‘Majesty, I will accompany the prince to Delhi if he will permit me,’ said Nicholas.
Dara managed a faint smile. ‘I would be glad of it. You have already saved my life today. Perhaps the time will come when I can repay you … Now I should go to Nadira and help her prepare … she will be very anxious.’
‘I will come with you to the haram.’ Shah Jahan helped Dara to his feet again, then led the way from the apartments. Nicholas heard the customary cries of ‘the emperor approaches’ preceding them and then slowly fade as they went through the series of doors into the haram. But for how much longer would Shah Jahan be emperor, he wondered as he mopped his brow. It seemed unthinkable that such a mighty ruler could be toppled from his throne by a single battle and yet who would ever have thought that Aurangzeb and Murad’s rebellion would get this far?
He was about to leave the imperial apartments as well, to gather the few possessions he would take with him on the ride to Delhi, when to his surprise Jahanara returned. For a few moments they looked at one another in silence. Then Jahanara burst out, ‘Dara tells me that you have offered to go with him … Why are you so generous to us after everything that happened?’
‘It’s not generosity. I belong in Hindustan. I hadn’t realised that until I was about to leave. Your family has done me much kindness despite the event to which you refer …’ Nicholas’s voice trailed off for a moment, but then he continued, ‘It will be an honour to fight for Dara as I once fought for your father.’
‘Then on behalf of my father and Dara I thank you. But I must also ask your forgiveness. My thoughtlessness put you in terrible danger … I’m so sorry … I was only thinking of my own worries, never imagining …’
‘You have nothing to be sorry for,’ he interrupted her gently. ‘You were acting from the best of motives.’
Above her filmy purple veil, Jahanara’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I have no truer friend than you and I know you will help Dara in any way you can. He is the true heir of everything our great-grandfather Akbar strove for — justice for all, regardless of their faith. Aurangzeb would only divide our people, setting Hindus against Muslims. If he ever became emperor, his intolerance would scar this land just as fire once scarred this face of mine.’ With her right hand she slowly lowered her veil to reveal her blemished cheek. For a moment Nicholas stared at the mark, then reached out very gently to touch it, his blue eyes looking deep into hers. But then from outside came a series of shrill trumpet blasts, doubtless rallying Dara’s men ready for departure.
Nicholas’s hand dropped to his side. ‘I must go … but I will do all that I can, I promise you.’ Then without a backward glance he was gone.
Half an hour later, Jahanara watched through a jali screen as a small body of men began issuing from the fort. Somewhere among the riders would be her brother and Nicholas. As the column vanished into the gathering twilight she realised that she and Dara had never said goodbye.
Three days later, Dara, with Nicholas riding at his side, urged his sweat-scummed black horse up a low ridge. As they reached the crest they saw the city of Delhi laid out before them, sun glinting on the white marble domes of mosques visible above the crenellated walls, most of which were shrouded in purple shadow.
‘Delhi at last,’ said Dara. ‘And no sign of any rebel troops blocking our approach.’
‘We have been fortunate again, Highness, as we were when skirting Mathura.’
‘Besides, it would take a strong force to oppose us now on open ground given the numbers of men who have joined us.’
Nicholas nodded. Spread out behind them were nearly ten thousand men who had rallied to Dara’s flag over the past seventy-two hours. Some were elements of the imperial army defeated at Samugarh, others the garrisons of small forts along the road and yet others new recruits under local rulers responding to the urgent summons to arms issued by Shah Jahan.
‘Should we wait to take closer order before making our final approach to the city?’ Nicholas asked.
‘There is no need with no sign of opposition. Let’s hurry. Soon we’ll be relaxing with the governor in his apartments and planning how our joint forces will defeat my brothers,’ said Dara, and with a wave to his bodyguard to follow he kicked his black horse into a canter down the ridge towards the city about five miles away.
How much Dara’s mood had improved, thought Nicholas, as he followed him. The dazed and disconsolate prince had quickly recovered his spirits as forces had joined him, seeming to grow physically as well as mentally, so much straighter was he sitting on his horse.
A quarter of an hour later, shading his eyes against the setting sun, Nicholas peered towards Delhi’s great southern gateway a mile away. The gates themselves were closed, weren’t they …? ‘Highness, the gates are shut.’
‘A wise precaution in these troubled times,’ Dara responded. ‘The scouts I sent to alert the governor to our arrival should return soon. They’ve already been gone longer than I expected.’
Dara was right. Almost at once the gates opened just far enough to allow a small group of horsemen to emerge. A few minutes later the riders — as expected, Dara’s scouts — galloped up, leaving clouds of golden dust hanging in the still evening air behind them.
‘Is the governor preparing apartments to receive me?’ Dara asked, a broad smile on his face.
There was no answering grin from the tall bearded Punjabi who was the leader of the scouts. ‘They will not admit Your Highness,’ he said simply.
‘What do you mean? You must have handed over my father’s letter to the governor …’
‘We did, Highness. The captain of the guard took it to the governor. We were surprised that he did not return for half an hour. When he did, the governor was with him. He told us the letter was a forgery, that you were a renegade and that we were lucky he did not have us executed. Then he handed us this letter.’ The Punjabi produced a folded parchment from his green tunic.
Dara, a look of incredulity on his face, snatched it from the man’s grasp. As he broke the seal and read it, his expression changed to anger. ‘How low will my brothers stoop? Have they no respect either for truth or my father? Read this, Nicholas.’
Prince Dara,
The letter you have sent me is a forgery. I have been forewarned by your brothers that you are attempting to usurp the throne of your father whose mind is declining to such an extent that he is scarcely capable of either ruling or understanding the depths of your treachery against him. They have informed me that as loyal sons — unlike yourself — they are protecting him and have already defeated you once on the field of battle. They warned me that you are capable of any snake-like intrigue to further your impious and unnatural ambitions and to be on my guard against them. I have told them that being a loyal subject I will follow their orders. Therefore be gone. If you approach any nearer the city be in no doubt that my men will fire upon you.
‘How dare my brothers produce such perverted lies — an exact reversal of the truth — and how can the governor be such a fool as to believe them?’
‘Or perhaps pretend to,’ said Nicholas. ‘He is clearly aware of your defeat at Samugarh. Messengers from Aurangzeb or Murad must have alerted him to your likely arrival and I suspect brought him extravagant promises of reward if he adheres to them and forestalls your attempt to revive your fortunes.’