The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan Read Free Book Online Page A

ran back to the zenana gates after spending time with the Empress, she entered the grounds of an adjoining palace by mistake. It was not until corridor after corridor had led her deeper into the palace that she realized she was lost. It was late in the afternoon, and the palace was silent. Even the omnipresent maids and eunuchs were hidden in the dark shadows of the bedchambers, waiting for the sun to wane. Mehrunnisa looked around and tried to retrace her steps. The gardens she passed were immaculate, the grass green even in the heat, the bougainvillea vines drooping with watermelon-colored flowers. She came to an inner courtyard paved with marble, a rectangle of blue sky above. The four sides of the courtyard were enclosed with deep, many-pillared verandahs. The pillars were also of marble and glowed a cool white in the heat of courtyard. Mehrunnisa slipped her arms around a pillar, reaching only halfway, and laid her sweating forehead against the stone. Perhapsin an hour someone would find her and show her the way out. She was too tired to wander any longer.
    Even as she stood there a man came into the courtyard carrying a silver casket. He was dressed simply in white: a loose kurta and pajama, his feet in leather sandals. Mehrunnisa straightened from the pillar and started to call out to him. Then she drew back. It was Prince Salim. She slid down behind the pillar and peeped around it. Why was he alone, without attendants?
    Salim went to the opposite end of the courtyard and sat down on a stone bench under a neem tree, its branches heavy with grapelike yellow fruit. He made a clicking sound with his tongue. Mehrunnisa almost fell into the courtyard in surprise as hundreds of pigeons roosting in the eaves came rustling out and flew to the prince. They swarmed about his feet, their throats moving furiously under a ring of iridescent green feathers. Salim opened the casket, dipped his hand inside, and threw a handful of wheat into the air. The grains caught the golden light of the sun as they showered onto the marble paving stones. The birds immediately began pecking at the wheat, their heads bobbing up and down. Some turned expectant looks at the prince.
    He laughed, the sound echoing softly through the silent courtyard. “You are spoilt. If you want some more, come and get it.”
    He held out the next handful on his palm. Undetected, hidden behind the pillar, Mehrunnisa watched the birds waddle around him as though undecided. Then, with great daring, one pigeon flew up to Salim’s shoulder and sat there. He stayed perfectly still. Soon the pigeons swarmed all around him, their gray and black bodies almost covering the prince.
    “What are you doing here?” A hand caught Mehrunnisa by the shoulder and spun her around. Mehrunnisa stood up and dusted off her ghagara, lifting her face to meet the gaze of the eunuch.
    “I’m lost.”
    “Silly girl,” he whispered fiercely, pushing her from the courtyard.“You are in the mardana. Don’t you know it is forbidden to come into the men’s quarters? Go now, before Prince Salim sees you. He does not like anyone around him when he feeds the pigeons.”
    “What are you doing here then?”
    The eunuch raised his eyebrows. “I am Hoshiyar Khan.”
    Mehrunnisa raised her eyebrows in response. “And I am Mehrunnisa. But who are you?”
    He made a clicking sound with his tongue. “I . . . it does not matter. You have to go now, girl.”
    Mehrunnisa turned for one last look at Salim before she left. He sat on the bench, crooning softly to the pigeons. When one lit on his hair, he laughed again, trying to look at it without tilting his head.
    “Come on, come on,” the eunuch said impatiently. “No women are allowed in the mardana. You know that. The Emperor will have your head if he finds out.”
    “He will not!” Mehrunnisa said. “I got lost. I did not come here deliberately.”
    “Bap re!” Hoshiyar sighed, still pushing her in front of him until she almost tripped