The Moghul

taught you very much. Do you understand anything at all of land tactics, Sea Captain Hawksworth?"
    "I've never claimed to. But I can count infantry."
    Jadar laughed again. "You still amuse me, Captain. I'll never know why. It saddens me there'll be so few occasions for us to pass the time together during the next few days. But at least let me show you around my compound. You'll see the next Moghul of India does not campaign entirely like a destitute Arab."
    "Why don't we start with your fortifications?"
    Jadar roared as he lifted nimbly from his bolster throne and walked into the sunshine. Then he paused and turned to Shirin. "Join us if you wish. And by the way, where've you decided to stay?"
    Shirin looked at Hawksworth for a moment, and their eyes locked. Then he saw a smile flicker across her face. "I'll stay with the English ambassador, Highness."
    "As you wish." Jadar's tone was wistful. "I no longer try to reason with the mind of a woman. But just let me caution you. If you stay among the Muslims here, their women will spit on you unless you put on a veil. They've never heard of Persia."
    "Then we'll stay with the Rajputs." Shirin tossed her head and followed along as Jadar led them through a side exit in the interior chintz wall and into the outer perimeter of the compound. The kettledrums thundered Jadar's exit.
    "This side is for food, Captain." Jadar gestured toward a row of ornate tents that lined the inside of the chintz walls. "The first is for fruit and melons. No man can campaign without them, particularly if he has a hungry zenana . The tent over there is for making sharbat , and that one is for keeping betel leaves to make pan ." Jadar smiled. "Try denying a woman her betel and you'll have nothing but squabbles." He led them on, pointing, as he walked. "The large tent there is the kitchen, the one beyond it the bakery, and the one past that for grinding spices."
    Hawksworth found himself astonished. Who could lead an army amid such extravagance? The tents were all red satin, with gilded poles around the outside, giving them the appearance of luxurious pavilions. Some, like the one for fruits and melons, were raised on a platform above the ground, while others were two-story, with an interior stair. As he watched the servants scurry from tent to tent bearing silver trays, he found it difficult to remember a war was looming.
    "You'll soon discover traveling with women is always burdensome, Captain. For example, on the other side of the gulal bar I've had to erect a special tent just for their perfumes, another for their tailors, another to hold their wardrobes. Then there's a tent for mattresses, one for basins, and one for lamps and oil. These women rule my life. The things I really need—workshops, guardhouses, my arsenal— I've had to situate back behind the zenana , near where the servingwomen stay." Jadar paused, his eyes gleaming mischievously. "Well, what do you think?"
    "I think an army camp should have fewer women and more men."
    Jadar laughed and looked pointedly at Shirin. "But what is life without women, Captain?"
    "Wives don't travel with an army in Europe."
    "Then Europe could learn something from India."
    "About fighting or about women?"
    "Before you're through you may learn a few thing about both." Jadar turned and started back down the row of tents. "War here is very different from wars on the seas, Captain. You should see my men fight before you judge them. But my question now is whether you know how to fight well enough to be of any help. Tell me, can you handle a bow?"
    "Armies don't use bows in England any more. I've certainly never used one. I think the last time bows were issued for battle was back around the time of the Spanish Armada, about thirty years ago. Some of the local forces in Devonshire equipped eight hundred men with longbows."
    Jadar paused uncertainly. "What do you mean by 'longbow'?"
    "It's a bow about five feet in length. The best ones are made of yew, but they're also made from ash and elm."
    "You mean your bows are made entirely from wood?" Jadar's voice betrayed his skepticism. "What weight did they pull?"
    "I don't know exactly, but they were powerful enough. You can draw a longbow all the way back to your ear. During the time of King Harry it was forbidden to practice with a longbow using a range less than a full furlong. The English longbow drove the crossbow right out of Europe. I've heard it said a longbow can pierce a four-inch-thick oak door."
    "But