Princess of the dawn

Chapter 37

Amer - days later -

"Rani Sa! Rani Sa "

"Moti, what's going on? You are completely dissolved!"

"Jodha, ...!"

"What about Jodha?" asked Champavati, alarmed.

"Jodha is gone!"

Champavati turned pale and dropped onto a stool.

"What are you saying Moti? She surely just rode out in secret!" she called hopefully.

"No Rani Sa! Some of her most important personal items are gone. She left at dawn. One of the horse boys saw her when she set off with her horse."

Champavati sat slumped on the stool. How could she have believed that Jodha would accept the marriage! Her heart tightened. How could she! If her escape became public, her reputation would be ruined. Oh Kanha! What had her girl done. She had to speak to the Raja at once as to how they could keep the matter a secret. Then they had to find Jodha and bring her to reason. She straightened and got up.

"Moti, come with me to the Raja Sa and tell him everything you know. We have to see that we keep the matter a secret."

"Theek hai Rani Sa!" Moti swallowed and together they made their way to Raja Bharmal.

"What did she do! yelled the raja flatly. "I didn't expect that from her! She always wanted to do everything for her country and the well-being of her people. How can she do this to us and run away? Was I always too lenient with her?"

"Raja Sa, don't worry your head. Let's think about how we can keep the misfortune a secret. Nobody is allowed to know about it. And then we have to find them and bring them back. She has to come to her senses!"

"You are right, Champavati. We only initiate Bhagwant Das and Sujamal. If she finds anyone, it will be the both of them. We'll send them off right away She can't have come too far yet. Maybe someone saw her too. We say we sent her to Mathura to receive Lord Krishna's blessing on the marriage."

After the Raja initiated Bhagwant Das and Sujamal, both were appalled by their sister's reaction.

"Bhai, where do we start looking for her?" Bhagwant Das was at a loss.

"Let's start with the horse boys. Maybe someone saw which way she was riding. Then at least we have a clue. Maybe one of the gatekeepers can give us information. Surely she took the little gate at the stables."

They had no luck with the horse boys. But the gatekeeper had seen her ride towards the woods behind the palace.

"Perhaps she has ridden to the mandir of her guruji and seeks refuge there," suggested Bhagwant Das.

"That is an option. You ride there. I ride in the forest. There are a couple of caves there that we found on our rides. Maybe she is there.

"Well! Let's ride off!"

Sujamal had a suspicion. But he didn't want to share it with Bhagwant Das. If he found Jodha, he wanted to talk to her first.

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Jodha had only one thought after her father's announcement! Away! Get out of the palace! She had made up her mind since she had let tears run free after the announcement in the stable at Lathika. She always wanted the best for her country. But she wanted a man with whom she could direct the fate of an state together. She didn't want to just stand in the background and deal with boring needlework and inconsequential chatter of women about jewelry and clothes. She wanted to be useful to her country. Wanted to be close to people and take care of their worries and needs and improve their situation. She could only do that if she had a man by her side who would approve of it. This inflated, arrogant Rai Singh was not the right one! She had to think carefully about how to convince her father to withdraw the proposal. What did she care about the proposal? Another kunwar would be found for her! She was sure of it. Her decision was made.

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Bikaner

"Rai Singh! Raja Bharmal has accepted our proposal for the marital union of our states. Soon you will marry Rajkumari Jodha Bai!" Rao Kalyan Sing exclaimed happily when the messenger brought him the news from Amer.

"Father, I will not marry Rajkumari Jodha!"

"What?"

"You submitted the application without my knowledge. I don't want to marry her!"

"What's wrong with being associated with Amer my son?"

"I do not like her! She is much too brash and interferes in everything. She didn't let us talk undisturbed and wanted to get involved in my conversation with her brothers whenever we met. She's not like a girl at all. More like a boy. I do not like her. She will interfere in everything when we are married."

"You will surely know how to deal with her! And she is very beautiful!"

"Might be, father, but I don't like her!"

"It comes by itself when you're married!"

"Father! No! What do we get from a connection with Amer? It's more useful to Amer than to us. They have a good alliance with us to protect them from the desires of other countries. For us this only means additional deployment of our troops!"

"But it is of use to us against the Mughals if we are allied with our neighboring states! Rajputana will sooner or later arouse the desires of Jalal ud-din Muhammad. Then it will be good when Rajputana is united."

"This might be too, father, but I'm not marrying Rajkumari Jodha!"

"And how do you think we should reject our own proposal now?"

"I don't know father. There is surely a way!" Rao Kalyan Sing sighed and shook his head.

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Lahore

The next morning, Jalal and Abdul had escaped from the camp and rode out. On his return he withdrew with Abdul to finally answer Jodha's letter. He had Fadhil Jodha's doves bring him. After Abdul had written the message, Jalal put it in the small tube and attached it to the leg of  the pigeons.

„Shukriaa Abdul! Now I'll let the pigeon fly. Come on!"

They walked to the edge of the camp. Jalal stroked the pigeon's plumage. She cooed softly. He smiled.

"Fly my beauty! Get my message to its destination!" he whispered so that Abdul couldn't hear him and threw the dove into the air.

When he was alone in his tent, he considered about the business with Adham last night. He was still angry with his behavior. There were certainly some women among the dancers who were not averse to an adventure. Why couldn't his foster brother accept the girl's no. He hoped Adham would behave in the future and try his luck with more willing ladies. His foster brother was always a bit over the top. Hopefully that wouldn't be a problem now that he was in command of his own small force. He sighed. Lost in thought, he grabbed the arrow that had been shot him while hunting and twisted it between his hands. A mughal arrow. Who shot him down ... Something about the arrow caught his attention. But he couldn't say what. After a few more twists, he put it down again and sighed again. He leaned back on his sofa, relaxed, and thought about an elephant fight the next morning. In the middle of his thoughts about which elephants he wanted to compete against each other, his left hand began to tingle and the ring became warm. He was getting restless. A queasy feeling spread inside him. "Jodha!" He exclaimed! He was sure something was wrong with her. He felt a short stitch in his right ankle. The pain disappeared as quickly as it came. The queasy feeling remained! He closed his eyes. Was there something wrong with her ankle? "Whatever it is, may Allah protect you," he muttered.

What happened to Jodha? Will Sujamal find her? Help them with giving your vote