(Delhi, India, Summer, 1397)

Prince Ahmed and his slave and best friend, Krishnan, continued to play together in the Sultan of Delhi’s resplendent palace. Neither 10 year-old knew that their mutual happiness would soon be shattered, as disaster would befall them, their city and the Tughluq dynasty within little more than 12 months.

(Great Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [modern Istanbul in Turkey], same time)

"It wouldn’t have happened if the young Turk had been castrated," Helena Dragash commented to her husband, the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel II Palaeologus. "I’m sure that he would then have been too ashamed to return to his people," the Empress added.

Helena Dragash was, of course, referring to Mehmet, who appeared to have somehow successfully run away with the similarly aged Vladimir, not only from the palace but also Constantinople. A search of the city for the 8 year-old fugitives had not found them and a significant cash reward for the return of the impertinent young slaves, deliberately set at a figure higher than the boys’ market value, had gone unclaimed.

John and his remaining older boy slave, Petŭr, had expressed ignorance about what might have happened to Mehmet and Vladimir. Consequently, the Emperor and Empress were never to learn what had occurred, or be appraised of the real identity of the two missing boys. Eventually shrugging off the loss of property, the Imperial couple instead ordered the elderly senior palace eunuch, Nicephorus, to buy two more young slaves to act as their second son’s play companions.

"Make sure this time," Helena Dragash commanded Nicephorus, "that both slaves are castrated before Prince John ever meets them!" Both Empress and elderly eunuch fully appreciated that the young prince would only again succeed in saving two more boyhoods if he learnt about the proposed purchases.

(Mudanya, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], same time)

Kiril felt particular sorrow for the slightly younger urchins, as his impoverished Bulgarian background meant that he knew what it was like to be dressed in rags and go hungry. The 9 year-old had placed bread, left over from the previous evening’s dinner, in a trouser pocket. He had intended to share it with Zoran when they took a break from their search for the missing Prince Mehmet. However, looking at the two dirty waifs running towards him, he recognised that the food should be destined for more needy young mouths.

Kiril therefore halted the flight of the two filthy urchins, whose eyes were still tearful as a consequence of the pain and shock caused by being at the receiving end of the angered acemi oglan eunuch’s crop. The young Bulgar did so simply by standing in their way and offering the boys in his uplifted hand the intended gift.

"I’m sorry about the eunuch’s petulance," Kiril had said, "but to show that all members of the Janissary school aren’t so testy, can I offer you both some compensation?"

Kiril’s kind consideration was now to transform his life and that of Zoran.

(Great Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [modern Istanbul in Turkey], same time)

"I miss them," John remarked to Petŭr. The delightful 7 year-old was, of course, referring to Mehmet and Vladimir, whom they had left on the Asian shore of the Bosporus several nights previously. The relevant scene had entailed tearful, heart rendering farewells involving much hugging, oaths of eternal friendship and best wishes for imminent travels and future lives. The event had then been followed by the thankfully successful furtive return of the Byzantine prince and his Bulgarian slave across the narrow strait to the boathouse of the Great Palace.

"I do too," Petŭr responded. "Do you think we’ll ever see them again?" the 13 year-old Bulgar then enquired.

"I don’t know," John answered, "but I hope we do. I also hope that Mehmet will keep his word about being friends for life, as such fellowship might someday prove important for both our peoples!"

(Mudanya, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], same time)

The packed food considerately provided by John had long since been exhausted and so Mehmet and Vladimir needed no second invitation to stop their flight from the angered eunuch to accept and then consume the chunk of bread offered by the kind Janissary cadet. It was as the grateful boys ate their gift that Kiril’s bright mind began to realise to whom he was being generous.

There had been three main clues. First, the vocal tones of the two supposed urchins, used to express thanks for the bread, had been far too posh for peasant waifs. Second, a closer look at the dirty and torn clothing worn by the boys revealed that, under the grime, was rich, very well tailored cloth. Third, the pair obviously comprised a Turk and a Slav, which was exactly the combination for which the current intense search was being conducted.

Kiril tested his theory by bluntly asking the young Turk, to the utter amazement of his cadet companion, Zoran, "Are you Prince Mehmet?" Despite having his mouth full of bread, the face of the pretty 8 year-old, to whom the question was addressed, then immediately brightened with a broad smile at realisation that someone friendly had recognised him.

"Yes, I am Prince Mehmet," the 8 year-old eventually managed to reply in his sophisticated accent once he had swallowed his bread. Zoran’s jaw then dropped in awe at both the identity of the boy before him and Kiril’s cleverness in realising the fact.

(Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [modern Istanbul in Turkey], next day)

Nicephorus again found himself inspecting an array of naked boys in Constantinople’s busy slave market. He was looking to buy a couple of youngsters about 7 or 8 years of age to act as Prince John’s replacement playmates.

As before, the eunuch was looking for boys with a bit of spirit, although perhaps not as much as that apparently possessed by the last pair of 8 year-olds purchased here, whose vitality had been so great that they had run away. Nicephorus had also already alerted the Imperial castrator, who could expect to be practising his craft again soon.

(Bursa, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], same time)

Bayezid I was very happy and relieved but also incredulous.

"This Prince John helped you escape despite knowing your true identity?" the Sultan rhetorically queried in astonishment, as he was acquainted about his youngest son’s recent adventures from the boy’s own sweet lips. "What did he ask for in return?" the suspicious Bayezid I then asked, sceptically believing that there was usually a price to pay for such acts of supposed generosity.

The freshly washed, groomed and richly redressed Mehmet truthfully answered "John wanted nothing except my continued friendship, which I was happy to grant!"

Bayezid I’s incredulity was later compounded when Mehmet successfully pleaded for the release unharmed and return to their former posts of the black eunuchs and military commanders imprisoned in Bursa’s gaol, awaiting execution for being negligent in their supervision of the prince’s welfare. The boy’s entreaties had been based on the suggestion that he had been entirely responsible for his own misfortune and therefore his servants should not suffer for his stupidity.

The 8 year-old’s father eventually granted his youngest son’s wish, even though he would have preferred not to be so generous.

(Great Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [modern Istanbul in Turkey], next day)

Petŭr was very worried. The young Bulgar had lost John.

John, despite knowing that Petŭr could be severely punished if the young Bulgar failed to supervise the prince’s welfare, had once more suddenly evaded all of his guards, including the 13 year-old version, and disappeared into vast complex of buildings, courtyards and gardens that formed the Great Palace. However, the 7 year-old was not just wandering but was on a mission that he thought that his new slave, given his instructions, might try to prevent.

John hoped to be able to complete his assignment before any adults learnt of his disappearance, thereby protecting Petŭr from harm. However, if the prince’s escapade again unfortunately became parental knowledge, the prince’s bright mind had also concluded that the usually selfless young Bulgar might, in retrospect, eventually accept a whipping in return for the ultimate success of the 8 year-old’s sortie.

John’s ambition to keep his objective secret was, however, ruined when Petŭr’s equally bright mind suddenly realised where his prince might be heading.

(Bursa, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], same time)

"I wished personally to thank you for returning my son safely to me," Bayezid I commented to Kiril and Zoran, "and present you both with this reward!" The sensuous eyes of both boys, who had been very surprised to be summoned to an audience with their Sultan, then opened even wider in further amazement as the lid of a huge chest, placed between them and the Ottoman ruler, was opened. However, both 9 year-olds quickly had to look away, as the reflection of the sunlight streaming into the palace from a nearby widow onto the huge amount of gold coins almost blinded them.

"Thank you, Majesty," Kiril and Zoran managed subsequently to respond in shocked delight in their now decent Turkish. However, the boys’ rapture was then tempered when Bayezid I, never someone who liked to prolong audiences once relevant business had been concluded, commanded "You may now return to the acemi oglan!" Regardless of the Sultan’s gratitude and how rich the boys had suddenly become, it appeared that the 9 year-olds were not to be excused training for Imperial service.

From displaying delighted amazement, the pretty faces of Kiril and Zoran quickly changed to exhibiting crestfallen dejection. However, this phenomenon had been fatefully noticed by Mehmet, who had been standing with his slave, Vladimir, beside his enthroned father. The 8 year-old prince had heard of the very harsh regime inflicted on Janissary cadets and therefore instantly recognised the reason for the sudden misery of his slightly older saviours.

"Father, you can’t dismiss the cadets from my life just like that," Mehmet therefore considerately suggested, "as I believe that they should be allowed to serve me permanently. After all, don’t you think that, given my recently well demonstrated occasional thoughtlessness about my own security, the strength of my bodyguards should be increased?"

"But these are merely 9 year-old boys," Bayezid I protested in reply, "who have years of training and growing to undergo before being ready to serve the Imperial family!" However, Mehmet was not going to allow his father’s counter-argument to pass unchallenged.

"But father," Mehmet then cleverly continued, "don’t you think that some boys who are about the same age as me, and who therefore share similar interests and needs, might be useful as additional protectors of my person, even if they are only currently partially trained for such service?"

Bayezid I pondered Mehmet’s suggestion for a while and eventually concluded that the young prince’s proposal had some merit. After all, his youngest son and nominated heir was growing older and therefore increasingly important and prone to danger, not least from his older brothers. Similarly aged young guards had the prospective benefit of being able to act as supplementary protectors at times when adults might be distracted. For example, the boys could assist Vladimir by keeping a watchful eye on the 8 year-old whilst simultaneously sharing his lessons or simply playing with him. Nevertheless, the Sultan also believed that the military training of the cadets in the acemi oglan had to continue.

Consequently, father and son reached a compromise solution to the issue. Now that the threat to Ottoman European possessions from the Christian Crusade was over, Mehmet would return to Edirne and Kiril and Zoran would then split their time in that city between continued training in the acemi oglan and serving the prince in the local palace.

Meanwhile, certain previously impoverished Bulgar and Serbian families, which had been forced to give sons up to the Turkish devshirmeth, would suddenly receive substantial financial windfalls from the miraculously prospering boys, whom they were nevertheless still not allowed to see again. Additionally, a particular supervisory eunuch pertaining to the acemi oglan, who had failed to recognise Mehmet and Vladimir a few days previously, had been punished. He had first been stripped and severely flogged with his own crop, which had earlier hit the prince and his slave, and was then banished to perform poorly paid minor administrative work in a remote fortress on the eastern border of the Ottoman domains. The posting was one of the least sought after within the Imperial service because the fortification concerned was located not only in very poor, arid, desolate terrain but also on the dangerously rarely peaceful frontline with the Mamluk and Timurid Empires.

(Great Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [modern Istanbul in Turkey], same time)

Although the palace castration chamber possessed no current customers, the craftsman who practised his skills there had been preparing his implements in readiness to greet two young new clients. Unfortunately, the man’s ambitions for imminent use of the tools of his trade had again been thwarted by princely intervention.

"Nicephorus will undoubtedly soon provide you with two more young boys, destined for my service, to castrate," John had perceptively advised before adding "but I again command you not to do the deed. As previously, I’ll sort the matter out with my father and mother so that my order with not be countermanded!"

After the earlier experience, the frustrated castrator had no doubt that John would succeed in ensuring the success of his aim. The craftsman therefore sadly put the tools of his trade away, just as Petŭr arrived at his door to collect the departing prince.

"How did you know I’d be here?" a smiling John asked of Petŭr. "I know you much better now, Majesty," a relieved young Bulgar answered, as he escorted his prince back to the 8 year-old’s palatial quarters, "so I realised what you’d probably be trying to do. I worked out that you’d be generously trying to save the boyhoods of the pair of young slaves whom your parents will undoubtedly be planning to give you to replace Mehmet and Vladimir!"

"That was very perceptive of you," John remarked in reply. "Thank you, Majesty," Petŭr responded, his original worry and annoyance now totally deflated by again being in the presence of his beloved prince and relishing the boy’s characteristic consideration for others. The young Bulgar could also not help but reflect that the Byzantine Empire could only benefit greatly if someone with the child’s marvellous personal attributes ever attained the Imperial throne.

Shortly afterwards, two new 8 year-old slave boys were presented to John by the prince’s doting parents. Much to Helena Dragash’s secret dislike, both of the young gifts had retained their testes.

(Bursa, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], same time)

Kiril and Zoran were not the only boys to be rewarded by Bayezid I for actions in respect of finding Prince Mehmet. The military runner attached to the acemi oglan searchers, the young Bavarian, Johann Schiltberger, who had brought the Sultan the glad tidings about his son’s safe recovery, had been promoted. The handsome, blonde, blue-eyed 17 year-old youth had been honoured by being allocated to the particular unit of Janissaries charged with the cosy task of protecting the palace in Bursa.

As a captive European Christian, Imperial policy meant that Johann was not allowed to return with the grateful Bayezid to Edirne, from where escape back to his homeland might be easier. The youth instead had to remain in Asian Anatolia.

Many of the palace Janissaries were very pleased to be allocated such a handsome runner, although their delight had more to do with the lustful aspirations of their manly penises rather than military considerations.

(Edirne, Ottoman Empire [in modern Turkey], a few months later, Autumn, 1397)

Apart from the fact that Kiril and Zoran now only spent half of the week in the acemi oglan, the boys received no better treatment in the school after their return to the Ottoman capital of Edirne in recognition of their Anatolian exploits. In fact, if anything, they were expected to set an improved example to the others through the maintenance of exemplary behaviour in the most arduous circumstances, which was a feat that they generally managed to accomplish.

Respect, however, for Kiril and Zoran, which was already significant amongst their instructors, supervisors and fellow pupils, increased still further. The boys acquired such admiration not only for their recent achievement and associated new wealth, the residue of which, after making hefty contributions to their families, was being kept safely in trust until their eventual retirement from Imperial service. The 9 year-olds also gained such regard because they retained their modesty and consideration for others despite spending half of each week in far more splendid surrounds than the acemi oglan, with far more important people.

Everyone within the acemi oglan additionally fully realised where the careers of two very able and apparently lucky boys, who were now very friendly with Prince Mehmet, and about whose school progress the Sultan himself regularly enquired, could finish.

(Samarkand, Transoxiana [in modern Uzbekistan], 6 months later, Spring, 1398)

"What do you think?" a very angry Tamerlane asked of Vissarion now that he was alone once more with his favourite boy. The conqueror had wintered in Samarkand and was now also proposing to spend some of the summer in his capital in order to supervise personally some of his great local construction projects, including his planned great mosque, which was to be the biggest in the world.

Tamerlane felt that his presence was needed in order to speed the slow construction work. The sexagenarian conqueror had begun to feel his mortality and so wanted to see the various buildings completed before he died. Given that the potential dreadful consequences of his feared temper were a far greater stimulus to performance than financial or other incentives, his policy of personal supervision was undoubtedly the best option, even if it entailed a significant personal sacrifice.

In keeping with his agreement with his redoubtable Eldest Queen, with the exception of the now 21 year-old Vissarion, Tamerlane’s boys were presently diplomatically accommodated outside of Samarkand. Whilst in his capital, the conqueror was expected to perform regular conjugal duties in respect of his younger wives and resist his preference for his beloved catamites.

Local exile, however, no longer applied to Vissarion, who was housed in the palace. The beautiful young Georgian eunuch was not needed for his master’s bed but was required instead to provide regular counsel for the conqueror and perform certain story-telling duties for the Bibi Khanum, Shadi Mulk Aka, and the much less formidable 3 year-old Ulugbeg.

Tamerlane had now just listened to a tall story. However, this tale was contained in a supposedly factual verbal report related by his ambassador to the Sultan of Delhi, who had recently returned to Samarkand to complain personally about the Indian ruler.

The fanatically Islamic ambassador, who hated Mahmud Tughluq’s liberal attitude to non-believers, had falsely accused the Sultan of many perfidies, including profaning the faith, insulting Tamerlane and plotting war against the conqueror. In fact, it was the emissary who was actually conspiring to cause conflict, as he wanted to coax his master into attacking the Delhi Sultanate in order to institute a more extreme Muslim regime, one that was intolerant of other faiths and was hopefully led by himself. The envoy was aware that such a plan would be supported by some of the more avariciously bellicose Timurid military commanders, who would be desirous of the vast plunder such a campaign could garner in such a rich land.

"With all due respect to your emissary," Vissarion answered, "I do believe that he holds rather extreme Islamic views. His complaints about Mahmud Tughluq might therefore be tainted. Consequently, I suggest that you send someone trustworthy with him back to Delhi to double-check the situation." The 20 year-old diplomatically refrained from mentioning that he had noticed the envoy’s look of pure disgust at seeing that the young Christian eunuch bumboy was in the conqueror’s close entourage when the verbal ambassadorial report had been delivered.

"Whom do you suggest that I send?" Tamerlane next asked, clearly conceding his favourite boy’s points without further comment. "Me!" Vissarion replied, knowing that his master sadly had little need for the 21 year-old’s gorgeous young body whilst he dutifully spent at least some of the summer in Samarkand with his wives.

Vissarion was later to regret his one word response for as long as he lived.

(Khyber Pass [between modern Afghanistan and Pakistan], 1 month later)

Vissarion had successfully overcome Tamerlane’s objections to the young Georgian going to Delhi. The conqueror had been very concerned about the reception in India if his ambassador’s tales were true. However, the 21 year-old used his now unparalleled debating skills and undoubted charms to assuage his master’s fears.

Vissarion’s most persuasive argument, apart from his famous disarming smile and sparkling blue eyes, had been that the Muslim Sultans of Delhi had never been known to betray the sacred customs of hospitality. The young Georgian thereby successfully contested that his official mission should therefore be safe from any harm from Mahmud Tughluq.

Meanwhile, Tamerlane’s ambassador to the Sultan of Delhi had for two reasons been secretly furious at his master’s announcement that Vissarion should accompany him back to India, although the devious emissary hid his ire well. First, the envoy did not want anyone to find out that he had been telling lies to the conqueror. Second, he abhorred the idea of being in any way associated with the young foreign infidel eunuch whore.

The ambassador, however, also appreciated that he had to accept the situation if he wanted to live. No one could expect to complain about the 21 year-old Georgian tart and survive Tamerlane’s consequent wrath.

The emissary therefore put on a show of agreeable affability towards Vissarion throughout the long journey southeast from Samarkand to Delhi. As the ambassadorial caravan progressed slowly over the barren and treeless Hindu Kush and then through the Khyber Pass to the Peshawar plains and the valley of the Indus, the envoy contentedly believed that he had successfully managed to hide his real attitude of intense hatred towards the young Georgian.

Throughout the lengthy journey, the ambassador also happily appreciated that, to prevent Vissarion discovering and reporting the truth about his lies, he would have to kill the young Georgian whore and he had already decided where and how he would perpetrate the pleasurable deed. The emissary would wait until Delhi was reached and then poison Tamerlane’s beloved tart. The envoy would then immediately flee the city, claiming that Sultan Mahmud Tughluq had commissioned the murder and that he himself had just managed to avoid the same fate.

‘Surely,’ the ambassador blissfully assumed, ‘the deeply grieving and enraged Tamerlane would then feel compelled to reek terrible retribution against the Muslim Sultan of Delhi and his largely infidel Hindu subjects’. The emissary was to prove correct in his supposition.

(Delhi, India, 1 month later)

The ambassadorial caravan eventually passed through the main gate of Delhi, the destination being guarded by formidable walls. The city was located on the right bank of the Jumna River and owed its strategic importance to its key situation on the vast plain between the Indus and Ganges.

The emissary and Vissarion were subsequently received in the city’s palace with appropriate polite formality and generous hospitality amidst immense splendour by the expectant Mahmud Tughluq. The ruler of the Delhi Sultanate had been made aware, by despatch riders send by relevant local governors, of the approach and composition of the ambassadorial caravan throughout the many days that the slow convoy had been traversing the northwest of his huge domains.

The now 11 year-old Ahmed stood adjacent to his father during all of the ceremonies. The prince had been delighted to be introduced to the very pleasant, fair, golden haired boy with sparkling blue eyes who was amazingly supposed to be one of the feared Tamerlane’s principal advisers. The young Muslim was also surprised to be quietly briefed by his parent’s own counsellors that the beautiful Vissarion was not the 16 years of age that he looked but actually half a decade older.

Vissarion, who was actually astutely aware of the accompanying emissary’s dislike for him, and of the reasons for such distaste, now further annoyed the envoy by accepting Mahmud Tughluq’s offer of accommodation in the Sultan’s palace rather than at the ambassadorial residence. The young Georgian believed that such separation from his master’s local representative might enable him to elicit more quickly the truth about the ruler of Delhi’s attitudes and intentions in respect of Tamerlane.

Subsequently, however, the ambassador’s early annoyance at the special accommodation arrangements awarded Vissarion turned out to be short lived. The emissary instead rapidly appreciated that, if he could somehow poison the young whore whilst the tart was a direct guest of Mahmud Tughluq in the Sultan’s palace, then his lie about the host being the instigator of the imminent planned murder would only be made more believable.

(Great Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [modern Istanbul in Turkey], same time)

"What are you doing?" the always inquisitive John asked of a shocked Petŭr.

Petŭr was lying naked on his bed in his own palatial chamber, which was adjacent to the larger one belonging to the supposedly dozing John. The young Bulgar, whose sexually infatuated mind had actually just been dreaming of the physical charms of his young prince, was rubbing with his right hand his rampantly erect, precum-dribbling cock.

Any boy who had passed through pubescence would therefore have known, from the visual evidence, the answer to John’s question. However, the gorgeous, now 8 year-old prince had not yet reached such a stage of life and was therefore still innocently ignorant of certain facts.

Before Petŭr had time to reply to John’s enquiry, the young Bulgar’s unruly body instead chose to react first in a different way to the beautiful young boy’s unexpected presence. In response to the immaculate vision of the living prince standing nearby, the throbbing cock of the now 14 year-old embarrassingly exploded with a veritable fountain of sperm. Consequently, the surprised but still curious 8 year-old’s next question naturally referred to the recently witnessed orgasm and flying ejaculate.

The intrigued John enquired of Petŭr, who was slowly recovering from the pleasurable acute intensity of his latest productive climax, "What’s just happened to you and what’s that white gooey stuff on your face and body?"

(Delhi, India, same time)

As Vissarion settled into his palatial rooms, a slave in the service of Tamerlane’s ambassador brought the young Georgian a large flagon containing fruit juice. "Lord," the servant announced to the 21 year-old, "my master suggests that, until your stomach becomes acclimatised to local conditions, you should drink as little of the water as possible. You might thereby avoid the embarrassing bouts of diarrhoea often experienced by newcomers to this city, which is an ailment sometimes referred to as ‘Delhi belly’!"

The slave grinned, after using the supposedly amusing couple of rhyming words, before continuing more seriously "My master suggests that you might instead prefer to drink the juice in this flagon, which he brought from Samarkand."

"Please thank the ambassador for his kind consideration," Vissarion responded, whilst accepting the proffered gift.

(Samarkand, Transoxiana [in modern Uzbekistan], shortly afterwards)

Arman, who was sleeping as usual with Sibur and Teimuraz, suddenly woke up in a sweat. The young Armenian then sat up and brought his somnolent companions back to consciousness by loudly shouting one word.

Arman, deeply frightened by the worrying feelings that had suddenly invaded his handsome body, shouted "Vissarion!"

(Delhi, India, same time)

By sunset, Vissarion had lapsed into a deep coma, apparently facing imminent death.

Tamerlane’s joyous ambassador subsequently used the cover of darkness to flee Delhi, as he was in a hurry to be the first to convey the news of Mahmud Tughluq’s treacherous perfidy and Vissarion’s murder to his master.

(Outside the walls of Delhi, India, 3 months later, September 1398)

Tamerlane, totally convinced that his beloved Vissarion had been murdered on the orders of the evil and treacherous Mahmud Tughluq, had, with remarkable speed and efficiency, brought a massive army to surround the walls of Delhi. The conqueror had answered the local ruler’s desperate attempts to parley by, without listening to the various emissaries despatched to talk to him, returning the decapitated heads of the envoys concerned to their master. The invader had also already defeated the Sultan’s forces in pitched battle.

The conqueror had now declared no mercy for the ruler and inhabitants of Delhi, or for the fabric of the city itself, as he ordered his army to perform, what their leader correctly judged would be, the final successful assault on the metropolis’ now crumbling walls. None of Tamerlane’s surviving boys argued with their master’s ruthless order, as they felt that they had lost a dearly beloved brother because of the perfidiousness of the local Sultan and his people.

Even Arman had been convinced by the returning ambassador’s report about Vissarion’s murder, ignoring strange feelings that his oldest and best friend was somehow still alive, albeit in great danger. Along with Haluk, Nicolai, Rahu and Rezan, as well as the rest of the army, amongst whom the deceased young Georgian had always been very popular, the young Armenian therefore not only agreed with Tamerlane’s savage command.

Arman, Haluk, Nicolai, Rahu and Rezan also insisted on taking a full part in the imminent implementation by the dreaded conqueror’s army of their master’s brutal order, which would involve the merciless bloody sacking of Delhi. The deeply grieving and wrathful Tamerlane was not in a mood to deny his similarly suffering remaining boys such a vengeful pleasure.

Consequently, Tamerlane and his surviving boys and army were full of furious bloodlust, as Delhi’s external defences were finally breached.

(Inside the walls of Delhi, India, same time)

"Father," Ahmed declared in immense alarm to Mahmud Tughluq, as they and Krishnan stood on the palace battlements, surveying the nearby battle, "the city walls have been breached. What do we do now?"

"Pray to Allah for deliverance!" was all that the despairing Mahmud Tughluq could manage to mutter in reply.

(To be continued in chapter 38 – ‘Damascus’)