The chariot's wheel got stuck in the mud and its movement stopped with a jerking motion. It brought Ranakrit out of his thoughts. Mahakambhu groaned as his back hit the side of the chariot a little hard.

"Are you okay?" Ranakrit asked him frowning in concern as the charioteer got down to pull the vehicle out of mud.

"Yes, Jyesth." Mahakambhu replied with a nod.

After seeing all of his brothers had boarded the chariots sent to take them to the palace safely, Ranakrit had gotten into the last remaining one with Mahakambhu, Agamya and a few others. Ranak, Ranadhrist, Vivardhan, Yuyudhana, Dhairya, Satkrit, Lakshya and five more were entrusted with the responsibility to watch over the rest and had gone separately in each of the other chariots.

Ranakrit got down from the chariot as he saw the charioteer struggling alone. He silently held the wheel and started to push with all his might. The charioteer looked at him for a moment before resuming his work. This was the same man who came to his father's shop and called his arrows faulty.

And he was also the only other soul who knew what happened to Rajkumar Kashyap.

"Thank you." The man said gratefully after they had succeeded in removing the stuck wheel. He asked a little hesitantly, "How---are you coping?"

Ranakrit paused and his face hardened a little. He met the concerned gaze of the man and said,

"I have trusted you not to talk about this to anyone."

"I remember. And I will never break your trust." The man replied with determination.

Ranakrit stared at him for a few more moments before nodding slightly in acknowledgement.

"I will always remember you, Rudra."

***

"What's happening, Mata? Is someone coming?"

Sarvaay asked to Maharani Nivedita who were busy in preparations. She was watching over the living arrangements for the hundred upcoming princes. The whole palace of Amvasthapuram was vibrating with restrained energy.

After all, the number of a total one hundred Rajkumars were coming!

"Yes, Putra. Your Jyesth bhratas are coming." Maharani Nivedita replied with a smile.

Sarvaay and Nirmay shared a confused glance. They didn't know that they had more brothers.

"Maharani! The chariots of kumars have started to arrive." A dasi came hurriedly to inform before they could ask any more questions.

Maharani Nivedita walked out of the chamber towards the entrance of the palace to welcome the Rajkumars. Nirmay and Sarvaay followed behind with curiosity. When they reached the entrance, they saw a lot of other curious people were also gathered there. Their Pitashree Maharaj Jagadeesan and Tatshree Jayaditya were also present. Rajkumari Jayantika and Rajkumari Nilasi had also come outside. Beside Rajkumar Jayaditya, Rajkumar Dharmesth was also standing with Rajkumar Abhayam beside him.

As the curious crowd watched carefully, the first chariot stopped and Rajkumar Durdharsh got down with a few boys and came forward to greet his brothers. But the boys remained behind standing there nervously. As they waited another chariot arrived. A few more boys got down and one of them seemed to be leading them. One by one thirteen more chariots came forward and the boys got down from those. Except the one in which Durdharsh was, every other chariot seemed to have one boy leading the others.

As they all gathered, Durdharsh told them to come inside. The boys glanced at each other not coming forward though.

"We cannot enter until Jyesth arrives." One of them answered. Durdharsh fell silent and looked back at his brothers with little concern.

"What's your name, Putra?" Maharani Nivedita asked coming closer. The boy stared at her for a moment before answering,

"Ranadhrist."

"Ranadhrist, your brother will arrive soon. Till then come inside son." Maharani Nivedita said coaxing him.

Ranadhrist shared a glance with Ranak and Vivardhan who stood beside him before looking back at the queen.

"We are sorry, Maharani. But until our Jyesth arrives, we will not enter the palace." He replied stubbornly.

Everyone fell silent after that. The boys stood under the scrutinizing gazes with lowered heads.

"They are so many!" Nirmay whispered at his sisters. "Are all of them our brothers?"

"Yes. They are our Kakashree, Rajkumar Kashyap's sons." Rajkumari Jayantika informed.

"So many sons?!"

"One hundred to be exact." Rajkumari Nilasi confirmed nodding.

Nirmay's eyes widened.

"And all of them are elder than us." Sarvaay added sadly. "Why are we always younger than everyone else?"

"Aradhya is younger than you two."

"But she's a girl. She doesn't count."

Rajkumari Nilasi was going to retort back asking what did he mean by that. But the last chariot arrived ending everyone's wait and their conversation. The boys seemed relieved as one by one the rest of their brothers got down from the chariot.

Maharaj Jagadeesan's eyes followed the one who had gotten down first and helped the others. After the chariot went away, the boy gave a quick glance at all his brothers before coming forward. His eyes met Ranadhrist's silently who in turn nodded confirming something. The slight exchange did not go unnoticed by the elders.

It was then that the boy gave his full attention towards the people standing there to welcome them. His eyes swept through them quickly before meeting the eyes of Maharaj Jagadeesan. He came forward to stand before the King of Amvasthapuram.

"Pranipat, Maharaj." He greeted him first with folded hands. Maharaj Jagadeesan however remained silent for a few moments as the eldest son of Kashyap stood before him meeting his gaze unwaveringly.

"Vajra ka sarir leke janma iss balak ka krodh bidhbhanskari hoga! Yeadhi iss balak ko apne krodh par niyantran pana nehi sikhaya gaya, toh vabissya main kebal Amvasthapuram, yea ye Vajrabhumi hi nehi,

samasta Aryavarth iske krodh ke bali car jayega.

(This child who was born with a diamond hard body, his anger will be disastrous! If he is not taught to control his anger, then in future, not only Amvasthapuram or this land of Vajra,

But the whole Aryavarth will be destroyed by his wrath.)"

The warning of Rajguru Vihastachariya rang through his mind as Ranakrit held his eyes. He came out of his thoughts though as Durdharsh came closer and introduced him to everyone. Ranakrit greeted everyone quietly before gesturing his brothers to come forward one by one to introduce themselves.

As the introduction was over, Maharani Nivedita took the Rajkumars inside with her. They were showed to their rooms and told to freshen up before meeting at the dining hall for dinner.

***

As Ranakrit entered the dinning hall with Agamya beside him, the sight that greeted him caused a frown to appear on his face.

Inside the dinning hall, Rajkumar Prabal who was absent during the introduction, was laying sideways on top of a table and told the newcomers to give their introduction. As he got to know that they were all younger than him, he gave a mischievous smile and told one of them to massage his feet. When the boy refused, Prabal then told him to hold his own ears as punishment. The boy refused again. A few more protests came from different ones and the situation escalated quickly and soon the dinning hall had turned into a warfield. Everyone was running here and there as Prabal tried to catch whoever he could. And when he did catch one, some other would help the caught one to get out of his reach.

The attendees cowered away. As glasses and plates flew from one place to another. Prabal fell on his back as he slipped on a glass. Dharmesth, Abhayam, Nirmay and Sarvaay had entered the scene at some point and picked him up. But they couldn't stop him from chasing after the Kaushavas again. Nirmay and Sarvaay didn't even want to stop him in the first place and cheered for him. When a glass had hit Abhayam square at his face, he had also joined the chaos. And Dharmesth stood at a side watching helplessly as no one paid any heed to him.

Durdharsh and Jayaditya stood a little behind Ranakrit also looking at the scene dumbfounded. Just as they were about to interrupt, they saw Ranakrit calling one of his brothers at his side.

"Kambhu!"

Mahakambhu escaped a flying spoon and came to his Jyesth. Ranakrit gestured at him something before he and Agamya closed their ears. Rajkumar Jayaditya watched in bafflement as his brother also closed his own ears. He frowned at Rajkumar Durdharsh but soon realized what was the reason as Mahakambhu took a deep breath before opening his mouth.

A loud holler echoed through the entire hall rendering everyone motionless and deaf for a few moments. As the boy stopped screaming Rajkumar Jayaditya cleared his ears which were ringing from the loud scream of the boy. Dharmesth wasn't in any better condition. Kambhu had some throat for sure!

Here, Mahakambhu's scream had got everyone's attention and the boys stood at a side creating a line.

"Ranak! Get down." Ranakrit snapped looking upwards. It was then that Rajkumar Jayaditya noticed one boy was hanging from the large chandelier of the hall.

"How has he even reached there?!" He wondered aloud.

"It's Ranak. Nothing's out of his reach." Rajkumar Durdharsh answered earning a look from his Jyesth.

Ranakrit by now had also noticed his uncles and did not say anything more and only glared at his brothers once. He too stood side by side with his brothers. The slightly protective stance of his wasn't missed by Jayaditya.

"What was happening here?" He asked looking around at the destroyed room.

"It's all their fault." Prabal said pointing at the newcomers.

"You're the one who started it." Came the response from Vivardhan.

"I don't care whose fault it was or who started it. You messed up this place and you'll clean it. That too before the attendees come to serve dinner." Jayaditya stated and looked at all of them.

Dharmesth quietly went to clean and rearrange the place while the rest of them only kept staring at Jayaditya. He knew what his fault was. He was the eldest and failed to stop his brothers.

"Now!" Jayaditya snapped at the boys loudly making them jump and all of them started cleaning too. The only one standing there and looking at him skeptically was Ranakrit. Jayaditya raised one eyebrow at him. Silently asking what he was waiting for.

"I was not included in messing this up. And I did stop them." Ranakrit answered his unspoken question lifting his chin defiantly.

"Are you not the one who claims that they're your responsibility now?" Jayaditya asked, nodding at his answer. Ranakrit frowned slightly not getting the point of this question.

"The thing about responsibility is, it both gives you the share of the successes and failures. So, if you claim their prizes, you'll have to accept their punishments too."

Jayaditya stared at the boy and something passed between the two before Ranakrit finally joined the cleaning crew.

****

Hello!

Things are getting interesting!

What do you think?