The Fallen Widow

40. Descent

Rising panic chocked Meh'r-Bano's throat like a vicious serpent spinning round until she reached her left leg searching for the secret pocket where she stored her inhaler. She gasped. Her pocket was empty. Where had she dropped her inhaler? Standing on the ascent of the cliff she was alone with Shah Nawaz; the newly crowned King of Jahanpur.

The glimmer of the ruby stone dressed in the turban stole the glow blinding Meh'r-Bano. Quickly, she closed her eyes and turned her face away from the dazzling light.

"Look who we have here? Bulbul trying to fly away?" Shah Nawaz's tone was playful with cheer throwing Meh'r-Bano with unease. Sweat dripped down her spine as the sun's glare scorched her back. Her eyes dotted around seeking an escape route.

"What's going on? Why have you bought me here?" As he inched near, Meh'r-Bano stepped back.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me, Bulbul?" His arms wide like he was expecting an embrace, Shah Nawaz approached with a bounce in his steps. His beige shawl dressed upon his arms. The jewel of Jahanpur dazzled on his finger. Gone was the angry young man, now he was arrogantly confident. Jahanpur was in his palm.
Meh'r-Bano wiped the sweat from her upper lip.
"I am Choudhary Shah Nawaz Qureshi, the king of Jahanpur."
'Go to hell.' Meh'r-Bano cursed under her breath.
"Sorry, what was that?" He neared her, with his ear towards her. "What did you say?"
Scratching her neck nervously, she shook her head.
"Did you congratulate me?"
Stepping back, she muttered. "Mubarak."
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that." She repeated slightly louder, but he was acting deaf and continued to provoke her.
"With a bit of heart, Bulbul." Standing two metres away from her, he lips curved into a teasing smile. Her hair matted on her forehead, her chador draped over her right shoulder, she was a confused mess; trapped.
"Mubarak....Choudhary...S-sab." Her heart pounded and she sighed catching her breath as Shah Nawaz overshadowed her like a mountain.
"What's wrong? Chocking on disloyalty?"
Her wide eyes shot up at him.
"I don't know what you mean?" Did he know about her conversation with Jahanzaib? What would he do? She swallowed a lump.
Peeling off his shades, Shah Nawaz took pleasure in the moment observing her face shrink with worry and her sea green eyes wide with fear.
"Bulbul-" he began tenderly. "-There are many people who have been plotting to oust me- to ensure I wasn't crowned at the Panchayat. I will deal with them all, one by one. Do you think that's fair?" He raised his left eyebrow.
"Th-that's your choice, Choudhary Saab." From her peripheral view she spotted wild bushes, maybe if she ran left she could escape?
"Do you think-" Shah Nawaz took out his pistol and checked the chambers making sure it was loaded. He's going to kill me!
"- I should throw them off the cliff of shoot them in the forehead."
Meh'r-Bano took a deep breath and pressed her hand on her chest. He was going to kill her. She looked around planning her escape.
"You are the king-" her voice shivered.
"I'm asking you!" His glared at her.
"If they are guilty- then they must be bought to your panchayat." She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
Shah Nawaz cocked his gun and held it firmly in his left hand.
"I'm glad you agree with me, Bulbul. I have ambitious plans for Jahanpur. First, I must deal with the stones in my path. Where you running off to?"
She shook her head.
"I wasn't-"
He lifted his index finger and closed his eyes. "Don't insult me."
He knew! In a split second, she ran to the left and down the steep hill. Her arms pumped energy through her body. Her chador littered on the ground. Her flimsy sandals fell off her feet but she charged down and ran as fast as she could. Her foot hit a hole, she twisted her ankle and fell to the ground. Rolling down the hill like a ball, she cried out. She hit a boulder hard. She screamed in pain. Her ankle pounded with pain. She couldn't stand up. She looked up and the SUV raced like a bullet towards her. There was no escape.

When Shah Nawaz jumped out of the car, his face was rigid like thunder. Meh'r-Bano raised her hands.
"Please let me go." She cried out.
He grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward. She screamed with pain shooting from her ankle. She fell to the ground, but he continued to drag her.  With the gun in his left hand, Shah Nawaz dragged Meh'r-Bano to the top of the cliff as she limped behind him.
"I'm sorry!" She cried but he'd lost his patience and released her hand.
"I know everyone who enters and escapes Jahanpur! Do you think I'd let you go?" He raised his pistol towards her. Meh'r-Bano turned away from the terrifying barrel.
"I wasn't escaping. We are moving to the city."
"And your debt?" He leaned into her.
"We will pay it off- quickly. Once I work in the city."
"By whose permission will you leave?" he stepped back and titled his pistol diagonally.
"There's only one way you will leave, and it's not by bus." His stone cold silver eyes stared through her sending a shiver through her spine.
"I should have finished you off in the cell- or maybe before that."
Meh'r-Bano sniffed back her tears. Was this the end? Would she never see her father again? Would he know how she died?
"You have become a thorn in my side. I must remove you. My nephew, Jahanzaib- told me everything. Blood is thicker than water."
He grabbed her by the jaw and pulled her close.
"Jahanzaib's hate for Baba was greater than his desire for Jahanpur. We share a common enemy, Bulbul."
Meh'r-Bano froze in Shah Nawaz's grasp. Jahanzaib let her down. Still, her rigor spoke up through the dying moments of her life.
"I backed the strong Choudhary." There was nothing left. No lies to hide behind. Her eyes wide with anger, she glared at him.
"Choudhary Jahanzaib was the better man."

Standing up to face him, knowing that death was on the side of the cliff, her eyes welled with tears. Shah Nawaz wasn't surprised by her courage, he expected it. Meh'r-Bano pushed her nose in the air held her fists by her side.
"Choudhary Jahanzaib is a fair and compassionate man. He may have not grown up in the fields, but he isn't arrogant and wallowing with pride. Look, he gave the riches of Jahanpur for his family- that says everything about him. I don't want to live in Jahanpur with a leader like you. You will destroy Jahanpur and ruin the villagers." Meh'r-Bano was ready to speak the truth before she died.
Running his hand along his beard he slanted his head to the side.
"Well today is your lucky day. You won't live in Jahanpur."
He pointed the pistol at her forehead.
"Now- Bulbul will fly-"
Fear spilling through her staring into the barrel. She shook her head.
"Please-don't do this."
"Go!"
"Where?"
"Go!" He roared and pulled the trigger. Meh'r-Bano screamed and limped towards the edge of the cliff. Shah Nawaz had shot into the air like the start of a Olympic race. This race was for her life. Sobbing with tears, Meh'r-Bano raced up the steep hill. The steeper the climb, the slower her legs, it was painfully arduous, but she had nowhere to go. When she reached the top of the cliff, her legs gave way and she feel to her knees. Holding her face in her hands she sobbed, her shoulders shaking. Fear fuelled tears as she held her face, sobbing into her hands her shoulder shaking.
One hundred feet below the cliff was the gush and rush of the deep river sending terror through her. There was nowhere to go.
"No!" She cried. "This can't be." She looked along the river- today was Sunday. There was no one at the river.

Moments later, Shah Nawaz approached calm, without a drop of sweat dripping from his forehead. he'd climbed this cliff over a hundred times as a child. He lorded over crestfallen Meh'r-bano recalling the first moment he met her in the grand bazaar, her glimmering eyes through the black chador struck him with. Now, she was stripped of her chador, her games over, her lies ousted. She was a traitor rooting and plotting with Jahanzaib. Shah Nawaz held his pistol in his left hand his body rigid with anger. He trusted no one.
"Please don't do this." Terror paralysed her. She wasn't ready to die.
"Games over Hoorayn. Now- take your exit." He pointed at the edge of the cliff with his gun. Meh'r-Bano climbed to her feet, her weight on her good leg. She couldn't look back, the drop terrified her.
"Please, I'm sorry- forgive me. I wanted what was best for Jahanpur- the children." She thought back to her foolish dreams that bought her to this point. Everyone was right, it was foolish to dream in Jahanpur.
"It's a shame you rooted for the weak horse." He pointed the gun at her..
"I believed in him."
"You doubted me."
"Choudhary Jahanzaib is a good man- he's educated and from the city." Meh'r-Bano wasn't sure why she was saying this, but at this moment she could only remain honest.
"Is that all that matters to you? Education? You're the arrogant one! Looking down at us illiterate, ignorant villagers!"
She shook her head, her palms clasped together pleading to him.
"You arrived her from the city believing you are better than the people of Jahanpur. Imposing your standards upon our people! Lying about your father to everyone, even your husband! You are a conniving woman! Your arrogance and pride bought you to this point!"
Stepping forward, Meh'r-Bano knew the edge of only inches away.
"Jahanzaib a kind man- he saved me from the whip!"
"Is that it?" Shah Nawaz removed the gun and grabbed her shoulders. "Is that why you favoured him?" His hands tight on her shoulders.
"Baba would have made you walk home barefoot, bleeding and exposed! Who stood before baba? Who ordered the doctor? Who sent you home to recover?"
Her mind was awash with fear- she couldn't think straight.
"I ordered Wajahat Ali to take you out of the haveli banish you from Jahanpur so you could return to your city! But you- foolish you- had to get caught with the whip! I've had enough giving you chances. I'm done! Now go." He pushed her back.
"Please no!"
"Jump!" He roared.
"I can't!"
His pointed the gun at her forehead. She shook her head. Tears ran down her cheek.
"Fly"

The gunshot was deafening echoing far and wide. Struck with panic, Meh'r-Bano screamed and ran towards the edge of the cliff and leapt into the air. Her legs kicking, arms waving sprawled like an eagle, her soul piercing screams echoed through the cliffs. She dropped one hundred feet down, shooting down like a bullet her feet pointed down into the depth of the river.

Rising on the cliff, with his shoulders back and chest thrust out with victory, Choudhary Shah Nawaz Qureshi spread terror through his enemies and wiped them out. He marked them all so no one would trust them. His plans for Jahanpur were mighty and ambitious.

A new order began for Jahanpur. 

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End of Book 1