The Kadambas...

The Kadamba king was a satisfied man... He had all the reasons in the world to be as satisfied as he was feeling now. He was, in fact, the first king from THAT land to rule THAT hand... Till then, THAT land was ruled by dynasties and pompous asses from other lands. He singlehandedly raised an army, challenged the might of the ageing king, and defeated him too. It had taken almost 700 years since ruling began, for someone FROM that land to rule that land.

At that particular moment, he was waiting outside his castle's draw-doors with his entourage. Blasting horns and shells announced his arrival back into the castle. He rode in to the palace with the gait and majesty that defied his humble beginnings. He looked over at the line of guards now bowed deeply in respect, his warriors. That small band of warriors, were so ferocious that the news of their valor spread far and wide. He made a mental note to himself to order the building of the luxury quarters that he had promised them.

His own private quarters weren’t all that luxurious. It was for the simple reason that it wasn’t built for him. The king that he overthrew was a simple man, but chose the location of the room very carefully within the castle. It was located in a place, from whose windows one could see far and beyond the land's Great Plains.

There were also seven such identical rooms that were spread out randomly around the castle. The King still secretly admired the simplicity and brilliance of the architect. He also remembered the arcitect's cold, menacing eyes, that showed no sign of fear or pain, but lot of contempt as the sword split his heart into two.

The king had wondered why.

He dint wonder anymore. The castle that was deceptively simple looking held secrets so terrible that the king flinched every time he thought of it. He also got the strange feelings of sudden sadness and paranoia when he was around the rooms. He certainly felt like he had got much more than what he bargained for. Knowing full well for what he was now responsible, he secretly wondered sometimes if he could somehow turn the hourglass around and go back to ignorant bliss.

That’s when he decided to do something about it. And so he strode over to the fireplace and pushed a particular tile near the mantelpiece. A recessed platform then came up with his Dell XPS workstation.

That’s also when it all started going horribly wrong.

He just finished coding the secrets and burnt it onto a DVD, when he heard faint noises outside the doors. He had no time to fathom what those noises were, as seconds later, the two foot thick mahogany doors burst open and about 20 men in black fatigues stormed in, clutching sub machine guns.

"FREEZE!" Said a tall man in front, pointing his laser-target marker squarely on the King's forehead. It was easy to do as the King had doubled over in shock and tripped on his lace and fallen spread eagle on the hard floor. His mind went blank and focused entirely on one single thought.

The DVD.. He HAD to protect it, it was his un-sworn duty... He reached slowly for the small blade enclosed in his bracelet, dangerously close to his wrist. And in one quick moment that stunned everyone in the room, he...

"ARJUN!"

"present sir!" i mumble, in shock, as my history professor winds down his class. I look sideways and see my classmates all seeming to be stirring after a long siesta.

" nice chaps, yes, These

kadambas?' I ask y friend.

" dude, who cares man? I dont frikkin know what he was talking about except for the first rulers from THAT land bit...''

'"Oh..." i mumble and shuffle slowly out of the classroom.