Page 129 of The Circle of Exile
“I lost you once, and every time I silence myself in a moment with you, I am reminded that you are god’s gift returned to me again and again.”
Her eyes softened. She pushed his hair back, leaned down and kissed his forehead again.
“Spend your entire day tomorrow with me and you will spend the entire year with me!”
Atharva vibrated quietly. “I wish.”
“Why?”
“I have to go to Kupwara.”
“To this place where they killed the terrorists?”
He nodded.
“But the encounter is still going on.”
“It has moved a few kilometres away to Bangus.”
“How is Altaf letting you go?”
“It’s not a security threat. Don’t worry, myani zuv.”
“How long will you be there?”
“20-30 minutes. From there, I have to visit a military base in Zachaldara.”
She frowned. But did not ask. And in her not asking, he wanted to answer.
“Momina Aslam knows that you flew to Kargil from PoK on that plane.”
Her face froze.
“There is no evidence whatsoever for her to prove it, Iram. Trust me, I will…”
“I trust you,” her eyes vacillated from his face. “But what does this mean? Did she tell you this?”
“On Arth’s Annaparashan…”
“On Arth’s Annaparashan? Atharva, why do you hide things?!”
His brows rose.
“Ok, yes, I let you tell me at your own time. But this is the limit. She came to our house and said this. What did she want from you?”
"I like how you have become a proper politician’s wife,” he held her thigh in his hand and shook. “But to answer your question — no, she did not ask for anything. Yet. It’s been more than a month and she has gone quiet. I have been working with Amaal and Captain Husain to slowly build a safety net for us. This operation was made into a media spectacle to reassert my nationalist agenda. When I went to Nagar, I made enemies out of a lot of people, including the centre and the defence forces. Now it’s time to bring them all back to my side, so that even if whispers start spreading, without evidence, they are nothing but slander.”
“There will not be any believers, Atharva. Nobody can stand behind the idea of you betraying your country in any way.”
But I did skirt around it,he thought.
“I will strive to make sure they are minimised in number. All tracks are covered, all evidence is buried. Faiz came through on his promise as well. Your name has not been uttered out loud there again. But I need this to go away, buried down. Right now…” he shut his eyes, frustration creeping up the back of his neck. “She is not coming up with her threat, nor is she going public. It’s a purgatory of its own, not knowing.”
“Shhh,” Iram’s hand pushed between his neck and his pillow, massaging him there. How did she always know what part of him was aching?
“You have dealt with worse situations, Atharva. This is not even the top 10 bad.”
He smiled, eyes still closed. “I agree.”
