vashishth, whom he had met at the Gurukul. He was soon joined by his mother Jaivantha bai who left the palace for him. Living between common people, Pratap realized their difficulties and fears, and even ventured to kill the man-eating tiger who had made all the villagers white as chalk with fear. His ventures into the jungle to hunt the tiger brought him face to face with the bhils and their head, Rana Kheta, who resided in the forest and knew all about the tricks in the mysteries within it.