Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

He could see the ships of the Portuguese disappearing from his view. He was tired from the battle. His own senses were numbed from killing the rebels of the Qutb in anger. The rebels committed inhumane acts.

The picture of the woman pleading for her life was etched in his heart. She looked at him like he was some monster going to do inhumane acts to her.

\'Damn it.\'

He gripped his head in exasperation.

The Qutb rebel guards were massarched by both the Marathas and Vipin\'s group. Both of them were disgusted by the acts they did in the city.

The fires started to subside, and the streets of the inner ring of the city were desolate. There was not even a single Portuguese in sight. They all ran away in their huge ships. The fortifications on the dock remained intact.

Although he didn\'t know anything about how to operate them. He deemed it a good counter against any attempts to take back Daman.

He highly doubts they would come back to take Daman considering the loss of their equipment and supplies. It would also take them a lot of money to break through their own fortifications in Daman.

\'That is if they survive without supplies back to their base.\'

The rebel group of Vipin was ordered to take over the command of the city while the Marathas cleared all the remaining places in the city. The rebels were more connected to the people than them so it would be better for them to interact.

Vasant ordered to check every nook to find anyone in hiding.

He also searched along with his soldiers in the inner ring of the city to find anyone left behind by the Portuguese.

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"I doubt there would be anyone left behind." He muttered as he made his way through the corpse-riddled streets.

"Haa. I need to get back to the capital soon after this. I will leave the other commanders to protect this city."

Vasant was tired; it wasn\'t his first battle; it was his 3rd battle so far. Although he didn\'t participate directly in Surat. He had to deal with the aftermath.

Little did he know. He was the most accomplished commander in the war, considering he was yet to lose a battle by a significant difference. All his battles were won with low casualties.

He walked through the burned-down house. It broke down and crashed in front of his eyes.

*BOOM*

"Damn! That was close. I almost died."

He looked around the corners and didn\'t find anything and began to walk towards the dock.

Suddenly, he heard faint sniffles.

He looked around. There was no one.

\'Did I hear wrong.\'

Another faint sniffle.

It seemed to be the cry of a child.

Vasant saw a small alleyway in the middle of two buildings close to the dock. He turned around the corner and didn\'t find anything.

The sniffles got louder as he went deeper through the alleyway to find a small place at the end of the alleyway.

"Fica atrás (Stay back in portuguese)"

A small boy slashed at him with a dagger that he could barely hold. Vasant stepped back, sending him stumbling to the ground.

The boy quickly stood up. He was bleeding from a wound on his forehead and his face bruised badly. He stood in front of Vasant with a fearless gaze. His clothes were tattered. He had pale skin with light brownish eyes and hair. He held the dagger pointed at Vasant.

"Eu te mato se deres um passo." (I\'ll kill you if you take one step.)

He looked barely 10 years old.

Behind him was a little girl with blonde hair and light brown eyes. She wore a sleeveless gown with a tattered cap. She was missing her shoe. Her feet and arms were bleeding from small wounds. She was trying her best not to cry out loud and sniffle.

Vasant didn\'t understand anything the boy said. He wanted to communicate but the boy tried to stab the moment he tried to take a step.

"Fica longe dela!" (Stay away from her)

Vasant could see the desperation in the eyes of the boy trying to save the little girl.

He gestured for the boy to put down his weapon to no avail as the boy slashed at him. The boy seemed to stumble around due to the weight of the dagger in his little arms.

"Guess, I will have to knock them out."

Vasant sidestepped his stab and grabbed the collar of his tattered shirt. He yanked it back and pressed the nerve point near his collarbone.

He passed out quickly and the grip on the dagger loosened, sending it clattering on the ground.

Vasant gently put the unconscious boy on the ground and walked towards the sniffling girl, who looked at the boy in fear and screamed.

"Irmão? Salva-me! Não quero morrer!" (Brother? Save me! I don\'t want to die!)

Vasant knocked the little girl out cold the same way.

\'Ah.. They seemed to be so scared.\'

Vasant sighed.

He picked up both of them and made his way to the camp.

"I have to get them treated first."

Both of them had survived. The boy even killed a rebel out of desperation to survive. Vasant grimaced, thinking of the trauma that the boy would go through in the future.

\'Maybe. He could overcome it.\'

He made his way to the camp set up by the Maratha soldiers in the city.

A soldier noticed him and saluted.

"Who are these kids, Commander?" asked the soldiers.

"It seems they didn\'t make it in time for the ship."

Vasant sighed.

"Anyway, get them treated well. The boy seemed to have a lot of injuries. The little girl has minor scratches and bruises."

"Understood, Commander."