2A/N: Title means "legend" in Hindi.
i
Sujamal is declared the next King of Amer, and Jodhaa marries Ratan Singh of Ajabgarh. Barely a year into her marriage, the Mughal Army closes in on Rajputana. King Bharmal and the Prince of Ajabgarh both die in the resulting battles. Fatherless and widowed, Jodhaa flees back to Amer, where Sujamal is now King and preparing for their last stand against the Mughal Army. Sujamal does not expect to make it out of this battle alive; he intends to die fighting like a true Rajput and kshatriya. He fights desperately and loses, but much to the surprise of all, the Emperor spares him, stopping Bairam Khan when he tries to behead him. This is the beginning of a new age, the Emperor declares, and prisoners of war will not be humiliated but treated with respect.
Jodhaa had planned to burn herself after Sujamal's death, but reconsiders when her brother is allowed to live. Perhaps there is hope yet for the future, she thinks, as she eyes the Mughal Emperor, his green gaze strong even through the curtain. A distance away, Sujamal stands upon the dais, the crown at once awkward and somehow more firm upon his head than it has ever felt before.
ii
Sujamal accepts being named subordinate to Bhagwan Das, as much as it sticks in his craw. His pride and self-respect are nothing compared to maintaining peace in Rajputana- or so he tells Jodhaa as she stews and rages. But she marries Ratan Singh of Ajabgarh anyway, and Sujamal takes up his place as second-best. Despite their initial fears, the Mughals allow them to live in relative peace, with certain conditions and taxes imposed. No fearsome battles or revolutionary loves ever make it onto the pages of history, and perhaps in the end, that is for the best.
iii
Sujamal rides away with his sister from Agra in the dead of night, having answered her letter right away. It shames Jodhaa to treat her wedding vows thus, even those made to a Muslim. But she cannot, will not remain married to a man who can order his brother to be thrown off the roof over and over again, until he no longer breathes. What could such a man do to her own brother, should their paths ever cross? The Emperor may be her lord and her husband, but Sujamal has been her champion since before Jodhaa knew her own name.
They ride the country together, without kingdom or home, living by the sword, the way they dreamed of as children.
iv
Sujamal hesitates, when Sharifuddin asks him to be behind the plot to assassinate Jalaluddin. Fighting on the battlefield and dying with valor is one thing, but conspiracy and underhanded means? He hesitates, and then he thinks of soldiers closing in on him, of a sister's treachery, a sister who is more comfortable in a Mughal court than her own home. He nods.
Jalaluddin recovers. Word carries of the treachery of both his brother-in-laws, and the Empress of Hindustan trembles. Jodhaa weeps and rages from dawn till dusk for a week straight; betrayal is a pain unlike any other, even the anguish she suffered while her husband's life was in limbo. She thinks of afternoons filled with clashing swords, of an ornate rakhi tied around a wrist, of gentle hands passing over her head, of a figure galloping away into the night, of conclusions jumped to without a chance for explanation. She thinks of her husband, sweating and pale on his sickbed, gasping for his life; her husband, who vowed he would respect her every demand and has never, ever forsaken that vow; who she has given herself to in body and soul. She thinks, and thinks, and makes her decision.
The next morning, she strides into court where her husband and her father are embroiled in discussions, her anger glittering even through her veil. "I will wield the sword myself when the time comes," she utters, and not one person in the court needs to ask what time she means.
When their armies meet in the desert, Sujamal sees her astride on horseback, at the front of the army, clad in orange and green and a sheathed sword at her side.
v
Jalaluddin is assassinated. Jodhaa is murdered soon after, suspected of being involved in a Rajput assassination plot. The alliance crumbles, and the Mughal Empire disintegrates; the dead Emperor's ten-year-old brother Mirza Hakim is barely strong enough to hold onto a floundering empire.
It's the perfect opportunity for Sharifuddin Hussain to step in as the hero, lending his support and advice to his young brother-in-law. And what does he propose? Invade Amer and put his loyal friend Sujamal on the throne. That shortly after his coronation, Sujamal will suddenly die an untimely death is an unspoken bonus.
Such a bonus is prevented only by Bakshi Banu Begum coming to him under cover of darkness, whispering tearfully that she does not wish to lose another brother to her husband's ambition. Sujamal stealthily organizes his men to leave Sharifuddin and transfer their support to the Mughal Empire, upsetting the power balance and nipping the conflict in the bud.
Things settle into an uneasy tranquility, the Mughal Empire yet again under the rule of a child Emperor, Amer grieving the loss of its princess. Sujamal refuses his share of the throne when his uncle offers it to him, instead living out his days as a sword instructor, training the next generation of Rajputs. His brief brush with power has shaken him to the core, and the thought haunts him that, had he never tried to regain his share, Jodhaa would never have died. He is content to dwell in obscurity, where he can do no further harm.
Sometimes, in the early dawn, when the light that spills into the courtyard is pale red, he swings his sword with an imaginary opponent, and remembers a passionate, forthright spirit who walked into the unknown without fear, and the man whose love and respect for her were so revolutionary that it set an empire on edge, and thinks that he is nothing compared to either of these legends, that it is best he remain where he is.
A/N: Mirza Hakim was Akbar's younger brother, and would have been about ten during the time the movie takes place.
