Chapter One
The house stood still on the green mountainside, shrouded by thick trees and fields of still, dewy grass. It was high above the river, with a view of a verdant valley, lush with life and growth. The early morning light cast a cool lilac haze over the land, up the valley and onto the balcony of the house. A dawn chorus of birdsong lifted the chill haze, and soon the sun began to slowly slide above the mountain tops of the horizon.
A young woman stood alone on the balcony, looking out over the valley with a pensive expression on her pale face. The dawn air was fresh and damp, raising gooseflesh over her bare forearms and chilling the soles of her feet. Dressed only in her nightgown, she gazed at the unfamiliar scene below, listening to the birds, until the sun had risen to warm her through.
Emma turned away only when the servants had arrived. She could hear them in her room, and quickly crossed the balcony, shutting the windowed doors behind her.
'Good morning' she politely addressed her maids, two English servants brought with them from their house in London.
'Did you sleep well my lady?' Tabby asked, placing her clothes for the day on her bed to be unpacked. She was the shorter of the two, thin with rich chestnut hair, and had a quiet disposition which Emma shared.
'I did, thank you. Though I cannot think why, being in such a place.' Emma turned again to look outside at the strange landscape she now lived in. Her new bedroom, though spacious, was unfamiliar and lacked the luxuries of her old suite. Everything was different here. The sounds, smells, sights. She felt a lump rise in her throat when again she realised, as she had in her dreams last night, that her and her family were 5000 miles away from home.
Emily, her other maidservant, was pouring hot water in a porcelain basin to wash the night's sweat away. It was a warm country, and would take a while to get used to. The steam rose up into the high ceiling, curling around a delicate crystal chandelier.
Lifting her arms for Tabby, Emma let herself be dressed and washed ready for the day. Her thick unruly hair was pinned back into an elegant style, and her gossamer white night dress was replaced by a fine baby blue silk dress of the regency style. With grudging steps, she exited her bedchamber and headed along the corridors of the manor house to the breakfast room.
Located on the border of India next to the mountainous country of Nepal, the de Silva family had been given a very comfortable and well-guarded property, if a little isolated. Valmiki was thick with jungle, perfect for hiding the colonel's family safely during the beginning of the Anglo-Nepalese War. It was to be a quick victory, Emma and her mother had been assured. But both had their doubts, and both wanted to go back to London and the luxuries of fine society.
The British soldier's camp was not too far away, and many of the officers were present around the house most days, taking orders and making plans for new invasive action. It was busy with comings and goings, in the year of 1815.
Emma spent many a dull day that late spring, playing cards with the servants, embroidering with her mother, watching the soldiers arrive and depart. She was schooled in the local languages of the region, Hindi and Nepali, to be of use to her family in the future once they established British occupation. She had been learning since a young age, when her father knew he would be posted.
Emma enjoyed speaking the language, but the lessons were still another reason to stay inside. She was not allowed to leave the premises under any circumstances, but with every passing day, her compliance to obey her father became increasingly questioned.
She heard stories about the Nepali soldiers, and wondered what they looked like. What did they wear? What did they eat? Were they really wild jungle men like her family so passionately believed?
As time dragged on, the view of the valley became less strange to her, and became an enticing vision. When she rested in the garden beneath a parasol in the increasingly hot days, Emma's mind wandered into exciting day dreams of what lay in that deep green jungle.
She remembered illustrations of elephants and tigers from books she had read, and became overwhelmed with the desire to explore. A note of fear was always present in these day dreams - what if she was devoured by a wild animal, became lost, or worst of all, fell into the hands of an enemy soldier? But strangely, the more she thought about it, the more she concluded that anything would be better than staying locked up.
Although young, Emma was not naive. Despite her active imagination, she understood the only way to explore was to travel to the nearest town, she would have to satisfy her curiosity with that alone - of course, being out in the jungle realistically would be impossible for a young English woman. Besides, her father needed all the men he could get to aid the war, they couldn't afford to be out combing the mountains for her if she were to be lost.
Emma's wish was granted when, after pestering her father relentlessly, she was allowed to travel to the nearest town by horseback with an accompaniment of several guards. She was permitted to "take a wander around the market" and to "gaze about the place" and then she was to be taken back before the sun set. Although frustratingly limiting, she would take what she could get.
The day she was allowed into town was so exciting, Emma could scarcely stand still. She hung around the large front door all morning and lunchtime, waiting with mounting impatience for the guards to arrive. When, finally they were relieved from their duties and came to meet her, she was found already with her boots, shawl, sunhat and parasol at the ready. Emma was helped up onto a beautiful white horse by her father, and then off with five cavalry soldiers, they headed off into the lush green depths.
The path was rough, rocky and winding through the steep edges of the mountainside. More than once Emma peered over the right side of her horse and looked down at the steep banks of vegetation. 'I wouldn't want to find myself down there' she thought, and shivered as a strange feeling passed over her. She pressed a white gloved hand to her arm to quell some of the goosebumps.
Emma admitted to herself she was nervous, even with the guards with her. They were vulnerable, and the town was still several miles away. However she had been reassured by her father this route was safe and free of any threat. She shook off the feeling, and chatted with the soldiers to ease her nerves.
They came out of the blue, materialising in the vegetation around the path like ghosts. It must have been five or ten men, she wasn't sure, she wasn't able to count. Before she could process what was happening, she heard the deafening blows of gunshots in her ears, and heard the clash of swords. Her horse reared and she clung onto it's neck with a surge of adrenaline strength. The men were upon them: in front of her very eyes she saw one of the horses fall from a bullet to the head, crushing a man underneath it. The guard closest to her had his throat slit with a kukri, the gaping wound spouted blood onto her white horse's side.
Her horse reared again, and this time, her grip came too late. She fell backwards, hit the floor and rolled off the edge of the mountain path.