(17 Years Later)

A look into the future

An exquisite feast was organized in a relatively large open field where all the imperial relatives, court officials, civil and military officers dressed extravagantly. The ground bustled with the sound of their laughter and chit chats making the place exceptionally lively until they heard the guard calling out at the top of his lungs. 
 
“His majesty, the emperor of Mughal sultanate has arrived.” 
 
Everyone's gaze swept towards the emperor, riding on his ceremonial elephant covered with a red saddle cloth. A mere look at the mighty beast and one could say it possesses the virtue of its rider.
 
 The proud, arrogant, domineering gait of the giant beast resembled its master, giving the hint of authority to everyone present around.

As the gigantic animal came to halt the emperor dismounted and lead his way towards the people, his people, every head present ,lowered automatically, some in respect, rest in fear. Such was the aura Baadshah of Mughal sultanate zaffar carried with him.
 
His slightly wrinkled face with a few marks on his hard yet old features depicted his years of experience whilst his calculated yet simple walk gave away his shrewd nature.
 
Under the dazzling sunlight, a dash of silver in his mane shone in bright that seem like celebrating his three glorious decades of sovereign on the sultanate. 
 
"Greetings your majesty, long live your majesty," the officials chanted in respect with their heads still low. 
 
The Emperor strode his way majestically through the crowd and looked at his people before calmly speaking “All of you may sit."after which he sat on his splendid jeweled throne.
 
A bright glow ascended on his face watching his ministers settling down in their respective seats after him. 

A lot has changed in all these years of regime, in his personal as well as social life. His borders that were limited to one fourth of hind years ago now run half of the nation.

For the awam's betterment, many new rules and regulations were introduced and implemented. A few malpractices’ were disposed too, while his personal life, well it was on track to say the least. He won many more concubines for his harem whilst a few more wives were addition to his list for political purpose, substantially increasing the number of his children too.
 
 Begum Nadira was a long lost name in the nation whilst only her stories remained where she was always the vicious villain. 
 
Under his rule the empire flourished, the people lived in prosperity and military strength was high. All thanks to the ministers and other officials at his disposal. It was only because of their sincerity and dedication towards him and the country he could run the nation so smoothly. He was happy as he lived up to his name as ' father of nation ' and he really had to work hard for this.
 
Back then, when Begum Nadira's shocking truth scarred his heart deeply, he closed himself for days in his private chambers. His emotions left unsettled even after punishing her, as she deserved. That woman was not only his wife but also a companion who accompanied him for years and remained his favorite wife ever.
 
He pondered repeatedly that where he went wrong that made her so resentful towards him and his unborn kids. Despite of her being childless didn’t he always treat her fairly and loved the way he always did? Then why? 

A question that haunts him till now.

He was infuriated and hurt at the same time, yet his heart unknowingly sank on when he heard the news of begum Nadira'sexecution. The palace eunuch reported him about it.
 
 Didn’t she deserve it? Of course yes, she did!Then why the pain still lingered somewhere? He felt ashamed of himself for sulking for a woman who tried to harm his child and made his begums barren. 

He hated her, to an extent that he felt disgusted even to think about her , still he seemed affected by her death.
 
As his brain was in a chaos, partly due to anger and partly due to disbelief, he could not bring himself to look into court matters and offended many ministers in the process. Peace of mind was something he needed most at that time, thus he decided to go for a vacation, somewhere peaceful,away from the palace ,away from the imperial harem and spend some time alone to settle down his thoughts.

The much-waited opportunity to the enemies who were waiting for a chance to attack and shred the kingdom into pieces, was given to them on platter.
 
Under such weak moment, a true vassal of the Emperor took the reins of the empire in his hands . 

Great grand general ,Azaan Rahmad khan is late Empress dowager's brother-in-law (sister’s husband) . He followed the Emperor since the time he was a crown prince. He has seen him growing up from an amateur prince to powerful Baadshah of Mughal sultanate and he was so proud for dedicating his life working under a great person like him .

Eveyone encounters a bad phase atleat once in their life and Emperor's happend to be a drastic one that shattered his heart completely .
 
The old general helplessly saw the breakdown of the Emperor and stayed silently by his side. Meanwhile, he strengthened his grip firmly over imperial army and created a powerful military system . None of the enemies dared to invade the mughal land ,general khan made quite sure of it .

General khan fought with the enemies at bay , for the country and participated in many conquests,and helped the Emperor establish the present Mughal Empire.
 
His exceptional contribution in the establishment of Mughal Empire and constant support in Emperor's personal life made grand general khan, the emperor's most trusted aide .

Emperor acknowledging his unparalled devotion rewarded him by giving him the charge of imperial army making General khan the Minister of military.
 
Emperor with the help of General Khan even worked earnestly to make this empire big like it is now. He even married away his daughters to neighbors and ensured peace with those who surrendered and those who did not were restored to war.

Everything set back into place ,the Emperor balanced himself physically , mentally, emotionally and spiritually ,he dedicated his life for the betterment of general public and did everything in his hands for his people and won their hearts again.
 
And today's banquet was organized to celebrate the return of this great supporter of Emperor, ‘General khan’.
 
He had gone to fight with the troops of Turkish enemies who attacked the North West frontier, pushing the capital in emergency. Recently the empire remained busy resolving issues with Marathas, Sikhs, Rajputs and other regional powers, leaving the frontier unsafe. This gave a way to the Turks to dare to attack one of the most powerful kingdom.
 
 Grand general khan under the Emperor's order, commanded the army to fight back,leading cavalry to attack one hundred thousand enemy soldiers and has returned to his country after eight long months. 
 
As soon as the news of his victory reached the emperor's ears, he commanded him to present in front of him, immediately and receive his reward, which the humble servant refused and suggested to distribute the prize money among his soldiers instead.  
 
Normally it is very rare to find a devoted person serving an emperor with utmost loyalty, and when such gem was there, one should know to treasure it. 
 
 This is what Baadshah of Mughal sultanate has done. Although the grand general humbly refused to receive his reward, the emperor still arranged a grand feast to celebrate his victory followed by the game chaugaan to entertain the general and others.
 
 “Greetings your majesty.” the Grand General walked in and kneeled down bowing his head respectfully on front of the father of nation. 
 
“Forego the formality,” the Emperor waved his hand and asked him to get up, after which Grand general  stood up looking powerful and domineering, dressed in iron armor.
 
Although he was old but from the way, he carries himself,even young people cannot win over him. His manner of speech, his posture, his boldness everything screamed his valor and power.
 
As the old bone sat on his seat right beside the Emperor, after paying his respect, the Emperor signaled to start the game. 

The sound of horse hooves and neighing filled the ground soon after with excitement. Royal princes and sons of important officials were to participate in the game. With emperor’s signal the participants charged at each other with their chaugaan sticks trying to control the ball. 
 
The crowd cheered aloud earnestly watching the game. A handsome young man shined amidst the bunch of burly men catching everyone's attention. Dressed in a plain royal blue long robe followed by a pajama, he completed his attire wearing a long sleeved chogha open down the front to knee length.
 
 Around the waist of his robe was tied a long piece of fine fabric like a sash, adorned with complex embroidery made from silver thread of silks. His entire body radiated an aura of grandeur and nobility. 
 
The glow on Emperor's face intensified looking at the young lad who shared his blood , his heir ,the crown prince of Mughal sultanate and the most favored son of the emperor, Prince Omar . 
 
The young prince over the time proved himself a successful and courageous leader. At the age of fifteen, he started his military career and was declared viceroy of Kabul. By nineteen, he already had command over a good portion of imperial army.
 In addition, he recently started shouldering his father's burden by taking interest in political as well as social matters of sultanate, resulting a proud Emperor and father in his wake.
  
Emperor could trust him even with closed eyes, as his son resembled him a lot who stood like a true warrior for his kingdom.
 
Apart from all these, the young prince was also quite famous for his good looks. A well-defined face prominent facial features, with a taller build he was the most desirable man among the young women. 

There was no secret that he already had a dozen of concubines in his harem with no official wife yet because of which he was always the topic of discussion among young girls wondering who would the crown prince choose to marry, who will be the lucky one to win his heart. 
 
With the bout of loud cheers resonating in air, Emperor's attenttion shifted back on the game, from his son . The crown prince twisted his body flexibly to face the ball and pushed towards his fellow teammate.

Although the game started peacefully in the beginning, later it turned fierce.
 
 There was a kind of competition brewing in the air especially between two participants who played the game with their heart and soul.

As the game continued, the ball passed from one player to another and stopped right in front of a certain person. 
 
Dressed in a plain black robe with similar color overcoat and a sword hanging from his sash the man covered his face with a mask, which hid the upper half face of this mysterious person.
 
 His imposing aura sent shivers down the spine of his fellow companions while the coldness enveloping his whole body made every person hesitate to look at him directly. The sharp eyes has been alert and cautious since the very start.
 
This is the rumored 'untamed beast' in human clothes,the second prince of mughal sultanate and the disfavored child of 'his majesty' , Prince Jalal Mohammad . 
 
As the ball stopped in front of him, he prepared himself to strike the ball, when the other participant pushed him off his horse and took the chance to score, in turn winning the competition in the end. 
 
Everyone gasped as the second prince fell on the ground hitting his back on the arena hard. His hands and forearms were scrapped and raw from the dirt while the left leg was badly bruised.
 
Imperial guards rushed towards the arena sensing trouble whilst the crown prince jumped down his horse to check on his younger brother. 
 
Refusing the help offered by his older brother, the mighty prince stood up on his own deftly hiding his pain and glared at the person who caused all this. 
 
Messing with a wrong person means seeking your own death. 
 
“Pardon me, your highness, it wasn't completely my fault, blame the crazy beast who lost its control for a second.” the person mounted on the horse said concealing his evil smirk in his gruff voice.
 
Some things cannot be hidden even if tried, so are the human traits. He is the Empress doted nephew and Wazir-e-sultanate's grandson. In resemblance to his aunt and grandfather 'Subedar Akram khan' was always arrogant and despotic. 
However, his smirk was short lived as the other second only a flash of light was seen.
 
Even before anyone could grasp the situation, a dagger ran deep into the horse leaving the audience gasp in utter shock.
 
 The poor animal collapsed on the ground with a loud thud taking its master down with it and died instantly before whimpering in pain and agony. 
 
“If the horse is not listening to its master's orders,it sure deserves punishment, doesn't it?” Wiping the splattered blood from his face,he gritted his teeth and left the ground without sparing a glance at the now injured person, stunned and somewhat scared.

No one dare offend him, never ever!
 
Whilst everyone murmered behind the beasts retreating figure , the Emperor stood watching this from afar, a scowl deepened on his face.

His tyrant of a son needs to be dealt with, he thought.

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Glossary

Chaugan - a game similar to golf and polo .

Chogha - overcoat kind of thing .

Pajama - loose trousers worn in asian countries .

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Finally the chapter , please let me know whether u liked it or not . Thank you all who voted for the previous chapter ,please do leave a comment also ,if possible . I Will be glad to know your thoughts .

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