OPENING SCENE
[PALACE – THRONE ROOM – DAY]
Aryan watches as court ministers argue over new taxes to fund the army.
MINISTER 1
Raise it from the outer villages. They don't contribute much anyway.
MINISTER 2
They'll riot. Or worse.
ARYAN (to himself)
No one talks about the people who have nothing left to give.
The ministers continue bickering as Aryan quietly exits the hall.
SCENE 2: THE HIDDEN STREETS
[OLD CITY STREETS – DAY]
Aryan, cloaked in a simple kurta, walks among the commoners. Muddy streets. Thin children. Eyes wary but curious.
NARRATOR
Kaligarh was a kingdom of stories and stone—but also of shadows.
A little girl grabs Aryan's hand, pointing to a cracked wall.
GIRL
They live under. The forgotten ones.
SCENE 3: THE UNDERGROUND CITY
[CATACOMBS BELOW KALIGARH – TWILIGHT]
Aryan slips through a broken tunnel entrance. Descends into an underground shanty-town built in the ruins of an ancient palace.
Dozens live here—beggars, outcasts, sick elders. A secret city beneath the city.
A cloaked man confronts Aryan—scarred, cautious.
LEADER (softly)
You're no street rat. What are you doing here?
ARYAN
Trying to understand… what I'm meant to protect.
SCENE 4: TRUTH AND MEMORY
[UNDERGROUND SHRINE – LATER]
The leader shows Aryan an old mural: Kaligarh's first king feeding the poor.
LEADER
We were once part of the kingdom. Until your ministers turned their eyes upward and forgot the roots.
Aryan studies the mural, shaken.
ARYAN
I didn't know…
LEADER
Now you do. So what kind of prince will you be?
SCENE 5: RETURN TO LIGHT
[PALACE GATES – NIGHT]
Aryan returns, covered in dust. Bhairav waits, arms crossed.
BHAIRAV
You vanished.
ARYAN
I saw Kaligarh's soul today. And it's starving.
BHAIRAV (raises an eyebrow)
Then speak. Not as a boy. As a prince.
SCENE 6: THE PRINCE SPEAKS
[PALACE THRONE ROOM – NEXT DAY]
Aryan walks into court. The ministers turn. He speaks before the king.
ARYAN
There's a city under our feet. People we've forgotten.
Starting today, grain from the royal reserves will go to the catacombs. Trade with their craftspeople will be restored. Their temple… rebuilt.
MINISTER 1 (outraged)
You don't have that authority!
KING SAMUDRASEN (smiling faintly)
He does now.
Stunned silence.
FINAL MOMENT – THE HOOK
[RAJA VARUNDEV'S WAR ROOM – NIGHT]
A general unrolls a crude map showing Kaligarh's tunnels.
GENERAL
There's an opening into the city. Unwatched. Unprotected.
RAJA VARUNDEV
Let the boy build his bridges…
(beat)
So we can burn them from below.
[TEASER FOR NEXT EPISODE]
"Next time: A festival of light, a hidden traitor… and a trap set in gold."