"You were so right about Chandra, Hari.", exclaimed Samudragupta as he entered Harisena's library. 

Harisena looked up from his desk. He had recently returned from Patliputra where a new auditorium was being built. 

"He has won Udayagiri. To be precise, he has won the heart of Udayagiri." Continued Samudragupta.

Harisena smiled at his friend. It filled his heart with pride that the prince was surpassing his father's expectations. It was he who had named the prince 'Chandragupta' after his grandfather. It was on his advice that Samudragupta had agreed to Chandra's offer of going to Udayagiri.

Harisena rose to hug Samudragupta. He then rolled the parchment he was writing on and gave it to a servant. "Send it to Prayag, I want a sample of the pillar within a month.", he ordered briefly and turned to Samudragupta.

"Chandra will make a great king, the greatest there ever was."

"Ramagupta is the crown prince Hari. He will inherit the throne. I have built my empire on a culture of discipline, it will not be defied." Samudragupta replied.

Harisena studied Samudragupta's face to look for signs of helplessness. He found none. He was ten years older than Harisena. But they had been close friends for as far back as he can remember. They learned music, art and warfare together. They both mastered the lute and people waited for an opportunity to hear them play together.

 Samudragupta was extremely ambitious. He expanded the Gupta empire from Punjab to the Brahmaputra and Harisena had proudly referred to him as "Devputrashahi – Shahanushahi", - son of God and King of kings. He wrote elaborate 'prashasti' – praises - for Samudragupta and had them inscribed on stone pillars and slabs, which were then placed at public places in important towns across the kingdom. 

'These inscriptions are not for us', he used to say, 'these are for the future generations. For them to venerate their glorious past and sing praises for the Gupta kings.'

Harisena seemed crestfallen at the mention of Ramagupta. Harisena hailed from Sanwer and Vidyottama was like a daughter to him. Ramagupta had ruined her life.

"What is the future of Chandra then? Will he be Rama's deputy?" asked Harisena sarcastically.

"I want to move Chandra to Ujjain permanently and give him the rule of the southern provinces, while Rama can continue ruling the north from Patliputra." answered Samudragupta.

"Provided there is love and respect between those two, this might be a good solution for the people.", Harisena gave his consent.

"Alright then. Everybody is here in Ujjain. We have ten days till the Magh mela, Ramagupta is currently busy in its preparations while Chandra is on his way back from Udayagiri. Pick a date soon after the Magh-mela for the announcement.", Samudragupta said and left.

"These are to be delivered to Fa-Hian, the pilgrim from China, at the Patliputra university."

As soon as Dhanu left the room, Harisena' s face hardened. "I will never allow Ramagupta to be the king", he murmured. Chandragupta was the son he never had. Not only was he more capable and deserving of being the king, he had the humility to never raise the subject to his father. He had also secretly confessed his feelings about Dhruvadevi to Harisena. But he was happy when his older brother decided to marry the princess as truce offering by Samatata.

Harisena could not bear the thought of Gupta empire being torn into two, that too due to that worthless prince Ramagupta. He quietly walked into one of the inner chambers of his personal library and opened a hidden door behind the bookshelf. He descended a short flight of winding stairs to arrive at the small room with a wooden table. 

On the table was a ceramic jar with a small glass window. The jar was marked with a Chinese symbol which resembled multiple snakes in a cup. He peeped into the jar through the glass and saw a viper which lay coiled inside. Till about a week back, the jar housed a centipede, a scorpion, a toad, a spider and the viper. 

"The viper is the winner, and so the viper it is." He thought.

He fished out the viper with a pair of metal tongs and settled down to work.

Two hours later, Harisena held in his hand a small glass vial filled with a colorless liquid distilled from the venom of the viper. 

"Ten days to the Magh mela", he thought, and carefully put ten drops of the liquid in a wine bottle.

+ The End  +

***

For the reader...

Fa-xian (Fa-Hian): Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who traveled by foot from Ancient China to Ancient India. Fa-xian's visit to India reportedly occurred during the reign of Chandragupta II. He wrote elaborately about the culture and lifestyle of that period. However, he mentioned nothing about the Guptas, which is a mystery.

Symbol for 'Gu' – a Chinese Poison- ancient, deadly and untraceable. The traditional preparation of Gu poison involved sealing several venomous creatures (viper, centipede, scorpion, toad, and spider) inside a closed container, where they devoured one another and allegedly concentrated their toxins into a single survivor. It could not be traced and was tasteless and colorless. A Gu expert could alter the poison to take affect after several days.

The story is woven around two unanswered historical questions:

- Why did Fa-Xian not mention the Guptas?

- Did Chandragupta have an elder brother? 

I have experimented with  a style where stories of multiple characters converge at a point and then are taken forward. Hope you enjoyed it. Please leave your  thoughts in the comments.

Thanks !!