Chapter Eight.
The campaign had made its way through the bordering lands without a mishap. The officers of the townships sat astride their mounts enjoying the late heat before the rains came at the end of the year. They marched for twenty miles and then made camp. The East India Officers settled around their fires and those with money to spend on a night's entertainment their servants, or 'batmen' to the rear of the column and would the prettiest whores of the camp followers, and bring them to their masters. Camp followers, a rag-tag collection of the wives of the common soldiers, and non-commissioned officers including Mara. The newly promoted sergeant had installed his beautiful wife in a tent on the edge of the camp and ordered a loyal corporal to stand guard whilst he ministered to his officer. The English Officer, now fully immersed in the pleasures of the Indian woman seemed to possess an unendingly deep purse, which Ghadnar dipped into as he always took a commission for the whores that graced his bed, but also seemingly insatiable. Night after night, a whore was procured and escorted through the camp, her head covered with her saree and deposited within the officer's tent. As the column, moving at a leisurely pace, progressed Ghadnar began to notice that the whores would demand more money to service his officer but also would complain about his treatment of them. She escorted another fresh whore from the officer's tent, the whore winced as she walked,
"I will not visit that English devil again. Do not call upon me!" She complained. Ghadnar usually ignores the whinging of whores but as he reached the edge of the enclosure and across the brush palisade, he could stop his curiosity,
"What are you complaining about? You have been paid and I doubt his prick is bigger than other men's!" Ghadnar's barb caused a shocking reaction.
"Your English devil has gone too far this time! My dirty hole will be sore for days and I will not be beaten like a poor field hand!" The whore hurried away and Ghadnar tutted to himself. The Englishman had become quite perverted of late, he had begun to be more violent and now indulged himself by beating the women, whom he paid, and using their holes without a care or a warning. Now, he was completely barred from the camp whores and now Ghadnar feared that other female camp followers would be his next pool for seemingly never-ending hunger for woman flesh. As he walked, he considered which wives could be either coerced or bribed to share the Englishman's bed and which his officer would consider pretty enough to be a potential for his desires.
"My loyal corporal has a prettyish wife, and he is hungry for gold. I'll be seeing him soon!" He smiled ruefully, "At least we shall be under fire soon maybe the enemy will solve all my problems by killing him or killing me!" he was horrified at the thought of either outcome but he made his way home to his beloved Mara.
In the two weeks that followed, the army of the East India Company allies made slow progress and more worryingly made no contact with the forces of the Rani. Not even a scouting party had been detected. The columns moved at a snail's pace and ennui set in. The private soldiers became fractious, the non-commissioned officers punished, carelessly the infractions of the private soldiers and the white English officers were less concerned with their men's welfare and only their own amusement. The officers, often second or third sons of minor nobility wore the shoulder boards of bought commissions and regarded the Indian people as mere playthings and lacking in greatness.
Their attitudes would soon bring dismay to the column.
The hidden scouts had kept an exact count of the regiments, cavalry, field artillery and supplies that rumbled idly towards the palace. Deewan and the Rani's guard had been a whirl of activity. The fort now bristled with new brass cannons, the infantry lined its walls and all the approaches were mined with black powder charges buried in the sand on all the approach roads. Gobinder and the Rani reviewed their mounted forces and set two militia companies to act as light infantry and skirmishes. They had been schooled relentlessly in their marksmanship and now believed themselves a match for East India men if not the feared redcoat army of England.
The Rani was under no such illusion. The preparations were done, and the armed might of two districts bore down upon them, ostensibly in the name of the East India Company, but they were hungry tigers wanting to divide Jhansi between them, depose her and her son and simply have the company stay on the sidelines and await the usual bribe of gold. Her intelligence gathering had been sharp and even though letters were sent and received to and by the East India Company; no support came. No redcoat reinforcements and now she beset with enemies again. In the deepest darkness of her bed chamber, the voices rang in her head like a great bell; independence from British rule! She had sent envoys to forces outside Jhansi, to Tapi Tope, the warlord in the est, paving a way for her escape and security should this battle go against her. Her escort of her best guards stood ready with her great white horse, Balal, ready to flee the palace and away with her son. She clung to Gobinder now, in her private tower after he had made love to her and spoke of her fears but Gobinder, always loyal, always noble reassured her that should they be overwhelmed, his life meant nothing and he would fight an entire army to keep her safe.
Gobinder, Deewan and the six escort guards trained furiously throughout the day. They practised with sword, musket and dagger; their prowess was unmatched and they would give their lives for Rani's safety. Gobinder had lost weight and now was leaner and rippled with muscle and when he was naked before her, Lakshmi admired his maleness and beauty. His love-making wad at times ferocious and tender and in response, she rode him like her beloved horse as he grasped and caressed her slender breasts. It had been one warm, bright morning when Lakshmi and Tara appeared at the training of her guard and demanded that they too, would be drilled and trained as men. Lakshmi was already a formidable horse-woman and was as good as any man with musket and sword. Gobinder bowed and the two women were paired with himself and Deewan and in the days of the enemy's slow march they sweated, trained and strengthened their arms. In the evenings, worn through with the martial skills of battle, Lakshmi would call for Gobinder for his love in their secret tower.
This night, the night of the watcher's report that the enemy had been sighted in the astern approaches, Lakshmi had called not only Gobinder to the tower but also Tara and Deewan. The foursome sat and took tea and talked about the coming day,
