The Chronicles of Shamballa

Chapter II: The One Eyed Emperor

It took them almost the entire day to reach Calcutta and by the time he had reached the station, it was already night time, around 8 p.m. Ram Babu helped him with his luggage and Carey was greeted by two constables who took him away on a horse carriage. The constables were two Indian men and there was something about them that spooked him a bit- one had a small scar on his left cheek. Ram Babu was happy to be finally out of Awadh, this place looked a lot safer.

“Say, how long will it take to reach the Bungalow?” asked Carey to one of the constables sitting at the front of the carriage.

The constable turned back and smiled and simply said-

“Yes, yes-“

“Do you not understand me man? How far- is the- Governor’s Bungalow?” Carey asked again but slower so that he would understand.

But the man simply smiled and nodded and said-

“Ok-ok-“

“Great- you don’t speak English- Don’t they teach you anything at the station?” remarked Carey and fell back on his seat.

He was eager to meet the Governor and get to his rooms where he could have some proper rest but it seemed to take too long to reach the Bungalow. Almost an hour passed and yet the Governor’s Bungalow was nowhere to be seen. The constables were taking him through a village road and out into a shaky bridge. Carey looked at his watch, it was almost 9.30 p.m. Something was not quite right about the constables, where were they taking him? The horse carriage slowed down on the shaky bridge and the horses didn’t seem too eager to step on it. Carey looked at Ram Babu and asked him to talk to them in their native tongue, Ram tried to ask them but they replied something in some other native tongue, which even he couldn’t understand. He knew how to talk in Hindi but these men were speaking in another dialect. He could make out that they were telling him not to worry and sit tight. He looked at Carey with worried eyes.

The men crossed the shaky bridge somehow and they took the carriage towards an open area. Carey looked around, the carriage lanterns shook terribly as they moved along on bad roads. There were paddy fields on both sides, filled with fog. He was sure that they weren’t taking him to meet the Governor, this was some sort of kidnapping. Suddenly he saw the scarecrows on the paddy fields moving. One moved, then the other, then another- the scare crows were coming to life!

The Carriage stopped in the middle of the road and the constables jumped off and ran away into the fields as quickly as possible. Carey couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on. Ram cried out in terror as he saw the scarecrows walking towards him from the field. Carey looked closely, he had no gun but he was ready to use his fists if necessary.

“Sahib-look-Bhoot! Ghosts! Run Sahib- let’s run!” cried Ram Babu pointing at the scarecrows.

“Hold on! They aren’t ghosts, they are men- look- people- disguising themselves as scarecrows,” said Carey.

Ram quit his sniveling as he saw the scarecrows take off their disguises. They were men, well some kind of goons, with rifles on their backs, almost a dozen of them. One of them walked up to Carey and said-

“The Nawab of Shahpur demands your acquaintance-“he said.

Carey thought it wouldn’t be wise to resist a dozen men with guns. He agreed and the men took his carriage towards a royal palace that lay in the outskirts of the city. He realized now that the men that the governor sent were somehow replaced by the Nawab’s men which would explain why they didn’t understand English. But wouldn’t that mean that the Governor would send men looking for him when he knows that his men are missing along with an entire carriage? What on earth was going on in this wicked place?

After passing through pitch black roads and spooky forests, the carriage finally stopped in front of a huge palace. The enormous gates were made from gold and Carey and his valet were warmly welcomed into the palace by a dozen servants awaiting to serve him. His luggage were taken care of and he was led through a huge garden and into the majestic hall of the palace. Carey noticed the intricately designed décor of the palace and it seemed to him that everything was made from gold. He was led into a well-lit visitor’s room where all sorts of food and drinks were beautifully arranged on a huge table, the cutlery was made of brass and silver and the furniture was beyond beautiful. Carey was so mesmerized, he almost forgot that he was brought there against his will. One of the ministers arrived and said-

“I apologize for the inconvenience caused Mr. Carey but the Nawab will see you soon, I request you to ask your valet to leave the room and wait outside for he is just a servant,” said the well-spoken minister.

Carey looked at Ram Babu apologetically and he left the room through the back door smiling and bowing.

“Very well then, please welcome His Highness, the Nawab of Shahpur, he who was ordained by God himself and his beloved daughter Princess Meena” said the minister and bowed down in respect.

An old man walked into the room with a walking stick in his hand. Behind him walked a gorgeous young woman dressed in the most beautiful Indian attire. She had a pale skin but deep blue eyes and a slim body. Carey’s eyes fixated upon the queen- her long hair and that exposed waist...

He then looked at the Nawab and saw that he had a golden strap on one of his eye. Carey bowed in respect and the Nawab raised his hand and signed him to be seated as he himself sat down with great difficulty on the sofa. The princess sat right beside him and kept staring at him with curious eyes, she had never seen a white man before!

“You must forgive my men, I asked them to be discreet while bringing you here- I have matters of grave importance that need to be handled urgently,”

Carey felt like he was listening to an Englishman speaking, the Nawab was quiet fluent.

“Your majesty, I appreciate the hospitality but I think the governor won’t be pleased when he finds out about this discreet business,” replied Carey trying to be as respectful as possible.

“Ah! The Governor, what does he know- bah! His audacity to tell me what to do, you know, people used to lay down their lives for me, but now, I am just a dying old man and nobody truly respects me beyond these halls, the Governor, he has taken my people and turned them against me,” scoffed the old man and looked at his minister.