The soldier turned to his comrades. ‘Finish them all, lads! Kill these bloody butchers. All of them.’ He turned and pointed at the killadar.

‘No!’ Arthur bellowed and drew his sword, hurriedly stepping between his men and the killadar. ‘Stand still, damn you! Stand still, I said.’

For a moment there was a tense confrontation and then the soldier lowered his musket and grounded it.The others followed his lead and stood waiting for orders.There was a piercing shriek of pain from the pit, and then some more, and growls, before the man was silenced with a powerful snap of a tiger’s jaws. One of the surviving jettis dropped to his knees and began to beg, huge glistening tears pricking out of his eyes as he wailed for mercy.

‘You’d better go and find Tipoo’s body.’ Baird spoke calmly. ‘That oily-looking bastard of a bureaucrat can identify him. I’ll take care of the situation here.’

Arthur looked at him suspiciously.‘What are you going to do, sir?’

‘The jettis will be executed. We’ll have to shoot the tigers to get at the remains of our men for burial. I’ll attend to it.You go and find Tipoo.’

‘Yes, sir.’

Arthur gestured to the entrance to the courtyard and told the killadar to lead him to the last place Tipoo had been seen. As they left the courtyard Arthur looked back once. Baird stood off to one side, simply watching, as the men dragged the first of the jettis over to the edge of the pit and thrust him over the edge.

‘You saw what they did to our men,’ Fitzroy said through clenched teeth. ‘They deserve what’s coming to them.’

‘No man deserves that,’Arthur said firmly, and gently eased his friend out of the courtyard. They followed the killadar along a wide thoroughfare that led to the water gate. A company of the 73rd Foot had been left to hold the position and they roused themselves as the officers and the native approached. It was clear that some of the fiercest fighting of the day had taken place here. Bodies of English and native warriors were sprawled across the terreplein and the mouth of the passage that ran through the gate was piled high with dead and wounded, some still struggling weakly as they moaned. A lieutenant was leading the company and he saluted as Arthur stopped in front of the gate and surveyed the scene.

‘Looks like a hard fight, Lieutenant.’

‘Aye, that it was, sir. They made a final stand in the passage there, and fought to the last. Brave lads they were.’

Arthur turned to the killadar. ‘Was this the place?’

‘Yes, sahib.This was where I last saw Sultan Tipoo. He sent me back to the palace to protect his wives while he defended the gate.’