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That night in Gulzaan, the soil wanted blood.
It was as if the lonesome mehal was seeking vengeance on behalf of its beloved. The shrubbery reeked of stale abandonment and the wind wept after whisking past the roses that were shy no more; blushing pink turned to a redolent shade of red as those petals turned to ash in hopes that perhaps death would be their saviour. Perhaps death would extend its ever-reaching clutches to shield their ears. Perhaps death would give them solace in its cold embrace against the harsh words they were forced to bear witness to.
The frailer few of the flowers wilted for they did not have the heart to endure the scorn being tethered to their shehzadi's name.
And so, the rest of the once-proud garden mourned its losses whilst three greying men in the room above the lacklustre bed of roses cursed Zartasha's zaat.
"I knew that girl was insolent before but then came her nonsensical claim on the throne." A disgusted slur accompanied the words leaving Furqan's aged mouth.
"And now this reckless departure is no less worrisome," Noman added with agitation creased into his crow's feet.
A quiet and burdened shadow voiced his concern from a corner of the scheming beige room, "Worrisome for whom? Are you two truly worried about our shehzadi?"
Furqan sharply turned towards him and sneered his distaste from a distance, "Don't be ridiculous."
He then shook his head, as if to rid himself of her insubordination but he knew Labib would not be the first to raise a question regarding the sensitive matter.
Labib's statement made the pair realize the horde of biting accusations that would come the shahi council's way after people heard of where their shehzadi was.
After a pause, Furqan decided to consider Labib's question. "Do you truly believe that girl is someone worth worrying about?" He spat his response, "No, she thinks she can do whatever she wishes and we have had enough of it."
Noman sputtered to assist Furqan's malice against the Fahim heir.
"She may have given herself over to Kalthura but we will not bow like that sycophant."
Labib shut his eyes and stayed silent, using the wall against his back as an anchor. He was aware the two conniving men would not grasp the sort of strategic maneuver the girl pulled instead by chasing after Qalmazar's sands. Only Zartasha knew what a chancy decision it was, and all for the sake of having her rule rage across Sherqul's lands.
Labib's lack of words pulled more harebrained thoughts from the pair pacing along the fraying carpet on the chamber's cold marble flooring.
An excited gleam started shining in Furqan's beady eyes after a few silent moments, he paused his interminable traverse and hurried towards Noman. Placing a wrinkled hand on the latter's shoulder, Furqan then gave voice to how they would reap the benefits of what Zartasha had precariously sown for herself. "The absence of Sherqul's shehzadi is our gateway to this mulk's throne."
When Noman raised his brows to indicate a need for further clarification, Furqan gave him a start by pointedly suggesting, "Give some thought to when she left."
The realization was laggard but like any slow poison, Furqan's words resonated with Noman after a moment's pause. It was as if a holy revelation had chosen their crafty selves to bear its message for a smile brightened Noman's waning face. He animatedly expressed what Furqan wanted him to understand, "After she foolishly declared herself heir to the Sherquli throne."
In a singsong intonation of words, Furqan then asked, "And how will this make her look?"
"Incapable of sensing danger." Noman indulged him some more after Furqan kept bobbing his head to the former's statement, "She will seem no less than a child who could not bear the burden of her father's legacy."
Furqan brought his head close to Noman's and even motioned for Labib to join them, to complete their close-knit pyramid of conspiracies. He huffed when Labib decided to stay in his corner. Still, Furqan began divulging how his approach to the situation would ensue - knowing that Labib would have to be a part of all their schemes in the end because that was simply the way the past had bounded them. "If we come together then we can uproot the ruling regime of Sherqul, right from its monarchical soil."
Noman added to Furqan's statement, "Then the council will have complete control over this mulk, like we always should have. Afterwards, no one will pay heed to the girl's existence, let alone her shahi title, till the end of her days."
Furqan then conjured up various ways which would surely cause a rift between the Sherquli people and the monarchy they lived under. The two were planning to lull the public into a false sense of democratic safety, they would make it seem as if the people had a choice in choosing their leaders.
The lies sprouting out of their mouths would shoot unsure arrows into the air, landing on doubtful targets until the shahi council was chosen to rule by the masses. It would be then that their weapons would have struck bullseye.
The dream they were weaving on the basis of treason was confounding to Labib. His next words were uttered in hopes of bringing Furqan and Noman back to their current reality. A reality where they were nothing more than mere advisors to the Sherquli crown, a reality where they were standing in a chamber made of Sherquli bricks, a reality where Sherqul's shehzadi was lost in another mulk.
They were supposed to care.
Furqan and Noman stiffened after hearing Labib's misplaced sympathy towards their shehzadi but their bodies bristled after sensing his aversion towards their own fruitful future.
The favourable advisor stepped forward after noting the pair's mirrored stances and displeased faces. "She announced herself as the next heir which is why her word holds more weight in front of the people than any of ours does as of now."
An outraged scoff left Noman, "What are you trying to say? That we should wait until she makes her untimely return?"
Furqan snorted, releasing a disgruntled wheezing sound in the air. "That's if she makes a return."
The pair of councillors looked to Labib and he stared back. Three pairs of eyes traced one another's faces, the latter hiding agony in his before all three let out a whistling laugh, their chests quivering along with the vests covering their weathered skin.
With a shattered face, Labib voiced out his halfhearted hopes, "I just pray that she isn't damaged goods."
Noman's faux sigh of apprehension chased his words, "If my daughter ever dared to embarrass me in such a way then you best believe she would not be able to raise her head and look a man in the eye ever again."
Furqan's teeth clattered as put his twisted thoughts into words, "At least one good thing will come out of her stay there, she'll be taught to bend to a man's will."
Noman looked at Furqan and aided him in voicing his cruel sentiments. "She won't raise her head nor look us in the eye, that is if he hasn't already fed his wehshi nature her blood."
Labib's waveringly low whisper echoed in the ecru room, the syllables still sounding heartbeats after he said, "It has been seven days since she left."
A sound left Furqan before Noman took it upon himself to quickly mutter, "No." He then turned towards Labib and spoke on the matter for the last time, "I remember it being seven days since she was taken."
Furqan nodded at the two men in front of him to confirm that was indeed how they would spin the tale preluding the shehzadi's absence from Sherqul.
His following words were hushed and vile, "A woman is worth no more than a ruined rag after she falls prey to a man, let alone a woman like her."
Labib's eyes widened when he realized that the shehzadi being dead or alive was of no consequence to the two.
They had convinced themselves she was a hindrance that was now long gone. He knew better than that. Labib knew to fear for Zartasha's fate in Kalthura.
Staring blankly at the wall, Labib numbly murmured, "She's ruined."
The room fell silent afterwards but the roses below took note of every soft imprecation, every angry word, and every sad sigh. The gulaab garden did not agree with Labib, for it knew that the shehzadi was utter ruination instead.
She would become a vessel for the world's ruin before she became another faceless ruin of the world.
And there was a Sultan on the other side of Sherqul's border willing to let her become his ruin before all else.
âââââ
A change of pace from the past few chapters but how was it? What did you like the most?
Thank you for reading, vote and comment <3