Prologue:
A scream sounded into the eerie night. The sentinels posted outside the queen’s chambers were on their toes. The head sentinel Ramdin knew it to be equivalent to suicide as to the next steps he was about to follow, for entering the queens chamber’s at this time of night was very much the same. But the loyalty for the royal family that was instilled in his blood was much stronger than the fear of his own life. He ordered the chamber doors to be opened and entered. What he saw brought him to tears for the beloved queen he had served so ardently over the years lay on her beautiful ornate golden bed with a a knife buried like the sword of Arthur. Blood was everywhere. And then that sorrow turned to rage as he turned to see the stable head cringing in tears at the foot of the bed. He had an irresistible urge to make use of his beautiful aide. But intelligence prevailed and he ordered the stable head to be taken into custody.
Deductions :
I was not a happy man. I felt pity at the position my young apprentice had brought upon himself. He had felt the need to challenge the stupid oaf who had insulted me for such an inane object of desire. I value life over pride but Karikala had left me no choice but to intervene the swordplay that had ensued. My sword was soon through the thick hide of Bhooma. I had tried to spare his life but his pride had not allowed for such leeway and here he lay dead upon my feet. I knew Karikala felt humiliated for he thought he couldn’t defend my honor. Too me this had been a lost cause where everybody ended up being miserable. I felt bad for my young apprentice. A couple of hours later we stopped for a drink of water.
We were at the banks of the river Narmada by the gates of the great city of Hampi. A plethora of palace guards approached us and read out summons in my name to the royal court. I wondered how the king knew of my presence in the vicinity. I accepted to go along with the guards as a fine horse was provided for me. Karikala looked extremely confused and piqued but dared not ask me anything. We were soon at the gates of one of the greatest palaces I had come across in my journeys I was escorted to the court directly. I felt irritation at the way I was being treated. I felt I had not been showed the respect a common guest would be shown and given no time to refresh myself. As we entered the court I said,” Oh noble king, I am honored that you think me capable of solving this murder that is plaguing your mind”. Everyone but the king in the court gasped. The king looked at me and said,” O wise one. Your deductive powers are even better in person than all of the legendary stories I have heard of you. I apologize for the inconvenience that I have caused you in bringing you here without any proper invitation and respect. But the events that have ensued in the palace since the night before last have plagued me badly. I haven’t had a wink of sleep and when I heard about your presence in the vicinity from the royal spies I thought it wise to consult you on the matter“The king soon described the gruesome death of his beloved and the presence of the trusted stable head in the queen’s chambers. The minister, Kulothunga, spoke.” My lord there seems to be no doubt that the stable head was responsible. He has confessed so himself. He should be beheaded immediately”
I thought for a while in silence and then said,” I have a strange request, your highness. Please do not take this in the wrong sense but in order to help realize the truth my young aide and I would like to spend the night in the queen’s chambers alone.” The whole court was sent buzzing and Koulathunga said,” How dare you... You shall be beheaded for such insolence.” But the king said,” Calm down minister. And remember that I am still king. O noble one your wish will be granted. I will ask for the chamber to be made habitable at once.” I continued, “My king, I would leave it as it is. Do not worry for my comfort. My young apprentice will make sure I am not in too much discomfort” The king said,” So be it. May you soon relieve me of my misery and help me act as a good king”
My aide and I entered the chamber. As we entered I said,” Karikula, do you believe in ghosts, spirits that come plague you from the ever beyond?” Karikula shuddered and said.” Oh master, do not scare me more than I am already so, why do you play such with your young aide’. Self,” Do not fear something you cannot see or know about Karikula. There is always a reason a thought.. Behind every action and reaction.. Now tell me this do you think the queen was murdered by the stable boy?” Karikulala,” I do not think so for the king wouldn’t have summoned you. It is my belief that the king was the wisest in the courtroom and his love for his queen more so. But still he summoned you to solve this mystery that nobody else believes is…” Self,” Karikula you amaze me with the progress you make. You are already sharper than I ever was. Those are all very good observations. You learn well my young apprentice. Look for a secret passageway on the walls on the opposite side of the room Karikula.” He looked at me confused. I said,” The stable boy could not have entered without one and so couldn’t have Koulathunga.” Now Karikula looked both confused and amazed. I continued,” Koulathunga had to have been here Karikula and if I am right once we find the passageway we will find that it leads not only as an escape route outside but somewhere along so to Koulathunga’s chambers. He gave himself away by the sheer anxiety for “justice” to prevail in court today, Karikula” Karikula soon found the passageway and we started down the long darkness that stared so at us.
It had been a long night. A night that had helped establish all my theories. As the sun had risen I had requested a private audience with the king. The king had not slept either; I could see the sorrow in his eyes. I started.” My lord I have some very disturbing news. The queen was murdered by your minister, Koulathnga” the king looked ashen at me. I went on to tell him about the passageway. Halfway through, we had found a secret passageway within the secret passageway that led to Koulathunga’s chambers. A search this morning had yielded a dagger that was the exact replica of the dagger that was used to kill the queen. The king called in the royal guard and asked for the minister to be taken into custody. I went to oversee the same. As Koulatunga went past me he looked at me and whispered his gratitude. I looked at him with anger only for a moment and then felt pity at the fact that such an intelligent minister would soon be put to death.
Epilogue:
Karikula said passionately,” What a rogue! To murder the queen in such cold blood. He deserved no sympathy” I looked at my apprentice and said,” Karikula do not be hasty in your judgment. Koulathunga is many things but he was not a murderer.” Karikula looked a bit confused and said,” I figured that the stable head was the queens lover a secret that she had hidden from all but was confident that Koulathunga had been blackmailing the queen and in hasty action killed her.” I smiled with pride at my student,” Karikula as usual you make me proud. You are right on two accounts but your trust in me failed you this time. For because you trust me so you did not see me plant that dagger in Koulathunga’s chambers. The sleight of hand, a trick a learnt from my master… Guru Vijayalaya.“ Karikula exclaimed,” But why master? And if he did not kill the queen then who did?” I continued,” The queen was not murdered Karikula. She committed suicide. She was fed-up with Koulathunga blackmailing her constantly into betraying the king for a love that she had long forgotten. She had once loved the stable head much before she became queen. The stable head had betrayed her love in a sense for he had not stood up and asked for her hand in marriage for they were from different castes. The queen had always been bitter about that. That night Koulathunga had planned to assassinate the king and had tried to use the queen herself as a weapon. The queen was a shrewd woman though. She had a plan of her own to thwart Koulathunga. She had always been loyal to the king for he had always loved her more than even his own life. She devised a plan were in she could end her misery, and in the process also take vengeance upon the stable head whom she despised so, and thought to be the cause of all her troubles. So she blackmailed the stable head to her chamber’s that night and as she heard his footsteps coming down the secret passageway she killed herself…my aide I had no other choice but to frame Koulathunga for the death. You may question my decision but I put a lot of thought into it. The king being noble and just would have never believed my analysis of Koulathungas character. The stable head would never have admitted that he had been the queens former lover for that would betray his king and smudge the reputation of the queen. Koulathunga would have eventually found a way to assassinate the good king. So my young apprentice with deep sorrow did I frame Koulathunga.” Karikula concluded,” That’s why he whispered gratitude Sensei, he felt gratitude that you did not tell the king of his plot of assassination. He accepted the fate of being put to death for that rather than being banished from the kingdom as a traitor. Sensei I would never mean you disrespect and would never doubt your decision. But my young instincts somehow cannot justify using evil means to achieve good ends. The king had the right to know of all…” I said,” Young one you are again right on all accounts. But I had the kingdom at mind rather than the king as an individual. The king is needed by his people at these testing times and cannot afford an emotional breakdown on his front. In his eye his queens dignity needed to be maintained. The queen deserved no less…” I could see my aide was not completely convinced. But to me he had taken a great step towards the better for his reasoning was becoming better by the day and he had finally stopped blindly believing in me and that was the next step of his education to greatness. We walked down the forest path away from the great city of Hampi into the sunset….
