Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The darkness descended as the carriage came to a stop for the night. The faint crescent moon shone like a silvery claw in the night sky. The black sky extended across, with stars sparkling like little diamonds. The trees rustled in response to the night air. The bonfire crackled sometimes, breaking the night's calm.

Harsha was drinking soup provided by the chef, who traveled with his entourage to respond to his requirements.

"If they wanted to assassinate, why didn't they use a standard poisoning method?" Viswa inquired in hushed tones.

"They might want to use this situation to frame someone else. If I am poisoned, their first suspect will be in the empire, not outside. But in turn, if I am assassinated on the border, it can be manipulated into the nearby kingdom's doing."

Essentially, the person who dispatched the assassin wanted to ensure that he could not be linked back to the assassin. If he poisoned him, simply silencing one or two guys would not be enough; they would ultimately track him down. However, if he redirects it somewhere else, he would escape the strain.

"We will leave at night. Get ready. The murdeous intent has been visibly grown. They plan to act today," Harsha instructed with a cold look.

"Yes, Your Highness. But can I kill that Guard captain, please? He betrayed you after all," Viswa said with a scowl.

"Not now; I will let you kill him painfully for this later on," he said as he stared at Guard Captain Rahul Shetty.

After eating a heavy dinner, he approached the guard commander, who was conversing with other men and drinking.

"What are you doing?" Harsha said as he approached.

All of the troops, startled by the sudden appearance of the prince, including Guard Captain Rahul, rose up and saluted him.

"Get moving, everyone. I want to talk to Rahul." Harsha commanded, glaring coldly at the guards,

At his command, the guards scurried away from the scene as if they were being kept captive for an extended period of time.

"What is it, Your Highness?" Rahul was amused by the situation.

"So, Rahul, when do we reach the town?"

"Most likely tomorrow evening, Your Highness," he firmly answered.

"I am going to take a rest. I came to check whether everything necessary is alright," he said, gazing around, his hands clasped behind his back.

He walked back to his large tent situated in the middle of the camp while checking the surroundings for anyone monitoring him. He felt someone monitoring him; on his way back, he saw Viswa. Harsha leaned and whispered as he walked past Viswa.

"Prepare; we will be escaping today."

Viswa silently walked past Harsha, preparing for the getaway. He had already stolen food items that could be eaten on the fly.

The bustling of the camp slowly faded after most of the guards went to sleep, leaving some guards who were on night duty. The crackling fire from before only billowed smoke. Harsha and Viswa were awake, preparing to escape.

"What about the food?" Harsha asked softly, nudging Viswa's arm slightly in the dark.

"Hidden in the forest a few hundred meters away, I already anticipated the timing, Your Highness."

He changed into a practice outfit he bought for practice. He strapped two daggers on his thighs and his sword on his back. He was ready to escape.

"We are being monitored; there is one person disguised as a guard close to our tent," he whispered to Viswa.

"Kill the one of the right who is in disguise; I will neutralize the other one," he added as he silently made his way to the entrance. Both Harsha and Viswa charged at the same time. Harsha reached out from the tent canvas, grabbing the head of the guard, and muffled his screams by covering his mouth with his free hand and twisting his neck, rendering him unconscious.

Viswa, on the other hand, stabbed the carotid of the enemy with his dagger and pulled him by the mouth into the tent. Leaving the guards bodies in the tent. They made their way deeper into the surrounding forest, avoiding the guards on their way out.

A few hundred meters into the forest, Viswa scanned the surroundings of the tree he had marked, and in its trunk was a small sack of food enough to last a few days.

Meanwhile, at the camp, the assassins, dressed in all black, were readying to attack the prince in his sleep. The team leader gave orders to the others to proceed with the attack.

As they approached the tent of the prince, they noticed their comrade was missing, who was supposed to keep watch on the prince.

"Did that bastard skip duty again? Anyway, proceed." The team leader said this with a scowl visible through the black cloth covering his face.

The assassins charged into the tent only to find that it was bare, with the prince not to be found in the tent and the butler who came along also missing.

"Where is the prince?" The team leader inquired in frustration as his gaze fell on the floor. There were two bodies of the guards on the floor, one unconscious, and the other was their comrade, who was stabbed in the carotid and left to bleed. The ground was soaked and mushy as all the blood seeped into it.

"DAMN IT!, FIND THE PRINCE QUICK!!!, Inform everyone to begin." He ordered his subordinates, who were taking in the information, and as the order was made, they quickly turned on the hell and sprung into action.

The team leader made his way to the Guard Captain's tent, who was enjoying a wine with a blissful expression.

"Rahul!! The prince has escaped," said the team leader, barging into the tent.

Clearly startled and confused, Rahul asked, "What, how?"

"It doesn't matter; I will leave two people to disguise themselves as Prince and his butler. Just make sure no one notices anything amiss."

"What do you mean?"

"Silence, you fool, You are in this as well; follow the orders as told. If you don't, you know how bad the consequences would be."

"Ok, ok, I will calm down and go do your mission. I will take care of this," Rahul said, rubbing his forehead in frustration.