Chapter I -Bereaved.

The Sun was now sleeping behind the enormous range of the Himalayas. The blood-red sky offering its farewell led to a sense of tranquillity while also admonishing what was coming the next day. Arya was contemplating, at sunset in her veranda, which could ostensively be her last.

There was no other alternative than warfare to save the Mauryas from the execrable. Arya had already lost her father and brother against the previous Basha expedition. The restraint of the whole empire had fallen upon her mother and 9-year old Arya. There was no time to reminisce about what was, it was time to focus on what is, as they had an empire to rule. The next eleven years went in solitary.

All these years in exile made Arya master horse-riding, swordplay, statesmanship under the guidance of Abheer. He was a tall, well-built middle-aged man whose face exuded intelligence, he was also amongst the trusted ministers of her father. Arya always thought of him as a father figure who helped her look after the kingdom along with Queen Mother as Commander-in-Chief.

On the other side, the Basha who were foreign invaders managed to ruthlessly invade all the other empires in the Upper Ganga belt. This established them as the dominant rulers in the whole region. The Bashas had led a relentless campaign of invasion against 107 kingdoms. However, the failure derived during the attack of the Maurya realm was not easily forgotten. It was the only realm that stood between making Ikshan, the head of Basha the Mahasamrat of 108 kingdoms.

After 11 long years, the ­Basha infantry stood ready to barge the gates of Maurya any second. Ikshan was a ruthless, cold-blooded warrior who wanted to rule the whole of India. The only obstruction that stood in his way was Maurya’s empire without which he could not descend to the south. Arya knew if the war ended against their favour, her subjects would never know peace and prosperity again. The Bashas would become unstoppable. It was time to do or die. The next sunrise would decide the fate of Arya and her entire kingdom.

Reminiscing the state Arya walked fiercely from her veranda to face her upcoming future.

In the wee hours, the golden rays of Sunlight started hitting the Earth. Both armies now stood ready, waiting. Soon when there was light all around, after which there was an echo of Shanka stating the start of the war.

Arya was not allowed to enter the battlefield as, if anything were to happen to her; all hope would be lost. She was supposed to flee out of the empire if any quagmire occurs. These were the clear instructions by Abheer to stay in the palace itself.

The size of the Basha army was four times that of the Maurya army with thousands of elephants and cavalry they set towards the kingdom.

“Even though they have much more significant numbers than us, we are fighting to save our motherland. Harr Harr Mahadev” addressed Abheer to his infantry.

After which a powerful echo of Harr Harr Mahadev was heard on the battlefield and soon after the battle began.

Bashas were ruthlessly killing everyone that stood in their way. Ikshan, on his elephant, was in the very back of the army searching for the famous princess of the Maurya. Thousands of soldiers were being killed every minute that was passing by. Abheer, on the other side, was single-handedly duelling with four Bashas at once. With two swords in hand on a horse, he was struggling to reach Ikshan so that he could kill him and end all this at once. Suddenly he heard a loud scream.

“She is here….The princess is here…she is here.”

Everyone was looking for the direction of the sound. The dust was settling on the ground, but from the chaos, both Ikshan and Abheer were riding towards Arya who was now clearly visible.

Arya had managed to beguile everyone by dressing as a soldier. Although her headgear had now broken letting her hair all loose leading to the revelation of her identity as she was the only female warrior fighting. Arya stood there with all her might ready to face Ikshan. She looked like a tiny person in front of him as he was very huge and well-built, and his eyes alone distinctly reveal his ruthlessness.

However, Abheer had swiftly managed to reach before him and now was shielding Arya. Soon the duel between all three started. Both Arya and Abheer had the upper hand. They would defeat Ikshan any second when the Bashas realized that their leader’s life was in danger.

A hail of arrows followed almost immediately and went right through Abheer, piercing his heart. Within seconds Abheer lay on the ground all white and pale, a blank expression on his face where once was a look of pure determination.

Everything seemed to go black for Arya after seeing the Commander on the ground.

The cognizance of Abheer not being with her anymore and how they had been deceived by Basha soon hit Arya. A boiling sense of rage-filled her. She fast held her sword and was ready to attack Ikshan who had just killed her father once again.

These few seconds had changed her so much that she was no more a timid little girl. She was now more than ready to avenge the death of every family member that she had witnessed.

No one had ever seen Arya fight the way she was duelling with Ikshan. Her swift moments against Ikshan’s heavy blows had already made him lose a limb. Anytime a Basha soldier would try to help their leader, the Mauryas engaged them in battle. This forced Ikshan to battle Arya all on his own, who up until then had thought Arya to be just a princess, someone he could crush easily.

“Wasn't he like a father to you? You are all alone with no one to help you this time.” taunted Ikshan limping on the ground. These words sent a chill down Arya’s spine.

With a final, fluid stroke of her sword, she finished Ikshan once and for all.

She had managed to save her empire from the clutches of evil. The remaining Bashas, realising what had happened, quickly fled the battlefield to save themselves from a similar fate. The Mauryas who had seen the duel were shaken to see their young princess as a fierce warrior who stood before them. Even though she had won the battle, Arya felt a sinking pain in her heart of losing her dear ones. She continued to gaze at the Commander’s body for a long time contemplating the defeat she had suffered in losing him.

Soon the valiant tale of the princess spread like wildfire in the empire in the coming days and weeks after the war. Everyone considered her as a Goddess incarnate who had come to protect them from evil. The celebrations of winning could be heard all over the kingdom.

However, Arya and the Queen mother went to the banks of Ganges to pay their last respect to Abheer immediately after the war. The grief of Abheer leaving Arya alone had been a hard truth to accept still.

During one of her visits to the river banks, Arya was sitting alone thinking about the events that had happened. Suddenly a young boy came towards her and was stopped by her guards.

"I have heard the stories of how brilliantly you fought against Bashas and saved us all. Allow me to come and take your blessings?" said the boy with a huge grin on his face.

Seeing a boy so young and innocent, she let him approach and was about to hug him when he whispered:

"A gift, from our new Basha leader."

He hugged her and thrust a knife deep into her stomach, twisting the blade as it went in. Arya fell onto the floor with a dull thud, her blood spilling over into banks of Ganges.