The war did not stop there. By then, I had met up and joined forces with the other members of the Rebellion, and I began to realise, it wasn't just my Jhansi. It was everywhere, everywhere. Calcutta, Delhi, even Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka to the south. There was nowhere not infected. We talked, and I began to realise if they were doing this to us... What was it like, elsewhere, in Britain's great Empire where the United India Company answered to nothing but Britain's pathetic parliament? Which, I might add, the heads of the Company had seats that stood in both Parliament, and amongst those who oversaw the very people responsible for stopping this, the Knights of Her Majesty's Order. There was no system of power they had not worked their way into it.
[ Her hand braces, and the shift there is from - pain, dwelt in, and moved on, like she did everything. Forward without ever looking back into that burning place, but never forgetting it. Elbow against the inside of her leg, body hunched forward. ]
By this time, I had lost... battle after battle. Took a fortress, lost a fortress. I had sent my son away, as I began to realise... where did this end? If I saved Hindustan? This Empire, that was doing this, still stood, would they simply do it to others? If I spared only my own people, who was I? Was I my father's Manikarnika, who was destined to bring great fame, was I the Lakshmi my husband said I was, bringing prosperity to all? The last battle had been going on for five days when they shot me, and I knew it was over one way or another, and I had to choose. [ A sharp little clear of the throat. ] You've seen it, there is no living through that. [ Her hand lifts, taps above her heart, where that ugly, white puckered scar sat raised on her brown skin. ] By that time... my husband was dead, my father was dead, I had lost one child and sent the other away for his safety, so you'll do me the credit of never asking me what I came to England with, Kitty, because everyone I had ever called my own was dead, save for one little girl who I did not even realise followed me until much too late.
[ Oh Devi, never meet Kitty, it will be an unfortunate mirror until they started shouting at each other. ]
But it was not good enough. I made my choice because what I did have left to me was the blackwater. I marked my brow with the blood from the field, and I fled. They all presumed me dead because the English were too drunk on their own power. I spent the next ten years, hiding, running, moving, learning. I learned everything I could, and I decided, that all of this: this system, of Empires, Kings, those who could escape the law simply because of where and what they came from - all of it, it must end.
[ and finally, finally, she comes to the end of this tale. ] Then, yes, with nothing, running for near on fifteen years at that point, I went to England. I hope that answers your question.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2019-01-28 02:34 pm (UTC)The war did not stop there. By then, I had met up and joined forces with the other members of the Rebellion, and I began to realise, it wasn't just my Jhansi. It was everywhere, everywhere. Calcutta, Delhi, even Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka to the south. There was nowhere not infected. We talked, and I began to realise if they were doing this to us... What was it like, elsewhere, in Britain's great Empire where the United India Company answered to nothing but Britain's pathetic parliament? Which, I might add, the heads of the Company had seats that stood in both Parliament, and amongst those who oversaw the very people responsible for stopping this, the Knights of Her Majesty's Order. There was no system of power they had not worked their way into it.
[ Her hand braces, and the shift there is from - pain, dwelt in, and moved on, like she did everything. Forward without ever looking back into that burning place, but never forgetting it. Elbow against the inside of her leg, body hunched forward. ]
By this time, I had lost... battle after battle. Took a fortress, lost a fortress. I had sent my son away, as I began to realise... where did this end? If I saved Hindustan? This Empire, that was doing this, still stood, would they simply do it to others? If I spared only my own people, who was I? Was I my father's Manikarnika, who was destined to bring great fame, was I the Lakshmi my husband said I was, bringing prosperity to all? The last battle had been going on for five days when they shot me, and I knew it was over one way or another, and I had to choose. [ A sharp little clear of the throat. ] You've seen it, there is no living through that. [ Her hand lifts, taps above her heart, where that ugly, white puckered scar sat raised on her brown skin. ] By that time... my husband was dead, my father was dead, I had lost one child and sent the other away for his safety, so you'll do me the credit of never asking me what I came to England with, Kitty, because everyone I had ever called my own was dead, save for one little girl who I did not even realise followed me until much too late.
[ Oh Devi, never meet Kitty, it will be an unfortunate mirror until they started shouting at each other. ]
But it was not good enough. I made my choice because what I did have left to me was the blackwater. I marked my brow with the blood from the field, and I fled. They all presumed me dead because the English were too drunk on their own power. I spent the next ten years, hiding, running, moving, learning. I learned everything I could, and I decided, that all of this: this system, of Empires, Kings, those who could escape the law simply because of where and what they came from - all of it, it must end.
[ and finally, finally, she comes to the end of this tale. ] Then, yes, with nothing, running for near on fifteen years at that point, I went to England. I hope that answers your question.