Put the wedding of the year, a surly army major and an upcoming election into a blender, what do you get?
Chaos.
Ultimate and utter, CHAOS.
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No 1: H...
"Your wife, the mother of your child tried to have you assassinated?" "Twist the knife in deeper will you?" I rubbed my temples. What... and it was only 12:30 in the afternoon. He walked over to pour himself a glass of water. "Why... when?" "A week ago... at home. Poisoned a glass." Aunt Mamo had been right. "She wants the seat... the position" "And with you dead, she would have gotten the sympathy vote" "Exactly" huh. "Wow... I'm still trying to wrap my head around this, providing you're telling the truth"
He slammed the glass on the table. "Why would I lie about this Elena? About my son? About my life?" I raised my hands in a placating gesture. He calmed down and stood near the window. "You said this was about Gulzar's family?" I nodded and walked to stand beside him. "You also said that people around me might be involved" "They most definitely are... they have backing from some very powerful people" "Naila's father" "What?" "What better way to get me out of the way and you weak? This gives Naila an open field" "Aren't you reaching?" I said as the pieces clicked together.
'I haven't seen him', that's what Rakhi had said. ' I only get the instructions'
Aunt Mamo had warned us. Rania and I had discussed this. Uncle EJ and Murad had indicated that there were people in the government who were working against us. Could this be it?
"Think about this... we have someone from the south, with a chance of winning, after 70 years. We have an old family that's on the cusp of power, the very family who fought with the British" he turned around to look into my eyes. "He's never going to let that go" "You're his son in law" I countered checking for the holes in his story. "Connections... he has the south because of me" "Bold assumption" he waved a hand dismissively at my tone. "He weakens Gulzar Mahal and he weakens me. I have no one to back me up..." "So everything that's happening here was specially designed to weaken you?" I crossed my arms to emphasize my point.
"And you. You're not getting it. He has the chance to crown his daughter as the second female Prime Minister of this country. He'd at least try. She's his legacy. I won't listen to him or her... she will. You're the heir to one of the oldest dynasties in the country. You'll control the port city. You're my family and you were married to me" I huffed in reply and he smiled. He had me and he knew it.
"Well, he couldn't have done this without some help from the inside. We've managed to create quite a slew of opportunities for this... revolution to flourish" "He could easily buy people to mess things up" his words brought Murad's face to my mind. There was a connection, I was sure of it now.
"Murad was attacked when he was working on health reforms... the attackers said they were from the New Revolutionaries, but why would they attack him when things were getting better?" I said taking a seat in front of him encouraging him to talk further. "Exactly! See?" he said excitedly. "If you're right, then we're all in danger. We have to tell the others..." "Maybe leave out the part where I say that my wife poisoned me? That's a little embarrassing" I rolled my eyes. "Is this the time to care about this?" "An image can't be rebuilt, it can only be twisted"
"Do you believe him?" Izzy asked his voice hard. "Izzy..." I started. "Hey man! There's nothing not to believe here" Feroze interjected. "I'm addressing my sister" "Your sister... right" "What's that supposed to mean?" Hania asked.
We were back in the main library with Ammi Jaan, Uncle EJ, Rania, Izzy, and Hania. Ferozeuddin had told them his side of the story. Ammi and Hania were sympathetic, but the rest of us remained skeptical. Rania seemed like she wanted to lie down on the floor. I walked towards her as Feroze and Izzy got into another tiff. "You okay hon?" "Yeah just tired..." "Get some rest... we'll take it from here" "You sure?" "Positive," I said giving her a pat on the back. She smiled gratefully just as Izzy exited the room with a bang. We both gave each other the 'jeez, who's going to deal with that' looks. I nodded at her to indicate that I would and she smiled and walked out with Hania. I escaped the room using Ammi and Uncle EJ's interrogation of Feroze to serve as a cover For my escape.
"What did he mean by that?" Oh my God... they hadn't even gone to their rooms? Hania was berating Izzy just outside the library.
"Nothing Hania... it was a stupid childhood thing. You know how Feroze is! We had nothing to do with it. It's not even important" "Look, Izzy, I love you, I want to be with you but I can't stand her in your life"
"Izzhaan, have you seen Elena?" Oh no. What was Zaroon doing here? And since when were he and Izzy on a first name basis?
"Oh look another admirer. What's with this girl? Farishta was right..." "Enough Hania!" "Izzy," I said in a horrified whisper. I'd never heard Izzy talk in that tone to anyone. All three of them turned around to see me standing there. Hania's face fell and her lip trembled. Izzy looked guilty and Zaroon, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Time to deal with one problem at a time.
"Hania, whatever Feroze has said, it's not true," I said going towards her with my hands up. "The part where you're his ex-wife?" "That's true," I said looking at Zaroon. Now his face seemed like it was etched in stone. Hard and unmoving. "I was his wife for a day... till he left me in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere to get married to Naila" I did not know who I was speaking to, Hania or Zaroon, but they both needed to understand this. Saying it out loud made me realize how little power this thing had on me now. I could not lose the two of them because I was afraid of telling the truth.
"And what about... what about you and Izzy?" "There's nothing between us... never was," "Now that's a lie" Feroze stepped out of the shadows with a sly smile on his face. "What's a lie?" I asked through my gritted teeth. "They've always been close but they were betrothed at one point. Oh don't look at me like Elena, you didn't know. Izzy did" he said gesturing at us " These two were supposed to get married. Unite the houses and all that... but I asked Mother to tell Auntie to break it off"
"He's lying... right Izzy?" Izzy looked at me with a defeated look in his eyes and I knew Feroze was right. God, what had my mother been thinking? "Not that he wanted to marry you of course... He always thought of Elena as a sister. I just couldn't stand to see them so close, so I asked Mother to end this so she told Auntie this was a bad idea. Auntie believed her and broke the engagement. She said that the bond that they shared couldn't be limited or named" I rolled my eyes at his wording.
"See? Brother and sister always" I said looking at Hania. She gave me a weak smile, seemingly convinced. "It's not that big of a deal," Izzy said, touching her arm gingerly and she smiled at him. Wooh, one crisis averted. "Of course it's not... for her. She breaks relationships all the time. Even Elena's marriage only lasted for a day" Feroze said snidely. "And yours is about to end" I snapped back. He shut up, his eyes narrowing. "I think it's time you got some rest Feroze..." "I'm not tired" "Yes you are...go," I said as I rang the nearest bell. "Alia, please show Feroze Sahab to his room and ensure that he stays there"
