The whole household seemed to have plunged into chaos. The last of the guests were leaving and bags were being placed in the relevant cars. I did not go out to say goodbye to Farishta and her husband. Aunt Laila had left right after the luncheon yesterday with her five daughters following behind her. I sat at the breakfast table, flipping through the morning newspaper when Ammi Jaan walked into the room.
"Morning" I greeted, taking a bite from my toast. She sat at the head of the table as Uncle EJ and Rania walked in.
"Morning kid. When's your flight?" Uncle EJ said, sitting beside me. Rania motioned for me to hand her the jug containing orange juice.
"It was in the afternoon," I said handing the jug to her.
"Was?" Ammi Jaan muttered.
"Uh... I thought I would hang out for a little longer" as soon the words escaped my mouth, I felt my stomach flutter in anticipation.
"How much longer?" Ammi Jaan asked, her eyes shining. I smiled.
"As long as I possibly can"
"So, you quit your job?" Rania said, her eyes wide.
"I figured my skills were needed somewhere else" Uncle EJ put his arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.
"Begum Sahiba! Begum Sahiba!" Andaleeb burst into the room, her face white.
"What is it Andaleeb?" Ammi Jaan asked, her tone sharp.
"Someone tried to kill Murad"
Two hours later, all of us stood in front of the television. The city was in chaos. Murad was still in the hospital, the doctors said he was to be observed for the next twenty-four hours. He had been attacked by an unhappy constituent. Someone whos land had been taken by the government because he could not pay his taxes. Unemployment and lack of food had driven the man desperate enough to attack a minister. Uncle EJ talked to the hospital officials and Rania stood in the corner crafting a statement from Gulzar Mahal.
Izzy and Hania sat together on the couch, their hands intertwined. Ammi Jaan had ordered them to remain in the castle until this situation was under control.
"Begum Sahiba... " Zaroon entered the room. All of us turned to look at him. "There are reports that... a crowd is headed to the castle gates" I put my head in my hands. "It's not looking good"
The room erupted with gasps and suggestions. Uncle Azhar, who had followed Zaroon into the room, added his own opinion. I looked around the room. Poor Murad, he'd made a mistake and now he was fighting for his life. The man who had attacked him was desperate for a reason. His method had been wrong but his plight was understandable.
"Rania, how are we coming along with the statement?" she showed me the paper she was working on. "This is good but there is no mention for an inquiry"
"We're supposed to remain neutral"
"There is a crowd of protesters headed our way, we can't be neutral anymore. They clearly think we have something to do with this"
"You're right. What do you want to do?" she said understanding the glint in my eye. I whispered my plan to her.
"What are the two of you whispering about?" Uncle EJ called out, his face lined with worry. I counted the people in the room. I needed four votes in my favour.
"We were thinking..." I began. Seven pairs of eyes turned to look at me.
"You were thinking" Rania hissed from behind me. I rolled my eyes.
"I was thinking, we need to tweak the statement a bit"
"No," Ammi Jaan said.
"Hear me out. We're in this issue anyway. We need to take a stand somewhere. We can not be neutral. These people have a martyr now. We need to neutralize this now"
"We have stayed neutral all these years"
"You know that's not true." I countered staring at her.
"You're still a child"
"A child you handed everything to a week ago"
"I was indisposed, there was no other option" I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. She was undermining me in front of all these people just so she could stick to her traditions.
"Things are bad Ammi Jaan. Things are going to get worse. We're not entering the parliament. We're stating our position, where we stand. It's not a hard thing to do"
"Things are fine. You said it yourself"
"I was wrong. I've seen it. It's bad and it's our responsibility to fix it"
A sudden silence descended in the room. I did not dare to look at Zaroon for the fear they might figure it out. I struggled to keep my face blank as Uncle EJ, Uncle Azhar and Ammi Jaan all bombarded me with questions. If the situation wasn't so serious, it would have been funny.
"How would you know?"
"What is she talking about?"
"What do you mean you've seen it?" Ammi said, her voice cutting through the chatter.
Here it was. "I went to the city"
"When?"
"Yesterday"
"Alone?"
"Yes," I stared at her with a neutral expression believing the lie so she would believe it.
"She has a point Noor" Uncle EJ said, giving me an even look. He knew. It was in his expression. He was struggling to maintain a straight face. "If she knows the ground reality, maybe we should trust her" I gave him a grateful look.
"How will that help? How will taking a side help?"
"Did it help when you were receiving false reports?" I said, my voice almost a whisper. Ammi glared at me, her eyes hard. I sighed and went to her. Sitting in front of her, I placed my hands on her knee. " You know it's right... we can't take a back seat now. Feroze will be here on the fifth. He'll come here, to Gulzar Mahal. We need to make our play and it needs to be public"
"You don't know if he'll come here. Your Aunt Mamo is adamant he won't visit the castle"
"Oh, he will. He will definitely visit the castle" I said, trying to hide the bitterness in my tone.
"She's right, you know that Noor. We can't ignore this anymore. The new revolutionaries wanted to meet Murad, he ignored them and look at what has happened. Someone is funding them. Supporting them. The attack on the castle? That was a warning" Ammi Jaan turned to glare at Uncle EJ next.
"Why us? Who's out to get us?" no one had an answer for that. We stared at each other trying to avoid the awkwardness of not knowing something so fundamental.
"Let's vote," Izzy said. Rania nodded.
"For Elena" Uncle EJ said, giving me a grave look. My heart thumped as I made eye contact with all of them. Rania raised her hand and gave me a small smile. I smiled back. Izzy raised his hand, his gaze fixed on mine. "You also have a vote Hania" she squeaked in surprise and raised her hand. Uncle EJ raised his own hand and I breathed a little easier. Ammi Jaan stared at me, her gaze hard. I met her gaze with a steady look. I had already won. She had to concede, sooner or later.
"I don't agree... " she said shaking her head and walking out. Uncle Azhar followed her, his gaze on the ground.
"First win, how does it feel?" Izzy muttered coming over to congratulate me. I smiled. It felt and tasted bitter.
"Elena, Rania, and Zaroon.. in my office"Â Uncle EJ said walking out of the room. Izzy gave me a comforting pat on the back and Rania clasped my hand as we walked out of the room together.
All three of us stood in front of Uncle EJ in a single file.
"I'm not going to punish you, Elena, for God's sake, calm down," he said with a laugh, sitting at his desk. I made a face and Rania and I sat in the two chairs placed there. "I take it, it was your idea to sneak out of the castle?"
"I did not sneak out. I walked out the front door"
"Leaving the guards very confused and worried. They came to me, asking if I was okay letting the heir of this castle go out without any protection" I facepalmed. "But you had someone protecting you"
"Because I asked that person to"
"You can say his name Elena, I know it was Zaroon"
"It's not his fault"
"Yes, yes. It was wise of him to do as you asked. Otherwise, she would have found another way" he said giving Zaroon, a fond look. "Which leads me to this, he's your personal guard now. You're stepping into the spotlight, you need someone watching your back"
"I have a whole contingent of guards"
"Who will also be there"
"You haven't asked Zaroon"
"Zaroon wouldn't object, would he?" I blushed embarrassed and looked at the carpet. Rania nudged my foot with hers.
"No Sir," Zaroon said from behind me.
"Excellent" Uncle EJ said, his voice filled with amusement. Oh had he punished me. This was the punishment. He had demoted Zaroon to be a personal guard and was now making him follow me everywhere. My guards stood outside my room but otherwise left me alone. Uncle EJ, that fox.
"Rania" Uncle EJ continued. Rania sat up straight. "You're managing her PR from now. Hire anyone who needs to be hired. We need to prepare for Feroze, whatever Elena tells you to do, you do it in the best way possible. The three of you are now a team. Think of this as a political campaign. We have an image to sell and angry citizens to woo." I stared at him, my body stiff. What had I done?
Later that evening Rania and I sat together trying to come up with a list of sympathizers that would help us in this venture. Izzy wanted to add his input but we had told him to enjoy his time with his wife since things were going to get crazy very soon. Rania put Hussein at the top of her list, I added many of the southern families, since all of them had an equal stake in this. We had sent our statement to the media an hour ago and it seemed to be received positively. The crowd that was headed towards the castle turned out to disperse at the mention of an inquiry. The move was a definite win. A knock on the door jolted us from our reverie.
"Come in" I called out, trying to formulate an elevator pitch to convince people.
"Thought I'd bring in some food," Zaroon said, stepping in after Alia. She came in with a tray and started to place the food on one of the main tables.
"You're a lifesaver," I said, giving him a cautious smile. We hadn't talked since Uncle EJ had assigned him on guard duty and I was not sure how he had taken it. He gave me a small smile in return. I exhaled. Good, he wasn't mad at me.
"What did you bring Alia?" Rania said moving to the table.
"Has Ammi eaten?" I asked, her head bowed. "What is it? Is she still mad at me?"
"Mad at us" Rania interjected, her lips quirking in a smile.
"No, she was the one who asked me to make sure you ate" we exchanged knowing looks. All was not lost.
"We'll eat Alia, you can go now. It's late, you can come back for the dishes in the morning" she nodded and left the room. Zaroon closed the door behind her.
"You should join us since we'll be stuck together for a while," Rania said. Zaroon looked at me, unsure. I nodded and moved to the side. He sat beside me and I handed him a plate. "By the way, can I accompany the two of you the next time you try to sneak out of the castle together?"
I stared at her, a blush making its way across my face. The words were innocent and simple but her infliction was not. Rania smirked and started to fill her plate with food. After a quiet dinner, Rania ended up going to her room to 'get some sleep in her comfortable bed'. I stacked the dishes together and decided to return the dishes myself. I was not tired and I wanted to stretch my legs. As soon as I picked up the tray, Zaroon took it from my hands.
"I can hold a tray"
"Not here you won't"
"You're being ridiculous"
"Why are you doing this anyway? Alia will be here in the morning"
"I'm tired of my room and I need to stretch my legs" he gave me a strange look.
"Have you looked at your room? Who gets tired of this?" I considered his words.
"You're right, but I do need to walk"
"Fine... do you even know where the kitchens are?"
I think so. "Yes"
"Then lead the way Begum Sahiba"
Turns out I did not know where the kitchens were. He had to take the lead after the third wrong turn. Zaroon, very quietly, placed the dishes on the counter. I tiptoed towards the refrigerator. Someone should have placed some ice cream in there. Zaroon came in behind me and we started to gesture furiously. After a minute, I ignored him and opened up the freezer. This was my house, after all, they should have chocolate or hazelnut. Andaleeb knew that was my favorite.
"Ah-ha" I was right. Zaroon reached in as I pointed towards the chocolate box. He rolled his eyes at my eager expression and handed it to me.
"What are you doing?" We jumped and I quickly hid the ice cream behind me.
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