Suddenly there was an announcement by the guards that the princes were coming to see the empress. The empress knew that this would happen. There were two handsome young men seen walking in their direction. They were exuding a majestic aura. They came near the empress and bowed, 'greetings mother' they ignored Samyukta. The empress said, 'my dear children.. tell me what brings you here' she directly came to the point, 'mother, we seek private audience with you' they said staring at Samyukta.

She was habited to their coldness. She was about to leave when the empress held her hand not letting her go. 'I will meet you in my chambers in an hour's time, meanwhile you can join us here,.. ' the princes snorted mockingly and said, 'even you prefer her, we got our answer.. we take your leave' they were about to go when the emperor came, he understood the situation immediately.

The princes bowed and greeted the emperor. He said, 'Deepak Chandra and Surya Chandra, my beloved sons, I need to officially tell you something. Princess Samyukta will be the queen shortly. I need both of you to support your sister and help her in administration. Both of you will continue to be the Royal Princes of Magadha and will serve the crown. I need you to look over the arrangements of Coronation ceremony as well as the arrival of n.o.ble Princes. You need to supervise everything and ensure the safety and security of the n.o.ble guests. ' hearing this the Princes felt a shame creeping up their spine and Surya Chandra the younger one said, 'we wish to speak to our father now, not the emperor of Magadha' Krishna Chandra sighed and said, 'ok, tell me, I will hear as a father'

Deepak started, 'do you think that we are incapable? when you have two sons, you can choose one to lead Magadha, why must you put everything in her hands? though we got hints of this, we never paid attention, we knew that in Royal families, sons are preferred however talented the daughters are.. so far there is not a single lady who sat on the throne in Hindustan... why must you be so adamant? we are not inferior to her in any aspect, you can test us, we're ready. Once you see the results you can decide. '

Surya said, 'we have the right to challenge the crown. Together we issue our challenge to Samyukta, there should be a compet.i.tion, and then we decide. '

Padmini was about to say something.. the emperor stopped her, 'may be this is for the best, let's settle this down, I will appoint a jury to set you tests on combat, you will be tested for your knowledge in law, science, languages, and political administration. If you win, I will decide who will ascend the throne based on the judgement of jury. This contest Will be open to the public. There Will be transparency and everyone will see to it that there will not be foul play. Those who lose will not rebel and will take a vow to protect the crown in front of everyone'