The Fallen Widow

Chapter 10- High Treason

The following morning was still. An echoing silence cawed over the haveli like a black, cursed crow. The maids filled the pitchers with fresh well water, poured fresh buffalo milk into the glass bottles, knead down for the morning parathas with masala tea stunned with silence. What punishment would Uzayr face?

Shah Nawaz ordered a morning brief with his security team in the bettak, and the close members of the haveli. Jahanzaib was by Shah Nawaz's side, waiting for his instruction. Uzayr was locked in prison below the haveli. Baba was recovering in hospital with Fiza, Malikah and Shahgul by his side.

Meh'r-Bano made her way into the bettak with the maids bringing in chai, paranthas, boiled eggs, fresh lassi for breakfast. When she spotted Jahanzaib, she paused. He caught her eyes. Gently he nodded acknowledging her. He was back like the rumours buzzed. He stood behind Shah Nawaz dressed in a dull, grey salwar kameez, he didn't look like a Choudhary, just another guard.

Breakfast was served and soon cleared up. No mention of Uzayr; like he was invisible. Meh'r-Bano spent the night at Fiza's bedside, massing her head to sleep. Consoling her when she woke from nightmares. The poor girl was torn between two men she utterly loved. When the roosters announced the crack of dawn, Meh'r-Bano secretly tip toed into the bowels of the haveli, the prison where she was once held captive. On the request of Fiza, she made her way to the prison to deliver news and provide sustenance to the prisoner.

Inside, Uzayr was a dark shadow in the corner of the prison. Small grunts and cries of pains were muffled by his masculinity. When the light shone onto his face, his face was severely bruised and swollen. Meh'r-Bano gasped and placed the tray of water, medicine, bandages and fruit. What could she say? How are you? That's a stupid question.
"Fiza sent me here." She whispered. "She has been asking after you all night and didn't sleep."
Silence passed between them
"I've bought water- bandages-" She went through the tray and stepped forward.
"Leave." His voice gravelly and broken.
Meh'r-Bano was lost in her deep thoughts and didn't realise when the breakfast table was cleared. She stood staring out of the window, her body present but she was still in the prison. She recalled the day when Shah Nawaz imprisoned her. He beat the old man and blamed him for being a traitor. What happened to him?
"I can hear the cogs whirring in your brain." Said Shah Nawaz breaking Meh'r-Bano's train of thought. She shook her head and turned back to the room. Everyone had left. She was alone with Shah Nawaz.
"Go on-" He approached her, his gaze fixed on her eager to learn her thoughts.
"I don't understand." She scratched the back of her neck.
"I know you want to say something all morning. Say it." He was close, a step away.
She took a deep breath and stepped back. Thankfully, he couldn't read her blasphemous thoughts.
"What does it matter what I say or think?"
"Your mind is loud like a tractor- I can hear it."
Meh'r-Bano looked up at Shah Nawaz, her eyes now holding his eyes like a barrister, looking at the judge.
"Are you really going to kill your nephew?" She whispered like it was a swear, saying it loud would make it come true.
Shah Nawaz softened his lips into a smile. "Women, they truly are a basket of emotions."
She paused still holding his eyes, piercing into his soul to glimpse his consciousness.
"Bulbul, this isn't a game. Treason equals death. The law of Jahanpur." He paused allowing the words to settle.
"Do you think we will let him get away with it? What message does that send to the people to Jahanpur. We lead by example."
Meh'r-Bano couldn't get her head around it. Baba was in hospital. If Uzayr died, Fiza wouldn't survive.
"My father will decide the punishment. If his decision is weak; I will override it. You must remember, when you are blood, you have greater privileges, influence and greater punishment. With great privileges, comes greater punishment."

It made sense in the land of Jahanpur, Meh'r-Bano wanted to pry a little deeper and shadowed him towards the door.

"I know you have a system, a hierarchy, you have to punish for treason. What about your feelings, your heart? Don't you feel for him?"

Shah Nawaz gave her a final turn. "What are you, bulbul? My conscious? There is little room for emotions when it's a matter of treason." He cut the conversation dead, like a tree. There was no room for emotions. 

Over the next few days, whilst Dilawar-Baksh was in hospital recovering from his injuries the whispers amplified to loud voices. Death to Uzayr! Uzayr the traitor! The panchayat met and discussed the incident and agreed that Uzayr must be hanged. But the ruling couldn't be passed, as Dilawar-Baksh would ultimately decide.

In the hospital, Dilawar-Baksh ego was dented after suffering humiliation. His physical injuries garnered sympathy and warmth from his wife, but he couldn't forget Azaad's cruel words and his soiled salwar. Fiza didn't leave his side. Jahanzaib hovered in the room, but Dilawar-Baksh refused to speak to him.

Wiping baba's dry lips with moistened cloth, Fiza gave him the last spoon of chicken soup she cooked.
"Baba, how are you feeling today? Perhaps we can try walking?" Fiza held his left hand and dotted a soft kiss.
"Your prayers protected me, my child." he croaked. 
Dilawar-Baksh read the pain in his granddaughter's eyes. Swollen, red and puffy, she was worried for not just him; but that bastard Uzayr. Dilawar-Baksh spend the past few days in hospital contemplating a punishment- worse than death. Death was easy. A quick, get out of jail free card. Something, deeper that would annihilate and torture Uzayr for the rest of his life. The answer struck him. Jahanzaib donned his father's turban, and his kurtha he looked like a true Choudhary.
"Beti- my days are numbered." Dilawar-Baksh began. Jahanzaib stepped closer.
"Baba – no-" She lifted her head, her eyes filled with tears.
"Listen to me- both of you." He ushered Jahanzaib closer. Hope spread joy in Jahanzaib's chest. Finally, his baba addressed him.
"Soon, I will be gone. I am not scared of death but of leaving you behind." His eyes filled with tears knowing he would break her heart.
"I want you to be safe- safe away from the evil in the haveli." He lied. He wanted to punish Uzayr, kill his soul before his body died.
Fiza's eyes were pinned on her grandfather's bruised mouth.
"Jahanzaib, son of Shah Jahan- maybe you were not fit to be a leader, but you are fit to take care of my Fiza."
Jahanzaib's heart began to pound. His grandfather acknowledged him. "You let me down once, this time you won't let me down."
"Baba- anything." Jahanzaib kneeled closer to hm. "I'll do anything for you."
Dilawar-Baksh looked at Fiza.
"Take care of my granddaughter. I want you to marry her and take away from Jahanpur, to the city where she will be safe." Then he would torture Uzayr with the news. 
Fiza gasped. This was it. The decision she was waiting for. Her baba chose her a suitor. A man from her clan. Her heart broke into a millions pieces. She pursed her lips, but words couldn't form. How could she mention the traitor's name?
Jahanzaib stood up. "I don't understand-"
"You are a good, honest man like your father. I trust you with my Fiza."
Tears ran down Fiza's cheeks, she chocked back her words. She couldn't contest, or complain. Baba would never forgive Uzayr. She lost Uzayr in that moment and Jahanpur.
"Baba-" Fiza sniffed, her words trapped in her throat. "I won't ask anything from you- but please-"
"Don't ask what I can't give."
"I'll do anything – Don't let him die-"

Jahanzaib watched Fiza argue with his silence, trying to make him see sense, but nothing made sense. The situation was dead, obsolete. Uzayr had written his fate in stone when he attempted to assassinate his grandfather and sealed Fiza's fate with another man.

"I'm your baba. I will keep you safe- I promise – with my last breath. You must marry Jahanzaib."