Chapter 1 CHARACTERS’ LIST
Genta Bhuwana Kingdom
King Pilar Bhuwana
Queen Prameswara
25 Paku Bhuwana
23 Banyu Bhuwana
18 Wesi Bhuwana
125 The White Fox
General Arung Laga
Kandaka Kingdom
King Kalingga
Prince Rashtu Kalingga
21 Kemala Chandra Puspita
28 Vice General Dharmana
General Kertabhumi
17 Black Canary/Aisha Kertabhumi
Ghowa Empire
King Singha Paruwa (Green Lion)
25 Singha Angkasa
21 Singha Samudra
21 Singha Merapi
15 Ayu Puspa Mustika/Singha Bhumi
Old King Jamukha
Prince Wesi Bhuwana looked very busy today. He was dressed in black, wearing a golden robe with the royal emblem embroidered beautifully in golden thread. He had been in charge for preparation of his beloved older brother’s wedding. His long black hair that he usually let loose was now neatly tied behind his head. His hair was the longest and the most beautiful among the three brothers. It almost reached his waist, very black and shiny, in contrast with his white skin. His brows were as black and he had big beautiful black eyes. He spoke slowly but firmly, showing that he was a patient man. His voice was soft and soothing and his smile melted many young girls’ heart. His fame for charm and beauty had traveled further than himself across the kingdom.
Wesi was 18 years old, 5 years younger than his brother Banyu, but as smart. He had however, mysterious air around him. He didn’t talk much, so sometimes people did not know what he was thinking or what he was about to do. Besides, he showed no interest in women. He had rejected all the beautiful ladies in court. He hated their laughter and even hated the smell of their perfume. He felt sick looking at their faces that were in fact beautifully made up. He thought that it was all false beauty. He preferred to study with his teacher, an old monk, or sometimes went up to the mountain to meditate. In his eighteen years of life, Wesi had spent 10 years on meditation to increase his ability in martial art. Even his father didn’t know exactly how good he was in martial art. Only the monk called The White Fox, his teacher, knew his capability. Yet, every time the King asked his report regarding this boy, all that the monk said was “He is above average, Your Majesty. With proper guidance and training, he will become a great fighter.”
Pilar Bhuwana was a great fighter himself, so he assumed that the monk’s report on Wesi was in comparison to his own ability to fight. He had no idea that in fact Wesi was far beyond the level of understanding. It was true that he spent 10 years of his life for meditation, but the result was equal to 25 years of meditation for other people, including his father. The White Fox, however, tried to hide this fact as best as he could from everyone, including the boy himself. He knew that Wesi was such a gentle and kindhearted man who easily believed in what other people said. He was afraid that someone would use him to do evil deeds. Wesi Bhuwana was a wonder boy, and White Fox would try as best as he could to let him stay out of trouble. The old monk loved him like his own son.
“Master, I will be away for sometime. But I promise to….”
“I know, my child. Your brother’s wedding is very important, and you take an important part in the ceremony because His Majesty the King will not attend. Don’t think about the meditation for now. You can finish studying the Book of the Light when you come back. Besides, you need to go out and have a good time once in a while.”
The White Fox smiled. He knew that Wesi was so thrilled to finish the Book. It contained the highest level of martial art that he had left to teach this boy. He was 125 years old and had spent 20 years of his life meditating to perfect this strike alone. But this wonder boy of 18 years old had mastered the first part of it already. He knew that in 3 years Wesi would have mastered all the strikes he knew. He was so proud of the boy, yet he too realized the danger. A master martial art with a mind of a child was the most dangerous thing he could possibly imagine.
Wesi smiled, “I can only have good time here with you, Master. I don’t like the people so much. They are too noisy. Besides, I hate parties. I don’t like the women, especially when they were drunk.”
The White Fox laughed out loud.
“In a year or two, Your Highness, in a year or two, you will love them so much that you can’t part with them, ha ha ha….”
Wesi frowned, and then shook his head. His beautiful face seemed confuse.
“I don’t think I will ever do that, Master. Women only love men for their money. They dressed themselves in expensive suites and cover their faces with expensive make-ups… There is nothing inside their heads but party and money and power.”
The White Fox shook his head, “Not all women, my child. Your mother is….”
“My mother, Master?” He walked further away from him.
“Mother is just like them. She only paid attention to those close to the throne because she is smart and ambitious. She never really cares for me or brother Banyu. She only cares for Father and brother Paku because they are the power of this Kingdom.”
“That is not the way to talk about your mother, Your Highness.”
Wesi sighed, “I’m not willing to lie about anyone to you, Master. That is the way I regarded my mother. I’m going now.”
He brought his palms together in front of his chest and bowed his head slightly. He paid his respect as a student to a teacher. White Fox did the same, as a commoner to his Prince.
Wesi Bhuwana rode his horse fast towards the main palace’s compound. A man ran towards him quickly to take his horse, while he burst into the palace and went to the throne room. He saw his mother, Queen Prameswara stood impatiently.
When she saw him entered the room, she regarded him with a harsh tone.
“Where have you been? We are all waiting for you, Wesi.”
Wesi did his respect to her before speaking.
“Forgive me, mother. I went to bid my farewell to The Priest White Fox.”
“You are a Prince, my son Wesi. If you are about to travel, he should bid you farewell.”
Wesi looked at his mother’s eyes. His face stayed calm, but his heart disagreed.
His heart said, “But, he is my teacher and he took care of me better than anyone else.”
His mouth said, “Forgive me, mother, it won’t happen again.”
“Where’s father?” He asked again.
“He is busy. Go now, the envoy is ready to leave. I will send your regards to him.” His older brother suddenly said from behind him.
Wesi paid his respect to his oldest brother and flew out of the room. He was not satisfied because he left without saying goodbye to his father. And he was beginning to get tired of how everyone treated him like a young boy. However, Wesi basically had a forgiving heart, so as soon as he joined the group, he had already forgotten about it. He smiled a lot and he rode his horse closely to his brother’s golden chariot. The way to Kandaka Kingdom by horse usually took 10 days. But the chariot would slow them down. It would take them about 13 to 15 days to reach the border of Kandaka.
The group consisted of 200 troops, 25 of them carried huge banners of the royal emblem, a golden chariot for the groom guarded closely by 15 top fighters including Wesi Bhuwana, and 30 men driving wheeled carts full of presents for the bride. The group would go through a region called The Gap of Jelamprong (The Gap of Devilish Tigers), the only place passable from Genta Bhuwana to Kandaka Kingdom. The dispute in the border had been going on for almost 100 years. It was fortunate for Genta Bhuwana whose region were located behind a row of impassable thick forests and high mountains. Kandaka who wanted to have this peace of prosperous land did not have any other way to attack except from this gap. During those times, people had not known how to travel through the sea.
Wesi enjoyed the trip so much. As the youngest, he had less opportunity to travel than his older brothers. Banyu sometimes got bored of sitting inside the chariot, so sometimes, with permission from General Arung Laga, the leader of the group, he exchanged places with Wesi. Wesi would sit inside the chariot to sleep while Banyu rode the horse and mingle with the warriors whose age were around 30 to 50 years old. It was funny that the warriors liked it better when Wesi was the one inside the chariot. Wesi who didn’t talk much carried an air of royalty in his movement. So they were uncomfortable with him around. Further more, he was still regarded as a young boy and no one would care enough to start a conversation with him. With Banyu, they chatted and joked often to sweep away the boredom of a long slow journey. They loved him because Banyu was not only a nice person who knew jokes, but he also knew a lot about martial art. He also loved to hear warriors’ stories of war, honor and sacrifice and the warriors would gladly tell him their tales.
They had journeyed for 10 days in and out rocky roads and savanna when finally they saw the border of the Kingdom. They passed an abandoned military camp that used to be their front line defense against the Kandaka attack. Wesi was riding his horse and saw the damages. Unconsciously his tears fell. He could imagine the pain and fear the soldiers had been through during the dispute. Although the matter has been resolved now, it could not undo the damages. He had heard that the surviving soldiers from the border were already relocated to another region to start a new life in a safer environment for a few months. It was necessary to restore the soldiers’ health, both physically and mentally by rotating the assignment. Wesi couldn’t bear to imagine their lives here during the dispute because Kandaka soldiers were not the only enemy they had to face. He turned his eyes to the mountains on his left, trying to wash away his own imagination.
He could see the gap now as they drew closer. It was only a narrow opening between the lines of high mountains. It would be hard for anyone to cross this gap without being spotted from the military camp. The fighters were on high alert now. The gap was named Jelamprong for an obvious reason. Devilish Tigers, or in fact the mountain’s tigers lived around this gap. For centuries the mountains and the tigers had helped Genta Bhuwana’s defense, yet ironically, during the dispute it was their own soldiers who had mostly been consumed by these natural inhabitants of the mountains.
Slowly but surely, they passed the border and entered the Kandaka region. Once again, the warriors and troops were in high alert. Although the peace treaty had been signed, they had no assurances that King Kalingga would keep his promise. King Pilar Bhuwana always told them that King Kalingga was a man of honor, still these people were warriors, not politicians. They only believe in things they had seen.
Let us leave them and take a look at the Kandaka Palace.
Kandaka Kingdom was much larger in territory than Genta Bhuwana. Although it was quite a prosperous land, King Kalingga still practiced slavery. The slaves were sent not only to work in gold mines but also at homes. They mostly came from the land he had conquered before. In fact Kandaka was considered a rich territory. In the northern part ran small rivers that carry gold in their waters. These rivers were the source of their wealth. However, in terms of agriculture, Kandaka’s soil was less fertile than Genta Bhuwana’s. It was ironic that Kandaka had to buy their grains and vegetables from traders of a neighboring country called The Palanagari, while in fact the source of the crops were from Genta Bhuwana.
Thus, it was understandable for King Kalingga to have obsession to conquer Genta Bhuwana in order to have his clutch on the prosperous region. However, King Pilar Bhuwana out classed his skill in warfare. After the defeat he had suffered in the border, he reluctantly agreed on the peace treaty. Ambitious as he was, King Kalingga was indeed a man of honor and pride. He never backed away from his promises and he always kept his words. He was cruel, but he was also fair. He was mean, but he could show mercy to gain advantages. With the marriage of his daughter to Pilar’s son, he had made sure that his kingdom was the first priority in importing crops from Genta Bhuwana, and definitely with far cheaper price than he usually got from Palanagari traders. Kalingga ruled the land with iron hands. He clutched his regions tightly. And because security was priority of, it was a normal scene in Kandaka to see troops in heavy armors patrolling around the streets inside the cities.
Another interesting place in Kandaka was a place called Pasaraya (Big, Crowded Market). It was a commercial town that was located in a neutral ground between Kandaka and Ghowa. Neutral ground in their terms meant that this town did not belong to either Kandaka or Ghowa. This town was in fact a big city, where all the business and trading took place. In short a very important place directly for both Kingdoms and indirectly for Palanagari and Genta Bhuwana, because traders from all over the place came here to do business.
King Kalingga had a son and a daughter. The heir’s name was Prince Rashtu Kalingga. Although he was strong and ambitious, he was not very smart. It was Kemala Chandra Puspita, his daughter who inherited King Kalingga’s sharpness. Unfortunately she was spoiled. She was so accustomed to have everything she had wished for. At the moment, she had her heart and love now hooked on one person: The Vice General Dharmana, a handsome, strong man of 28 years old.
VG Dharmana was a very loyal officer. He had joined the Kandaka Army since he was very young. Only two year ago, under the command of General Kertabhumi, he was appointed Vice General. He had received medals of Honor from the King himself for his leadership in battles against Genta Bhuwana. Princess Kemala was so in love with him and had tried to seduce him many times only to receive his rejections again and again. All these rejections, she knew, were caused by a young girl of 17 years old. This girl, was 4 years younger than she was, but she seemed to receive more admiration from everyone. The name of the girl was never known. People called her The Black Canary, or The Daughter of General Kertabhumi. The Princess knew that like most of the warriors in the palace, Dharmana’s heart was only for The Black Canary. Yet it was most unfortunate almost in a funny way, Black Canary was appointed her private bodyguard by her own father. So the Princess’ miserable heart was burning with even more jealousy towards her, because every time she visited Dharmana, Black Canary was always with her and refused to go away for reasons of security. At the end, the Princess could only see Dharmana’s eyes fixed on Black Canary while she was talking to him. He sometimes ignored her words, even though most of the time Black Canary stood several meters away from them.
The unfortunate fate of the Princess seemed to find a final stage when she received order from her father to marry a prince from Genta Bhuwana Kingdom. Her hopes and dreams to become Dharmana’s lover had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. And this feeling of helplessness made her furious. She locked herself in her room for days. Only the chambermaids could come and go to bring her food and to take care of her. Even Black Canary had not seen ever seen. She however, had some other urgent matters to attend to, as well as all the warriors and generals in Kandaka Kingdom.
They were all gathered in the huge hall. Everyone important in Kandaka Kingdom was there. The generals, captains of the troops, top rank fighters and warriors, ministers and advisors were all seated neatly around the room. King Kalingga and Prince Rashtu were leading an emergency meeting.
At that moment, everybody was listening to the explanation of a man sitting next to General Kertabhumi. He was dressed in ragged clothes and his head was bandaged. He looked haggard and tired. This man was General Mandaulung. He was the leader of an envoy sent to establish a diplomatic relationship to Ghowa Empire.
King Kalingga smashed the table in front of him into pieces, when General Mandaulung finished his story.
“How dare he killed the ambassador!!!” He shouted.
“The vice ambassador was injured, Sire. And he died on the way back home.” Mandaulung added.
“He killed everybody and yet let you live!! What does he want you to tell me??!!”
The King hardly contained his anger anymore. However, there was a slight glance of fear escaped from his eyes.
General Mandaulung swallowed hard. It was the hardest part for a soldier to return home after a failed mission. He was ready to receive punishment, but he couldn’t help wondering what kind of punishment he would receive from this cruel ruler.
“King Singha Paruwa only said a few words, Sire……. He said…… he said PREPARE YOURSELF FOR AN INVASION.”
Mandaulung prepared himself to be slain on the spot. He looked carefully at the King’s hand that was holding a sword. Surprisingly, he fell silent, and so does everybody in the room. Mandaulung was too tired and he was too much in pain right now to realize that the word INVASION had made such a great impact on them.
One of the advisors stood, “Your Majesty, if it’s true, we might stand no chance against them. All this years, only King Singha’s father who had great influence to hold back his son from invading our territory. Because that old man once owed his life to you, Sire. Now that he is dead, there is no more reason for Singha Paruwa to delay his plans to rule the world.”
“TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW!!!!” It was Prince Rashtu who shouted.
He looked panicked. Everyone fell silent, but all was feeling the same fear.
“Sire, we can ask King Pilar Bhuwana’s help. After all, he’s family now. Genta Bhuwana Kingdom has top fighters.” Another advisor spoke.
King Kalingga stayed quite, he wanted to hear everyone’s point of view before speaking.
“What if he invaded before the marriage took place?” Another one spoke.
Then everybody was speaking at the same time. Only General Kertabhumi stayed calm. Black Canary knew that he was thinking. When the voices slowly died down, he stood.
“Your Majesty. I think it is better to send envoys to other kingdoms around us. I am sure that if Singha Paruwa starts to shape his dream of ruling the world, we are not the only one who would oppose him. Other kingdoms will join us to fight him. But of course we must hurry, Sire. I have a bad feeling that he would use this wedding celebration as a perfect time to attack us and Genta Bhuwana at the same time.”
The meeting took two more hours, but finally the King decided that General Kertabhumi’s idea was the best one for the moment. One hour later, the envoys were sent. They were the best riders and were given the best horses for this crucial task. It was an ironic scene that while the palace was beautifully decorated to welcome the groom’s arrival, there were also soldiers and troops preparing heavy armors and weaponry to get ready for a war.
When everybody had left, the King asked General Kertabhumi and his daughter to stay behind. The General was an old man, but very wise and very smart in tactical, while his beautiful daughter possessed incredible fighting ability. King Kalingga was very fond of General Kertabhumi. They had spent time together in the battlefields in their younger years. Kalingga once saved Kertabhumi’s life. So ever since that time that Kertabhumi pledged his loyalty to him until the day he died. Kalingga’s hope had been to marry Black Canary to his heir Rashtu, because he realized that she was as smart as her father. But it was Rashtu who rejected the idea. The King treated Black Canary like she was his own daughter; and this was one of the reasons why Kemala hated her even more.
Black Canary was a very beautiful lady, in her own way. She was not like any other girl in Kandaka, perhaps in the whole world. She dressed like a warrior, all in black and she always wore veils to cover her face. When she was running, she looked like a young boy because her hair was cut short above her shoulder. She had two beautiful black eyes that could melt an iceberg. As a daughter of a General, Black Canary had studied martial art since the age of 2. She had learned to fight at the age of 5 and at the age of 6 killed a man with her own sword. When she was 12 she had joined the army and went to battles. In terms of fighting style, she had no new tricks. She usually fought with a flexible sword. What made her enemies feared her was her ability to move faster than the wind. While other people used their inner force to increase their strength in a strike or a blow, somehow, she was able to manipulate it to move smoothly on the air against gravity. With this ability she had often received special order from the King to assassinate his enemy. To kill in silence was her specialty. For Black Canary, there was no honor in killing people. Thus, for her, killing in silence was as bad as fighting face to face. She did all the tasks out of obligation towards the kingdom, and obedience towards her father.
All of the above, she had learned from her father. However, there was something that she also learned from her late mother. Black Canary was very good at medicine and cooking. Her mother was a healer and she taught her everything she had learned, not only about herbs and medicine, but also poisons. She was also a great cook, so Black Canary inherited the special family recipes. In short, Black Canary was a girl with many talents. This was why she was regarded as the wild flower of the palace. And the fragrant of this wild flower was much stronger than the fragrant of the rose in the palace, Kemala Chandra Puspita.
After the meeting finished and they were about to leave the room, the King called again.
“Black Canary.”
“Yes, Sire?”
“I want you to promise that if something happened to me and the Queen, you would take care of my sweet Kemala and protect her with your life.”
“I promise, Sire. I will take care of her and protect her with my life.”
“Thank you, Black Canary, you may leave now.”
The General and Black Canary paid their respect to the King and left the room. Black Canary knew that she had just given herself to serve the most impossible person in the whole kingdom. But for her father and her King, she would sacrifice her life truthfully.
Ghowa Empire is the largest and the oldest kingdom on Earth. Its territory spread from the dense forests in the North to the Southern Sea. All kingdoms in its West had been conquered. Those that rejected to bow down to the rules were destroyed. Only the Great Mountains in the West had prevented it from growing even larger. Wise Men said that there were evil power reside on the other side of the Great Mountains. In fact, nobody knew. For nobody had enough courage to traverse the roads to get to the other side. Everybody who had tried to go beyond the great mountains never returned. Furthermore, the roads to the Great Mountains went through the thickest forest, covered by the cloud that hung low during all seasons through out the year. Sometimes, when the clouds were blown away by strong wind, one might see the winding road towards the Un-chartered territory.
Thus, it left only the East Side of the Empire that bordered with Kandaka Kingdom. To be able to invade the Eastern Kingdoms, first Ghowa Empire must defeat Kandaka. All this time Kandaka enjoyed its peaceful time during the reign of the 153rd Ruler, King Jamukha, father of the King Singha Paruwa due to a blood debt he owed to King Kalingga of Kandaka Kingdom. The history between dated back a long time ago when both Kings were only Princes at young age. They left their Palaces for a hunt that brought them to the border of the two kingdoms. The creature they had been hunting was called Sheeraz, a legendary if not mythical she-creature. It was said that Sheeraz lived in a forest by the side of a river of green water. Through out both kingdoms there was only one river of green water that flew across the border. And so, they embarked for their quests.
Legend said that whoever captured Sheeraz and treated her well, would become the most powerful person in the world. It was believed that Sheeraz had been once a Princess of Ghowa, who possessed magical powers over her Kingdom. Her magical powers enabled her to command all kinds of demons and creatures from the dark. One day, she fell in love with a poor guy from a small village and made him her King. To be a King beside Sheeraz had proven to be a curse instead of a blessing. The King had lived his life in the Palace like a prisoner. Sheeraz loved him so much, that she would not let him out of her Palace. She treated him well, but she had deprived him of his freedom. Only one trusted chambermaid had been allowed to deliver his food and clean their chamber. The King had a lot of spare time to spend alone and the chambermaid had always been there for him. The more they spent time together the more feelings they had shared together. And before they realized it, they both were trapped in a circle of affections.
While Sheeraz was busy with the affair of the state, her King would spend time with the chambermaid. As time went by, their affections towards each other had grown stronger. The King had fallen in love with the nice and loyal chambermaid. However, this had not slipped Sheeraz’s sharp eyes. One night she tricked them by telling her King that she would have to travel for a few weeks on a diplomatic trip. The King took her words without any suspicions. After only a few nights, Sheeraz came back silently. With her magical power she made herself invisible and went in to the chamber unnoticed by the guards. As she had suspected, she found her King and the chambermaid in bed together. In fury, she cast a spell to raise the Demons of the Earth to capture them. She commanded them to torture the King and the chambermaid. It is said that it had been the longest time of torture. The demons had tortured them for 25 days before they finally united in death. Legend told us that the head of the King was buried miles away from his body to prevent him from reincarnation, while the chambermaid’s body had been shred into pieces and thrown away to feed the hungry creatures at sea.
Heartbroken, Sheeraz left her kingdom and went into exile. She took a vow not to speak to any human and changed her form into a hideous creature with 4 arms and 4 heads. She promised that should there be anyone, who fell in love with her and treated her well despite of her form, he would get her magical power and she would let him rule the world. It is said that the 4 heads looked to the Four Corners of the world, looking forward to see the man of her dream. The four arms were used to work planting the seeds around her. She took the water from the Green River to water the seeds and in a short time the forest grew around her. Sheeraz made her new kingdom in the forest and ruled over all kinds of animals and trees. The Green Forest it was called ever since.
Thus, it was to the Green Forest both young Princes went to finish their quest. The Green Forest was a dense forest almost untouched by men. Only the bravest and the most expert hunter dared to travel across the forest. There was some kind of informal ritual among the hunters of both kingdoms. Young hunters who were already come of age, inherited the weapons from their fathers. They should go into the forest to find a place called the Freshwater Fountain. The road to the Freshwater Fountain was dangerous and the young hunters usually went in a group of 2 or 3. With their weapons they should kill tigers and each brought the skin back for their fathers. It was some kind of an initiation to mark the coming of age from childhood to adulthood among the society of hunters.
However, the Freshwater Fountain was still far away from the Green River. In fact, no hunters had reached the Green River to comeback to tell the story. Everyone who went further than the Fountain, never came back. Young Prince Jamukha was accompanied by 2 of his trusted bodyguards with blessings from his father King Singha Maruta, while Prince Kalingga ran away from home alone.
After some long days of exhausting journey, Prince Jamukha reached the Freshwater Fountain. He had begun to question the truth about the myth when suddenly his two bodyguards were caught unguarded by a huge tiger. Although they were skilled fighters, bodyguards were different from hunters. They might be strong and fast, but it took more than just strength to kill a tiger. They had fought for a couple of hours yet they could not even hurt the unusually smart tiger. The tiger was finally able to kill them both and devoured them one by one. Prince Jamukha had been able to run away while his bodyguards were fighting, thus his life was saved for the moment. He too knew that the tiger would soon get hungry again and it would trace his tracks.
For 2 nights the brave young Prince survived the jungle life by himself. It was the third night that he started hearing the tiger again. Staying close to a fire he had made, he passed the night in fear. The next morning, when the fire had died down, the tiger came closing in. By that time, the Prince had journeyed quite far from the fountain. Even if he shouted for help, no one would hear him. Jamukha prepared his sword and took a stand. If he had to die, he would die fighting, not running. After all, he was the heir of the throne of Ghowa Empire. The tiger sprung towards him with tremendous force. It clawed his chest before his sword went in to one of its legs. Jamukha was thrown backwards, badly wounded. He didn’t have time to check on his wound for the wounded tiger came back to attack him. He tried to stand but the pain weakened him. Jamukha looked into the eyes of the tiger, embracing his death with courage. As the tiger made its final attack on its prey, someone leapt from the right side. It was a young man dressed in gray outfit. He landed on the back of the tiger, and held on its neck like a leach. He raised his right hand, which was holding a glittering sharp hunter’s knife and with one strike stuck it deep into its throat. The tiger made a terrible sound before it fell dead on the ground. The young man released it and walked towards Jamukha and soon they got acquainted. Prince Kalingga who had arrived at the right moment to save Jamukha accepted gratitude. The tiger he had killed was then skinned and proudly took it home to Kandaka. Both Princes did not journey further away, because instead of finding the mythical creature Sheeraz, they had found something more precious: Friendship. So Kalingga did not only take home tiger skin but also a friendship that would save his kingdom from invasion for a long time afterwards.
However, that peaceful time for Kandaka and all the Eastern Kingdoms was over the day Jamukha died of a strange disease. Many people debated still whether it had been indeed a disease or a murder. No matter what the truth was, the result was the same: Singha Paruwa, the oldest son of Jamukha had inherited the throne and thus became the new ruler of Ghowa Empire.
Singha Paruwa, which meant Green Lion, was a man in mid 40. He was smart, cunning and cruel. He also mastered some deadly styles in martial arts, which until now no one had seen the full extend of those styles. Some said that he could shudder the ground and rock a building by just clawing his ten fingers to the ground. Singha Paruwa was in fact quite handsome. His eyes were reddish brown and his body was huge and tall. He had a long green hair and mustache. The name Green Lion was really appropriate for him.
Singha Paruwa had many mistresses, yet no wife. From that many mistresses he had 3 sons and a daughter. The oldest son, Singha Angkasa (Lion of the Sky), was 25 years old. The second were twins, Singha Samudra, the Lion of the Sea, who inherited his father’s body and strength, and his handsome twin brother named Singha Merapi (Lion of the Fire). Both were 21 years old. And the third was a petite girl named Ayu Puspa Mustika (Talisman of Beautiful Flower), 15 years old. Of all the children, Singha Paruwa loved Ayu the most. She was pretty, naughty, but smart. So smart that sometimes the King asked her for an advice. Compare to her father, she was so small that although she was already 15 years old, Singha Paruwa often carried her around on his broad shoulder. Young and pretty, Ayu was also smart like her father. The only two things that the King regretted were that his favorite child had no talent at all in martial art, furthermore she was so fragile that she was very often ill. The King had wanted to name her Singha Bhumi, which means Lioness of the Earth, but the healers and counselors had all rejected the name. They said that the name brought bad luck to the bearer. In the history of Ghowa, everyone who named their daughter Singha, would receive punishment from the Gods. For Gods had only created the name Singha for men of strength. Thus, only men of strength worth bearing the name Singha before the Gods.
Although Singha Paruwa was busy preparing another invasion, he never forgot to check up on Ayu. And often in the middle of the meeting, Ayu sat among her brothers to offer some suggestions. Many of the royal court members called her the Star Child, for she was born under the influence of the brightest star. When she was born she held a star shaped stone in her hand. That was the reason why she had the word Mustika (Talisman) in her name. The stone was then being made a necklace when she was 2 years old and she never put it off ever since.
A meeting to plan the invasion to Kandaka Kingdom was now held and she was there as usual, sitting beside her older brothers. They had all agreed to send ten thousands soldiers to Kandaka to siege the Palace and 250 fighters and warriors to confront Genta Bhuwana’s fighters. They had heard the fame of Genta Bhuwana’s fighters and warriors and they would not take any chances that might lead them to failure.
Let us leave the Ghowa Empire and take a look at Kandaka.
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Tale of Three Princes’ – Chapter 2