Maqsood said, "I firmly do believe in what you say bhaijaan".
The emperor confidently said, "I have decided to personally spend my night in this so called haunted town and check myself to what all this fuss is about? Ghosts or goblins haunted or not I would love to make friendship with them and spend time here in this deserted town"
Maqsood Mirza looked to be concerned at his brother's decision and said, "Bhaijaan whether ghosts or not whether it's a genuinely haunted town or not or is it the trap hatched by that ganga and her bunch of followers we don't know anything so it will be better that you do not spend your time their all alone as your enemies might take it as a chance to attack you who might have been for long looking for this opportunity which I am sure of, they will definitely harm your noble life".
The emperor just smiled and said, "No need to worry my dearest Mirza, I am the emperor and none have the guts to harm me".
"I am sorry bhaijaan but I cannot let you go all alone there, as I would also accompany you to that place".
"I very well know Mirza that how much you care and worry for me, but then at this moment I am letting you know my decision as an emperor and not as your bhaijaan, so being an emperor it's my order which you cannot defy".
Maqsood said in a low voice, "Have I ever defied your orders bhaijaan?"
The emperor smiled again and said, "I never mean to say that but don't you think it's the need of the hour to find out the truth about my two sons. Moreover, what can be more painful of all to know that your two sons had a tragic end?"
Saying so, the emperor summoned upon the bandi and ordered to call Zaid Ali".
For a long time the emperor seemed to have been in state of deep contemplation. Mirza did not find it good to bother his brother and so silently waited to hear further say from the emperor.
Just in a moment's time Zaid appeared in front of the emperor and bowed down before him. The emperor said, "At once dispatch the message to Delhi, with the immediate effect that both the bodies of the Shehzaadas should be sent to me. I will hold you responsible if anything goes wrong with the bodies if they are found to be in rotten state or so. See to that all medications and precautions are very well taken care off to prevent the bodies to get putrid, leave at once".
Zaid was about to leave when the emperor fired him another question, "Any information as to where is Jai Singh of Ajabgarh?"
Zaid Ali turned around and said, "Jahapana, as per your orders he has left for the battlefield".
"Have you heard anything about the ghostly affairs of this place? Did he endure such supernatural events too?"
No, Jahapana, he didn't have much experience about it, but it was his general under him who had undergone the supernatural happenings in this place".
"Ok, where is it?"
Jahapana, it's in the Maharani Mahal".
"That's very fine, I shall reside tonight in that Maharani Mahal and so do all the necessary arrangements at once".
Zaid Ali, left at once. The emperor who seemed to have realized the dilemma his brother was in, to assure him he said, " Mirza, no need to be so anxious for me as I told you I seriously want to dive into this mystery behind the haunted affairs and so to know that I will have to personally go myself".
Maqsood in a submissive tone said, "Bhaijaan may I request you to..."
The emperor seemed to have got irked with his brother's constant nagging and but calmly he said, "No more ifs and buts I cannot accept your request Mirza".
It was finally decided that the emperor would spend his night in the Maharani Mahal. The emperor wanting to spend his night in the palace spread like a wild fire amongst all, right from his army till the remotest of the places.
There was tumult and curiosity in everyone's mind and it seemed to have been the talk of the town. The building had not been in a state of living for the emperor but then all the arrangements had been made up in a haste so that the emperor has a comfortable stay in that palace.
The beautiful garden outside the main edifice of the palace that had turned into wild jungle of weeds and had now suddenly regained its glorious past.
In the top storey of the Mahal, soft and velvety bed had been prepared for the emperor, also illuminated with radiance, corresponding to the grandeur of the occasion it was, in the most possible time the palace had made into worthy of the emperor's royal residence.
Zaid had been surveying each and every nook and corner of the place but then to his bemusement he couldn't find a single living soul in and around the town.
The old Moulvi has been living in the house next to the mosque and so Zaid was under the belief of him being the only habitant of this deserted town. But all those ghostly affairs that had he had heard off was it true or people simply cooked up stories to mislead everyone he couldn't fathom as of for now.
After having finished off with the meticulous observation of the town and its surroundings within, he went and appeared before the emperor to let him know about all the arrangements done as been said.
The emperor looked very impressed with Zaid's work and arrangements he done for and so he didn't bother to add anything or suggest to Zaid Ali.
The moment when Zaid turned to leave he was stopped by the emperor and he said, "Once I am done with my dinner I would go and spend my night in that Maharani Mahal".
Zaid in a submissive tone said, "All the attendants and the soldiers..."
The emperor interrupted him and said, "I shall be living alone in the inner quarter of the palace along with my eunuch Malik Sha. The soldiers would patrol within the palace wall and see to that a close vigilance has been kept throughout the night, if any stranger is found he is to be arrested immediately".
Zaid somewhat with concerned look said, "Jahapana if I am permitted to speak I would like to request you not to alone..."
The emperor interrupted him and in a firm voice said, "Zaid I am not a coward!"
On hearing a firm no Zaid had no option to stay there but to leave the place and so paying due obeisance he left the emperor's presence.
It was late evening; a complete darkness spun with absolute brimming silence engulfed the space. The nocturnal creatures of the darkness had seemed to be on wake, their resulting sounds that echoed only to have been audible in this pin drop dead silence.
The emperor had by now finished with his dinner and was out to spend his night in that Maharani Mahal along with his devoted Malik Sha.
Malik Sha although a eunuch but then he was of remarkable personality matching his extraordinary strength, a robust man with strong built complimenting his extreme height.
Anybody who happened to see him would definitely fright in terror as such a commanding personality he was. When dressed fully in a kind of military attire it only created a sense of fear amongst all.
Even thought without any military warfare he looked powerful because of his natural strength. His power was such that he could squeeze anyone without applying much of the strength and the word fear' only seemed to have been a distinct word perhaps that never existed in his dictionary.
The emperor came out with Malik Sha behind him. The emperor looked to b satisfied on seeing the soldiers holding the torches in their hands and standing in the rows up till the palace gate.
They assumed to look like statues bearing the torches in their hands and not being able to hear a single syllable from them, whilst there were few other soldiers too who had been given the task of patrolling the area under the supervision of Zaid himself.
The illumination of light was done in such a way that even the minute of the things on the ground was clearly visible to all; it assumed the look of a broad day light.
The emperor with a broad smile on his face said, "Zaid, I am very much pleased to see your arrangements you have perfectly sorted out everything so well that there is no place for the ghosts or goblins to appear at this time of the hour".
Furthermore, if any person has remained concealed within the ruins of this place will not be able to leave secretly but will only take utmost care from not getting caught.
Zaid Ali respectfully said, "Your Majesty, I have scrutinized this town very carefully and to my surprise I couldn't find any of the living person here".
The emperor gave a satisfied look on his face and said, "I feel so, I won't probably meet anyone but then let us be alert and more attentive do not linger here anymore you go get going. You no need to accompany me as the arrangements you have done so far is so good that I can only say that it's more than what I expected it to be so you better leave for your camp".
Zaid Ali hesitantly said, "Jahapana, as per the orders of Mirza Saheb..."
The emperor stared at him with perplexed expression and asked, "Now whats this command?"
Zaid said, "I have been told not to leave this place so long as Your Majesty is here".
The emperor's face gleamed with happiness on knowing the concern and care his brother Mirza was showering on him and so smilingly he said, "Ok, go ahead with his orders".
The emperor immediately left for the residence along with Malik Sha who like a shadow followed him with his sword dangling at his waist, the scene only looked to be more commanding to the onlookers.
Throughout the journey up till the Maharani's Mahal the emperor had a smiled adorned his face as he continuously reminisced in his mind about his younger brother Mirza's love for him for the orders he had given to Zaid about not to venture out of sight from his emperor brother and to always be on high alert.
He said to himself, "I am so lucky to have a brother like Mirza, he has so much of affection for me".
Although within the compound hall of the Mahal there were no guards present but then the places within were lit up by the torches which had the same illumination effect as those of outside.
In fact, it was more for if any evil doer or any thief could easily be caught if seen ventured nearby, although the soldiers were not ordered to stay within but they patrolled outside with fully armed where their swords remained unscabbered and fully alert awaiting for any chance to catch hold of the culprit and get prized for.
The emperor entered the most magnificent part of the palace. Albeit, the building had two storeys but it was majestically painted and fitted.
He ordered Malik Sha to check downstairs whether each and every doors and windows from within were closed. To be more convinced the emperor himself surveyed everything minutely and after having got the much needed satisfaction of everything being fine and normal, the room was lighted in a brilliant manner and rest of the examination was carried out without any hitch.
Having observed carefully in the room and everywhere Malik Sha and personally by the emperor himself, Malik said, "Jahapana, not even a fly let alone be a person can dare to enter this room you can be assured with this."
Even the side walls had been meticulously checked to avoid any doubts. The emperor remarked "Let us go upstairs and check".
Malik Sha followed him who was his faithful eunuch as for now his companion. It was the bed chamber of the maharani who might have once stayed in this very place. The room had been very well lighted so much so that its gleaming blaze was too much to bear for the emperor.
The doors and windows were close from within as was expected to be just was the case with the ground floor. The emperor who after much meticulous search of every minute thing possible, with a satisfactory smile said, "All right, none can come here now".
Malik Sha said, "Yes, for sure, Jahapana".
The emperor finally managed to get peace and settled down on his comfortable velvety bed where his faithful servant Malik served him with the hukka and all the necessary drinking apparatus was placed near the emperor for his sake of convenience.
The emperor said, "See to that the doors of my chamber are kept open and you better go downstairs and keep a close surveillance throughout the night, you better don't go to sleep as it is very likely of me to fall asleep as the entire day's work can take a toll on me".
Malik Sha after bowing down proceeded downstairs to follow the emperor's order. The emperor leaned on his velvety pillow with the hukka pipe in his mouth, even though is face had a contended look but he seemed to have lost into the thoughts regarding the political issues encompassing the empire.
The silence prevailed in the ambiance but the illumination of the lights in the town had only enhanced the beauty of the place.
The soldiers were on high alert and looked to be very much stressed out on not to cause any disturbance to the resting emperor which led to absolute tranquility everywhere.
This absolute somber had created a kind of angst and wonderment in the mind of the emperor despite of all the arrangements and its precise exploration by his faithful eunuch and personally by him, he was left with no other option but to surrender to the present circumstances of silence and uneasiness, he took to his usual habit of drinking, where he drank to his heart's content whilst making himself comfortable on his bed.
The emperor preferred to remain awake throughout the night but then he had fallen asleep and his sleep only seemed to have been deepened as the time passed by.
He couldn't exactly keep a tab of the duration of his sleep but then all of a sudden he had woken up from his deep slumber. His body had turned cold and he was effusively sweating right from tip to toe.
A sense of fear gripped his mind and heart which made him to tremble in fit of terror. He felt humiliated and shameful for the feelings he was going through. He was trying to remove the feeling of being weak and decided to take to that beverage which had always helped him to relieve pain and anxiety and doing so he said to himself, "How strange everything seems to be, I had been till now under delusion of being strong but never knew that my growing age would create troubles for me" and attempts to grab the goblet of wine but he couldn't do so.
He tried to get up from his laid down position and attempts to sit but then to his bewilderment he finds him to be tied by a rope to the bed stead and tries with utmost effort to free himself but he couldn't a bit.
One could only imagine more precise could guess the conditions which the emperor was going through. He kept blabbering in his mind, "Is this kind of supernatural doing but that is not at all possible as I have personally done a thorough examination and so there is none who could enter this place but it feels so that despite all the precautions taken someone managed to enter the place".
He made an attempt to call Malik Sha but to his shock he couldn't as he found his tongue tied and couldn't utter a word moreover he felt like his voice was choked within his throat and if this wasn't enough, what he saw had surpassed his wildest of the imaginations.
The emperor saw himself in the beautifully decked up Maharani's room, a young handsome and dashing prince was surrounded by enticing beauties who were engrossed in wooing the prince, whilst one of the young beautiful damsel dressed in royal attire was in compromising position with the prince.
Furthermore, he saw that Shehzaada jalal had fallen unconscious so as to speak almost on the verge of death after having sipped the potion from the goblet that had been served to him by the charming damsel.
Watching this horrific scene right in front of his eyes all his blood drained from his veins, his face turned pale with horror and his entire frame shivered added on his clothes got drenched in sweat. He tried his level best to shout but proved futile as no words could ever escape from his lips. His tongue was parched and lump stuck in his throat.
For the 1st time he felt helpless and weak as he had never in his life undergone such a horrible experience which had shaken him within.
All of a sudden this blood cuddling scene had changed as if whatever the horror scene played in front of his eyes seemed to have vanished into thin air. The emperor seemed to remain motionless in his bed.
Few moments ago, the emperor who appeared to have been tied by the rope was now free. Till now some kind of the magical spell that had gripped him, he felt as though he was set free.
The moment he was freed the emperor stood from his bed with his sword unsheathed. The room had been the same, the illumination of lights everything looked the same as there seemed to have been no change in the appearance of the place, but then was the emperor dreaming?
A sudden lamentation of ladies filled the air. The emperor was left perplexed with the sudden noise of terrible cries. The emperor fully alert his sword having unsheathed started brandishing left and right and went downstairs, what a pitiable condition the emperor was in, as he had never escaped from fear and ran for his life but today the scene was totally different.
The downstairs room looked pitch dark and the terrible cries seemed to have originated from this very room as it indicated so. The front door had suddenly flung open and the lights from the torches burning from outside illuminated the room.
To his astonishment he found that his very strong and powerful yet fearless servant Malik Sha was running to and fro like a berserk evidently out of fear, the emperor said nothing but followed his faithful eunuch with all possible haste.
The most valiant and powerful person like Malik Sha, a robust persona had come running frantically to the ground and barely had managed to reach the entrance gate when he couldn't hold anymore and collapsed down on the floor.
If this shocked all then the biggest shock of their lives was yet to come and that was the emperor himself who had won thousand battles with his valor and courage in a pitiable state and almost half naked had come running behind his eunuch Malik Sha albeit, gasping for the breath.
Zaid Ali who was on patrol with his force on the main gate had come and appeared before the emperor and was taken by surprise as a sense of anxiety and fear gripped their mind by looking at the condition the emperor was given in.
At this very moment all could hear was another round of loud whopping heart wrenching cries of the ladies that dominated the sky, the intensity only seemed to have increased many folds giving it a kind of impression to everyone present there including the emperor himself, as if there were many most apparently seemed to be the ladies amongst all who wept for the loss of their dear ones.
It was quiet strange and surprising at the same time, that the source of cries were coming from the same mansion the very room where the emperor supposedly had been resting all the while.
It was just the exact events which had played and had been experienced by Ahmed and his men few days ago.
One could only understand the gravity of the situation and the turn of events which the emperor was in. It was midnight, the nights after which even the wine bearers rest to their abode, the cascade of music reverberating through the expanse of the wealth and luxury subside.
At this particular time of the hour, Malik Sha, the giant himself looked to be all alarmed lay prostrate crying out the most horrible of the shrieks, where the moaning and weeping sounds only apparently to be of the ladies had begin to haunt the minds of everyone present there.
A sense of someone had breathed his last only made the scene more poignant where the whooping cries looked more dramatic and heart rending.
It was a full moon night, where the moon all gleamed with its silvery purity, whilst the stars twinkled. Instantly the whole space seemed to have overshadowed with the clouds, the weeping and grieving sounds of the ladies had echoed in the brimming silence of the night.
Everyone looked aghast at each other, their countenance turned pale and dull. A feeling of suffocating quietus gripped their heart giving the impression of being strangulated till death.
The once fully armed and fearless soldiers looked all frozen to the death such was the beauty and the humor of the entire scene of events.
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