The Glass Palace Read Online Free PDF Page B

to sob, her eyes pressed tightly shut. Someone snatched the Princess from her arms. ‘It’s not my fault. I tried to tell them; they wouldn’t listen.’
    â€˜It’s all right.’ The Queen’s voice was sharp but not unkind. ‘Come on down now. Be careful.’
    Weeping in relief, Dolly stumbled down the steps and across the courtyard. She felt the other girls’ hands on her back, leading her down a corridor.
    Most of the buildings in the palace complex were low, wooden structures, linked by long corridors. The palace was of relatively recent construction; just thirty years old. It was closely modelled on the royal residences of earlier Burmese capitals, at Ava and Amarapura. Parts of the royal apartments had been transported whole after the founding of Mandalay, but many of the smaller outlying buildings were unfinished and still unknown, even to the palace’s inhabitants. Dolly had never before been in the room she was led to now. It was dark, with damp, plastered walls and heavy doors.
    â€˜Bring the Taingda Mingyi to me,’ the Queen was screamingat the guards. ‘I will not be kept prisoner. Bring him to me. Right now.’
    An hour or two went slowly by; the girls could tell from the direction of the shadows under the door that morning had changed into afternoon. The little Princess cried herself out and fell asleep across Dolly’s crossed legs.
    The doors were thrown open and the Taingda Mingyi came puffing in.
    â€˜Where is the King?’
    â€˜He is safe, Mebya.’
    He was a stout man with oily skin. In the past, he’d always been ready with advice but now the Queen could not get a single clear answer out of him.
    â€˜The King is safe. You should not worry.’ The long, drooping hairs that sprouted from his moles shook gently as he smiled and showed his teeth.
    He produced a telegram. ‘The Hlethin Atwinwun has won a famous victory at Myingan.’
    â€˜But those were not our guns I heard this morning.’
    â€˜The foreigners have been halted. The King has dispatched a medal, and decorations for the men.’ He handed her a sheet of paper.
    She didn’t bother to look at it. She had seen many telegrams over the last ten days, all filled with news of famous victories. But the guns she’d heard that morning were not Burmese, of this she had no doubt. Those were English guns,’ she said. ‘I know they were. Don’t lie to me. How close are they? When do you think they will reach Mandalay?’
    He wouldn’t look at her. ‘Mebya’s condition is delicate. She should rest now. I will return later.’
    â€˜Rest?’ The Queen pointed to her maids, sitting on the floor. ‘The girls are exhausted. Look.’ She pointed to Dolly’s red eyes and tear-streaked face. ‘Where are my other servants? Send them to me. I need them.’
    The Taingda Mingyi hesitated, and then bowed. ‘Mebya. They will be here.’
    The other maids arrived an hour later. Their faces weresombre. The Queen said nothing until the guards had shut the doors. Then everyone clustered tightly around the new arrivals. Dolly had to crane her head to catch what they were saying.
    This was what they said: the British had destroyed the fort at Myingan with immaculate precision, using their cannon, without losing a single soldier of their own. The Hlethin Atwinwun had surrendered. The army had disintegrated; the soldiers had fled into the mountains with their guns. The Kinwun Mingyi and the Taingda Mingyi had dispatched emissaries to the British. The two ministers were now competing with one another to keep the Royal Family under guard. They knew the British would be grateful to whoever handed over the royal couple; there would be rich rewards. The foreigners were expected to come to Mandalay very soon to take the King and Queen into captivity.

    The invasion proceeded so smoothly as to surprise even its planners. The imperial