The Place of Dead Kings (59 page)

Alfred nodded slowly. ‘I understand, Jack. It’s a mystery. For now, at any rate. But it shows that there’s hope. Perhaps we’ll learn more about it. Perhaps it will turn out to be the Grail after all. Perhaps then we’ll be able to use it to free our lands.’

The councillors nodded approvingly.

‘We need hope now more than ever,’ Alfred continued. ‘Vadula’s army is said to be preparing to march from Worcestershire. Our spies say it will head here to Shropshire in the near future. An advance party under a general called Jhala is said to already be on the move.’

Jack’s heart quivered. ‘Jhala? Did you say Jhala?’

‘I did,’ Alfred said. ‘What of it?’

‘What do you know about him?’ Jack asked. ‘Was he once commander of the 2nd Native Infantry?’

Alfred shrugged and glanced at one of the other councillors, a thin man with long dark hair.

The thin man sat forward in his chair, rested his chin on his hands and narrowed his eyes. ‘Yes. Our spies tell us Jhala once commanded that regiment. What do
you
know about him?’

The room dropped an inch and Jack felt light-headed. ‘I thought he was dead.’

‘Yes, he was reported dead during the first crusade,’ the thin man said. ‘It was thought his men had killed him when they rebelled. But he survived, apparently. He escaped.’

Jack went silent. He couldn’t think what to say. Jhala was alive? It seemed incredible, but now that he thought about it, Jhala had only ever been
reported
dead. There could have been a mistake.

‘You look pale,’ Alfred said. ‘Are you all right?’

Jack pulled himself together and squared his shoulders. ‘I’m fine. It’s nothing. It’s just . . . I once served under Jhala, that’s all.’

Alfred lifted an eyebrow. ‘Interesting. You will have to tell us all you know about him. But in the meantime, there is little point in this meeting continuing. We’ve said all that needs to be said. Now we must prepare.

‘The Rajthanans are coming.’

The Place of Dead Kings
was, of course, inspired by
Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad,
King Solomon’s Mines
by H. Rider Haggard and
The Man Who Would Be King
by Rudyard Kipling.

I would like to thank my agent, Marlene Stringer, for all the work she’s done on my behalf, and my editor, Carolyn Caughey, for her wise guidance. Thanks also to Francine Toon and everyone else at Hodder & Stoughton for all the time and effort they have put into this book.

Thank you to Chip Tolaney at Ganesh Mall for advice about Ganesh statues, Randy Wakeman for help with nineteenth-century firearms, Robert Fuchs for information about parchment and medieval manuscripts, Dave King for his feedback, and Dilraj Singh Sachdev for advice about turbans and other matters.

Thanks to my friends, who have encouraged me over many years.

And thank you to my family – Gail Tatham, Harry Wilson, Edward Wilson, Anita Hrebeniak, Blue Quinn, Molly Flowers and Jet Quinn – for their unwavering support. Most of all, thank you to my wife, Helena Quinn, who has done so much to help me during the long months it’s taken to write this book.