Dishonored by Maria Barrett Read Free Book Online

the eagle cry… you
     must use this…” He glanced nervously behind him. “Be ready, after dark, we will not be able to get in again but we will
     be waiting. The ground at the back will be clear to the boundary, run across there, keep ow, we will have you covered. Listen
     for the eagle…” He et Jagat go and moved back to the door. “That is the signal… when you hear that it is clear…” There was a groan from the guard as he began to come around, the man started. The eagle,” he hissed. Seconds later, without
     another word, he was gone.
    Jagat ran to the door but it had been relocked. He fell against it, groaning and slumped to the floor. With the other man
     there might have been a chance, with his help he might have done it. But he would never get out of there alive carrying his
     father, he would never make it to the boundary in time. He put his hands up to his face and closed his eyes. How could he
     leave his father here? He dug his fists into his eyes, trying to stop the tears of anger and frustration. How could he do
     that?”
    “Rai?”
    He started and swallowed painfully.
    “Rai? Answer me!”
    The small panel in the door was slid back and the guard looked into the cell, checking the prisoners. “Rai?”
    Jagat glanced up and called out hoarsely. The guard moved on. He never usually did his round until dusk but he had dropped
     off to sleep, gone out like a light in the afternoon heat, waking with his head slumped on the desk. It was something he had
     never done before and it made him nervous. Satisfied that everything was in order, the guard went back to his post and Jagat
     listened to his heavy footsteps recede. He stood, rubbing to try and relieve the ache in his legs, and walked across to his
     father.
    I can’t leave him, he thought, kneeling and dipping the rag into the water, I know I can’t. A pain of sheer desperation shot
     through him. But, as he put his hand on Indrajit’s brow, he realized that he would have to.
    His father was dead.
    “Mr. Nanda, I really don’t see what this petty ruling of the maharajah’s has to do with me!” Colonel Mills sat at the head
     of the long dining table in the mess and glared down the length of it at the Indian. If he’d had his way he’d have thrown
     Nanda into prison along with the rest of them but the man was too highly connected, not just in Jupthana but across the country;
     the colonel didn’t dare. “I would appreciate it if you would stop wasting my time!” he growled.
    Nanda bowed, one eye trained on the window. “But colonel sir, the maharajah wishes your approval. He would not like to be
     seen to be doing—” Nanda broke off. He caught sight of the sun glinting off a piece of polished silver in the distance and
     breathed a sigh of relief. “He would like to be doing right at all times, colonel sir.” The signal had been given, the first
     half of the plan was complete. “Perhaps I can assure him that is so?” He had managed to talk for some length about practically
     nothing and was now eager to be away.
    “Yes, yes, man! If that’s what this is all about, then yes! For God’s sake be done with it and leave me to get on with some
     work!”
    “Oh, thanking you most kindly, colonel sir!” Nanda bowed, backing toward the door. “Thanking you for your time.” He glanced
     up and saw that the colonel had already dismissed him. He took no offense. He’d gotten what he came for, fifteen minutes of
     the colonel’s time wasted, and smiling to himself, he turned and left the room.
    It was black. A low, thick cloud covered the sky, obscuring he moon and stars, cutting out the light, and it was silent, the
     heat and air trapped close to the ground making it humid and still.
    Jagat Rai sat, his father’s hand in his, the flesh white and cold as he looked through the bars on the small window at the
     ink-blue sky outside. He waited. He had no idea of the time, or how long he had held his father like that; he was