Princess of the dawn

Chapter 6

Raja Bharmal's camp

Jodha awoke from a restless sleep. She dreamed of dark, alert eyes that sought her gaze. She was slowly waking up. After the morning prayer, she dressed in her white exercise robe and went to the horses. There she met her brothers who were already waiting for her. They rode off together. Jodha enjoyed the ride along the Yamuna river. The peacefully flowing river, the green landscape, a doe stood by the water with her calf. She absorbed the morning mood. On the way back they met two riders. As they approached, Jodha recognized the figure of the young ruler. They greeted each other as they rode past and the siblings returned to the camp. Jalal had recognized the sons of the Raja. But who was the white-clad person with the veiled face? His curiosity was piqued.

The next morning he and Abdul set off even earlier. When they passed the Rajput camp, they actually saw four horsemen leave the camp. The figure clad in white with a veiled face was there again. They caught up, and greeted the riders. The person dressed in white stayed in the background. The men quickly got into conversation and talked about martial arts and rode on together. Jodha was silent. When the conversation turned to archery, she could no longer hold back and interfered. Her brothers gave her warning looks. But she couldn't contain herself. Jalal was surprised. Could it be the girl? The conversation turned now to horses. Jodha praised the speed of her horse in the highest tones. Jalal's temper ran away with him. He couldn't take this!

"Do you want to challenge me" he shouted angrily?

Her brothers looked at each other in alarm.

"Why not?" shouted Jodha. "Let's ride up to that tree over there. Who is there first!"

She pointed to a lonely tree some distance away. Before the brothers could hold her back, she stormed off on Lathika. Jalal after her. The astonished brothers and Abdul stayed behind.

"Who is that?" asked Abdul curious.

The brothers hesitated to answer until Khanghar Singh said embarassed:
"That's our sister Rajkumari Jodha Bhai".

"What?" asked Abdul "that's a girl?"

Admiringly, he looked at the white figure that seemed to have grown together with her horse. Her words about martial arts had already impressed him and now her wild ride.

"Mashallah" he thought. "No wonder she piqued Jalal's interest."

Little by little, Jalal caught up. During the wild ride, Jodha's turban came off and her long hair fluttered in the wind.

"Ha", Jalal triumphed inwardly, "I was right! It's the girl!"

At the same time they both arrived at the tree. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Mashallah," said Jalal, "what a good rider you are. I couldn't defeat you."

He was fascinated by her eyes. Jodha laughed.

"I told you that Lathika is as quick as a ligtning."

"Who are you? What's your name?"

"I am Rajkumari Jodha Bai, daughter of Raja Bharmal" she said proudly.

So he was right. He stared at her.

"Why did you look at me all the time while I honoring your father?" He asked suddenly. "You dare something!"

"I was wondering what kind of person it is who walled in heads in a tower and dangling a headless corpse at the gallows."

Jalal was speechless at her ruthless honesty. How dare she? He felt uncomfortable. Bairam Khan had given the orders. As a deterrent to nip any further uprising in the bud. And he had agreed. He just told her that it was meant to act as a deterrent.

"My brother already told me that. So he was right" she said thoughtfully. "That is cruel!"

Jalal was silent. He didn't know what to say. To break the silence, he asks:

"Who taught you to ride? Does every woman in your kingdom learn to ride like that? "

Jodha proudly replied, "Surely. I am a Rajvanshi. My father and my cousin taught me to ride a horse."

"And you can also do archery or do you have your knowledge only from books?" He provoked her.

"Are you kidding me? My cousin taught me that too" she told proudly.

He was impressed. What a contrast to Ruqaya she was. From his point of view, one could have a reasonable conversation with the princess.

"Do you like pigeons?" he blurted out.

"Yes, very much," she replied, "I have a lot pigeons in Amer. Before we left for Dehli, I nursed one back to health who had broken her wing"

So she liked pigeons, just like him. She became more and more sympathetic to him.

"I like pigeons a lot too," he replied. They looked at each other again.

"I think we should ride back," she said and broke her gaze. She saw her brothers wave.

They rode back to the others in harmony. Jodha wrappedher turban around her head again. They said goodbye before the camp.

Precap
Thoughts