📜 Previously on The Last Prince of Kaligarh:
Aryan secured the fort of Sundarhav and quietly rebuilt power in the shadows. He sent word to the southern rebels, and a mysterious businesswoman, Kaamaya, crossed paths with him in the market. But now… darker tidings await.
SCENE 1 – MESSENGER'S ARRIVAL [DAWN – OUTER COURTYARD, SUNDARHAV]
A dust-covered rider gallops through the city gates. Aryan, mid-training with Rudra and Reva, stops as the guard shouts:
MESSENGER (shouting, panting)
A message from Kaligarh! The King… the King has passed into the next world!
Silence falls. The courtyard stills.
DEVIKA (softly)
Your father…?
ARYAN (stone-faced)
King Samudrasen is dead.
REVA (with awe)
Then you… are now…
ARYAN (quietly)
…a prince no longer.
SCENE 2 – ROYAL TENT – NIGHT
Aryan sits alone before a low flame, reading the last letter from his father, smuggled out by a loyal courtier.
"My son, I do not know if these words will reach you. But if they do, remember—Kaligarh is not a land of riches or walls, it is its people. Reclaim them, and you reclaim your crown."
Aryan's eyes glisten, but he blinks the tears away.
ARYAN (murmuring)
Then let them see the crown return in fire and wind.
He folds the letter and places it in his armor.
SCENE 3 – WAR COUNCIL
The war table is now filled with miniature flags—Aryan's banners rising across regions, one by one.
VIRAJ (serious)
The nobles are split. Some want peace with Varundev. Some already betray us.
KAAMAYA (entering the tent, elegant and uninvited)
And some… are waiting to place their bets on the winning side.
All eyes turn.
ARYAN (smiling faintly)
You walk in without invitation, Kaamaya.
KAAMAYA
Trade routes need no invitations. I've brought gold, grain, and men. You've brought back fear in your enemies' hearts.
She walks over and places a bag of royal seal coins on the table.
KAAMAYA
But I won't kneel. Not yet.
ARYAN
You won't need to. You'll march beside me.
SCENE 4 – SECRET REBEL CAMP
A dozen rebel leaders gather, suspicious. Aryan, dressed simply but with unshakable presence, walks in.
ARYAN
I have not come to beg. I have come to lead.
OLD REBEL LEADER
Why should we follow a boy with no crown?
Aryan unsheathes his blade, slices the tablecloth neatly in two—without looking.
ARYAN
Because this boy made the snake-king of Sundarhav beg for mercy, took ten towns without a battle, and speaks the names of your dead like prayers in the wind.
RANVI (from behind)
And because… we have tigers.
Veer and Sena growl dramatically from behind the tent flap. Murmurs turn to laughter and then—cheers.
SCENE 5 – HILLSIDE AT DAWN
Aryan, atop his horse, gazes at the city of Kaligarh far in the distance—the capital now under Varundev's control. Smoke from the enemy banners rises.
DEVIKA (softly)
It begins now, doesn't it?
ARYAN (calmly)
No.
(he turns slightly)
It began the day I opened the manuscript.
🔮 Next on The Last Prince of Kaligarh…
As Aryan begins his campaign to reclaim Kaligarh, secret allies emerge… and a legendary warrior from the east arrives to challenge him—not as an enemy, but with a sword and a question: "Will you lead us all?"