Having earned renown for his talents as a eunuch while living incognito as one for fear of his brother-in-law King Islam Shah Suri, the man known to history as Mubariz Khan or Mumrez Khan, as mentioned in another account, had entered through the door for regicides to ascend the Suri throne, and assume the title of Adil Shah (The Just King).

Now away from the comfort and safety of Gwalior fort he was preparing himself for a humiliating retreat that would dangerously weaken his authority outside his seat of kingdom. In an evil hour he had made a foray into Jaunpur and decided to take on Raja Inderdoon. The raja had fortified himself in the Jaunpur castle whose walls Adil Shah had futilely bombarded now for a month. The giant catapults and the old cannons in his service had proven ineffective against the castle’s impregnable battlements; and the ineffective, slow advances by his soldiers through underground tunnels had come at great cost in lives. The raja's well-trained army had returned fusillade for fusillade, and every now and then garnished their volleys with naphthalene-soaked flaming cotton balls.

It was at that time that the Suri king resorted to the occult forces for help, and an old jyotishi accompanying the king's forces was asked to determine the outcome of the siege through divination.

The jyotishi finished his work and went before Adil Shah and told him that he must acquire the virgin daughter of the camp's corn-chandler from him for a price so that the king obtains full rights on her life. Then the girl should be arrayed in finery, beautified with the 16 adornments, and driven into the jungle at a set time before sunrise the following day strapped into the saddle of a fleet-footed horse, otherwise great evil would befall the camp. The jyotishi also claimed that if the king assailed Raja Inderdoon’s castle an hour after the needful was done, it would fall of a certain.

Immediately the soldiers rode into the camp and dragged the corn-chandler and his daughter before the king. It is said that nobody from the king's officers had ever set eyes on the girl and they were smitten by her glowing beauty. The chroniclers have written that it shamed even the resplendent sun; before the delicacy of her features the fresh rose hid its face in embarrassment; and her curls made the spikenard look lacklustre. The king and his men curbed their animal desires, afraid of the powers of the girl who they assumed was a great witch whose touch would make them polluted and cursed.

The purchase was made without further ado. The poor corn-chandler was unable to refuse his daughter to his master, and the shrieking girl was led away by the female wardens to be prepared for her fated mission.

The jyotishi was among the handful of people who accompanied the girl to the clearing the next day from where, strapped to the saddle, she was to be driven into the forest. The fear of the unknown fate that awaited her had drained the blood from the girl’s face, giving it a haunted look that only augmented her beauty. No one remarked that she had pleaded for mercy from everyone but never once from the jyotishi, who looked furious as he pointed out the path along which the horse was to be led.

A day earlier enclosed in his tent when the jyotishi had made his divinations, it was revealed that greater trouble lay in store for his camp. The besieged army had run out of provisions, and in order to break the siege they had summoned with powerful spells a demon-warrior thirsty for human blood who was to be unleashed on Adil Shah's army at an appointed time; that utter destruction lay in store for their forces and only a particular form of human sacrifice would break the spell and deflect the demon-warrior from his purpose.

The jyotishi had not forgotten his own defeat in his private siege of the corn-chandler's daughter who had spurned all his advances. He had winced from it for months, and remembered it while making his calculations about the siege's outcome. Having learned that a demon-warrior was being raised with spells, he saw how he could avenge himself on the girl.

At the agreed signal the horse carrying the girl was whipped, and two troopers flanked it and kept whipping it as it galloped along the path, taking the girl towards the forest. After a distance equal to the flight of an arrow the two troopers wheeled around their own horses and returned to the camp.

The horse was bringing her nearer to the forest and she was still within sight of the party watching the spectacle, when they saw the horse slowing down as someone emerged from the forest on a large red stallion. The vision alone filled them with an unknown dread even though they could not make out his features. Time ceased for them, they later reported, and they stood rooted to their spots.

The girl felt the horse slowing down but she dared not lift her head until it had stopped and started neighing fearfully. As she slowly raised her head she saw a handsome warrior fully arrayed in battle gear astride a horse of a red hue she had never before seen. A heavy curved sword like the executioners used was held unsheathed across his saddle.

The girl momentarily forgot about her dire situation and became oblivious to the dread that had filled her at first sight of him. There was something in his beauty too captivating for words that seemed to answer her own in some strange equation. The girl found hope and courage, her lips parted and she greeted him.

A change had come over the demon-warrior too at the sight of the lovely girl. But his eyes shone fiercely still.

He brought his steed closer to hers and swung his heavy sword before sheathing it into his great saddle. The next moment he had reached down and with an agile movement lifted her off her saddle, and pulled put behind him. The straps binding her had fallen to the ground.

Those watching them spellbound saw the demon-warrior turn his horse and ride into the forest, the girl clinging to him, their backs now turned to the rising sun.

The jyotishi’s face was black with rage and fear as he returned to the camp. He had not expected that outcome. He no longer knew to what extent his fortunes would favour him.

Exactly an hour later, as the sun was shining and the advance guard of the king’s forces were marching to storm the battlements, a trooper deputed to keep an eye on the jyotishi saw him running out of the camp with his possessions, and as per his express orders, skewered the jyotishi’s neck on his lance.

It was at that very moment that the door of the castle opened and an emissary of Raja Inderdoon emerged. Muhammad Adil Shah Suri was told that the raja sought reprieve, wished to surrender, and offered himself into the king's service.

Musharraf Ali Farooqi is an author, novelist and translator. He can be reached through www.mafarooqi.com and on Twitter at @microMAF