The Leopard Princess Read online

  Jahani let Shamsher slip to the ground. She couldn’t believe what this man was saying; she knew the words before he spoke them. He was recounting her dream! ‘Who was that man?’ she whispered.

  ‘It was me,’ he said simply. ‘My name is Ali Shah. I am the commander of the Makhfi, the hidden army, who are loyal to the royal family of Hahayul.’ He stared intently at Jahani. ‘I need to know your name, if you will excuse the impudence.’

  Rahul stepped forward. ‘I don’t excuse the impudence. She will not give her name to a man who is a stranger.’

  ‘Please forgive me for being so open,’ Ali Shah replied steadily, ‘but the oppressed people of Hahayul have been praying and hoping these past twelve summers for the lost shehzadi to appear – to be alive. A pir told me she will return with a male leopard and spark such a fire in the hearts of the people of our kingdom that they will be inspired.’ He paused, watching Jahani. ‘And a leopard has just led my men to you.’

  Just then Yazan leaped from above and landed in the space between Ali Shah and Jahani. He padded to Jahani and sat beside her. Give him your name.

  Before she could think, the words were spoken. ‘My name is Jahani.’ She lowered the dupatta covering the bottom half of her face.

  Ali Shah stared, especially at her mouth. Rahul frowned and stood between them.

  Ali Shah lowered his gaze. ‘Jahani was the nickname for the shehzadi,’ he said.

  She felt dizzy. Her head spun as she considered the ­possibility: could it be true? All Azhar’s insinuations, Yasmeen’s visions – true after all?

  Ali Shah was speaking again. ‘The shehzadi’s full name is Jahanara Ashraf Shaheen Khan.’

  ‘Did you say Khan? As in Dagar Khan?’

  ‘Indeed. Many people in the north have this as a tribal name, but Dagar Khan is a distant cousin to the late tham. He wanted to rule and control the rich Silk Route that runs through the northern kingdoms. And he has been doing this since the massacre. But while rumours that the child didn’t die that day are kept alive, the people will never acknowledge him as the true tham. He is desperate to produce the body of the shehzadi.’

  Jahani said, ‘I have been plagued by dreams of fire and of people shouting and mayhem ever since I was two. Could my dreams be reality?’

  Rahul bit his lip. ‘I was also there that day. I was a shepherd boy, and I rescued a child from drowning in the river.’

  Ali Shah stared at him, then glanced at Jahani’s head and frowned. ‘Did the child have red hair?’

  ‘She did. As do many little girls. We heard that Dagar Khan was abducting red-haired girls, so we took her south to our pasturelands away from the confusion and danger. Whether the child was the shehzadi or not, she was in danger.’

  Ali Shah glanced at Jahani again. ‘We still need proof. You certainly have the composure of the ghenish, the queen, but I have not seen your face clearly enough to know if you have her exact likeness. And the shehzadi had red hair like her mother.’

  Jahani raised her hands to remove the dupatta covering her hair, but Rahul stopped her. ‘There are many men – Dagar Khan, Muzahid Baig, Azhar Sekandar—’

  Ali Shah started.

  ‘—who want her. You are just another.’

  ‘So, there are others besides Dagar Khan. I know Muzahid’s men are waiting at Babusar Pass as we speak.’ Ali Shah paused, then addressed Jahani. ‘Missahiba, if you are the shehzadi we will ride with you, fight for you.’

  Jahani understood the look of hope in his eyes, held in check, just in case. If only she could know for sure it was true. She moved closer to Ali Shah and revealed where her red hair had grown through since it had been dyed black.

  ‘Forgive me,’ Ali Shah said. ‘As we know, many girls have red hair in the northern kingdoms.’

  Jahani could only think of the sword. Azhar had given it to her, but was it special in some way?

  She picked it up and held it on her palms to show him. ‘Do you recognise this scimitar?’ Her shawl slipped and rested on her shoulders as he shook his head. ‘I know nothing of my background or my family,’ she continued. ‘I don’t even know my full name because, as far as I know, I have never met my true parents. I cannot prove who I am.’ She touched her taveez. ‘I only have my dream—’

  He lifted a hand to halt her speech and pointed at the taveez. ‘Whose is that?’

  ‘It is Jahani’s,’ Rahul said. ‘She was wearing it the day I found her.’

  ‘And the shehzadi was wearing it when I took her from the fort with the ayah.’ Tears ran down Ali Shah’s face as he sank to his knees.

  Jahani and Rahul stared in silence as more and more men materialised on the track behind him, all sinking to their knees. Anjuli ran to Jahani and squeezed her hand.

  When Ali Shah spoke again, his voice cracked. ‘Shehzadi Jahanara, we have found you at last. On the day I lost you, I made a vow that I would restore you to your throne.’

  In shock, Jahani said, ‘Please stand.’ What shall I do? She glanced at Yazan.

  Go north, Shehzadi.

  She swayed on her feet. Why hadn’t she listened when Azhar had tried to speak?

  ‘How many men do you have?’ Rahul asked Ali Shah when the warriors rose to their feet. ‘And what is your plan?’

  ‘I have one hundred men with me, including these twenty men you see behind me. More are scouting the mountains and will join us at the Indus. Another ten thousand are stationed in the forest near the town of Gilit with my captain, Irshaad. He also has men in the Kingdom of Hahayul infiltrating Dagar Khan’s cavalry. They are all training to overthrow Dagar Khan in the hope of the shehzadi’s return.’ He glanced at Jahani again, concern clouding his gaze. ‘Your grandmother is still alive, Shehzadi. She was ill at a friend’s house at the time of the massacre, so escaped death. She has been quietly organising support in the hope that you were alive. Dagar Khan’s ­military dictatorship is not respected, and support grows for you underground. More tales of dreams and visions have surfaced this past summer. But,’ he nodded to Rahul, ‘we must leave now to deliver Jahani to the Kingdom of Hahayul. That way we will be in a better position to combat Muzahid Baig’s force if they catch up.’

  Rahul nodded. ‘This is a sound plan, but I will still accompany Jahani.’

  ‘I understand you are her guide. Perhaps I can ask your advice about the best tracks to travel back to the Indus and on to Gilit.’

  Jahani could hardly concentrate on the conversation. Too many thoughts ran through her head. If she were the shehzadi, she had a grandmother! She had to meet her, to know her. But Jahani didn’t feel elated as she had thought she would be when she finally discovered her identity and family. She frowned. What if she couldn’t do what the people expected of her? Jahani narrowed her gaze as Rahul and Ali Shah continued to talk. Would a man like Ali Shah want to rule for her? Kingdoms in the empire didn’t usually have queens. Even the Mughal empresses who wielded influence over their husbands still did not hold sole power. Is this why Muzahid wanted to marry her? Did he know she was the shehzadi?

  The thoughts raged in Jahani’s mind as she took in the Qurraqoram peaks in the distance. Finally she knew they were her true home. They rolled back, the snow on them like clouds in the heavens. Maybe she truly could change things in her kingdom and make it better for the people. But how could she defeat Dagar Khan?

  Rahul glanced at Jahani before he mounted Rakhsh. ‘How would you like me to address you?’

  She looked at him in surprise. ‘You believe I am the shehzadi?’

  He inclined his head.

  ‘Rahul, nothing needs to change. I am still Jahani, that little girl you saved and loved as a sister. Please, keep being my brother.’

  His eyes were veiled and unreadable. ‘As you wish,’ he said, but his tone was curt.

  Anjuli squealed as she mounted Chandi. ‘I will keep being your heart sister, Jahani. It is true! You are a shehzadi like Aunty Yasmeen told the nomad women.’

  Jahani stared at her, comp
rehension dawning.

  Anjuli read her expression. ‘Ji, that was the problem in the tent. Neema and the others knew you were no true daughter of nomads and wondered whose daughter you were. Even if you weren’t the lost shehzadi, there would be people who thought you were and that was why you were dangerous to the tribe.’

  Jahani mounted behind Anjuli, her heart heavy. She had caused others so much trouble. And there was sure to be more to come.

  Chandi whinnied. Shehzadi, this is just the beginning.

  9

  Above the Indus River

  Kingdom of Gilit

  The next night Jahani stole a quiet moment with Rahul and Anjuli at the fire while Ali Shah and his men ate their dhal. ‘Would you have told me I wasn’t your cousin if Yasmeen never had her dreams?’

  ‘Probably not. Many children are adopted by their uncles when their fathers die. They aren’t told if they are very young when it happens. Maybe it is different in wealthy homes where there is land to share. Then I suppose birth sons would be quick to acquaint an adopted rival with the truth.’

  ‘Isn’t truth important?’

  He regarded her a moment, then looked back at the fire. ‘Not when it would cause grief.’

  Jahani thought of the murdered mir and ghenish of Hahayul: her dead parents. She didn’t remember them, but it felt right to mourn them. ‘I was an orphan all along.’

  ‘With a foster mother and adopted parents.’

  ‘Two foster mothers. Hafeezah always felt like my mother and still does. She taught me her mother tongue and now I’ve discovered it was my own. I wonder if she ever suspected.’ Then she added quietly, ‘It feels as if there has been some higher design right from the beginning, as if …’ Her voice faded and Rahul gave her a sharp glance. ‘Apparently Azhar’s father suggested that Hafeezah be my ayah …’ She shook her head, trying to connect the threads to her dreams. ‘I can remember more now.’ Many of her old dreams had new details but she saw them as if they were her past. And what of her other dreams? Was she seeing what could happen next – like Yasmeen?

  Jahani woke suddenly to the sound of clashing swords. It wasn’t even daylight but Rahul and Ali Shah were nowhere to be seen.

  Immediately Chandi’s thought came: You are safe, Shehzadi.

  She rose quickly and put on her sheepskin boots and kamarband. Then she woke Anjuli. ‘Get ready,’ she whispered, ‘in case we need to flee.’ She looked out along the mountain side, but couldn’t see who was fighting.

  ‘Come, mount and be ready.’ She helped a yawning Anjuli onto Chandi and offered her a dry chapatti. ‘I’ll try to see what’s going on.’ She quickly wrapped a cloth around her head, disguising herself as a man.

  Jahani drew her sword and crept along the track. She rounded a bend and gasped to find Ali Shah and his green-clad men in combat with soldiers in tan outfits and red turbans. There wasn’t much room to battle. Some were fighting on rocks close to the cliff’s edge, some were on the track and others were on the grassy mountain side.

  Then she saw Rahul. He was being forced backward by a determined swordsman. One more step and Rahul would fall a thousand feet to his death. She raced into the fray and challenged the attacker.

  Left, right. Slice. Chandi was in her head and Shamsher thrummed in her hand. It was as if the sword had eyes and a mind. It was just what Rahul needed to take the advantage and she moved on to fight another man.

  Pink rays of sunlight shot over the scene as the remaining attackers fled, leaving their injured and dead.

  Jahani’s headcloth had unravelled; she pulled it off and her plait tumbled down her back.

  Ali Shah and his men stared at her, mouths agape. Rahul’s eyebrows rose. ‘That was you?’

  ‘Shehzadi, you were fighting with us?’ Ali Shah was not pleased.

  She sheathed her sword. ‘Indeed I was.’

  Another man said, ‘She fought like Gordafarid in the old hero tales.’

  ‘So we have a warrior shehzadi in our midst,’ Ali Shah said. ‘Like your mother.’ He was frowning, but all the men she had helped, including Rahul, bowed to show their respect.

  ‘Please rise,’ she said. ‘I only did what you were doing. Why shouldn’t I fight?’

  She caught one of the men staring at her as though she were an apparition.

  ‘Rabb,’ Ali Shah said to him. ‘Scout the path ahead to the Indus. Let us know of any problems.’

  ‘Ji, sire.’ He left with a backward glance at Jahani. It made her uneasy.

  Their progress to the Indus River was slow as Ali Shah’s men weren’t accustomed to the terrain this far south. By evening, Rahul called a halt. ‘There is a cave here hidden enough not to be noticed and room to engage attackers if they should find us. Further on we may have no shelter.’ He glanced at Jahani; she nodded.

  Ali Shah didn’t argue. ‘Very well.’

  Anjuli picked up sticks and small branches to help Rahul make a fire while Jahani brushed Chandi. Afterward Jahani sat on a rock watching Rahul and Anjuli blowing on the flames, their heads together.

  Even though she had told Rahul she was still Jahani and that nothing need change, it wasn’t entirely true. Knowing she belonged to a family and had a history made her feel different. A ‘fullness’ had descended on her, an after-feast feeling of peace and satisfaction.

  She sighed. Ali Shah would not think of peace. She watched him approach and sit near her. He had a copper shield in his hand.

  ‘Shehzadi,’ he said in Burushaski, ‘if you wish to fight you need to be equipped. This shield is for you.’ He handed it to her.

  ‘Ju na.’ She ran her hand over the smooth surface.

  ‘While I have your attention, I must acquaint you with the history of the northern kingdoms, and what we’ll need to plan for the kingdom to be restored to you.’

  She glanced at him and frowned.

  ‘The tham of Hahayul – your father – and his neighbour, the mir of Nagir, signed a treaty to unite the kingdoms of Hahayul and Nagir when you were grown. Dagar Khan currently controls both kingdoms, therefore he will fight to keep them under his command. He will also not rest in his mission to assassinate you. We must be vigilant and ready to engage his army at all times.’ He paused. ‘We also need a way to overcome his cavalry as he has Hahayul’s trained mountain horses at his disposal.’

  Rahul sat on the other side of Jahani.

  Ali Shah hesitated, but Jahani said, ‘You can speak in front of Rahul.’

  ‘You are trusting, Shehzadi.’

  She sat straighter. ‘You are asking me to trust you, are you not?’

  He sighed and, with a glance at Rahul, he continued in Hindustani. ‘I knew your father. He was gracious and trustworthy. For this reason, I am hoping that many of Dagar Khan’s soldiers will follow us when they know you have been found.’

  ‘Will this knowledge be enough?’ she asked, cocking her eyebrow.

  ‘We will need to be stealthy, like a leopard.’ His eyes glinted, hinting at an inner intelligence.

  Jahani wondered what else his plans would entail. ‘Actually,’ she said, ‘I want you to consult me in any plans as I need to learn about my position. What if I do not agree with your decisions?’

  Ali Shah’s eyes grew wide, while Rahul dipped his head and grinned.

  ‘You will not need to trouble yourself, Shehzadi,’ Ali Shah spluttered. ‘We just need to get you safely to your kingdom.’

  ‘And another person will rule in my name since I know nothing?’ She frowned at him. ‘I think not.’

  Ali Shah cleared his throat. ‘As you wish.’

  It felt satisfying to have a man listen. Is that how the Angrezi rani felt? Sameela’s tutor had said the Angrezi rani had told her ministers and army what to do. Jahani hoped to do the same.

  Ali Shah stood at the sound of horses approaching. Jahani called Anjuli to her side and Ali Shah and Rahul moved them back into the cave, while unsheathing their swords. Jahani blew out a breath in annoyance when both men shielded
her from view. Rahul was a head taller than her and Ali Shah taller still; she could see nothing.

  There was a shout and both men relaxed. ‘More of my men,’ Ali Shah said. ‘How goes it, Ehsan?’ he called.

  His troop leader dismounted. ‘The men who fought us earlier today were Dagar Khan’s soldiers.’

  ‘Dagar Khan?’ Ali Shah frowned. ‘Not this war lord, Muzahid Baig?’

  The troop leader shook his head. ‘We extracted information from the wounded. Muzahid’s men are still at Babusar Pass, waiting for the shehzadi. They have intelligence that she will travel that way.’

  Jahani glanced at Rahul, but he stared at Ehsan, avoiding her gaze.

  ‘It is the most obvious path to the northern kingdoms,’ Ali Shah murmured. ‘Anything else?’

  ‘There is another troop gathering from Naran.’

  ‘More of Dagar Khan’s men?’

  ‘Nay. From the late Baqir Abbaas and his wife.’

  Jahani let out a cry and pushed past Rahul. ‘It cannot be! They were alive when I left.’

  ‘Shehzadi, forgive me,’ Ehsan said. ‘My informant stated Muzahid Baig beheaded Baqir and Zarah Abbaas, and now their troops have risen against the war lord.’

  Jahani’s breaths quickened and Rahul moved closer, worry in his eyes. But he couldn’t comfort her; no man could. In the end it was Anjuli who took Jahani into the cave and brushed her hair.

  ‘It’s all because of me,’ Jahani whispered, and the tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Anjuli took Jahani’s face in her hands. ‘Nay, Jahani bai. Muzahid Baig is an evil man. It is on his conscience, not yours.’