The Fate of a King of Kings

"A runaway king"

"I was castrated by a just man, my birthright was denied by great men and I lived my youth in captivity alongside a gentle man, and now you judge me for taking my sword against those who call themselves righteous?

Aqa Mohhamad Khan Qajar.

Kerman 1794

The pale moon was to be the mute witness of a tragedy. For many a distressing month, the walls of the city of Kerman endured an implacable siege by the "Usurper Eunuch's" armies, whose cannons and muskets gave no rest to its overwhelmed inhabitants. It was soon to be their darkest hour; their resistance, heroic yet useless.

A scheming traitor had under the cloak of night, held the great gates of Kerman wide open, allowing for the passage of their besiegers who promptly seized the walls. Defenders of the true monarch of Persia were quickly surrounded by the curved sabers and musket barrels that blinded their brave lives, and the streets flooded with an angry mob, thirsty for blood and plunder. Such cruelty had never before been witnessed by one who aspired to sit on the throne of the peacock. It was this very battle that would come to define the dominance between the two kings, and the usurping eunuch, a man of Qajar lineage, defeated the noble son of the house of Zand.

And in the midst of the crimson chaos that enveloped the streets and squares, a young king fled from his adversary in to the mountains knowing that the battle had been lost, a pair of horses of good blood crossed a discreet exit between the walls, their horsemen, wrapped in black cloaks that fluttered in the night wind, they looked like ghosts soon engulfed by darkness, hiding them from their relentless pursuer.

They did not stop in their mad flight, leaving behind the walls that sheltered their just resistance, crushed and stained by bitter betrayal, the screams of euphoric violence mingled with the anguished laments of innocents who will soon feel the excessive anger of their executioner, that weighed on the heart of Lotf Ali Khan, who felt his royal pride wounded, knowing how powerless he was to flee like a thief from his own domain.

He fled to fight another day, but he desired a brave death with sword in hand, now clinging to the fragile hope that his faithful vizier, Mirza Hossein had planted in his downcast spirit. They rode for hours leaving the city of Kerman behind, entering paths that only goat herders traveled. These winding and steep roads that led to deep gorges resembled the roads that lead to hell, but in a turn, at a crossroads, a dozen men around a bonfire sat waiting, which turned around with their muskets in hand. seeing the two horsemen approach, but when Lotf Ali revealed his beautiful face to the gloomy men, they bowed respectfully. He was still their king to them.

The other rider descended heavily from his horse, it's face showed the weight of defeat, his long gray beard and wrinkles around his face gave him a sick appearance barely hidden under the fine clothes he wore. A man from the crowd, who looked like some high ranking commander from his appearance, asked to the old man:

-What has happened? The usurper's army has withdrawn from Kerman?

-Kerman has fallen -said Loft Ali gloomily before Mirza Hossein answered-Right now that Qajar dog is walking in the royal pavilion with his soldiery, he will soon send his people in search of me, What happened to my family? Are they still captive in Shiraz?

The high-ranking man paled at the question, and in a wavering voice that betrayed his regret, he answered to the fugitive monarch.

-King of kings, the usurper ordered his family to be transferred to the village of Tehran where his armies and slaves are working day and night to turn that slum into a city. He dreams of making it the new capital of Persia. Rumor has also spread that all the males of Zand's household upon arrival in Tehran, including the little prince... will be castrated.