8

Above the Indus River
Kingdom of Gilit
Second Moon of Autumn

The nights grew colder the higher Jahani, Anjuli and Rahul travelled. One night they slept under a rocky ledge, close to the horses. Jahani and Anjuli snuggled underneath Jahani’s woollen cloak and Sameela’s quilt and a blanket, while Rahul lay near hot coals. Jahani woke in the early hours, Chandi’s agitation penetrating her slumber.

Men and horses approaching. Be ready.

Jahani quickly rose and noticed that Yazan wasn’t there. She shook Rahul awake and, in the moment between dreaming and wakefulness, he murmured her name. She ignored it and shook him harder. ‘Wake up – someone’s coming.’

He jumped to his feet, grabbing his sword in his left hand. ‘Which direction?’

‘I’m not sure.’

He frowned at her. ‘You heard a noise?’

She inclined her head and woke Anjuli. Together they packed while Rahul guarded the track. When they joined him, he said it was too dangerous to go crashing down the mountain in half-light; they would have to wait on the track where there was at least a little room. Jahani covered her face, drew her sword and stood back-to-back with Rahul, sheltering Anjuli who stood against the mountain, hidden from view.

They didn’t have long to wait. From around the bend there came the jingle of harnesses and snorts of horses. Jahani and Rahul faced the direction of the noises together.

Men in mismatched green shalwar qameezes and leather vests materialised: they were the badmarsh from the hanging bridge. But there was also an impressive man they hadn’t seen before. He walked in front of the others and wore an archer’s bow and a sword and held a helmet under his arm. Rahul stepped forward, brandishing his sword, but the men didn’t draw their weapons. Jahani counted seven of them.

The leader spoke. ‘We have not come to fight. Please lower your weapons.’ He glanced at Jahani a moment too long. ‘We wish you no harm. Only to talk.’

Rahul grunted. ‘How do we know this is not a trick? You could rush us when we are unarmed and more men could drop from the ridges above.’

The leader smiled. Jahani wasn’t sure what sort of a smile it was. ‘You are a good protector. Ji, more men may drop from above, but we will not touch you, or the child.’ He tipped his chin at Anjuli.

Jahani moved toward Anjuli in case it was a threat; she hadn’t thought Anjuli was visible.

Their faces were expressionless, but they all watched Jahani intently.

‘I am from the northern kingdoms,’ the leader continued. ‘I heard you have a leopard that fights for you.’

Jahani burst out, ‘Leave him alone.’

‘So it’s a male leopard. It is true.’ The leader’s eyes brightened as his men exchanged glances.

Jahani kept her sword raised as Rahul moved closer.

‘Do not fear,’ the man said, ‘we are not badmarsh intent on capturing a snow cat.’

Rahul’s eyes darted from the leader to the others.

The man must have seen Rahul’s glance for he suddenly motioned to his men and they retreated. ‘Take this, Rabb,’ he said, and gave his helmet and sword to one of the men. Then he continued, ‘In the Kingdom of Hahayul I was second-in-command in the tham’s army under Dagar Khan.’

Jahani and Rahul both drew in a breath.

The leader watched Rahul’s face. ‘When Dagar Khan rebelled against the tham, he expected us to support him, but many refused, myself included. We didn’t agree with his methods, but we couldn’t openly defy him or he would have executed us. Many fled, knowing they would fight when the time was right.

‘On the day of the massacre, one troop remained to protect the tham, the ghenish, the little shehzadi and their ministers. But the troops in the fort were overcome by Dagar Khan except for one warrior. That warrior managed to secret the child and her ayah into the crowded street, but there was so much confusion – looting, burning, screaming – that the ayah was trampled and the child fell into a fire. The warrior killed the flames and ran with her to the river. There was meant to be a boat waiting to take them to safety but, before he reached the water, the warrior was shot by an archer. He fell, couldn’t rise, and the child toddled away in fright, screaming for her mother. He shouted to her to come back, but she was too distraught to hear.’

Jahani let Shamsher slip to the ground. She couldn’t believe what this man was saying; she knew the words before he spoke them. He was recounting her dream! ‘Who was that man?’ she whispered.

‘It was me,’ he said simply. ‘My name is Ali Shah. I am the commander of the Makhfi, the hidden army, who are loyal to the royal family of Hahayul.’ He stared intently at Jahani. ‘I need to know your name, if you will excuse the impudence.’

Rahul stepped forward. ‘I don’t excuse the impudence. She will not give her name to a man who is a stranger.’

‘Please forgive me for being so open,’ Ali Shah replied steadily, ‘but the oppressed people of Hahayul have been praying and hoping these past twelve summers for the lost shehzadi to appear – to be alive. A pir told me she will return with a male leopard and spark such a fire in the hearts of the people of our kingdom that they will be inspired.’ He paused, watching Jahani. ‘And a leopard has just led my men to you.’

Just then Yazan leaped from above and landed in the space between Ali Shah and Jahani. He padded to Jahani and sat beside her. Give him your name.

Before she could think, the words were spoken. ‘My name is Jahani.’ She lowered the dupatta covering the bottom half of her face.

Ali Shah stared, especially at her mouth. Rahul frowned and stood between them.

Ali Shah lowered his gaze. ‘Jahani was the nickname for the shehzadi,’ he said.

She felt dizzy. Her head spun as she considered the ­possibility: could it be true? All Azhar’s insinuations, Yasmeen’s visions – true after all?

Ali Shah was speaking again. ‘The shehzadi’s full name is Jahanara Ashraf Shaheen Khan.’

‘Did you say Khan? As in Dagar Khan?’

‘Indeed. Many people in the north have this as a tribal name, but Dagar Khan is a distant cousin to the late tham. He wanted to rule and control the rich Silk Route that runs through the northern kingdoms. And he has been doing this since the massacre. But while rumours that the child didn’t die that day are kept alive, the people will never acknowledge him as the true tham. He is desperate to produce the body of the shehzadi.’

Jahani said, ‘I have been plagued by dreams of fire and of people shouting and mayhem ever since I was two. Could my dreams be reality?’

Rahul bit his lip. ‘I was also there that day. I was a shepherd boy, and I rescued a child from drowning in the river.’

Ali Shah stared at him, then glanced at Jahani’s head and frowned. ‘Did the child have red hair?’

‘She did. As do many little girls. We heard that Dagar Khan was abducting red-haired girls, so we took her south to our pasturelands away from the confusion and danger. Whether the child was the shehzadi or not, she was in danger.’

Ali Shah glanced at Jahani again. ‘We still need proof. You certainly have the composure of the ghenish, the queen, but I have not seen your face clearly enough to know if you have her exact likeness. And the shehzadi had red hair like her mother.’

Jahani raised her hands to remove the dupatta covering her hair, but Rahul stopped her. ‘There are many men – Dagar Khan, Muzahid Baig, Azhar Sekandar—’

Ali Shah started.

‘—who want her. You are just another.’

‘So, there are others besides Dagar Khan. I know Muzahid’s men are waiting at Babusar Pass as we speak.’ Ali Shah paused, then addressed Jahani. ‘Missahiba, if you are the shehzadi we will ride with you, fight for you.’

Jahani understood the look of hope in his eyes, held in check, just in case. If only she could know for sure it was true. She moved closer to Ali Shah and revealed where her red hair had grown through since it had been dyed black.

‘Forgive me,’ Ali Shah said. ‘As we know, many girls have red hair in the northern kingdoms.’

Jahani could only think of the sword. Azhar had given it to her, but was it special in some way?

She picked it up and held it on her palms to show him. ‘Do you recognise this scimitar?’ Her shawl slipped and rested on her shoulders as he shook his head. ‘I know nothing of my background or my family,’ she continued. ‘I don’t even know my full name because, as far as I know, I have never met my true parents. I cannot prove who I am.’ She touched her taveez. ‘I only have my dream—’

He lifted a hand to halt her speech and pointed at the taveez. ‘Whose is that?’

‘It is Jahani’s,’ Rahul said. ‘She was wearing it the day I found her.’

‘And the shehzadi was wearing it when I took her from the fort with the ayah.’ Tears ran down Ali Shah’s face as he sank to his knees.

Jahani and Rahul stared in silence as more and more men materialised on the track behind him, all sinking to their knees. Anjuli ran to Jahani and squeezed her hand.

When Ali Shah spoke again, his voice cracked. ‘Shehzadi Jahanara, we have found you at last. On the day I lost you, I made a vow that I would restore you to your throne.’

In shock, Jahani said, ‘Please stand.’ What shall I do? She glanced at Yazan.

Go north, Shehzadi.

She swayed on her feet. Why hadn’t she listened when Azhar had tried to speak?

‘How many men do you have?’ Rahul asked Ali Shah when the warriors rose to their feet. ‘And what is your plan?’

‘I have one hundred men with me, including these twenty men you see behind me. More are scouting the mountains and will join us at the Indus. Another ten thousand are stationed in the forest near the town of Gilit with my captain, Irshaad. He also has men in the Kingdom of Hahayul infiltrating Dagar Khan’s cavalry. They are all training to overthrow Dagar Khan in the hope of the shehzadi’s return.’ He glanced at Jahani again, concern clouding his gaze. ‘Your grandmother is still alive, Shehzadi. She was ill at a friend’s house at the time of the massacre, so escaped death. She has been quietly organising support in the hope that you were alive. Dagar Khan’s ­military dictatorship is not respected, and support grows for you underground. More tales of dreams and visions have surfaced this past summer. But,’ he nodded to Rahul, ‘we must leave now to deliver Jahani to the Kingdom of Hahayul. That way we will be in a better position to combat Muzahid Baig’s force if they catch up.’

Rahul nodded. ‘This is a sound plan, but I will still accompany Jahani.’

‘I understand you are her guide. Perhaps I can ask your advice about the best tracks to travel back to the Indus and on to Gilit.’

Jahani could hardly concentrate on the conversation. Too many thoughts ran through her head. If she were the shehzadi, she had a grandmother! She had to meet her, to know her. But Jahani didn’t feel elated as she had thought she would be when she finally discovered her identity and family. She frowned. What if she couldn’t do what the people expected of her? Jahani narrowed her gaze as Rahul and Ali Shah continued to talk. Would a man like Ali Shah want to rule for her? Kingdoms in the empire didn’t usually have queens. Even the Mughal empresses who wielded influence over their husbands still did not hold sole power. Is this why Muzahid wanted to marry her? Did he know she was the shehzadi?

The thoughts raged in Jahani’s mind as she took in the Qurraqoram peaks in the distance. Finally she knew they were her true home. They rolled back, the snow on them like clouds in the heavens. Maybe she truly could change things in her kingdom and make it better for the people. But how could she defeat Dagar Khan?

Rahul glanced at Jahani before he mounted Rakhsh. ‘How would you like me to address you?’

She looked at him in surprise. ‘You believe I am the shehzadi?’

He inclined his head.

‘Rahul, nothing needs to change. I am still Jahani, that little girl you saved and loved as a sister. Please, keep being my brother.’

His eyes were veiled and unreadable. ‘As you wish,’ he said, but his tone was curt.

Anjuli squealed as she mounted Chandi. ‘I will keep being your heart sister, Jahani. It is true! You are a shehzadi like Aunty Yasmeen told the nomad women.’

Jahani stared at her, comprehension dawning.

Anjuli read her expression. ‘Ji, that was the problem in the tent. Neema and the others knew you were no true daughter of nomads and wondered whose daughter you were. Even if you weren’t the lost shehzadi, there would be people who thought you were and that was why you were dangerous to the tribe.’

Jahani mounted behind Anjuli, her heart heavy. She had caused others so much trouble. And there was sure to be more to come.

Chandi whinnied. Shehzadi, this is just the beginning.