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OUR SHORT STORY
WefoinG Blood
houe makes The Queen H Woman
By Dewan Sharar
(Copyright reserved by the author)
Rana Jagmehr Singh, Rajah of Bindi, was an old man when his wife died, leaving him childless. Therefore he had adopted young Shamsher, orphaned son of one of his doughtiest generals, and made the lad his heir, so that when his own time came the State might not lie open to the mercy of the first invader— in particular Chandrasen of Atari, who might be depended upon to rush in and seize it.
Chandrasen of Atari was the besthated man within a radius of very many miles, and with good cause. Cruel, treacherous, and utterly without conscience, his name had become an idiom in perfidy. Ostensibly there was friendship between him and Rana Jagmehr Singh; and he had been at such pains to foster that 1 semblance of amity that in time 1 the eld Rana came to believe him.
"Were we two united there is nothing we could not do. We could take half Rajputana were we so I minded. We should be invincible," ! said Chandrasen.
"That might have been so thirty years ago, but I am an old man now," said Rana Jagmehr Singh.
"True; and I am no longer young," said Chandrasen, who was, perhaps, half the other man's age, "But there are the years ahead to be thought of. Your adopted son will be a strong ruler; but I have only a daughter to inherit Atari after me. Now if she were married to Shamsher there would be an alliance that the strongest would hesitate to challenge."
"That," said Rana Jagmehr Singh, "is true. I will think it over."
He did, and to such purpose that before long the marriage was duly arranged, the date fixed and the preparations begun. So nearly everyone was satisfied — the people of
Bindi and Atari because they foresaw comfortable years of safety ahead. The Princess, because she had heard reports of Shamsher'r. courage and valour, and Jagmehr Singh because he liked the idea of Atari eventually coming beneath the sway of his heirs. Chandrasen. though not at all attracted by the last prospect, was also well pleased in that dark heart of his. In fact, the only person who felt no happiness at all was Shamsher.
AN UNWILLING BRIDEGROOM
"Truly my life is not my own," he said bitterly to Ram Das, the Pradhan (dispenser of justice), who had long been his friend and counsellor. "Why should I wed a woman whom I have never seen, the daughter of such a sire, moreover, and who by all accounts takes after him? You have heard the stories that are told of Kamla Rani; it is said that she is as high-handed and as headstrong as her infamous father"
"It is also said that she is very beautiful," said the Pradhan.
"I had rather she had less beauty and more womanliness," said Shamsher.
"You know as well as I that I must submit to this marriage, because it is my liege lord's wish but I go to it most unwillingly."
The day of the wedding arrived.
Never in the history of Bindi or Atari had there been so splendid an occasion. Throughout both States the streets were garlanded and music sounded and there was rejoicing everywhere.
The road that crossed the border between the two kingdoms was gorgeously decorated and thronged with onlookers; and along it in magnificent state, through the shouting,
With one stroke of his sword, Shamsher severed the bridal knot and plunged into the fray.
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