"But Arangbar will soon be dead. So what he knows won't matter. It's perfect for the queen. She'll rule them both. In the meantime, she'll make sure you're nowhere near Agra. Your next appointment will probably be the Punjab, or perhaps the Himalayas. Where you can chase yak with your leopards." Mumtaz could scarcely contain her anger and frustration. "The time will come, and soon, when the Moghul will chance his twenty glasses of wine and his twelve grains of opium one night too many. And the next day, while you're somewhere sporting with your _chitahs_, she'll summon her lackey general Inayat Latif and his Bengal _mansabdars _to Agra. And declare Allaudin the next Moghul." Jadar was stunned. Allaudin was incapable of anything, except bowing to the queen's orders like a hand puppet. Once Moghul, he certainly could not rule. She would rule for him. Or probably eliminate him entirely after a few months. So Janahara had finally made her move. To challenge Prince Jadar, the son who had earned the throne, for his rightful place. The battle had been joined. "So what do you propose to do? She waited just long enough to trap you in the Deccan." Mumtaz's fury was turning to despair. "If you go back now, you'll be accused of abandoning Burhanpur. If you march on south, you'll be unable to return for months. And by that time Allaudin will be married. Father said she has convinced the Moghul to give him a personal mansab rank of eight thousand _zat _and a horse rank of four thousand _suwar_. Allaudin, who scarcely knows a bow from a wine bowl, will now have his own cavalry." Jadar was looking at her, but he no longer heard. This changes everything. There'll be no silver. The queen will see to that. And no silver means no troops can be recalled from the Deccan _mansabdars_. Which means we lose the Deccan. But she'd gladly give the Deccan to destroy me. Jadar looked at Mumtaz and smiled. "Yes, I must do something. But right now I'll see my _chitahs _fed." And he turned and strode briskly back toward his tent. A dense mantle of evening smoke enveloped the camp as the three generals passed through the entry of the gulal bar. They advanced to the front of the sarachah platform and halted to wait for Jadar. Each had brought a silver cup, as Jadar had instructed. All three were seasoned military leaders. Abdullah Khan, a young Moghul warrior, had been promoted to a rank of three thousand _suwar _after the successful siege at the northern fortress of Kangra. Under the prince he had risen from the rank of foot soldier to cavalry, and now he commanded his own division. The next was Abul Hasan, a cool-headed Afghan strategist with rank of five thousand _suwar_, who had led Prince Jadar to his first victory in the Deccan three years before. Finally there was Raja Vikrama-jit, a bearded Rajput of royal blood, who led the Hindus. He scorned matchlocks and fought only with his sword, and he was the bravest man in battle that Jadar had ever known.