Page 261 of The Circle of Exile
“What?”
“Fine, you and Iram start looking for a suitable girl but I will not marry outside Pundit…”
“Noora, for two minutes, be serious. There is nothing for you here.”
“Is Shiva also going?”
“I asked him. He doesn’t want to go.”
“Daniyal?”
“No.”
“Then why am I going?”
Atharva squeezed his eyes shut, praying for divine patience.
“Big Brother.”
He tore his eyes open and met Noora’s gaze. It had been an eon since somebody had called him that. Atharva stared at Noora, at one of those rare, solemn gazes that only opened in a real crisis or an intel debrief.
“Whatever there is, is here for me. With you all. I am not going anywhere. If you throw me out, I will climb in from the back gate, I have also planned to dig a tunnel…”
“Just go.”
“What?”
“Deliver these and come back.”
His teeth made an appearance.
“From the main gate,” Atharva warned.
“I will teach Arth all about the tunnels!”
“Noona!”
“Artha!” He jumped around, pushing the envelope inside his waistband. Atharva had stopped questioning his hiding places a long time ago. Yathaarth came running up the driveway, Iram parking the car.
As Noora ran out of the house, Iram strode in — bag, bottle and purse laden on her. “Did you talk to him?”
Atharva nodded, gazing at the two play some strange game of running around a stone.
“He is going?”
“You sound sad,” he smirked.
“No, he must go. He has a life there…”
Atharva eyed his wife. Sad.
“He is going.”
“I know… ask him to courier the attar.”
Atharva shook his head — “He will hand-deliver it.”
Her eyes widened. “He is not going?”
