Queen Sivagami used to be reigning monarch of the kingdom of Mahishmati, and while it was known she had one true born son; Prince Bhallaladeva with her husband Bijjaladeva she had also adopted her nephew Baahubali who then became her adoptive son and brother to Bhallaladeva

Both princes were entitled to the throne but only one could rule, and thus from childhood to adulthood they had to prove themselves worthy to the queen and people of Mahishmati through good deeds, intelligence, empathy, and training

After a great battle Bhallaladeva won the throne, and became king of Mashishmati and thus the royal family slowly avalanched into chaos and destabilisation

Baahubali choose love over family, eloping with Bhallaladeva’s future intended Devasena, fathering a son Mahendra, who was believed to have drowned in the river as a newborn with his grandmother Queen Sivagami the night Bhallaladeva turned into a tyrant. Devasena, captured and locked away in the courtyard for all to bare witnesses to her shame of choosing Baahubali over Bhallaladeva

Bhallaladeva remained king advised by his tyrant of a father Bijjialadeva

What was also known but not talked about as much was a second adopted child, whom was taken in by Queen Sivagami after being found abandoned

You, had been raised a touch differently to Prince Bhallaladeva and Prince Baahubali, not being a contender for the throne had left you safe from the treachery of Mahishmati court as you had no official blood ties to the royal family unlike Bhallaladeva and Baahubali. You were raised Hindu, relatively quiet, of poor health due to the circumstances of your rescue and adoption by Queen Sivagami.

Royal guards like Kattappa, who protected the throne of Mahishmati watched over you fondly. Men like Bijjaladeva disregarded you and if interaction was to happen it was clear in the eyes of people like him, you were and always would be an outsider, yet from serving Queen Sivagami to serving King Bhallaladeva, Kattappa always kept a watchful fond eye of you despite the dark cloud of tyranny that had settled over the kingdom of Mashishmati

As you were a small, sickly child at the time Bhallaladeva rose to power, you were, surprisingly, left to live. Still seen as royalty largely confined to your chambers due to poor health

You had alway remembered Baahubali being kind, always trying to get healers from near and far to help your illness if not cure you completely

Bhallaladeva had been distant, you weren’t competition for the throne so you weren’t a threat, even now that you reached adulthood, you more company for him and his own adopted son Bhadra. Bijjaladeva still hated your guts as a lingering reminder of how much more compassionate his late wife was but alas Bhallaladeva was reluctant to remove you from the palace let alone life at all

So you stayed out of harms way, in the palace, like a ghost, feeling the void of Queen Sivagami and Baahubali, afraid to remember what once was,