บท 37: CHAPTER 37- The Flap of a Butterfly's Wings.

July 1538, Palácio do Cabo, Portuguese Goa.

Shortly after the Portuguese delegation returned.

The weather was sunny but pleasant on that day, in the now Portuguese city of Goa. Fernão Mendes Pinto entered the Governor of Portuguese India's palace with a bit of trepidation.

A week ago, he and the entire Delegation returned from the Dharanikota kingdom. The whole trip seemed like a disaster to him. Nuno da Cunha's outburst in the court of that kingdom, and the insults he has thrown at them, nearly caused the whole trip to fall apart.

Most goals they set out to achieve failed to materialize on the trip. They had neither gained a monopoly in foreign exports nor the permission to open a fortified factory.

It was only because of Fernão's clever and resourceful negotiation, that they were not entirely kicked out from the kingdom. Dharanikota's trade minister, Lady Montra was a very tough negotiator. She managed to make them back down as much as possible.

At the end of the mission, they only gained the right to establish a warehouse, in which, a Kingdom-employed account would regularly check on the goods for tax and quotas. Fernão managed to talk her down from, only purchasing goods from the Kingdom to buying goods from the seller in the presence of the kingdom-appointed accountant.

By the end of all this, while he became smitten by Lady Montra, he was under the firm opinion to never visit the kingdom again. But, God was not in his favor it seems. While leaving the kingdom, he was personally summoned by the king, who wished for him to deliver a piece of news regarding something, to the Portuguese Indian Governer in Goa.

He did that when he arrived there last week, along with the entire delegation. He barely knew what was in that letter, and he did not wish to find out more.

Why was he being summoned by the new governor again, he did not know. But when a message came to him that morning that the Governer requested his presence, he immediately left at the necessitated time.

"Welcome, Fernão. I hope you have rested well," said Garcia de Noronha, the newly appointed governor of the Portuguese Indian territories. He was an imposing man, not in terms of physical appearance, but the aura with which he carried himself. An older man in his sixties, he never failed to remind anyone of his life experiences.

"Dom. Garcia, my lord, yes, The last week had been quite fruitful." He dutifully answered. He did not want any reason for the governor to think, he was being untruthful.

"The report you gave us last week, I sent someone to verify it." the governor said, as he went to the balcony. From the location of the building, the sea is very visible from there.

"Unfortunately, the report arrived too late it seemed. We knew that Gujarati forces were planning something, but a few days ago, they sent forces to occupy Diu. A thousand men are trapped, in that fortress and we have no proper way to save them."

"But Dom. Nuno was opposed to the idea of following the report?" Fernão questioned.

"What objections? Didn't you hear, Fernão? Nuno died. A shipping accident. May he rest in peace." the governor casually stated, as if he was not discussing the death of his predecessor.

"Senhor? When did this happen?" Fernão asked, confused that he was just now hearing about this. He may be not at the top of the food chain in the colony's government, but he was influential enough that he would know such a thing.

"It's a pity really, Nuno da Cunha died approximately, now. Come see for it yourself." The governor called him to the balcony, which was where he was standing till now.

From the balcony, Fernão could observe what was happening. On the small dock attached to the palace, there was a ship floating. It was one of the newest Galleons they had in Goa.

On its deck, there was a cannon, facing the sea. Tied to the front of the cannon was the old governor himself, Nuno da Cunha. He was gagged and tied, making him immobile. Upon seeing the sight, Fernão immediately knew what was happening.

"Senhor, is this necessary? I know you and Dom. Nuno did not see eye to eye, but he is still your cousin, is he not?" Fernão asked the governor. The 'Viceroy of India' title was very nepotistic, especially during the early years. Every governor was related to each other and the king in some way, to get the title.

"Do you think I will be going back to Lisbon, Fernão? I am already old, this is just retirement for me. I will die here. Besides, I do not tolerate incompetence, even if it is family," Garcia de Noronha, the governor of Portuguese India said while waving a small flag he had with him.

'BOOM!'

The flag seemed to be the signal because the cannon on the ship's deck was fired.

All that was left of Nuno da Cunha was a red goo coating half of the deck and the aerosolized red mist mixed with smoke that vented out of the cannon.

Fernão wanted to puke but controlled himself. It was neither the first time he had seen such an execution nor the most brutal one. But seeing the man who was the governor of all of this just a few short months ago, getting offed the same way as they killed the Pirates they captured, made his stomach turn.

"You see, Fernão. I don't think Nuno did anything wrong. He had every right to call those bugs what they were when your delegation was in Dharanikota. But where he disappointed me was that he ignored a piece of actionable intel, even if it was provided by these barbarians." The governor almost spat in disgust when he spoke of the natives.

"I thought we already knew that Gujaratis were going to attack diu, Senhor?" Fernão asked, trying to divert the topic away from executions and whether the natives were barbarians or not.

"That, we know. But Nuno ignored the part that tells us about an Ottoman fleet headed our way. Do you know how disastrous it would be if a fleet of Ottomans showed up off our coast announced? All my life I had fought them, only to lose here?" The governor ranted.

"But it is still unverified information, Governor. Just because a local king had said it it doesn't mean it is true?" Fernão questioned. He did not like the way this conversation was going. He knew the governor from back in Lisbon. He only explained something this way, if he wanted to assign you a task.

"There is a damn fleet. We knew there was one gathering in Egypt, But no idea it was headed this way. After receiving the news you bought us, I too dismissed it, but one of my assistants cross-examined it with the trade coming from the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. This supposed fleet is blocking trade wherever it is going. Most probably to prevent us from detecting them."

"My God. Are we assembling our fleets, Governor? None of the ships are concentrated here. If an attack comes most of our fleet that is stationed here will not be able to handle it " Most of the Portuguese fleet, was spread out, from Goa to Malacca, and it would take months to gather for a war.

"If we are to trust the information, coming from the Dharanikota's king that means there are at least 50 cannon-equipped warships in this Ottoman fleet. If we pull in reinforcements from Malacca. We can easily gather 40 war-ready ships, in a few months."

"What is my role in this, Governor?" Fernão asked. He was just an ordinary diplomat. He was not an admiral or a general. What could he contribute to this battle?

"You are to take this letter to Malacca and pass my orders there. This fleet will supposedly arrive in Gujarat in September, But if our fleet is gathered before that, we can ambush their fleet."

"As you command governor!" Fernão saluted.

"Your job does not end there. I do not believe in the excuse that a trader informed the Dharinikota's king about all of this. After gathering the fleet at Malacca, take that fleet to this kingdom, and make it so that the might of the Portuguese empire is visible. No damage to any of their property, mind you. We do not want to antagonize them, only intimidate and impress them. You will be stationed there as a merchant, from there. You know what to do after that."

Fernão nodded firmly. He was not new to all of this, he knew these things. He was not going back to Dharanikota to manage trade but to build a spy network. Whatever secrets the kingdom was hiding, they would be lured out.

He did not want this. He wanted to be an explorer and travel places. But he was sure as hell not going to disagree with the governor, after he had blown a man to a fine mist, a few minutes ago.

Although he did not express it, he too wondered how Rudra Deva got that information. The explanation that he got it from a wandering horse trader, was too flimsy for Fernão. Though they arrived too late, diu was indeed occupied by the Gujarati forces as the king expected.

He now did not know where his future may lead him, but he was eager to find out.

What the Portuguese did not know was, that Rudra was leading them into a trap. By utilizing the older memories, he gave a heads-up to the Portuguese but also took away their advantage over the Ottomans.

In the old timeline, the sea battle at Diu in 1538 was one of the most decorated ones in Portuguese history. One of the main reasons for them besting the Ottoman fleet was that they had months of preparation when the Ottomans were bogged down at Diu.

Gujarati sultanate which was hosting the Ottoman fleet, had failed to provide it with proper support, bringing the capability and the morale down, in the few months they were there.

In those few months, while unaware initially of the fleet, the Portuguese had months to prepare their fleet to fight the Ottomans. This and the superior ships of the Portuguese, which also outnumbered the Ottomans, led to them winning at Diu(1538).

With Rudra warning the Portuguese of the oncoming Enemy fleet, while the surprise factor of Ottomans was gone, they would be able to fight without all of the damage they suffered in Diu.

Not to mention, He purposely gave the wrong number for the ships in the Ottoman fleet. He was sure that the Portuguese would still win somehow, but without the numbers advantage, and at the same time fighting a fresh Ottoman fleet, they were bound to suffer a lot of losses.

For Rudra, it was just a shot in the dark. But it changed history in a way, that would help out Dharanikota immensely in the future. A butterfly effect caused by a single letter massively weakened the Portuguese naval presence in India, paving the way for Dharanikota to rule the waves in the future.

But that is for discussing the future.