Sa'eed - The Warrior

Planning at night 2

The Shehzada leaves with Ali for his Isha salah in the Shahi Masjid. It made me happy to see him observe the 5 daily prayers courtesy to Malika Mariam who had trained him well religiously. I complete my prayers in the room and think over the matter at hand. 15 days of tough training is what the Shehzada needed. Along with that he needed to gather support. Winning over the palace inhabitants wouldn't be easy now. But the Shehzada could do better by winning over his subjects. Meanwhile I had to spin a web over Mir Jafar.

There's a knock and Shehzada enters with the ring I gave him in his palms. He places it on the table in front of me. "This was my father's most prized possession, he gave this ring to Abu Fazal for he risked his own life to save my fathers. He had proved beyond doubt that he was a vaffa. How did you get this ring Saeed?"

"Abu Fazal himself gave it to me Shehzada". "How long before his death did you acquire it?" he asks. "Not long", I reply. "His death was a great loss both for my father and for the kingdom. How often do you come across a man as brave and as loyal as Abu Fazal?", he says.

Tears threaten to break through as I swallow the knot in my throat. I couldn't let the Shehzada know about this yet, where was my power of endurance? With a deep breath I push my feelings aside. "Do you remember the Shehenshah's inner circle in those days?" I ask. "Yes", he replies "Abu Fazal was the Wazir-e-aala, Hammad khan the army general, Khan Baba was the chief adviser, Faizi Muhammad was the treasurer, Maqsood Ahmed was the administrative officer, Noor Ali was the minister for welfare and tax and Mahmood Hassan was record keeper and royal scribe. They were the seven staunch men who encircled my father like a shield."

"Do you know where they all are now?" I ask. "Abu Fazal, Faizi Muhammad, Maqsood Ahmed and Noor Ali died during an accident at a hunting expedition. Hammad khan retired immediately after that. The traitor! He left my father at the time of his need. Khan Baba disappeared. Alive or dead no one knows. Mahmood Hassan continues to be the royal scribe".

"That is what was told to people at large but that doesn't necessarily mean every bit of it is true. Do you really think those 4 brave men died in an accident? Do you think Hammad Khan being so loyal left the Shehenshah at the time of his need? Even I have no information to give on Khan Baba, however Mahmood Hassan was threatened and tortured to continue as the royal scribe as no one held as much information as he did and only he had the detailed history of all documents".

"How did Abu Fazal and his friends die then? And why did Hammad Khan leave?"
"That, Shehzada will be explained by Hammad Khan himself when the time is right".
"Where is Hammad Khan? Do you know him?" asks the Shehzada.

"Yes, I do. For now I will say no more. Tonight we have lots of things to arrange. Let's start with your education. How much have you learnt from your tutors?" "In politics I covered the basics of administration and revenue system. I know the rules, regulations and punishments of our law. I didn't cover our foreign relations, military management, the running of royal kitchen and harem." "I see. How about Islamic education?", I ask. "The basic knowledge of Arabic, Persian, recitation of Quran and Shariah rules". "You have picked up quite a lot for a person who gave his tutors a hard time", I comment. "I used to concentrate Saeed, though I appeared least bothered. I never took the pains of writing anything for I stored everything here", he said pointing to his head. "Shehzada, if you don't mind my asking what made you hate studies?"

He sighs and is lost in thought for a while. "Some other time", he says. I am a good observer, I gather information from appearance, behavior and logic more than speech. The look on Shehzada's face tells me I have touched a delicate topic. I could see emotions in his eyes. Though he knew me to be his well wisher he preferred not to share his pains and feelings with me. That was understandable as it is not easy for a male to expose his weakness in front of a female. Partially it was my fault as well for I never encouraged him to take our bond to an emotional level strictly being professional and sticking on to the work at hand. But something inside me wanted the Shehzada to pour out his feelings in front of me. I wanted to be his backbone in every way. If I was going to make a new person out of him, it had to be from every aspect. I had to help him cope up with his pains as much as I helped him cope up with responsibilities. But would that be right? If I started taking a share in every part of his life won't that make it difficult for me to move away once I am done with my mission? A complete minute passes between us in silence. I clear my throat. "OK some other time then". He nods.