Chapter 40: Vimal Deva Raya
Six hours before the assassination attempt,
On the outskirts of the city of Hampi,
In a small village, while it was still before daybreak, fire lamps were lit up in the streets for light.
At a large house in the centre of the village that seemed to belong to the village head, a large number of men were coming and going inside the house. They all wore luxurious clothes and had at least a dozen servants accompanying them.
Inside the house in the main hall, a middle-aged man who looked slightly similar to Vijay sat on the main seat. He wore a long saffron gown and had a talwar decorated with ornaments at his waist. Maybe due to being in a high position all his life, He was surrounded by an air of nobility.
The man was none other than the head of the Nobles, Vimal Deva Raya.
Their family used to be the royal family two generations ago. Vimal's grandfather and Vijay's grandfather were both brothers; hence, they were both princes and had an equal claim to the throne. Regrettably, Vimal's grandfather lost the battle for the throne as his cruelty towards the common people was condemned by their father. This caused their family to become a branch line of the royal family.
His father, Pushpa Devaraya, was a person with great ambition, not wanting to be a common noble, He secretly contacted some ambitious nobles in the empire to lead a coup and take the throne for himself.
However, out of fortune or misfortune, just before he could act, Vijay's father, the former King, took strong actions against the nobles and Zamindars in the empire. This action caught them off-guard and weakened their power to the minimum, and Pushpa Devaraya's plan couldn't proceed. Although he was not suspected of anything, he passed away with a broken heart, lamenting that he had no opportunity to rise.
Vimal, who carried on his father and grandfather's goals and harboured hatred against the royal family, was feeling hopeless about not finding a chance to claim the throne for their family. But this situation changed when something unexpected happened.
Out of nowhere, Vijay provided him with a perfect opportunity on a platter by angering the entirety of the nobles in the empire.
This time, Vimal is very sure that he can defeat the current royal family and establish his own Empire. Last time, when his father had planned the rebellion, only a few important noble families supported them. But now, Thanks to his cute nephew, things are different. All the noble families, Zamindar families, and even some of the important priests from major temples in Vijayanagar are on their side.
Considering the odds in his favour, he was brimming with confidence as he began the speech:
"Noble Gentlemen, thank you for attending this important meeting this early in the morning. We are gathered here not for us, NO, but for the future of our beloved empire."
Vimal looked around at the different faces that were paying attention to his speech in the hall and continued,
"My people, we are not here because our interests have been damaged, NO, but to impart Daiva's judgment, for we are the closest beings to Daiva. My dear nephew, who has been possessed by a rakshasa, claims that everyone is equal in the eyes of Daiva. He claims that those untouchable scum are equal to us, the Children of Daiva. He asserts that those Mud legs have the same rights that we do."
Hearing Vimal's speech, everyone in the crowd had red faces as his words resonated with them. Their expressions were full of anger as they banged the table.
"Yes, yes, that must be so."
"No wonder the king is acting like this; he is possessed by a rakshasa."
People murmured, echoing what Vimal had said.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my nephew—oh no, he is not my nephew anymore, he is a rakshasa. The rakshasa who has possessed my nephew is trying to drag us all into the Kali Yuga, as stated in the divine scriptures. He wants the slaves to rebel against their masters, he wants to decide what is wrong and right by himself, he wants to divide our ancestral land with those mud legs, and he wants to control and suppress us through the police department. Most heinous, he has committed the sin of stopping the teachings of the gurukul, a place where future generations learn knowledge. Instead, he is opening some schools teaching nonsense like science and Maths. He wants our people to learn the Quran and Bible, and only the Daivas know what he intends to do next. But as people closest to the Daivas, do we want to let this happen before our very eyes?"
Vimal yelled louder as his speech grew more intense, banging the table and raising his hand in defiance.
"No, no, no!"
The listeners, like Filled with Chicken Blood, stood up in anger, clenching their hands into fists and waving them around in the air nonsensically.
Vimal: "So tell me, my dear compatriots, do you want to take back what was rightfully ours?"
Vimal roared in fury as he unsheathed his Talwar, cut his hand in a show of bravery and pointed the bloody sword towards the sky.
"Take it back, take it back, take it back, take it back, take it back, take it back."
Inspired by him, everyone roared to the sky as chants rang through the whole hall, audible throughout the entire village.
All the nobles in the room unsheathed their weapons and pointed them towards the air.
All this commotion was observed by a Fakeer sitting in the corner of the house, smirking. He was dressed in a green robe and wore a Taqiyah (Arabic hat worn by Muslims) on his head, with kajal in his eyes. He had been dispatched by the great monarch Mohammad of the Mughal Empire to assist the nobles in the Vijayanagara Empire in their fight against the royal family.
Lately, there had been a lot of trouble in the Mughal Empire, with riots increasing in certain parts of the land. Additionally, mysterious weapons were increasingly appearing within the empire.
Noticing the turmoil in the Vijayanagara Empire, Mohammad had sent the Fakeer to support the nobles with a batch of trained assassins and a considerable amount of gold coins.
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