The Moghul Part 104

"And tonight we will dine together again." He smiled. "If my cooks can find enough cane-juice _gur _in all the bazaars to sweeten your _lapsi_."

"Seeing you again, Highness, sweetens my tongue already." He bowed and produced the brocade bundle. "My brother, the _maharana_, sends this unworthy token, together with his prayers for your victory."

A eunuch stepped forward and brought it to Jadar. When the prince opened the wrapping, a scabbard holding a jewel-handled sword glistened in the mid morning light.

"He does me honor. A Rajput blade knows its friends and its foes."

Jadar smiled as he brushed the sword handle. Next he drew out the blade and tested its edge with his finger. The Rajput watched as Jadar sheathed the sword, then lifted the ruby-studded katar from his own belt. "To honor him, I grant his brother my own katar. May its blade soon be crimson with the blood of his foes."

The Rajput bowed as he received the knife. Jadar admired his new sword a moment longer, then continued. "How many of our friends rode west with you?"

"Half a thousand, Highness. More would have joined us now, but I thought it unwise. Your Highness will understand why. But those who did come I picked carefully. Twenty officers of superior cla.s.s, and the rest first and second cla.s.s."

"The eunuchs watched your banners enter the camp. I've already heard some of the names." The prince's voice rose. "I think you've gutted the Rajput field command in the Imperial army."

"Not entirely, Highness."

"Ah, but I know you did." Jadar smiled and leaned forward, dropping his voice again and switching from Turki to Rajasthani. "The tent poles here can repeat my words." He drew himself erect again and signaled for a tray of pan leaves from the eunuchs. "A tent has been prepared for you. Tonight we will dine again from the same dish and you can tell me how many white-necked cranes you bagged on Pichola Lake last winter."

The Rajput clasped his hands together and bowed lightly before taking a pan leaf. "Tonight, Highness."

As Mahdu marched regally back through the entryway, Jadar turned and studied s.h.i.+rin thoughtfully for a moment. Then he motioned her forward and smiled toward Vasant Rao. "And who else did you bring? Yet another old friend?"

s.h.i.+rin salaamed lightly. "I thank Your Highness for still remembering me."

"I remember you very well. But the last I'd heard, Janahara had ordered you imprisoned. I'm astonished to see you still alive."

"I was released by Arangbar, Highness, after Samad was executed." She tried unsuccessfully to diguise the fatigue in her voice. "I still do not know why."

"Perhaps it was his weakness for beauty." Jadar smiled. "But just now I think you need rest. Mumtaz has asked me to invite you to stay with her in the _zenana_."

"s.h.i.+rin stays with me." Hawksworth heard his own voice, abruptly rising above his exhaustion.

Jadar turned and studied him for a moment, then laughed out loud.

"Suddenly I understand many, many things. Mumtaz was right after all.

Why is it women always seem to see these things so clearly?" His gaze swept Hawksworth's tattered jerkin. "Well? How are you, Captain Hawksworth? Still alive, I see, just as I foretold. And still the fas.h.i.+onable English amba.s.sador."

"There is no other. Unfortunately, however, my mission was not a complete success."

"First, India must have a just rule. Then trade can be conducted with an even hand." Jadar leaned back on his bolster. "Tell me, Captain, have you seen enough of Agra and court intrigue to rethink the matter we once discussed?"

"I've probably seen all of Agra I'll ever see." Hawksworth fixed Jadar squarely. "But then I'll have much company."

Jadar sobered and regarded Hawksworth a moment in silence.

"I see time still has not mellowed you. Or taught you very much. Do you understand anything at all of land tactics, Sea Captain Hawksworth?"

"I've never claimed to. But I can count infantry."

Jadar laughed again. "You still amuse me, Captain. I'll never know why.

It saddens me there'll be so few occasions for us to pa.s.s the time together during the next few days. But at least let me show you around my compound. You'll see the next Moghul of India does not campaign entirely like a dest.i.tute Arab."

"Why don't we start with your fortifications?"

Jadar roared as he lifted nimbly from his bolster throne and walked into the suns.h.i.+ne. Then he paused and turned to s.h.i.+rin. "Join us if you wish. And by the way, where've you decided to stay?"

s.h.i.+rin looked at Hawksworth for a moment, and their eyes locked. Then he saw a smile flicker across her face. "I'll stay with the English amba.s.sador, Highness."

"As you wish." Jadar's tone was wistful. "I no longer try to reason with the mind of a woman. But just let me caution you. If you stay among the Muslims here, their women will spit on you unless you put on a veil. They've never heard of Persia."

"Then we'll stay with the Rajputs." s.h.i.+rin tossed her head and followed along as Jadar led them through a side exit in the interior chintz wall and into the outer perimeter of the compound. The kettledrums thundered Jadar's exit.

"This side is for food, Captain." Jadar gestured toward a

row of ornate tents that lined the inside of the chintz walls. "The first is for fruit and melons. No man can campaign without them, particularly if he has a hungry _zenana_. The tent over there is for making _sharbat_, and that one is for keeping betel leaves to make _pan_." Jadar smiled. "Try denying a woman her betel and you'll have nothing but squabbles." He led them on, pointing, as he walked. "The large tent there is the kitchen, the one beyond it the bakery, and the one past that for grinding spices."

Hawksworth found himself astonished. Who could lead an army amid such extravagance? The tents were all red satin, with gilded poles around the outside, giving them the appearance of luxurious pavilions. Some, like the one for fruits and melons, were raised on a platform above the ground, while others were two-story, with an interior stair. As he watched the servants scurry from tent to tent bearing silver trays, he found it difficult to remember a war was looming.

"You'll soon discover traveling with women is always burdensome, Captain. For example, on the other side of the _gulal bar _I've had to erect a special tent just for their perfumes, another for their tailors, another to hold their wardrobes. Then there's a tent for mattresses, one for basins, and one for lamps and oil. These women rule my life. The things I really need--workshops, guardhouses, my a.r.s.enal-- I've had to situate back behind the _zenana_, near where the servingwomen stay." Jadar paused, his eyes gleaming mischievously.

"Well, what do you think?"

"I think an army camp should have fewer women and more men."

Jadar laughed and looked pointedly at s.h.i.+rin. "But what is life without women, Captain?"

"Wives don't travel with an army in Europe."

"Then Europe could learn something from India."

"About fighting or about women?"

"Before you're through you may learn a few thing about both." Jadar turned and started back down the row of tents. "War here is very different from wars on the seas, Captain. You should see my men fight before you judge them. But my question now is whether you know how to fight well enough to be of any help. Tell me, can you handle a bow?"

"Armies don't use bows in England any more. I've certainly never used one. I think the last time bows were issued for battle was back around the time of the Spanish Armada, about thirty years ago. Some of the local forces in Devons.h.i.+re equipped eight hundred men with longbows."

Jadar paused uncertainly. "What do you mean by 'longbow'?"

"It's a bow about five feet in length. The best ones are made of yew, but they're also made from ash and elm."

"You mean your bows are made entirely from wood?" Jadar's voice betrayed his skepticism. "What weight did they pull?"

"I don't know exactly, but they were powerful enough. You can draw a longbow all the way back to your ear. During the time of King Harry it was forbidden to practice with a longbow using a range less than a full furlong. The English longbow drove the crossbow right out of Europe.

I've heard it said a longbow can pierce a four-inch-thick oak door."

"But you don't use them now?"

"We prefer muskets."

He seemed to ponder the answer as he led them back into his carpeted reception area. He took his place beneath the canopy, then turned to Hawksworth.