A Slave who became Emperor Chapter 41

Somewhere in the deserted area of Afghan land . . there was a lone figure riding a camel . . he was dressed in traditional Pathani kurta and pyjama, with a turban tied around his head, he covered his nose and mouth with a cloth tied on the back of his hair falling over his shoulders . . his eyes were dark black and sharp with a hint of khol in them . . they were blood shot reflecting his tiredness from the long journey . . .

He reached a small village situated around an oasis . . he got down his camel and drank some fresh water, he untied the camel . . then he rested below a date tree for some time . .

He opened a small cloth bundle, there were some walnuts and almonds which he ate and relaxed . . his camel was also grazing on small shrubs around the oasis . .

He got up and approached a caravan near by . . there were some nomads who were traveling from place to place . . he went to the chief of the caravan and said, 'Salam Alaikum Sahib! . ' the chief relied, 'As salam u alaikum . . . who are you? what brings you here to our settlement? ' the man replied, 'My name is Badshah Khan, I am coming from far off . . request you to let me take shelter in your caravan for the night . . ' the chief studied the man, Badshah Khan was an average heighted man, but his shoulders were too broad, he had well built muscles, he had handsome features with a small beard . .

The chief said, 'where are you headed to? ' Badshah Khan said, 'hindustan . . ' the chief said, 'masha Allah! you need to travel further more . . ' Khan replied, 'yes, I need to cross the Hindu Khush mountain range . . ' the chief said, 'may I know the purpose of your travel to Hindustan? ' Khan replied, 'chief . . it is a long story . . ' the chief said, 'well then Badshah Khan, let's discuss it over dinner then, welcome to our nomadic settlement . . '

Khan smiled and nodded in agreement . . the chief summoned a man and asked him to show Badshah Khan his resting place for the night . . Khan went with that man and settled down in the tent shown by him . . he brought his camel from the oasis and tied it to a pole in front of his accomodation . .

Evening approached, Khan finished his namaaz and came out of his tent, all the people of the nomadic settlement came out and arranged a camp fire . . the temperature in the desert dropped . . it was pleasantly cool . .

It was a full moon night, the sands of the desert were shining like silver dust in the moon light . . torches were burnt and a man was playing a flute near the fire . . everyone was in a cheerful mood . .

A group of women came and started dancing, they were beautiful, they were adorned with huge silver ornaments . . among them one woman looked like a goddess of beauty . . her olive skin . . her khol lined huge eyes . . her voluptuous figure . . everything attracted Khan towards her . . he never saw such a beauty and his heart was never stirred in such a way . .

He kept looking at her dreamily . . after some time, the women stopped dancing . . Khan came out of his trance . . the chief said, 'my people! today we are blessed by Allah abundantly . . he has sent us a guest . . . Badshah Khan . . he is staying with us tonight . . please take care of his needs . . he will be on his way in the morning . . ' everyone greeted Badshah Khan, he too responded with respect . .

The chief continued, 'ok, you carry on with your enjoyment . . me and the guest will retire to my tent for dinner . . ' then he called out . . 'Benazir . . ! 'the beauty who stole Khan's heart responded, she said, 'yes Grandfather . . ' the chief said, 'my child . . arrange dinner for us . . ' she nodded . .

The Chief and Badshah Khan went into the chief's tent . . . Benazir laid out the dinner . . Khan restricted his eyes and forced himself not to look at Benazir . . he was eating his food quietly . . then the chief said, 'Khan . . what is your story? why are you going to Hindustan? '

Chapter end