Disclaimer: I don't own him, her, them, it or myself, don't sue me.
Furthermore, I confess I don't know much about the Persian court of the
day. Any and all errors are mine alone.
(( Nadir's thoughts ))
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Journeys by AngelCeleste85
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Ch. 1 – Duties
Not a great deal could scare Nadir Khan anymore.
He had faced all manner of criminals from both within and without Persia, had foiled assassins, broken smuggling rings, conducted the inquisitions of countless prisoners. He was the youngest Daroga anywhere in Persia in living memory and had risen to that position on merit, not on money or his weak family connections. He had taken wounds for his distant cousin, the Shah-in-Shah himself, who in this land had the power to grant wealth and power, or death. One usually did not know which was intended, if either, until one knelt at his feet in answer to the summons.
But, for some reason, it was not the Shah's summons that Nadir Khan worried over today. Though it would not do at all to show that here, as he trod the silken carpets quickly behind the eunuch. No, it was the wretch's temper, worse than usual these days, that had him edgy. Entering the doors to the Shah's apartments, he quickly knelt as he was announced, praying inwardly as always that the Shah was in a good mood.
(( Truly he is unbearable enough in a good mood, but in a foul one he is truly ghastly. Allah, grant that this be a good day, and that this interview is over quickly! ))
"Ah, the daroga. Show him in," came the Shah's voice, cordial to his distant relative but no more than due his position. Granted, it was a respectable placing as the Shah's chief of police, but quite lowly compared to those who shared meals with him regularly.
Nadir entered when the eunuch completed his quick search of the loose linen caftan, and found the Shah in his private gardens. He knelt before the ruler, waiting to speak.
The Shah was a heavy-set man, dark of skin and eyes. He was young enough not to shave more than twice weekly, but had wielded power from a very young age. In Nadir's very private opinion, abused it more often than not.
"Daroga," the Shah began without preamble. "You are to go to the city called Novgorod and bring a man back to the court."
When the Shah did not continue, Nadir spoke quietly. "Most brilliant Light of the Heavens," he began. Care had to be exercised in anything that was said within twenty miles of this palace, but contradicting the Shah, however mildly, could easily find him a head shorter as quickly as he could blink. "I am within two days, perhaps, of the trail of the man who murdered the Vizier's eldest son. To abandon it now would be to allow the man to escape."
"You have men you may place on his trail, do you not? If you let him escape, every tenth man of your force will die," the Shah said, shocking his chief of police to the core. "Rumor has reached my ears of a man in Novgorod who is so hideous that he is called the Walking Corpse. Rumor has it that his face is beyond ugly, yet he sings, as the rumor has it, with the voice of Allah Himself. I wish to see and hear this man. You will go forth personally and bring him before me, if you must do so with him bound and gagged in a sack."
Nadir scoffed inwardly – the Shah was telling him to abandon the trail of a murderer in order to bring some man in for entertainment? – but the Shah continued to speak, more softly. "Rumor also has it that he is an inventor. Perhaps he may invent something that might save my mother's life."
That was it, then. It was no secret that the Shah loved his mother dearly. The woman's health had been failing for weeks, though the palace physicians could find nothing wrong with her body nor with her food. The poor soul Nadir brought back would likely be forced to invent for her, on pain of death, and likely would not survive. And Nadir, though bitter that he would not be allowed to track down the murderer, that likely seventy more innocent men would die needlessly before he could return, could not say a word except to indicate his acceptance.
"One more thing, daroga," the Shah added as Nadir turned at the door to leave. He caught and held the police chief's eye. "If he speaks only some barbaric tongue that passes for speech in Novgorod, you will be certain to remember that my court is no den of squalor, and to instruct him in civilized speech before you return. Which will be with all possible haste, within two weeks. I will consider anything less an act of treason."
(( Two weeks? I will ride the horses to death to make it back in time in the best of circumstances! ))
"As my lord commands," Nadir murmured, kneeling again. There was nothing else he could do. (( Damn it all anyway! ))
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Feedback?
(( Nadir's thoughts ))
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Journeys by AngelCeleste85
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ch. 1 – Duties
Not a great deal could scare Nadir Khan anymore.
He had faced all manner of criminals from both within and without Persia, had foiled assassins, broken smuggling rings, conducted the inquisitions of countless prisoners. He was the youngest Daroga anywhere in Persia in living memory and had risen to that position on merit, not on money or his weak family connections. He had taken wounds for his distant cousin, the Shah-in-Shah himself, who in this land had the power to grant wealth and power, or death. One usually did not know which was intended, if either, until one knelt at his feet in answer to the summons.
But, for some reason, it was not the Shah's summons that Nadir Khan worried over today. Though it would not do at all to show that here, as he trod the silken carpets quickly behind the eunuch. No, it was the wretch's temper, worse than usual these days, that had him edgy. Entering the doors to the Shah's apartments, he quickly knelt as he was announced, praying inwardly as always that the Shah was in a good mood.
(( Truly he is unbearable enough in a good mood, but in a foul one he is truly ghastly. Allah, grant that this be a good day, and that this interview is over quickly! ))
"Ah, the daroga. Show him in," came the Shah's voice, cordial to his distant relative but no more than due his position. Granted, it was a respectable placing as the Shah's chief of police, but quite lowly compared to those who shared meals with him regularly.
Nadir entered when the eunuch completed his quick search of the loose linen caftan, and found the Shah in his private gardens. He knelt before the ruler, waiting to speak.
The Shah was a heavy-set man, dark of skin and eyes. He was young enough not to shave more than twice weekly, but had wielded power from a very young age. In Nadir's very private opinion, abused it more often than not.
"Daroga," the Shah began without preamble. "You are to go to the city called Novgorod and bring a man back to the court."
When the Shah did not continue, Nadir spoke quietly. "Most brilliant Light of the Heavens," he began. Care had to be exercised in anything that was said within twenty miles of this palace, but contradicting the Shah, however mildly, could easily find him a head shorter as quickly as he could blink. "I am within two days, perhaps, of the trail of the man who murdered the Vizier's eldest son. To abandon it now would be to allow the man to escape."
"You have men you may place on his trail, do you not? If you let him escape, every tenth man of your force will die," the Shah said, shocking his chief of police to the core. "Rumor has reached my ears of a man in Novgorod who is so hideous that he is called the Walking Corpse. Rumor has it that his face is beyond ugly, yet he sings, as the rumor has it, with the voice of Allah Himself. I wish to see and hear this man. You will go forth personally and bring him before me, if you must do so with him bound and gagged in a sack."
Nadir scoffed inwardly – the Shah was telling him to abandon the trail of a murderer in order to bring some man in for entertainment? – but the Shah continued to speak, more softly. "Rumor also has it that he is an inventor. Perhaps he may invent something that might save my mother's life."
That was it, then. It was no secret that the Shah loved his mother dearly. The woman's health had been failing for weeks, though the palace physicians could find nothing wrong with her body nor with her food. The poor soul Nadir brought back would likely be forced to invent for her, on pain of death, and likely would not survive. And Nadir, though bitter that he would not be allowed to track down the murderer, that likely seventy more innocent men would die needlessly before he could return, could not say a word except to indicate his acceptance.
"One more thing, daroga," the Shah added as Nadir turned at the door to leave. He caught and held the police chief's eye. "If he speaks only some barbaric tongue that passes for speech in Novgorod, you will be certain to remember that my court is no den of squalor, and to instruct him in civilized speech before you return. Which will be with all possible haste, within two weeks. I will consider anything less an act of treason."
(( Two weeks? I will ride the horses to death to make it back in time in the best of circumstances! ))
"As my lord commands," Nadir murmured, kneeling again. There was nothing else he could do. (( Damn it all anyway! ))
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