Narasimha was escorted by a captain of the army to his royal chariot. Festoons and flowers garlands were strung round it. It was scented with musk, sandal and other aromatic oils. The seat was decorated with tiger skin. The flag of Mahishmati fluttered atop in the gentle breeze.

Narasimha ascended the chariot as Eiravati looked on in pride. The procession began. His royal guard followed him. All the houses were freshly painted and renovated. People were standing on their balconies. They were wearing rich, new clothes and precious jewels. They cheered loudly for him. The procession passed through four main streets. When they were about to enter the fifth street, Narasimha gave the order to his charioteer, "We will bypass this street and proceed to the sixth main street through the small alley behind you."

"Sire, this is the route we were asked to take", the charioteer demurred.

"This is my order", Narasimha said.

"The royal guard will not be able to follow you aross the narrow alley. As a matter of fact, this chariot will not fit into that narrow street", he answered.

"I will proceed on foot then. I want to meet my people personally", Narasimha replied.

Leaving behind an astonished charioteer and royal guard, Narasimha sprinted across the narrow alley. What the charioteer had failed to mention to Narasimha was the fact that Subahu's soldiers had murdered ten men of that street in cold blood during the dead of the night for their suspected involvement in incedeniary activities. He couldn't have told this to the Prince without revealing his father's part in this sorry affair. He merely hoped the people would not hold up the deeds of his father against the noble prince.

Narasimha observed that the quarters looked more cramped and dreary now. Gone were the new, freshly painted, and posh houses. The passage of this alley hadn't been mended in many years. It was full of potholes; the drains were clogged; rats and vermin scurried out here and there; a notorious stench emnated throughout the area.

All the doors and windows were tightly shut. The lights were shining within. But none of those people came outside to give him even the slightest of smiles or commonplace greetings. Scrawny, undernourished and emaciated kids occasionally peeked out of the windows. The moment he caught their eyes, their expressions changed into dirty scowls.

During one of these occasions, the lady of the house forcibly dragged her child from the window seat. The edges of her saree were fraying. He glimpsed the immense hatred burning in her eyes like wildfire. That single look turned his whole world upside down.

Narasimha ruminated about the huge disparity between what he had seen in the earlier streets and this narrow alley. He wondered about how he could see two different worlds just a street away. He had witnessed the same scenario repeating itself throughout his soujourn through the empire incognito. All this couldn't be happening throughout the empire without either his father's concurrence or his ineptness as a ruler. The current situation was so precarious that he did not even have the time to dwell upon it .

When Narasimha emerged out of the narrow alley on foot, everyone was shocked, "What's happening? Why is he on foot? And why is he alone?" Athikay momentarily witheld the signal he was supposed to give to his personal army. He was trying to figure out what was happening. Kamaroopi showed open embarassment at Narasimha's behavior.

Narasimha reached the podium on foot. As if on cue, the conches and trumpets started blowing. Subahu was equally surprised but he did not reveal his thoughts outside. He welcomed his son with open arms and led him to his seat on the podium.

He crowned Narasimha, "I, Subahu, son of Emperor Bhallaladeva and Kamaroopi, hereby declare my son and heir, Narasimha as the Crown Prince of the empire of Mahishmati and my official succesor. Now all the regiments may step forward to offer their oath of allegiance."

All the military regiments marched in synchronised union and stood before their Crown Prince, " We, the loyal and truthful servants of the empire of Mahishmati swear that we will serve our Prince Narasimha, son of Emperor Subahu and Queen Eiravati, to the last of our breaths on land or sea. We hold ourselves duty-bound to carry out his orders in accordance to the Law Book of Mahishmati to the very last letter. We may not question or rebel against his authority or decisions at any point of time failing which we will regard ourselves culpable of treason and treachery to the rightful administration of Mahishmati."

Narasimha addressed his soldiers, "My dear men of arms, shake hands with your companions because all of you will be fighting many battles together, arm to arm, head to head. Identify your friends and isolate your enemies."

Suddenly, mayhem broke out amidst the regiments. Soldier started cutting up soldier. Nearly one-third of the military regiments lay lifeless. Subahu recovered from the shock of what had happened and shouted, "Arrest them...Traitors..."

Narasimha held his father gently as he calmed him down, "No, father. These men are loyal to us. The ones on the ground were disloyal." He said, "You remember the individual meetings I had with the captains and generals before the event. It was to identify the weeds in our army. Once that was acomplished, I gave confidential orders to our loyal and faithful forces to execute all our enemies in one stroke after the oath."

He walked up to one of the dead soldiers and showed, "If you see father, all of them have a unique python tatoo on their arms. During my soujourn incognito, an attempt was made on my life by Suras who had similar tatoos. I faked my own death and followed them. I discovered that they were threatening poor and innocent tribals in the bordering villages to enlist for the army. I disguised as a tribal myself and joined them to unravel their actual plan. This specific tatoo was imprinted on all our arms."

Subahu nodded his head as he listened to Narasimha. The Prince continued, "They had assumed that I was dead and wouldn't reach in time for my coronation. Using this as an excuse, they had planned to instigate riots and assasinate the whole royal family. Since I came back in time for the coronation, the altered plan was to murder me during the procession at the fifth main street. Several orders were tampered and changed to make my royal guard comprise of these gullible tribals. That's why I bypassed that street and took the narrow alley to reach the sixth street directly. I also left behind my royal guard comprising the tribal men so that they would not be caught in the crossfire."

"I never guessed that this entire thing was happening beneath my own eyes", Subahu said.

Athikay edged closer to Subahu on the podium, "Very true, Maharaj. Our Prince has been very diligent and efficient in spotting the treachery within our own ranks."

Narasimha was on the ground, twenty feet away from the podium, inspecting the ranks to see that none of the traitors had escaped. Suddenly his eyes caught the reflection of the python tatoo on Athikay's arms. He remembered just them that he did not get an opportunity to meet the Master of Spies before the coronation. It struck him with the force of lightening that he was the real mastermind behind this whole plan.

Athikay dug his nails into Subahu's entrails from behind. He was wearing a special kind of weapon over his hands that augmented his nails like the claws of a lion. Kamaroopi screamed in horror. Subahu was sprawled upon the ground. He was loosing blood very fast. Subahu stared on in disbelief at his former friend as he prepared to attack him again, "I thought you were my friend, Athikay."

"I wanted to be King, my friend", he replied.

Narasimha ran at breakneck speed and jumped up the podium, "Defend the king."

Subahu's boduguards leapt in front of him and formed a protective circle. A few of them surrounded Athikay and held him at the tip of their swords. Athikay smiled viciously, "You have won, Narasimha. But I will live and die upon my own terms."

Athikay hastily tipped open the ring he wore on his ring finger. The ring had a python locket with a secret compartment beneath it. He sucked the contents of the ring before anybody could intervene. He fell down frothing at his mouth. A gasp, a twitch, a kick and everything was over. The man who had masterminded the downfall of many a man; the man who had unleashed a virtual reign of terror; the man who had wanted to sit on the throne of Mahishmati on top of a huge bed of corpses; lay stiff as a board.

One of the bodyguards bent down to feel his breath, "He's no more, Sire."

Narasimha cradled Subahu in his arms. Subahu's eyes were closing as though a heavy weight had settled upon them. Narasimha's voice was hoarse with tears, "Summon the royal physician immediately." He slapped his father's face,"Please stay awake, father. I need you. You cannot leave me."

Narasimha scooped up his father's gigantic frame in his young arms and carried him into the palace.
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