Freeing Maldives - A Hero in Time

Past (1500s) - MALE PALACE (Night)

Andre sits at the head of the table in the dining room, looking out at the men under his command who are way past drunk. 

Some have fallen asleep at various parts of the room. Some are boisterous and singing loudly, off-pitch. Some are staggering around the room, knocking into others, causing fights. 

Andre sees Medhoo and Tuffashana, also enjoying the festivities a little too much as they grope at the female servants who have come to replenish their cups. 

A female servant trying to get away from the groping hands of the 2 Maldivians accidentally knock the cup of wine that was held by Andre, causing wine to spill onto Andre's pants. 

The female servant, absolutely terrified, fall to their knees and beg for forgiveness as a deathly silence falls upon the dining room. 

"Please forgive me, my lord. I did not mean to." 

Andre removes a wheelock pistol from his holster and points it at the female servant, before slowly pointing it at Medhoo and Tuffashana. 

Blood drains from the faces of the father and son duo as Andre continues to point the pistol at them. Andre waits for the tension to increase even more, before a slow smile spreads over his face, saying "why I wouldn't want to waste such good bullets uselessly."

Nervous laughter emerge from the duo as the room continues to remain silent. Andre turns the pistol back to the femnale servant and shoots her in the head. 

"She on the other hand, ruined my favourite pants." 

Andre gets up from his seat and invites Medhoo and Tuffashana for a private night cap in his private sitting room. The duo deems this as a public boost to their image as no other Maldivians had been invited to the room. 

Once in the sitting room, Andre informs them, "help yourselves to the wine in the jug. I'll just go and change my pants." 

The father and son duo have nearly finished the jug of wine when Andre walks back into the room, having changed into new pants as well as having reloaded his wheelock pistol, which he carries, dangling at his side. 

He takes a seat opposite the duo, placing the pistol on the side table, his hand resting over it. He takes his time to survey the two men, just as they were also carefully watching him, all 3 devious and cunning minds at work. 

Medhoo is the first to break the silence, "It is an honour and privilege for your great self to invite us to join you in your private room." 

He is about to continue when Andre stops him. 

"Is there anything you wish to tell me?" Andre asks, while tapping his fingers on the pistol. 

Knowing the father and son duo, they kept their mouth shut since they did have several things planned up their sleeve. 

Andre decides to make it easier for them. 

"It seems you have plans to go to Baarah," Andre informs the duo. 

This eases the tension that the duo had, for it was one of the more mundane and least daring things they had planned. 

Tuffashana explains, "indeed we are planning to go to Baarah. Now that the Vedor was murdered, the Maldivian natives might revolt against the Portuguese. The natives would require a strong leader who they could follow, someone like myself, who would become Sultan one day, first by marrying Princess Sitti. The locals have grown too lax under the Vedor's rule, being allowed to practice their own ways, rather than the ways of the Portuguese crown. I would most certainly put a stop to this by controlling the northern atolls."

"And what of the Utheem brothers?" Andre asks. 

This time, Medhoo answers, "I fully support Tuffashsana's plan. The Utheem brothers are well loved in the north. There have been talks of the natives revolting, because they were killed coming to meet your esteemed self, as per your request. By allowing Tuffashana to marry Sitti and by ruling the northern atolls, this will stop any useless revolt by the people to the Portuguese crown."

Andre is silent, his fingers keeping a continuous drum on the pistol. He takes his time, sipping the wine from his cup. "And is that all that you wish to tell me?" Andre asks. The duo nod their heads.

Andre takes a final sip from his cup, and sits more at attention than his prior lounging position. He asks them, "if you claim to have so many contacts in Maldives, then why was it that my spies have informed me that the Utheem brothers are indeed alive, and that they have built a ship whose speed rivals that of any Portuguese fleet?"

Medhoo and Tuffashana, clearly having no idea of this new information, tries to salvage their status in the eyes of Andre, by saying, "we did not wish to bear bad news to you, and had wanted to resolve the situation ourselves." 

Andre is clearly amused, asking by resolving the situation, they would murder the Utheem brothers, again?

The father and son duo are now trying to talk over each other, trying to make excuse after excuse. Andre, having had enough, puts a stop to this, "your petty plotting is getting extremely tiring. Leave!"  

The duo scurry out of the room like rats.