The partic.i.p.ants reached the palace grounds. There was a panel of judges along with the suitors and the common people were standing at a certain distance to view the proceedings. The emperor announced, "there will be a contest between the two Princes and the princess to determine who will be the most suitable to ascend the throne. The contest will be based on both combat skills as well as various subjects involving politics, economics and law. There will also be practical scenarios of conflict in which the best judgement will be chosen. Prince Surya is contending only to better his skills while Prince Deepak and Princess Samyukta Will be contending for the throne. I request the examiners to begin. "Sage Sandeepa stood up. "The contest will begin with Sword fight. The Princess and the Two Princes, please choose your swords from the table in front of you. You can chose one sword and a shield each. "
The Princess bowed to Sage Sandeepa and said "teacher, may I choose two swords? I don"t want to use a shield" the sage smiled and nodded in agreement. This was a different technique but powerful in comparison to the usage of sword and shield. One sword is used for attack while the second sword is used for both attack and defence.
All three contestants have chosen their weapons. Samyukta was wearing an armour and her hair was braided beautifully and tied into a bun so that it does not interfere with her fighting. She went over and chose two swords. Both were double edged and curved and long swords identical to each other.
Firstly Prince Deepak and Prince Surya stepped over and started fighting with each other. They each had a sword and a shield. They both exchanged blow after blow. Both seemed to be excellent swordsmen. They exuded a majestic aura. The ladies in the crowd sighed softly. The Princes were supremely good looking and brilliantly skilled.
They seemed to be equally matched but many felt that there would be no one in the kingdom who could contend with them. Many pride swordsmen and even the suitors felt that their talent is a shade inferior compared to the Royal sons of Magadha.Supporters of Samyukta started doubting her abilities. She was keenly observing the fight and trying to grasp about the weakness and strengths of both Deepak and Surya.
As they were fighting suddenly a sword strike landed from Prince Deepak which disarmed Prince Surya. Everyone sighed. Both brothers bowed to each other and parted. Now it was the turn of Samyukta.
She stepped out, her elegance and beauty were no match to any woman in the empire. The so called beauties of Magadha would not be sufficient to hold a candle to her beauty. All the men were sighing in their hearts. But no one had any profane thoughts looking at her. She was like a divinity.
Prince Deepak stepped out. Both went to the center of the field and started circling each other like ferocious tigers. Prince Deepak was the first to Strike. Samyukta started with defensive strategy. She was effectively blocking each strike of Deepak. The prince was attacking from the beginning. He was not letting Samyukta relax. But he couldn"t crumble her defense. She was fighting with two swords considering which her defense should be weaker than the defense offered by a shield. But she was excellent in defending herself with the sword in her left arm. Suddenly the game changed. Samyukta started attacking with the sword in the right hand. While she was attacking with the right hand, the sword in the left hand was being rotated continuously and while she was defending with the sword in her left hand, she was rotating the sword in the right hand.
This tactic lead to a confusion in Prince Deepak. He started losing clarity whether Samyukta was attacking or defending. This was the main objective for her to chose two swords.
She was defending continuously for some time then all of a sudden she attacked with a roar and disarmed the Prince. He was shocked. Everyone was shocked. Though this took longer than the first fight, this was more enjoyable. Samyukta was an excellent swordswoman. Her skill was unparalleled. She was a shade superior in sword arts compared to both the Princes. Many felt that she looked like the G.o.ddess Durga during the fight. (Indian G.o.ddess of Power)
After the fight, they both bowed to each other. Now she fought with Prince Surya. It was evident that she was superior to Prince Surya from the beginning, but she was not in a hurry. Surya wanted to take some time to study her technique. Samyukta gave him time to understand. He was observing her foot work,the swing of her two hands, the rotation of sword and after some time she disarmed him.
The sage Sandeepa stood and announced, "excellent performance. Princess Samyukta wins this round"
Note: Sage Sandeepa was the teacher of Samyukta. He was mentioned in Chapter 8,training with an old friend.