Chapter 144: Panchayati Raj
Rewari Kingdom, Khera Village, night of 14th March 1557
’Knock!’ ’Knock!’
Aditya was taken aback. He was having a sound sleep in a guest house specially made for important guests. He had the door closed, unlike before, as he didn’t want to be overconfident about his safety.
Upon opening, he found Rudra with a parchment in his hand, which looked like a royal deed. With a slight bow of salute, he handed it over. Aditya unfurled the parchment, and it was indeed the royal deed. Upon reading the contents, a satisfied smirk played on his lips. Surprised, he looked at Rudra and inquired, "So, how did it go?"
Six hours ago in Kings court of Bawal
The Grand Hall of the king’s court was enveloped in a tense atmosphere. Due to the sudden turn of events, delegates were barred from the current session to avoid spoiling the mood of the banquet with discussions of internal matters.
However, the real reason was clear to everyone: the kingdom’s officials did not want the delegates to know about the current court issues. Rumors of a rift between the imperial prince and the King of Rewari were already circulating, and the prince’s absence was taken as evidence that something was amiss. After all, today’s court session was meant to discuss the draft proposed by the prince, yet he was nowhere to be seen.
The anger on the king’s face was evident. For some reason, Crown Prince Randip stood near the king, and from his demeanor, it was apparent that the king was not in good health.
The king’s grip on the armrest of his chair trembling. "Such arrogance," he muttered. "He is not even half my age... I will not let his draft go unchallenged."
Crown Prince standing beside whispered, "Father, please be patient. He is a responsible person and might be on his way."
However, the crown prince’s attempt to ease the tension was overshadowed when a newly promoted minister spoke up.
"This is outrageous," the minister echoed in court. "We are all assembled, and the prince hasn’t appeared."