1 The Demon Prince Receives Punishment

"Shura, enough is enough!" Demon King Karva's voice roared across the court hall. The force of the voice was so immense, it swayed the drapes that hung from the ceiling. The courtesans involuntarily rattled their teeth under the intense gaze of the demon king, who was towering over everyone else. The only one in the court that remained unfazed by the beastly rage was the king's sixteen year old son, Prince Shura. The mischievous and defiant smile on his face was making the king more and more furious.

"Sixteen years old, and you still act like an infant!" The king thundered again. This time, his remark was followed by a couple of thuds, the sound of few of the courtiers fainting from fear. But nobody paid a mind since it was a daily occurrence.

"I act like an infant, father, because those merchants did not deserve any better." The prince replied in a lazy voice and then yawned as if there was nothing better for him to do right now than to go to bed.

"Shura!"

"Calm down, father." The sixteen year old continued in his pleasant voice that was deep for his age. He then turned his sparkling onyx black eyes at the two merchants standing there, now regretting their decision to complain to the king about the prince. "I stole from them. But they steal from the people all the time. Their fruits were so spoilt, I had to throw them away. It is not like I could eat those any way." Shura voice was full of mocking.

The two merchants, dressed in their long silk robes and fancy turbans, turned to the king. One of them spoke, "My king, if our food is not to the liking of the prince, we withdraw our appeal. If we knew the youth in a peasant's dress was our prince, we would have given him the freshest of our produce. We…"

The king raised his hand, and immediately, the merchant stopped yapping.

"There will be justice to your appeal." The king turned his icy gaze at his only son. "Shura, in last six years, I sent you to many gurukuls of the five kingdoms only for you to be kicked out from them within weeks. I thought you would have better training if you remained in the capital within my sight. I thought our grand master would be eventually able to discipline you and show you the righteous path. But, clearly, I was wrong. Now, you have forced my hand, and I have to make the decision that I did not want to make." The king paused for a second. "I declare that tomorrow you will leave for the gurukul of Master Vashistha." All the courtesans jointly gasped, inhaling all the oxygen in the court in one big suck. That caused two more courtesans to faint.

Master Vashistha was the most diligent and strictest guru's in the land of the five kingdoms. His disciplining was so infamous that even grown men trembled at his name. Yet, there was great competition to get into his gurukul. One had to be a king or a god to send their children to his gurukul. But he had been known to train a stray child if he deemed the child worthy. But what was common among all his students was hard work from day to night to serve their guru. Some said Master Vashistha was a hundred years old, some said fifty, some even said twenty, but all agreed that he was the most vicious yet skillful teacher a child could ever have.

Without paying them any mind, the king continued, "You will remain in Master Vashistha's training until you have learned your duties and what it means to be the prince of the five kingdoms."

The prince snickered softly. "And what if he kicks me out, too?" He asked, voice as nonchalant as ever.

"We will see." King Karva then glanced at the two merchants. "As for you too, I want to thank you for bringing this matter to my attention and I apologize on behalf of my son that he stole from you and caused harm to your business." The king then paused for a moment, his eyes suddenly turning stern and cold. "But, a merchant who sells rotten produce to common people and saves the fresh ones only for noble man to sell at a higher price is nothing but an immoral crook and has no place in my kingdom. See that by end of today, you have closed down your shop and left the capital, or both of you will be thrown into prison."

"My king, nooooooo," One of the merchants wailed, crocodile tears and even crocodile sniffles, all dripping to the floor. "Where will we go? Our families, our children will starve to death? Please have mercy!!"

"I already showed you mercy by not having you beheaded. Now leave!" The demon king bellowed, followed by a series of thuds.

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King Karva spared Prince Shura six men to ride with, knowing full well even six hundred would not be enough to stop the child from mischief if he put his mind to it. So, what was the use of sending six hundred men when they were as useless as six men? Prince Shura rode out with those six men and only one trunk, that was light as a feather, the lightest trunk ever to be packed for a ride from the capital city of Kundali to the town of Lamkhon where the gurukul was. The ride would take four days.

There was very good reason why Prince Shura had packed like a peasant. Little did the men accompanying the prince know that the prince had no intention of seeing that old fart, Vashisth, at all in his gurukul. Instead, he planned to desert the group half way. So, Prince Shura packed one change of clothes, one white dhoti, one red tunic, one red stole, and his cowrie shells just in case he got bored on the road.

By the time Shura's convoy reached Nalanda, a small town in the outskirts of Rakhtaprastha, it was getting dark, and mice were jumping around in the men's bellies.

"Excuse me, Mister," One of the riders asked a man who looked like he was one of the townsfolk. "Is there a tavern in your town?"

"That will be the Earthen Pot at the end of this street on the right hand side."

"And is there an inn?" Shura's man asked again.

"They offer lodgings too, but…" The man sounded doubtful.

Shura's ears pricked up.

After some hesitancy, the man continued, "For last few weeks, there are some reports of hauntings in guest rooms in the tavern at nights. A traveler even lost his mother and sister. I would advise you to find shelter in another town or village."

Shura trotted up to the man and threw a gold coin at him. "Very well done, dear man. That is the most exciting thing I have heard all day." Saying so, Shura kicked his horse so hard that the horse neighed and jumped up. "Come on, Purusha. At last, we will have food and some entertainment, chasing down those ghosts." Then, he drove his horse at full speed towards the tavern, his men gaping after him incredulously. Who gets so excited at the prospect of meeting a bunch of bloodthirsty ghosts?!!