The next day I laid forward a proposition or advice.
Although the League or Alliance had grown stronger in northern and north eastern India, the parts of West India (majorly controlled by the Rajputana) were still either neutral or pro-British kingdoms.
We needed a bigger alliance which was spread over at least the whole north India.
I arrived in the court, all decked up and with some special containers.
All the people in the court stared at me in confusion.
Some even whispered, “What is the Guardian up to now?” Rani, intrigued by my appearance, questioned, “Oh my most reverent Guardian, is there any special reason for your ecstatic attire today in this court?”
I calmly bowed and explained my ideology and plan to her, “Yesterday I thought about how great the alliance had become, but then some doubts still lingered in my mind.
Your majesty, we undoubtedly have good relations with Kanpur, Punjab, Faizabad and Awadh, but we still lack in western and southern alliances.
Therefore, I ask you to please permit me to travel to forge an alliance with the west India, the Rajputanas, the Mewaries and the Marwaris.
If we can pull this off, then the British will be consolidated only in Bengal and would have to depend entirely on south India.
Since the distance is vast, there will be continuous disruptions in commute and supplies, slowly rendering them powerless.
Rani and Begum thought for a minute then agreed.
After the court was adjourned for the night, I was in my cabin making preparations for my rest.
Then suddenly I got a message from one of Rani’s guards.
“The Rani wants a private audience without on the palace rooftop.” Unconsciously my eyes lit up.
I gave a smile and told that I would be there at once.
The night breeze was cool and fragrant with jasmine as I climbed the stairs to the rooftop.
The stars were scattered across the sky like diamonds and a gentle breeze carried a faint scent of her favourite flowers.
She stood near the edge, her silhouette graceful against the moonlit sky, her long hair swaying softly.
The royal shawl draped over her shoulders fluttered lightly.
She turned as she heard my footsteps.
For a moment, none of us spoke.
Her eyes, usually fierce and commanding in court, were softer tonight ; warm, almost vulnerable.
Rani Lakshmibai in a gentle voice, with a small smile, said, “You came quickly.
I thought you might still be hurried in maps and plans for Rajputana.”
I bowed my head slightly, my gaze meeting hers, “Your Majesty, I-”
As I was starting to speak, a messenger rushed in covered in dust and blood falling on her knees before the queen.
“Your Majesty, I in Begum Hazrat Mahal’s name bring an urgent message from Awadh.
Begum Hazrat Mahal is requesting your assistance in curbing a massive attack on her consistency.
She says that unfortunately, the British were successful in bribing local taluqdars and stirring Old Sunni – Shia in Awadh territory.
She initially had it under control but the British secretly started providing the taluqdars with economic and military support.
Although all thanks to the Guardian’s Road of Fire and modern teaming, Awadh hasn’t fallen yet.
But if urgent action is not taken Awadh might fall in the British hands.
I stood there shaken to my foundation.
The ruler who was the other pillar of the alliance was about to be broken, all because of my recent negligence towards Awadh.
The Ruler who embraced me as ‘Bhai’ was about to lose her home forever.
Tears rolled down my eyes.
I didn’t wait for any order, but sprang towards the corridor, my voice almost cracking with emotion and self guilt flew through every walkie- talkie and radio, “All units, assemble!
Now!
destination Awadh.” I jumped in my gypsy and drove at full speed, the modern troops of my elite soldiers, the sikh regiment, Bihar regiment and all others marched to Awadh at full pace.
Modernised tanks and troops moved out.
After that I sent an urgent message to the other allied regions.
They prepared and sent reinforcements from their routes to Awadh.
As I marched towards Awadh, my mind lingered on the thought, was I doing this really for Bharat, or just venting my long piled up anger for the British?
In the due course of becoming a support to my Bharat I had lost the very identity of the human.
Did I even behave as a human when I arrived in this world?
No !
I am not the one who is at fault here, the British are to blame, it’s all because of them.
But still was this much violence necessary.
Will I be able to shape up the Bharat which I have long desired?
Was it really important to torment them like that?
Why does it hurt so much when she cries like this?
These British dogs!!!!
they deserve every second of suffering.
In my previous life, I watched them loot, humiliate, and bleed this land dry for centuries.
I saw the famines, the massacres, the way they treated us like insects.
I swore I would make them pay if I ever got the chance.
And now I have the power.
Every scream, every broken bone, every life I take it is justice.
It is revenge for every mother who lost her son, every daughter who was violated, every kingdom they crushed under their boots.
But is this really making things better?
Am I truly building a free Bharat or am I just becoming another monster wearing the mask of a guardian?
Maybe Rani is right.
I used to heal people with medicine.
I built roads so children wouldn’t starve.
Now I stand in blood and feel nothing.
What if the society I am trying to save ends up fearing me more than the British?
What if I lose her forever because I cannot stop?
I know this path is wrong but the rage is louder.
It drowns everything else.
I cannot stop now.
Not until every last redcoat is gone from this soil.
I am sorry, my Rani.
Those bastards, after every spec of mercy I showed them by ending their lives quickly, by just capturing them, they still chose to react in this way.
The next day by the time I reached Awadh, the whole kingdom was burning, shops, houses.
Everything was about to be blown away in dust.
The Redcoats and the Rajputs could be seen trying to move up the walls of the castle.
I instantly ordered my generals free hand and the British and Rajputana Army was bombarded by shells from every direction.
The British sepoys fell on the ground after being shot, lifeless.
Begum could be seen riding on an elephant rallying her army and giving orders.
As soon as she saw me her eyes lit up.
She, with forced but sharp smile, said, “So the Guardian finally remembers Awadh exists.
Good.
The British and their now Rajput dogs have camped five miles north.
They think they can to bleed us dry and break the corridor.
Seeing her tired smile, the long piled up anger for the British inside of me suddenly exploded like a volcano.
My eyes went dead cold.
I, too consumed with rage to say anything, shouted orders at the top of my voice, “Deploy the drones, lock on the targets.
Cover them from all sides.
Empty all your magazines in them.
Make them regret ever laying eyes on this land.”
By the end of the day, the British and the Rajputs had also suffered casualties and retreated.
Later I joined a meeting tent with the officers and Begum, going over the military formations for the next day’s battle.
But Begum studied my face for a moment, sensing the change in me.
Begum, with a concerned look, said, “You…
you look different.
Did something happen in Jhansi?” I didn’t answer but gave stern orders.
“All night vision units, be ready to move out.
The Scouts gave a proper report on the guard placements in the British Camp.
They will bleed tonight.” Begum stood there completely frozen by my orders.
She had never experienced my cold nature.
Soon the nightmare of the British started, unknown to them my night vision squads equipped with guns broke into their tents, shot dead the guards and soon surrounded every tent with the ratio of five to one.
We struck like death itself.
The British Rajput camp never knew what hit them.
Drones confirmed the tent positions.
My team moved in as silent as an owl.
The screams were short and muffled.
I walked with a pistol in my hands through the carnage, face blank, eyes empty of mercy.
The British flank completely routed.
My men dragged three British Officers and two Rajput officers before me, they were bleeding and terrified.
One of the British men begged.
“Please!!!!
we were only following orders…” I looked at him the way one looks at an insect.
“Orders?” My voice was flat, almost bored.
“You joined hands with traitors to attack the woman who helped build roads that feed the people when they starve.
You tried to break the alliance that spared your lives once already.” I nodded to my lieutenant.
“Make such an example out of them that the mighty British and their allies should cower in fear at the sight of alliance.
Make them say every single secret about their brethren which will lead to their downfall.
Don’t kill them in a single swoop.
Begum approached me afterward, her expression unreadable.
Begum: “I understand your anger over the attack but this is too much.
You have become colder than the British themselves, Guardian.
Is this what Jhansi has done to you or what love for its queen has done?”
I wiped off blood from my sword and cloth with a napkin.
“They touched what is ours.
Awadh, Jhansi, The Alliance.
Next time they try, I will not leave anyone alive to carry the message.
Please make the announcement that Awadh is safe.
The Corridor stays open.” She gave a small node.
But I could feel a sense of sadness and slight fear in her eyes.
After a few days’ stay, I returned to Awadh with some Rajput envoys.
As expected Rani stood there at the gates of Jhansi in order for my welcome.
I rushed towards her and knelt down with a deep bow.
I said, “I have returned, my Queen.
The support to Awadh went very well.
The Rajputana surrendered.
They want to open negotiations with the alliance.”
As I looked up, a sudden horror gripped me.
Her usual fierce, commanding gaze was missing.
Instead, she looked sad.
Deeply disturbed.
Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and her eyes carried a pain I had never seen before.
Even as the crowd roared and the Rajput soldiers raised their swords in salute, she barely smiled.
She looked at me like I was both the man she loved and a stranger she feared.
The formal welcome ended quickly.
She stepped forward, her voice steady but cold.
Rani Lakshmibai:
“Welcome back, Guardian.
Jhansi is grateful for your victory in Awadh.”
Before I could reply, she turned to the court and spoke clearly, “The audience is over.
I wish to speak with the Guardian alone.”
She walked away without another word.
A guard quietly told me, “Her Majesty requests your presence in her private chambers.”
My heart tightened as I followed.
The moment the heavy wooden doors of her room closed behind us, the silence was deafening.
She stood near the window, her back to me, fists clenched at her sides.
The golden light of the setting sun bathed the room, but the air felt heavy.
I took a step closer.
“Manikarnika, What is wrong?
Did something happen while I was gone?”
She spun around so fast I barely registered the movement.
SLAP.
Her palm struck my cheek with surprising force.
The sound echoed in the quiet room.
My face burned, but I didn’t move.
I just stared at her.
Tears were already streaming down her face.
Her lips trembled as she spoke, her voice breaking between sobs.
Rani (crying, voice raw):
“You were the person I loved the most in this world!
The man who came from nowhere and gave Jhansi hope who built roads and healed the sick who made me believe there could still be something beautiful after all this blood and war!”
She stepped closer, her chest heaving.
Rani (voice rising, then cracking):
“But now!!
now you are becoming the devil I loathe the most!
I heard what you did in Awadh.
How you stood there without a flicker of emotion while men screamed.
How you ordered their suffering like it was nothing!
Cold, merciless; like the British monsters we are fighting against!”
Tears poured freely now.
She clutched my shirt with both hands, her nails digging into the fabric as she pulled herself against me, sobbing like a small, broken child.
Rani (sobbing uncontrollably):
“What happened to you?
What changed my Guardian into this… this shadow?
I fear I am losing you forever!
Every time you return, a piece of the man I fell in love with is missing.
I cannot bear it.
I cannot lose you to this darkness.
Please tell me what has changed you.
Tell me how to bring you back before there is nothing left of the man who used to hold me on the rooftop and promise me a future.”
She buried her face in my chest, her whole body shaking with violent sobs.
Her tears soaked through my clothes.
Her grip on me was desperate, as if letting go would make me disappear.
I stood frozen, the sting on my cheek was nothing compared to the pain in her voice.
No…No….This can’t be…
it has to be a dream right?
Yes, yes!
Tomorrow I will wake up and find my queen happily and affectionately staring at me.
Yes, this all is just a dream.
Or maybe it isn’t?
My Queen is crying in front of me?!!!
I swore to protect her, to keep her happy, and yet… yet I let her down.
How can I be so selfish to ignore my liege’s feelings like that.
The sole reason I came to this world was to help my queen, my Rani.
But this… this is not something I ever wanted.
Right?
My changed personality is the reason why my Rani has tears in her eyes.
But why does it hurt so much when she cries like this?
These British dogs… they deserve every second of suffering.
In my previous life, I watched them loot, humiliate, and bleed this land dry for centuries.
I saw the famines, the massacres, the way they treated us like insects.
I swore I would make them pay if I ever got the chance.
And now I have the power.
Every scream, every broken bone, every life I take, it is justice.
It is revenge for every mother who lost her son, every daughter who was violated, every kingdom they crushed under their boots.
But is this really making things better?
Am I truly building a free Bharat or am I just becoming another monster wearing the mask of a guardian?
Rani is right.
I used to heal people with medicine.
I built roads so children wouldn’t starve.
Now I stand in blood and feel nothing.
What if the society I am trying to save ends up fearing me more than the British?
What if I lose her forever because I cannot stop?
I know this path is wrong… but the rage is louder.
It drowns everything else.
I cannot stop now.
Not until every last redcoat is gone from this soil.