Princess of the dawn

Chapter 60

Bhagwant Das had come back to the camp with the men. Bharmal took his hands off his face at the approaching clatter of hooves and stood up. He wanted to talk to his son urgently.

"Find a comfortable place for the night, Caghatai Khan! I'm afraid I can only offer you the open sky as a roof over your head. We will have dinner together later. Khani Ghamma!" He stood up and hurried toward Bhagwant Das.

"Beta, did you find her?" Bharmal asked hopefully.

Bhagwant Das raised his head and shook it slowly.

"No, bapusa!" he said chokingly. "No trace of her. No one has seen her, no one knows anything about her. We've looked everywhere. We have searched the surroundings of the town. Nothing! We haven't found her. But we found Sujamal in an alley! He's... he's..." his voice broke.

"What about him?"

Bhagwant Das slowly shook his head. The raja lowered his head.

"This is what we found at Sujamal! It was lying next to him" He held out a simple clasp to him. "Didn't Jodha have a clasp like this? That would mean she was at Sujamal's side!"

"May Bhavani have mercy on his soul!" whispered the Raja. "Yes, this belongs to Jodha. She was with him! Then he defended her! Perhaps she could escape." Hope sprouted in him. "See that the dead are paid their last respects. I'm going to Champavati! And beta... Let us know when the arrangements were made for Sujamal's funeral. We will all pay our last respects to him. He bravely defended Amer until his last breath! Jai Bhavani!" "

"What about my daughter? Where is my girl? You found her, didn't you?" Champavati sobbed hysterically Champavati pounded her fists against Bharmal's chest and screamed at him. Tears ran down her cheeks without support. "Where is she? Where is my little girl?"

"Champavati, we don't know. Please, get a grip." Bharmal said softly and held her by her shoulders. Her arms sank down and she looked at him in despair. Tears ran incessantly down her cheeks. „Bhagwant Das and the men have not found her. They have searched everywhere. Maybe she's hiding somewhere, waiting for an opportunity to come to us. Look, this clasp was found by Bhagwant Das at Sujamal. It's Jodha's, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's hers!" She said tonlessly. She took the clasp and gently stroked it. She pocketed the clasp and tightened up. She clawed her hands into Bharmal's shoulders. "Find my girl! Please find my girl!" Fainting, she sank down.

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"Subha bakhair, Raja sa. I will now set out to obtain an audience with Jalal for you. I will report everything to him and I am sure a solution will be found!"

"Shubh prabhaat, Caghatai Khan! Now if you say so!" His heart was heavy.

"I will come back and pick you up! Khuda hafiz!" "Ghani Khamma!"

Caghatai Khan rode back to the camp of the hunting party by the quickest route. On the ride, he thought about how his friend could be helped. Surely Jalal would renew the offer of an alliance again and release the Raja's sons. What punishment would await Sharif ud-Din? After all, he was his brother-in-law. Jalal was very fond of his sister. Would he let him get away for her sake? Then the Rajkumari was still in danger from him! Caghtai Khan knew his reputation with women very well. If he wanted one, he took it ruthlessly! Well, there would be one possibility. But would it be an option for Jalal? A marital union! A good political connection and the Rajkumari would be safe. But the young Rajkumari would have to pay a high price for it. If she entered into marriage with him, she would be safe. But she would have to live in a different world, change her religion and would the Raja agree? A marriage between a Mughal ruler and a Hindu princess... The marriage would strengthen the alliance with the Mughals even more. Amer would be secure with the Mughal Sultanate behind it, and perhaps others of the Rajputs would follow Amer's example, when they were seeing that Jalal didn't want to suppress them. In this way, the country could be united peaceful. But perhaps Jalal had no interest at all in a marital union with the Raja's daughter. Who knew what Jalal was planning. Depending on how the conversation with him would go, he would suggest it to him! The girl was adorable and Jalal loved the women too!