“We can certainly keep it hidden until we get to Surat, at which point our options will be much greater. You have great power in the port city, don’t forget, because you control so much of the commerce that passes through it. One thing we can certainly do is see to it that Nur is placed on a different ship than yours. She will not see you for the whole voyage.”
“And then?”
Smidha threw up her hands in a little gesture of exasperation. “And then we will see! If nothing else—”
She broke off that line of thought. She didn’t think the princess was ready for that yet.
If nothing else I am bringing several poisons with me, Nur Jahan has no bodyguards, and Firoz Khan is quite strong enough to pitch her over the side on a dark night.
So was Jahanara herself, for that matter. Smidha might even be able to do it.
She reached out her hand and gave that of her mistress a reassuring little squeeze. “We will figure something out, I am sure of it.”
Sinhagad Fort
Western Ghats
Salim braced his shoulders, his hands clasped behind his back. He recognized the face of the umara—one of many he’d encountered at Dara Shikoh’s court—but couldn’t recall his name. “Am I summoned to Red Fort? And if so, do I bring my men with me?”
The emissary from the Sultan Al’Azam shook his head. “No, Amir.” He withdrew a scroll from his tunic and handed it to Salim.
“This contains your orders in much greater detail. The essence is that you are appointed the new governor of Gujarat and are to establish your headquarters in Surat.” The umara glanced around at the large number of Salim’s forces who were visible on the nearby walls of the fortress. “Take all your men with you. They will form the core of your forces until you can recruit more men.
“Which you will need,” he continued. He tapped the scroll with a finger. “As you will see, the Sultan Al’Azam is providing you with plentiful funds. He instructed me to emphasize to you that he wants you to concentrate on building a navy for the empire. He is tired of the insults and depredations of the ferenghi flotillas.”
Salim stared at him. Build a navy…?
The Mughal empire had always been a land power, not a seagoing one. For at least the past century, they’d relied on the various European naval forces to keep piracy suppressed in the Arabian Sea.
More to the point, Salim himself was an Afghan. What he knew about building, maintaining—much less properly using—naval forces amounted to practically nothing.
He tightened his jaws to keep his mouth from sagging open.
The umara seemed to understand at least some of Salim’s disquiet. He leaned forward and said softly, “The Sultan does not expect you to be the expert on the subject, Amir. Those we already have—and in greater numbers than you probably realize. For some time now, the Begum Sahib has had our shipbuilders in Surat designing war vessels based on not just European but up-time designs. None of them will be there when you arrive, for the Begum Sahib is taking all of them to Jeddah.”
“Jeddah?” He tightened his jaws again, lest he look like an outright fool.
The umara nodded. “She is going on Hajj. By now, she will have already left Agra. Two of the new vessels will continue on from Jeddah to Europe, in order to expand our trade. She will bring the other two back with her when she returns. So as you can see, you will have considerable resources available to you when you arrive in Gujarat, and still more by sometime next year.”
He handed over the scroll. “My congratulations, Governor.”
On the road to Surat
Southeast of Agra
“I’ll say this—” Priscilla used a forefinger to move aside one of the curtains concealing the interior of the howdah from outside view. She didn’t move the curtain very far, though. “It can get a little stifling in here, especially in the middle of the day, but it’s not an uncomfortable way to travel. At least once you get used to the…”
She used her hand to mimic the rolling, swaying motions of an elephant’s back.
Jahanara glanced up at the canopy covering the howdah. “I can have more water spread on the cloth, if you like. That will cool us.”
Priscilla shook her head. “It’s not that bad.” She left unsaid that every time the caravan stopped, it seemed to take at least an hour to get it underway again. She was a little surprised, actually, that Jahanara seemed very willing to make such stops. The woman was normally given to driving projects through with great energy.
“A least we’re traveling at the right time,” said Monique. They had now entered India’s best time of year, the cool and dry season called rabi. That season would last about four months, until well into February, before the heat of garam arrived. By then, they would have crossed the sea.
“Really,” said Jahanara. “I can have the howdah stopped so we can have more water sprinkled on the canopy.” She made a little fluttering motion with her hand. “It is not a problem.”
Sinhagad Fort
Western Ghats
“I leave you in charge of the sowar, Sunil,” said Salim. “I am instructed to take command in Gujarat as soon as possible.”
His subordinate officer frowned. “Surely you can wait a day or two. The Sultan’s emissary seemed in no great rush when he left us yesterday.”
Sunil glanced over at the small force Salim had assembled by way of an accompanying guard. “Twenty men is not much.”
“It is enough. With as many good remounts as we have, no bandits will undertake a pursuit anyway. I repeat: I must be off.”
He frowned, very sternly. “Duty calls. And that call is relentless, as always.”
A moment later, he was up in the saddle and leading his little troop
