Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

In the region of Baglana in the Qutb Sultanate. The last city fell to the Royal Army of Vijayanagara. It was the army under Commander Dhruv leading the Agni Sena. There were a few injuries in their battle and little to no casualties because the rebels cleaned up the garrisons.

The army set up camp for the night in the Baglana region. Dhruv was pacing around his tent with an anxious look. He was contemplating whether to move ahead and annex more areas of the Sultanate.

There were already messengers of the other divisions relaying the news for Dhruv; all the target locations were taken over with little to no fights.

The Qutb capital was in a central location and close to the Baglana region. The royal palace should have a small reserve force but it wouldn't be a match for them. He wanted to take over the capital and region of Dharangoan.

Yet he waited for confirmation orders from his senior commander, Venkat, as he had already sent out a letter.

Dhruv also found out that there was an upheaval in Daman. The Portuguese were driven out by the Marathas. He found the incident very surprising and intriguing. The Marathas teamed up with the rebels.

The royal commander probably anticipated this and told them not to attack Daman and make the Portuguese into their enemies.

"Commander." A soldier came running. "We have a problem!"

"What happened?"

The sun was setting in the distance and the darkness shrouded the sky, with the splatters of orange hues disappearing slowly.

"The Marathas are approaching towards the city." The soldiers huffed. "What do we do?"

"Close the gates and confirm their intentions first."

"Understood, Commander."

The soldiers quickly shut the gate as per the command and waited for the Marathas to respond first. The Marathas brought a small unit of guards and it was led by the Commander Vasant Pawar itself.

Vasant sent a messenger to get his intention across to the Vijayanagara soldiers. He came to talk with the commander.

After the brief exchange of messages that lasted for a few minutes. The gates were finally open for the Marathas to enter the city.

"I didn't know that the commander of Marathas brought kids to battle." Dhruv said with a smile.

He was referring to the little girl, Gloria, who was sleeping in the arms of Vasant. Victor was seated on the horse along with him.

They moved the talking to the main tent. The Maratha soldiers were welcomed warmly by the Vijayanagara soldiers once their intentions were confirmed.

"These kids, I found them in Daman; their parents abandoned them. They are glued to me since then." He smiled, stroking Victor's hair, who stared at Dhruv with a fierce gaze.

"This boy looks fierce."

"He is a bit anxious about meeting new people."

"I see, Commander Vasant. Let's get to the main topic." Dhruv turned serious.

Vasant nodded and put Gloria down on a different chair, instructing Victor to take care of her.

"Why is the Empire here? I thought you didn't want to help us."

Dhruv shrugged. "We are not here for helping you guys. The Emperor ordered us to annex the Sultanate."

"I see. So you are not here to fight us?"

"There are no orders to fight your kingdom yet." Dhruv smiled. "The Emperor instructed us to be friendly with Marathas unless you decide to meddle in our affairs."

'I would rather not fight this army.'

Vasant grimaced.

He saw the equipment and the physical fitness each soldier possessed in their army. They were already exhausted. It would be suicidal to attempt to fight them.

Vasant took a look at their commander and couldn't picture himself beating the man in a fight, at least without putting his life on the line.

"So you took advantage of the war to finish the Sultanate once and for all."

"You could say that, Commander Vasant."

Suddenly a soldier came and gave Dhruv a letter and rushed out.

"Forgive me for the hassle, Commander. This is quite an urgent letter."

"Sure." Vasant nodded.

Dhruv unfurled the letter and read it. A smile formed on his face as he put down the letter.

"To address your worries, Commander Vasant. We don't plan to take Daman."

Vasant scratched his chin. "What about the bordering regions?"

Dhruv thought for a while before answering.

"Do you mean Baroda, Rewakantha?"

"And Dharangoan, Thalner as well." Vasant added.

"Hmmm…" Dhruv sighed. "We can't give you Dharangoan. There are orders to capture the capital."

He waved the letter to indicate it contained the orders.

"You can keep the other three regions."

"Really?" Vasant exclaimed.

He was taken aback. Vasant was going to negotiate for the bordering regions since the border regions of Baroda and Rewakantha would broaden their access to regions like Surat and Daman. Thalner was an added bonus on top of that. He was pretty satisfied, as he thought the Empire would ask for all the regions.

They also couldn't fight the Empire in their current stage. It would be a one-sided massacre.

"I assume you have already taken over two regions and Thalner is the only one left?"

Vasant already captured them on the way to Surat but he was unsure whether to keep forces to defend it. He left a small unit there just to notify the situation there.

"Thalner will be taken over by my senior. He will be clearing the garrisons. You may claim the region after that."

It was a sweet deal. Vasant took it with a huge smile.

"It's a deal."

Dhruv also smiled along. It was just a small gift to the Marathas to keep a friendly relationship for the future. The deal would ensure that they share a proper border with the Marathas.

He got up and stretched.

"Commander, You can stay the night and leave at dawn. Those children seem tired."

He pointed at Victor and Gloria sleeping, holding each other tightly in the chair.

"We will also provide 2 weeks worth of Rations for your army as a token of friendship."

Vasant and Dhruv shook hands.

"Thank you for such a warm welcome. I shall remember this."

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