Harold Saves Her Husband Pt. 03

Where was I? Oh yes. We didn't know what Harold was doing at the time.

The Archers and I were back at the encampment with the rescued noblewomen, with Lord Sanji and his ladies. We had found out that Hasit had lied, fled, and that Harold was walking into a trap. Ambika had gone back to find out what had happened to Harold, and to try to find where the King was being held. We suspected that we had a spy among us.

We sat in the guard room where Kali's four priestesses had been imprisoned. They were now our friends, trying, with Ambika and her priestesses of the Goddess to save King Vishaladeva, and probably Harold because we were sure Harold had been captured checking Hasit's story.

We were me, Jane; Lisa; Queen Serena; Pushpa; and Pushpa's rescued cousin Bhavini. We were all feeling slightly frustrated that we didn't have a more active role at this stage. All we could do was wait for information from those searching Lord Mohan's palace.

George and his troops were on high alert despite the late hour. The boundaries of the encampment were tightly guarded and patrols were out between the encampment and the palace. There had been encounters between Company troops and Lord Mohan's, but they had been friendly encounters, exchanging formal greetings between officers. Both sets of soldiers were more concerned with suspicious civilians than each other.

It was apparent that Lord Mohan's troops weren't aware that the Archers had 'escaped'. They knew they had visited Lady Sadhna, and had returned. Why not? They hadn't noticed that the numbers of women returning had been much more numerous, and that Lord Sanji was among them. Even if they had, what did that matter? Lord Sanji was supposed to be a friend and ally of Lord Mohan. His movements were apparently unrestrained.

That was the difficulty of keeping the information of a plot to a select few. Most of Lord Mohan's people had no idea that the King had been kidnapped, nor that Lord Sanji's zenana held him captive with the kidnapped noblewomen.

George had explained that Lord Mohan's troops were wary of Company troops but not hostile. Their instructions had been to test the alertness of the Company troops, to use them as a test enemy for exercises in patrolling, but not to attack them. Of course, if their officers had ordered an attack, they would have obeyed. But they would have known that although they were numerically superior, they were outgunned in small arms technology and seriously weaker in modern artillery. They had none of the heavy bullock-hauled guns.

"Bhavini and I," Pushpa said, "think we have found the spy in our midst. Bhavini?"

"This is difficult for me," Bhavini said. "Pushpa explained that you, Queen Serena, still trusted her despite my imprisonment. Lord Mohan and Lady Sadhna sent messages to Pushpa threatening to torture me unless Pushpa cooperated with them. You, Queen Serena, told Pushpa to send messages that were partly true and partly misleading."

"I didn't know that," Lisa said.

"It was unimportant," Queen Serena interrupted. "I trusted and trust Pushpa. Prince Harold and Princess Lisa convinced me that was essential. Bhavini?"

"Another woman was threatened, like Pushpa. Her sister-in-law was among those captured. The two women had been friends for years before the captured woman married the brother. Pushpa didn't know the relationship, nor its importance, and thought all her ladies were trustworthy. But one was sending information to Lady Sadhna, via the boy Hasit. He had disguised himself as a beggar boy and was often near the encampment to collect information from her."

"And the woman who was blackmailed is?" Queen Serena said ominously.

"Queen Serena, please," Pushpa said, "she was unfortunate, not evil. Before Bhavini says who she is, remember that only your great trust saved me from doing the same."

"Pushpa is stronger than most," Lisa said. "She wouldn't betray you, Serena. But not all are as strong as Pushpa."

Queen Serena relaxed slightly.

"I suppose you two are right. I appreciate the loyalty of my ladies but maybe one or two could not face their friends being tortured. But we have them all back now -- except my husband and Harold."

"That is why we know the identity of the spy," Pushpa said. "As soon as she saw her sister-in-law she burst into tears, came to Bhavini and I and confessed."

"It was Manika." Bhavini said bluntly.

"Manika?" Lisa was obviously thinking fast.

"Yes, it was Manika," Pushpa said. "If it had to be any of my women, Manika was probably the best, or least worst, for us. She didn't know the potential of the Archers until they returned with the rescued ladies. She thought that Kali's plot had been foiled by Ambika's priestesses, without the Archers. She wasn't able to see Hasit after the interrogation of Kali's priestesses, nor the results, so the plotters wouldn't know that Kali's followers are helping us. Even if she had, she might not have told Hasit.

She had been telling them the minimum. She did tell Hasit that Ambika and I were busy with our captives. That allowed him to get away with telling George the false information."

"Are you saying, Pushpa, that Manika was trying to protect her sister-in-law AND us?" Queen Serena asked.

"As far as she could," Pushpa replied. "She was giving information about the Company troops that was already known and telling Hasit she was a minor player who didn't know what we in this room were doing."

"She wasn't minor, was she?" Lisa said.

"Unfortunately, no, she wasn't." Pushpa replied. "It was fortunate, and accidental, that she wasn't aware of the Archers capabilities. A stray word, and she would have known. Even so, I 'm fairly sure she wouldn't have told Hasit. The Archers were our best hope of rescuing the kidnapped noblewomen including her sister-in-law."

"Hasit was playing a major role for a seven or eight year old," Lisa said.

"Seven or eight?" Bhavini exclaimed. "Hasit is twelve, at least. He's small but can pretend to be younger than his real age. As Lady Sadhna's messenger, he's much older than twelve in duplicity. He's made no secret that she wants Hasit to be Lord Mohan's successor. We're not even sure that Hasit is his real name, he lies so often."

"The plots and counterplots are getting too complicated," Lisa protested. "We know that King Vishaladeva is imprisoned by Lord Mohan, or Lady Sadhna, but very few others know that because they think Ranjit is the King and with us. We didn't know about the plot by Kali-on-Earth that captured Harold and Ambika. We thought that was part of Lord Mohan's plot, but although he must have known of it, and encouraged, and perhaps helped it, it wasn't his idea.

Harold has friends, us, Ambika and her priestesses, the Archers, George and his Company troops, yet he has probably walked into a trap triggered by the boy Hasit who isn't what he seems to be.

We thought Lord Sanji was a major player in Lord Mohan's plot but he wasn't. He was a prisoner too, and destined to be a puppet Rajah.

We thought Lady Sadhna was on our side. She wasn't. Now we know she may be, and probably is, the leader, intending Lord Sanji to replace the King until Hasit, or whatever his name is, is old enough to rule.

According to George, Lord Mohan's troops are not hostile to us, except perhaps Lord Mohan's palace guards who are a separate body responsible directly to him, not to Mahaj, the commander of the regular troops.

Kali's followers were our enemies. Now they're not, they're our friends because they support the King, but not Queen Serena.

The noblemen are worried that women are getting too assertive..."

"They will have more reason now," Bhavini interrupted.

"Why?" Lisa asked irritably.

Lisa was showing the stress of sitting around doing nothing. Lisa wants to be in the middle of the action, preferably at Harold's side. She was obviously worried about Harold. In the mood she was in, if she had met Lord Mohan now, Lisa would probably have torn him apart with her bare hands.

"Lord Sanji's ladies are not noblewomen," Bhavini said. "While the kidnapped noblewomen knew that they were hostages and would be traded for advantage, Lord Sanji's ladies were chosen by him for their attractiveness. They thought they would be killed once Lord Sanji had agreed to be Lord Mohan's puppet."

"What has that got to do with assertive women?" Lisa asked brusquely.

"A lot," Bhavini replied. "They felt they had nothing to lose. Lord Sanji was a boring sexual partner. He was always on top in the missionary position. He wouldn't experiment or change. Any of his women who tried to persuade him to try something new was punished, sometimes by a whipping from his official wives.

His wives were part of Lady Sadhna's plot, and were controlling Lord Sanji before he was imprisoned. They were some of the knife-carrying women keeping us imprisoned. Lord Sanji's women tied them up very tightly as revenge for their harsh treatment by the wives. But it is what the women did to Lord Sanji that might be a problem."

"What did they do?" I asked, seeing that Lisa was getting impatient.

"We had an idea from the sounds coming from the inner room. During the first day Lord Sanji was objecting, and after a couple of hours his objections ceased. We thought he had been gagged. He had been. But we didn't know the details until now. The women have been talking to us. First, they insisted on riding him. Because he was unable to use his hands and arms, he couldn't resist even one of them, but he tried, until several of them held him down.

They wanted him to kiss and use his tongue on their yonis. He tried to bite, but was slapped when he did. We heard the slaps. He was persuaded to cooperate, and his head was pushed between a woman's legs and held there. By the time he was rescued he was pleasuring all eight of them at least twice a day, and ridden by four or more of them consecutively, sometimes one rubbing her yoni in his face while the other used his lingam.

He is sulking in his tent and refuses to see any of his women. He is talking about them as 'heartless bitches', worse than his wives."

"If that information gets out," Queen Serena said, "it will worry those who are already concerned about our women getting too assertive. Can we keep it quiet? Who knows?"

"I do," Bhavini admitted. "So do the Archers and the kidnapped noblewomen."

"But they are our supporters," I said. "If asked, they would keep it a secret."

"They would. Pushpa, please go and tell the noblewomen that what happened to Lord Sanji is not to be told to anyone else," Queen Serena ordered.

"Pushpa, please tell the Archers, the same from me," I asked.

Pushpa left.

"But what about Lord Sanji and his women?" Serena asked.

"Lord Sanji?" Bhavini said. "I don't think he would want it known. His women? They are worried that he might take revenge on them. I don't think he will. Apart from the sexual humiliation, they looked after him, gave him food and water and attended to his basic human needs. They cared for him in a way that his wives would never have done. They are afraid that they will be executed."

"I'm not going to," Queen Serena said, "and Lord Sanji is a guest in our camp. He can't arrange an execution while he is here. We might have freed him from his imprisonment in Lord Mohan's palace, but he isn't free to do what he likes. He is still apparently part of Lady Sadhna's plotting, and his wives certainly are. He is a guest, but can't leave."

"I don't think he would want to," Bhavini said. "His wives had been his jailers, even before he was really imprisoned. He was controlled by them, and they were and are Lady Sadhna's creatures. If he left, he would be his wives' puppet again. His eight women are really his friends, even if they used him more than he wanted. They like him but want him to be more considerate in sexual things. Perhaps they did too much to him, too soon, but they thought they didn't have long to live."

"Can we make sure they don't talk to anyone else?" Queen Serena asked. "It is bad enough that we, the Archers and the noblewomen know. It could be disastrous to our reign if their treatment of Lord Sanji became generally known."

"One way," I suggested, "would be to tell them that they won't be executed IF they keep quiet. Lord Sanji's reputation is that of a sexual athlete who has a larger zenana than most. If that myth could continue...?"

"Bhavini, please tell them that. They will live as long as they continue to pretend that Lord Sanji is a randy young goat." Queen Serena ordered.

Bhavini left on her errand. Queen Serena, Lisa, and I were forced to wait for news, from anyone. Queen Serena and Lisa were very irritated by their inaction, but what could they do? We had rescued the noblewomen, Lord Sanji and his women, but Lord Mohan or Lady Sadhna still held the King, and probably Harold as well.

Even when Pushpa and Bhavini returned to confirm that the noblewomen, the Archers, and Lord Sanji's women would keep the secret of his unfortunate experiences, it didn't lighten our mood of worried frustration.

Bhavini tried to amuse us by giving more details of what his women had done to Lord Sanji, but we weren't really paying attention. She added that Lord Sanji had asked for one of his women, so perhaps he wasn't as angry with them as they thought.

But all the action was elsewhere, so I'll end my account here and let Harold continue.

Jane

...

HAROLD

...

While Queen Serena, Lisa, Jane and the others at the encampment were waiting for news, I had been demonstrating why I am 'favoured by the Goddess' while we too waited for developments. I think I was enjoying myself more than they were.

We heard the stairs creak and one of Kalini's priestesses entered. She went straight to Banni.

"We have broken through the collapsed passageway and have seen the two guards," the priestess said. "They were discussing women and both of them agreed that Banni was the best they had ever known."

"I told you I was 'favoured by men'," Banni announced proudly.

"Kalini thought that if you went to the guards, they would take the drugged wine from you better than from a priestess they didn't know. Please, Banni?"

"Won't she be at risk?" I asked. "If she is known to be Hamsa's handmaiden..."

"Not if she is dressed as one of Kali's priestesses. I've brought a spare set of robes."

Banni made an exhibition of stripping. She seemed to have practiced it. Despite my tiredness, Banni's writhing body produced a response in my loins. She left with the priestess.

"Hamsa, some time ago you said that you might be Lord Mohan's heir if women were accepted as rulers. Why?" I asked.

"I am the next in line. I couldn't rule but a son of mine would take precedence after any sons Mohan had, and he hasn't had any yet, not by his official wives nor his concubines. He has no children at all."

The priestess was back in about quarter of an hour.

"Banni made it look so easy," she said admiringly. "We approached the guards, who greeted her like a long-lost friend. They tossed a coin to decide who Banni should be with first. I passed the drugged wine to the loser, who took a large gulp of it. The winner's lingam was in Banni's mouth. He might not have noticed when the other guard slumped to the floor, but in case there was a sound I caught him and stifled his outcry with my hand and a fold of my skirt.

Banni held out her hand for the bottle as the first guard reached his climax. She passed it to him, and within seconds he was unconscious too. I called Kalini and the other priestesses while Banni searched the guards for the key to the room they were guarding. They didn't have it. Banni had stripped them naked to make sure.

The elephant was still rampaging in the courtyard and trumpeting loudly. We used the tools we had brought to dig the passageway clear and broke the door down. Inside there was another locked door, but less sturdy. That was down in seconds.

The King was restrained, naked, by a leather corset with cuffs around his wrists, elbows and ankles, and chained to the wall. Kalini cut him free with Ambika's knife.

The King seemed confused by the sudden incursion of so many women. Banni persuaded him to wear one of the guard's uniforms and was dressing him when I left. When he and the others get here we need to leave as fast as we can. The elephant won't hold the guards up forever."

A few seconds later Banni came into the room followed by the King, Kalini and several of Kalini's priestesses. He recognised me but still seemed unable to work out what was happening.

"I think he was drugged continually," Kalini said, He doesn't really know what has happened to him. We need to get him away..."

Ambika led the way down the long passageway that went outside the palace. I was helping the King on one side, with Banni on the other. It took ten minutes to get to the exit. Ambika opened the door quietly and peered out through the concealing bushes. She came back, holding her finger to her lips and signing for us to move back down the passage. The King started to ask what was happening. He was startled when Banni covered his mouth with her hand and whispered "shh!" in his ear.

"Mahaj and his officers are just outside the entrance," Ambika whispered. "We can't get out without passing them."

"He won't be a problem," Hamsa whispered back. "I'll just tell him to escort the King."

"Just tell him?" I queried.

"Tell him," Hamsa insisted. She laughed. "He is my husband!"

Hamsa slipped out. I don't know what she told her husband, but the King was greeted with salutes. Mahaj and some of his officers took the King to George and his patrol that were encamped a few hundred yards away. George sent a mounted trooper to bring some carriages for the King and the rest of us. Meanwhile George's troops and Mahaj's set up a perimeter to make sure none of Lord Mohan's palace guards got near.

Hamsa and Mahaj were urgently conferring. I assume she was telling him as much as she knew. I could see that Mahaj was surprised, but when the carriages arrived, his troops were part of the escort as we travelled to the encampment.

Queen Serena hugged King Vishaladeva fiercely. He knew who she was. She bundled him off for a cool bath and to bed, to recover.

Mahaj joined our council of friends. He told us that he was waiting for Hamsa. He knew there was a passage that came out where he was waiting, but not exactly where. He had posted some troops in that area, and that patrol would stay there. He knew, but hadn't been told officially, that Hamsa and Tamira were being sought by the palace guards. At the time, he didn't know why, but thought he might be next for arrest so he had stayed out of the palace, surrounded by his troops.

He had no idea that the King had been kidnapped and held in the palace and was horrified at the state the King was in. While he had originally been uncertain about the rule of Queen Serena, he had been repelled by those opposing her, and had been persuaded that Serena's rule was better than the late Rajah.

Now that the King, and Prince Harold, were free, we all thought that there would be consequences for Lord Mohan and Lady Sadhna. But we couldn't act without Queen Serena, and she was more concerned about Vishaladeva than revenge. That might change.

Kalini and Ambika went back to the palace to see what they could find out. Had the King's rescue been discovered?

Mahaj went back to his troops surrounding the palace, supported at a reasonable distance by many of the Company's troops. We didn't want bloodshed, but we didn't want the palace guards trying to recover the King. They wouldn't be able to get through both encirclements.

I wasn't taking much notice at the time. Lisa was all over me, trying to make up for the time we had been apart. She dragged me off to our tent for frantic coupling. We emerged a couple of hours later just before Kalini and Ambika returned. Hamsa and Tamira had gone to a tent to catch up on their sleep. Jane had also retired for some rest.