Jodha looks at him, the anger fading into exhaustion. "You wanted loyalty through fear. But loyalty, Jalal, is a garden—it grows only with trust."
Akbar, swayed by his generals and Ruqaiya’s whispers, declares an ancient Rajput ordeal: Jodha must walk through a narrow corridor of burning coals to prove her innocence. If she emerges unscathed, she is true. If not… jodha akbar episode 260
The episode begins in the Diwan-i-Khas. Emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar sits on his throne, his expression unreadable as granite. Before him kneels a trembling messenger from Amer. The news is dire: Maharaja Udai Singh II of Marwar has refused to pay the annual tribute, and more dangerously, has formed a secret alliance with the rebellious Afghan chieftains in the west. Jodha looks at him, the anger fading into exhaustion
"Lies," says Ruqaiya Begum, stepping from the shadows with a silk fan. "The hawk carried a message wrapped in turmeric cloth—the code of Rajput spies. I have the letter, translated." If she emerges unscathed, she is true
"I walked through fire for an empire that fears me," she says. "But you, Jalal, could not walk a single step toward me in three months."