Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The mansion lay desolate as usual, and the Raghav sat in the courtyard dumbstruck. His hands and feet were trembling with horror.

Just two days after the Battle of Warangal, he returned to his mansion. He met with the Nayaka army. They opened an aggressive assault on the allied army of Raghav and the Mudaliar.

Raghav, just prior to the victory of Warangal, had received Nayaka, who decimated the battlefield in Anantapur a few days ago, killing the bodyguard of the Prince and Noble Vijayarama Panicker easily.

He knew the power the Patriarch of the Nayakas held.

'Why the hell is that old man interfering??? What the hell is going on?' He pulled apart his hair in frustration.

That old man was a monster in human skin. At such an old age most men would never go out to fight, but yet that man had accomplished a great feat, not only fighting one of the most infamous commanders of the Bahmani Sultanate and winning. Now he had taken charge and intervened in the nascent civil war.

Rudra Simha Nayaka destroyed the exhausted allied army with ease, cleaving apart tens of hundreds of soldiers and resulting in an immediate surrender, along with the deaths of all the commanders and the eldest son of the Mudialiar household.

To save his life, he ran away, betraying his army, back to his mansion. In just four days, the Nayakas managed to conquer the region. They were making their way to the mansion to effectively lay claim to all of the region. Most of the family members went into hiding as soon as they received the news.

Raghav had already prepared an escape route to go back to the capital and met with the prince.

Getting into the caravan. Raghav prepared to leave the city as the Nayaka army approached. He sat in the carriage and left the city.

On the outskirts of the city. The carriage suddenly halted in the middle of the forest. Raghav exited the carriage, and the guards were nowhere to be seen. He looked at the carriage coachman. Everyone had vanished into thin air.

"What the hell is happening?" He muttered.

*SMACK*

A metallic shrill noise went through his head as his head was hit by a metal bat. Vision blanked out.

"FUCK," he cursed and fell.

Raghav woke up with a searing pain in his head. It was as if the head was wobbly and ringing. His eyes flickered open into a dusty, old, dark room with a candle. He couldn't move. Looking down, he found that he was tied to a chair.

"Where am I?" He mumbled.

*CLICK*

*THUD*

The door to the room opened, and two individuals entered dressed in all black and looked over at him.

"Tell the leader the bastard is awake," one said.

Raghav remained silent. His mind was racing with millions of questions.

'Who are they? Why did they capture me? Is it that bastard Vriha?'

A few moments later, another individual entered the room, visibly dressed differently than others, and had a mask on his face.

"Hooo. He is awake; good job. Everyone except him, leave the room." The man said, pointing at a man.

"Who are you?" Raghav asked.

*SLAP*

A hard slap across his face as his head started ringing again from the pain.

"No one gave you permission to speak bastard."

A punch landed on his face.

"ARGHH"

The man grabbed Raghav by his hair and pummeled him down repeatedly as blood flowed like a broken fountain and his nose was twisted into a mangled mess.

*SMACK*

*SMACK*

Breathing in through his mouth, Raghav managed to croak.

"Please.."

The man finally let him go and clicked his tongue in disgust.

"Can't even recognize his own son. This bastard."

Raghav's eyes flickered as the mask fell off, revealing the identity of the man. It was the blemish of the Reddy family. The one who he had kicked out of the family, Mithun.

"What are –"

"Stop barking, you bastard. I just came to take care of my debt. Remember you signed off your family?"

"Huh?"

Raghav's mind raced as he connected all the dots leading up to the incident.

"AHAHA. It seems like you finally realized. Aranya and Vriha were just me!!"

"YOU BASTARD!"

*STAB*

Raghav screamed hard.

A dagger was lodged deep into the thigh of Raghav Blood, pouring out.

*SLAP*

"Your businesses and all those failures were all my doing."

Mithun twisted the dagger as he convulsed in pain.

"You dare leave my mother to die and expected I wouldn't come back to take my revenge. AHAHA"

*STAB*

He took out the dagger and stabbed in the same spot again.

Raghav, his eyes filled with terror and pain, managed to croak.

"Plea–"

A kick to his chin as his head fell back, dislodging his jaw.

"MERCY, you say. AHAHA, you bastard, you know how long I planned for this."

Raghav's vision was blurry; he was barely breathing from his mouth. He wanted to live. Why this? his bastard son out to kill him? He might have neglected his mother, but did he deserve this?. His mind raced with thoughts.

Picking up a plier from the dusty ridden table. Mithun clamped his against his fingers and began to squeeze them. Raghav's finger exploded into pain. He only remembers hearing his echoing screams in the room. He was begging his own son to stop.

Tears and sweat covered his mangled and bloodied face.

"Please stop," he begged.

Responding to his plea. Mithun took a handful of salt and threw it at his wound, making him scream even louder. He squirmed with all his strength, trying to break the rope.

"WHEN MY MOTHER PLEADED FOR TREATMENT, WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP?" Mithun screamed, twisting his arm at an unnatural angle.

*CRACK*

*SLASH*

*SLASH*

Mithun made several wounds on his body and smeared salt on them. The pain was unlike any wound he had received. The room bellowed with his screams till his throat gave out. The ropes finally loosened as he fell face first on the floor.

Clawing the wooden floor with his bloodied fingers. Mithun, who watched him crawl in amusement, stomped him like a bug. He crawled with all his strength forward to the entrance.

"Come on, you bastard. You want to live, right? AHAHA, crawl like a dog you are."

Raghav's arms barely functioned with adrenaline. One of his arms was twisted and broken. His fingernails were pulled out by the pliers. He was barely conscious of the pain. The moment Raghav saw the frenzied look on Mithun's face. Terror set in his heart.

He crawled to the feet of his bastard son with great difficulty and pleaded and begged.

"Please kill me." He would rather die than endure this even more.

Mithun clicked his tongue and stabbed his back.

"You want to die?" Mithun said, kicking his chin again.

"We are done here." Mithun added, grabbing Raghav by his hair and stabbing him right in the neck. Leaving his father to die on the cold wooden floor.

Wiping his hands with a cloth. Mithun ordered the man in the room.

"Dispose the body and clear all traces."

"Yes, Leader" The man bowed deeply, visibly scared of him after seeing the torture.

Mithun knew he wouldn't bring back his mother by killing Raghav. He knew this wouldn't be the way his mother would have wanted him to be. But still, he did it for himself. For him to get away from his past and start anew.

He was still angry with himself for being powerless and not being able to save his mother.

'Mother. I am sorry.' He mumbled.