Blistering sunlight reflected from the interior of the defences as Jack staggered outside. He looked around; eyes narrowed in an attempt to combat the light as much as the pounding of his head. He lit the cheroot and inhaled for the first time in weeks, feeling the smoke relax him.
"Ah, Windrush," General Havelock greeted him. "Glad to see you"re back on your feet. Your men are in the Chuttur Munzil, beside the Gomti River. That"s another of these huge palaces."
"Yes, sir. May I ask what"s been happening?"
"We aren"t strong enough to break out," Havelock said. "We lost over five hundred men in the final push through the bazaar, and so rather than relieve Lucknow, we are now under siege ourselves."
Jack nodded – so it had all been in vain. The struggles and the victorious battles, the l
