March 1857 – Jhansi Fort, Throne Chamber
The air inside the throne room was dense—so thick with tension that even the lamps flickered uncertainly.
Rani Lakshmibai stood at the center in her crimson battle robe, a map spread across the stone floor beneath her feet. Around her stood her inner circle: Tatya Tope, Ghaus Khan, Jhalkari Bai, and a handful of trusted generals—many of them women trained in the underground chambers.
Across the map lay a dagger. Lakshmibai slammed it into Cawnpore's marked dot.
"We light the fuse here," she said, voice calm but edged with fire. "If we strike first, we dictate the war."
Tatya's eyes narrowed. "The British won't expect the rebellion to start from Jhansi."
"They expect me to beg for mercy," she said. "I'd rather send them cinders of their own arrogance."
He leaned in. "Then we need emissaries. Riders. Runners. Messages must move faster than bullets."
Lakshmibai nodded. "Dispatch them tonight. Let the fires of vengeance spread—Agra, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow. It's time the East India Company learns we are not their subjects. We are their storm."
Elsewhere — British Residency, Jhansi
Major Ellis paced in his office, the lamplight casting monstrous shadows on the walls. The sounds of rebellion were still faint—but he could smell something in the air.
Not fear.
Defiance.
Raghunath Rao entered, his posture hesitant. The betrayal in his eyes had turned into regret.
"You promised me the throne," he said.
Ellis turned slowly. "And you promised me Jhansi on a platter."
"She isn't folding."
"No," Ellis muttered, pouring himself a drink. "She's gathering firewood. And you've put the torch in her hands."
He walked over to the window, looking out toward the fort. In the distance, the massive iron plate on the rooftop reflected the moonlight like a flashing blade.
A code.
"She's not alone," Ellis whispered. "God help us. She's not alone."
Jhansi — Secret Night Assembly
Under the cover of a moonless night, a convoy of shadowy riders departed from the fort. They carried no banners. Only blood-oaths and war scrolls hidden in their saddlebags.
One rode toward Gwalior, one to Delhi, and another toward the Bundelas of Orchha—ancient enemies, but now… potential allies in the face of a greater evil.
And one rider—a woman cloaked in black—was headed for Cawnpore.
Her name was Jhalkari Bai.
Cawnpore — Barracks of Blood
Cawnpore was boiling.
The soldiers of the 53rd Native Infantry had long held their breath—watching their British officers dine like kings while they starved on half rations.
But now the letters from Jhansi had arrived. Unmarked. But unmistakable.
One message said:
"They took our temples. Our lands. Our dignity. Shall we give them our children next?"
Another said:
"When Jhansi rises, will Cawnpore sleep?"
The soldiers read the scrolls in silence.
They didn't speak.
They sharpened their bayonets.
Back in Jhansi – The Rebel Mask
On the palace terrace, Lakshmibai trained alone. Sword in hand, eyes closed, body moving with calculated grace—like a flame learning to dance in the wind.
From behind the columns emerged Jhalkari Bai, dust on her brow, blood on her lip, but eyes shining.
Lakshmibai turned. "Cawnpore?"
Jhalkari nodded. "They'll rise. The timing must be perfect."
The queen wiped her blade on a cloth. "And Gwalior?"
Jhalkari hesitated. "Their king is indecisive. But his soldiers… they admire you."
"I don't need admiration," she said. "I need allegiance."
"Sometimes," Jhalkari replied, "a legend commands more than a crown."
Ellis's Trap
The next morning, a cannon was fired—not in war, but in warning.
A public announcement was made.
"Any found aiding the rebel queen shall be executed. Homes razed. Fortunes seized."
That evening, fires erupted in two outer districts of Jhansi.
The British were testing her—scorching her borders, striking the poor.
Lakshmibai rode into the smoke herself.
She found a child—burned, barely alive—clutching a charred locket with the goddess Durga inside.
The mother lay beside him. Dead. Her fingers still curled into fists.
The queen knelt, eyes like obsidian.
"They want us to burn," she whispered. "Then let's show them how fire fights back."
Inside the Palace – The Conspiracy Tightens
That night, a captured spy confessed.
"Major Ellis has a list of rebel sympathizers," he said, trembling. "He's planning mass arrests—within a week. The gallows have already been built."
Lakshmibai's jaw tightened.
"Where are they?"
"In the Christian quarters… outside the fort."
She turned to Ghaus Khan. "Burn them."
"My queen?"
She stared straight ahead.
"If they build gallows for our sons and daughters, we shall light them ourselves—with the flames of justice."
The Fire That Spread
Within hours, the gallows were in flames.
Smoke towered into the night sky like a signal to the gods themselves.
The city was no longer whispering. It was roaring.
Lakshmibai stood at the parapet, eyes on the horizon.
Tatya Tope arrived, carrying a black flag—the symbol of open rebellion.
"No turning back now," he said.
She took the flag in her hand, raised it slowly… and for the first time, Jhansi flew her own banner—not of a king, not of the Company, but of resistance.
A black field. A red flame in its center.
"The last light of Jhansi," she said. "Let it blind the empire."
Flashback – The Sword and the Oath
(Flashback to young Manikarnika.)
She kneels before a Maratha swordmaster, beaten, bruised, yet unbroken.
"I will never have the strength of ten men," she says.
"But you fight like you've lost everything," the master says.
"I haven't yet," she replies. "But I will."
He hands her a blade.
"Then promise me—when they come for your people, your name, your child—you will strike harder than history has ever seen."
She grips the sword.
"I swear."
Final Montage – The Great Uprising Begins
Cawnpore: Native soldiers revolt, slaughtering British officers, raising the rebel banner.
Delhi: Bahadur Shah Zafar is declared Emperor by rebels. The East India Company panics.
Lucknow: Sparks ignite. Civil unrest sweeps through the streets.
Jhansi: Lakshmibai sits in the war council, issuing orders, her fingers bleeding from sword training—but her voice calm.
Closing Scene – Shadows of Betrayal
A lone rider gallops through the ravines of Bundelkhand. Dust rises behind him like smoke.
In his hand is a sealed letter, written in blood ink.
He carries it to General Hugh Rose of the British Army.
Inside it reads:
"Jhansi is preparing for war. Their gates will open from within. I can be your hand inside.Signed, R. Rao."
End of Chapter Three