SULTANATE سلطنت

Baadshah بادشاہ

" Press your fingers in the soil and if they're wet then all's good but if they come up dry, then it's time to water your petunias" the old gardener went on to do just what he said and sure enough, it was time to water the beautiful flowers.

" How much water should I pour in?" The young inquisitive girl asked her best friend.

" Just an inch above the soil, like so" the old man dipped his finger in the terracotta pot and the water was just about a few millimeters short of an inch.

" That will do" he turned the pot around and kept it in mild shade. Too much sun could be fatal for the plant.

" I'll take care of them from today, Baba" the young girl promised the man who gave her an affectionate smile in return.

" I know you will Bibi. Now rush inside, Amma has made you something to eat. Go on" he ushered her towards the kitchen where he was sure his wife has prepared snacks for the little girl.

" I'll bring for you too?" She stood up and dusted her frock that had gathered some withered leaves and dried flowers from her afternoon excursions in their garden.

" No Bibi, I'll have it later on. You must be hungry, now shoo!" He gently nudged her towards the main house and she frolicked away but not before giving him a magnanimous smile.

He smiled after her, praying to his Allah for blessing the sweet little girl with the best naseeb.

But looking at her now, working like a servant in her own home wasn't what he had prayed for her. Seeing her attending to all the guests and picking up after them wasn't what he wished for her. Watching her in her plain white dress that he and his wife had gifted her last year on Eid, in the wedding of the year wasn't something he had even dreamed of.

Rahim Kaka sighed in disappointment as he saw the youngest Gilani princess being treated worse than servants in her own house, by her own family and in her own sister's wedding. Albeit a step sister but still, they could've bought her a new dress or let her have something from the bride's rarely worn hand me downs!

Fatema rubbed her husband's shoulders as she witnessed what he did. They both prayed that things look up for the young girl and that her fate too brightens up. For they maybe the house help but they loved the little girl like their own.

Aadab Faisal Gilani.

The youngest daughter of Faisal Gilani from his second wife Asma. A wife who was thrust upon him without his consent, a wife who was unwanted by her husband and a wife who died in childbirth without any family present with her.

Asma was Faisal's cousin and they were married when she was orphaned at a young age. Faisal who was much older than her, was already married with three children. His first born was his guroor, his beautiful daughter Amara. His twin sons Ayoob and Arif were his heirs and pride. He was head over heels in love with his wife Baseema and that relationship was threatened when he brought home his new bride who he was made to marry by their Daadijaan.

Asma was neither ignored nor welcomed by Faisal but she was treated extremely harshly by his first wife. The little girl had no one by her side and when she found out about the arrival of her baby, a fruit that their wedding night had bore them; the only night she truly got to be her husband's wife, she was ecstatic. Baseema raised hell in the house the day she got to know about her pregnancy and Asma felt her heart break into a million pieces when her husband didn't take a stand for her and their baby when his wife raised questions on her character and indirectly called her baby a bastard.

That was it for her and she had stopped trying to make an effort in her marriage. Her only hope for life was her baby and the old couple that stayed in the servant's quarters, whom she called family. Rahim and Fatema had taken care of her up until the birth of her baby and when the doctor came out with the little bundle wrapped in a blanket, her face didn't betray the happiness it usually should.