The old king of the city is dead.His body was found with brutal stab wounds near the lake,as if to send a message.

"Now that the funeral ceremony is over,you should see your mother Shin, she has not left the room since morning",says Asif,his father's former second in command,a lawyer who had received great hospitality from the family a decade ago,when he sought asylum in the country as a persecuted minority."I should take leave then",says Shin as he still recovers from the pale expression on his face,"Do remember to call on me when the meeting begins","Absolutely Sir".Thumping steps approach a room and as he opens the door flung open,he finds his mother playing a game of chess with herself.Shin clears his throat but quickly sees his mother nodding him to keep quiet and sit alongside her."Your father had quite the disdain for your grandfather.He saw him as weak,naive and too lenient to those under his rule.Soon enough his subordinates started to break away and form their own families.He even game them money to begin a rival business",she stops as she hides a sudden smirk under her droopy and painful expression."Mother,we don't have to talk about this"."Just listen,you are about to talk with the most deadly and unscrupulous men you might have ever met,just hear the words of a concerned mother.She slowly resumes,"When your father took power, he ruled with an iron fist.People initially resisted but soon there was no one left to resist.It fed his ego,made him unable to question his own weakness and acknowledge his own ignorance.For 20 years he ruled as the king,not through his competence but because the winds of fortune demanded a stern and hard man."She takes a brief pause and gazes up at the sky,"The winds changed but he didnot"."It was just an accident,committed by petty thieves who wanted to steal his car at night...".He is suddenly disturbed,"The meeting is about to begin,All have arrived,we should make haste",shouts Asif looking tired from anxiety.Aseefa holds the hand of her son and ushers in his ear,"You are the wise man now but don't trust anyone".Shin enters a big hall with two dozen chairs placed facing opposite to each other on an oriental table.He takes his place at the front with his lawyer on the right.All seated sell rum in their respective areas supplied by Shin for a commission and in turn pledge their loyalty to him if violence shall ever arise.Asif nods to shin,"Shall we begin?","I will take the lead",he replies in a meek voice."So was there any problem from the police or in the rum supply?"

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"No sir", as all reply unanimously.Everyone relaxes and unstiffens themselves ,while Asif leans to his masters' years and tells him to gaze in a particular direction where sellers of a particular location sit,"The two of them dont pay,Your father reminded them many a times,Should we jump on them here?"Shins remembers his mothers' words and asks Asif to be cautious."So will you not pay us in the future as well",he asks in a gentle voice.One of them clears his throat as he puts down a vine class,"When we didnot pay your father,well you are just a child",he speaks in an insincere and smug expression.Shin looks over to an another party of men and tells Asif,"We won't be supplying them any more rum".Asif is shook and replies,"But it is only our loss sir"."That will not happen,you will now sell the rum to the gentleman at the end of the table".The gentleman is quick to notice and speaks "But we donot have a bigger market to sell to".Shin sharpens his eyes and tells him,"Sell it in their area and I dont want any commission,Use the profit to undercut and expand your business.Any conflict you have,deal it among yourselves.But the supply will not stop,this i can guarantee.Asif is pleastanly suprised as his masters' ingenious while the gentleman's eyes betrays his happiness and greed.