"A Rajput name, Sharif Sahib. He said he was requested by Her Highness,
the princess, to report to you immediately on arriving."
Nadir Sharifs heart skipped a beat. Does this mean the English
_feringhi_ has arrived? Allah! On this of all days.
"Tell him I am at home." The voice was coolly matter-of-fact.
The eunuch bowed again and disappeared without a word. As Nadir Sharif
watched his skirt vanish past the doorway tapestry, he tried to clear
his mind and decide quickly what now must be done. Instinctively he
turned once more to monitor the _darshan_ balcony. Still nothing. Then
he smiled fleetingly, realizing that the fate of the Englishman would
depend very much on what happened at _darshan_ this very morning.
The visitor appeared, in freshly brushed red turban and jeweled
earrings, and wordlessly strode past the eunuch at the doorway, pushing
the partially opened tapestry aside as though a foe in battle. There
was about the man the haughty carriage and contemptuous eyes always
encountered among Rajputs in high places, and Nadir Sharif recognized
him immediately. The prime minister also knew this particular Rajput
had never trusted him, and never would.
"Nimaste, Sharif Sahib." Vasant Rao's salaam was correct but cold.
"It's always a pleasure to see you."
"When did you arrive?"
"Last evening."
"Have you arranged lodgings for the English _feringhi_? Even before
informing me you were here?"
"He has no lodgings yet, Sharif Sahib, only rooms at a guest house. The
_feringhi_ insisted no one be informed of his arrival. He did not say
why." Vasant Rao returned Nadir Sharifs expressionless stare. "The
prince's orders were to honor the _feringhi's_ requests whenever
possible."
Nadir Sharifs face betrayed none of his anger as he turned again toward
the _darshan_ balcony. A flock of vagrant pigeons darted overhead,
following the line of palaces along the river.
"How is the child?"
"He is well formed, Sharif Sahib. Your daughter, Her Highness, was also
well when I left Burhanpur. She gave me this dispatch for you."
Nadir Sharif accepted the bamboo tube and, controlling his expression,
tossed it aside as though it were of no more consequence than a
gardener's report brought by a eunuch. "I've received no pigeons from
her for four weeks. Only official dispatches from Ghulam Adl's
secretary in Burhanpur, which tell nothing. Why isn't he in the field
with Jadar? What is happening?"
"I'm not with the army now, Sharif Sahib." Vasant Rao casually stroked
his moustache. "Perhaps the prince has ordered secrecy to protect his
movements toward the south."
Nadir Sharif started to reply, but immediately thought better of it.
Instead he traced his finger along the railing of the balcony in
silence and seemed to listen to the distant pigeons as he rotated the
answer in his mind, knowing it was a lie and quickly evaluating the
possible reasons why.
In the north, dispatching pigeons in the field might be a risk, but
never in the south, where the infidel Deccanis always know the
deployment of our army better than its own commanders. No. There's
something planned that Jadar does not want me to know. Which can only
mean His impulsive Highness, Prince Jadar has undertaken something
foolish. I know him too well.
After a moment Nadir Sharif broke the silence, without turning his face
from the _darshan_ balcony.
"Tell me about the _feringhi_."
"Do you mean what he says? Or what I think about him?"
"Both."
"He claims to be an ambassador for the English king, but his only
credentials are a letter he brings, said to request a trading _firman_
from His Majesty."
"What are the intentions of this _feringhi_ king? Trade, or eventual
meddling?"
"No one has seen the letter, Sharif Sahib, but the Englishman says his
king merely asks to trade yearly at Surat."
"Which means the English must again contest with the Portuguese. Until
one of them eventually abandons our ports. They cannot both trade. The
Portuguese Viceroy would never allow it."
"What you say seems true. It's said the Christians in Europe are having
a holy war. I don't understand the cause, but the English and the
Portuguese seem to be historic enemies because of it. However, the
Englishman claims their disputes in Europe are now over, and that the
Portuguese attack on his ships was in violation of a treaty of peace
recently signed. Whether this is actually true no one knows. The
English ships are gone now, but if they come again, who can say what
will happen."
"Will they come again?" Nadir Sharifs eyes told nothing of his
thoughts, but his voice sharpened. "Soon?"
"The Englishman has not said. Perhaps next year. Perhaps before that."
Vasant Rao caught the inflection in Nadir Sharif's voice, and it
triggered a chain of improbable possibilities.
"Goa will never allow them open access to Surat. There must be war on
our seas if the English return." Nadir Sharif paused for a moment and
then continued. "Who do you think will triumph?"
"Ask those who claim the gift of prophecy, Sharif Sahib.