A Prince's Prophetic Switch

Christian (For @gradientava's death to be postponed)

"I am the master of my mind and the
captain of my fate." ~Mahabharata
by Vyasa

"You both have weapons, correct?" the Emperor asked Christian and Ishan at the palace. Ishan nodded, and said, "A sword and a dagger." The Emperor then looked to Christian, who still hadn't responded.

Christian reached for the bow he had strung across his back. "This," he handed the bow to the Emperor. "But I don't have arrows."

"I see. Jade!" he called, and Jade came walking into the room.

"Yes?" Jade replied, bowing.

"Fetch me Arjuna's quiver from the attic." he tasked, not even looking at her.

"Absolutely. Anything else?"

"No. You may leave." he said, and once she was gone, he looked up at the two boys standing in front of him. "Have you heard the story of Arjuna's bow and quivers?"

Christian had. Of course he had, growing up at the palace. But he knew Ishan had not, so he remained silent, as the Emperor started his story.

"It's an old Hinduist story. The bow, given the name Gandiva, was created by Brahma, the believed creator of the Universe, to protect Dharma. Brahma kept the bow for a thousand years, then passed it to Lord Shiva, then Prajapti, who then gave it to Indra, then Soma, then Varuna. Varuna gave said bow to Arjuna, who promised to return it afterwards. She kept her promise, or so is told."

Ishan nodded. "What happened to it after that?"

"No one truly knows, but we expect Arjuna returned the bow safely. But what she wasn't obliged to return was the quivers she received."

"Quivers?" Ishan questioned.

Christian piped up. "Arjuna was gifted two quivers from Varuna which, conveniently, never ran out of arrows."

"Correct." Emperor Trubine said, looking pleased with Christian's knowledge of the story, as it was not a Roman one.

"No one knew what happened to the quivers," Christian went on. "until we found one after attacking an empire around 400 years back, which we later found out, never ran out of arrows. Just like Arjuna's."

"And you've just... kept it in the attic?" Ishan asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Yes. Is that an issue?" the Emperor asked, almost daring Ishan to challenge his judgement.

"No, it's just..." Ishan trailed off, not knowing how to phrase his thoughts, as the Emperor looked at him, almost angrily.

Christian didn't have to like Ishan, but he wasn't going to watch him suffer like this. His father, no, the Emperor, could be cruel when it came to the decisions he made. Anyone thought to challenge them almost always ended up saying the wrong thing whilst trying to explain themselves.

"I think what Ishan is trying to say," he started, and the two both snapped their heads over at his interjection. "Is why keep such a powerful weapon from being used for all this time?"

"As you said," the Emperor replied. "It is a very powerful weapon, and something as this could be easily misused or fall into the wrong hands."

Christian nodded, but though he understood the logic, something just wasn't clicking. Ishan spoke his exact thoughts as they came to him.

"So then why entrust Christian now?"