Page 38 of The Circle of Exile
“Faiz, Noorie and Nooran were sent away snatched from our mother’s bed,” Mehrunisa whispered, low, as if this empty house had ears too. As if uttering those names out loud was a sin even today.
“And why don’t I remember it?”
“Because you were very young. Abbaji sent Nooran only once he had you…”
“A spare,” Faiz grinned, looking himself up and down. “Did I prove better than the heir?”
Mehrunisa held her tongue. Faiz’s mad eyes reached Iram, widened — “What a fate, Jannat. To neither be an heir, nor a spare. Or youwerethe spare to the spare? Nooran and Noorie. What a pair! It rhymes…”
“Faiz, Noorie did not have a choice in this…”
“Wait, Aapa. Her name is Iram Kaul. She has lied to you also,” he cackled, holding up his mobile phone. Iram stared at the picture of her wedding day. Today, she did not look anything like that woman smiling beside Atharva. Faiz mentioned as much — “The makeup changes everything, no?”
His cackle turned louder, his eyes going around the room and freezing on Atharva’s. That’s when Iram turned her head and looked up. Her husband was staring at Faiz — impassive, cool, unblinking. Long moments passed. She waited. He did not blink. Faiz’s cackle died.
“You did not let the news leak,” Faiz said to her husband.What news?
“Your CM was remorseful.”
“Atharva Singh Kaul. I have read about you. You do not show remorse without your own interest.”
Atharva smirked — “The symbolic leader from this morning does have some leadership skills after all.”
“Leadership skills,” Faiz cackled. “You call stalking leadership skills?”
“Listening, reading and absorbing.”
Faiz was looking at Atharva as if some divine sermon was being imparted. Atharva didn’t look like he was here to impart anything as his smirk cooled into that authoritarian, impassive mouth. His CM-firing-his-babus face.
“And yet you walked into my property without protection. Didn’t learn anything from this morning?”
“You need protection right now.”
“From what? Her?” Faiz’s eyes reached her. “Jannat? Or wait, Iram. No, Noorie right? She has been trouble ever since she arrived. You brought more with you. If anything, you should be scared of being here in my house, without any security, with your wife…”
“Your sister,” Iram cut him off. If this man thought he could threaten Atharva in front of her, he had another thing coming. Her blood cooled to rivulets roared now. Months of stillness sparkled inside. Iram leaned forward — “I am not just your father’s daughter. I am your sister. Your elder sister. I am an Indian, and married to the Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir. Yes, I came here to find my roots, to find you. And do you know what I found? A young man so full of possibilities and yet so scared of everything around him. A man ready to take on everything that comes his way, a man ready to love every person that belongs to his community, and yet angry at everybody in that community.”
He was looking at her with his amused, indulgent expression that he was known to use for his dog. Iram took a deep breath, flinging her next words slow, with caution, and the gravity that they deserved — “So, right now, you can look at me with that bored expression, Faiz Ali, and make yourself believe that your father, your mother, even your Mehrunisa Aapa cheated you of all that you deserved. But life is not fair. They cheated me out of all that I deserved as well. And yet here I am, and here you are.”
His eyes hardened. She went on.
“You can either make everything difficult and create a ruckus out of this, or you can cooperate and let us be on our way. I will be happy to go back right now without destroying what little reputation you and your royal name enjoy here. But if you drag Atharva into this, if you threaten him, if you threaten me again with the ISI or the army, I swear I will burn you and your royal name down. Even if that means I have to set fire to myself first.”
She inhaled quietly. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. She could feel everything in her body. Even the weight of her own skin. It felt a little heavier on the ball of her shoulder. Then she realised it was Atharva’s hand, tugging her back slowly from her perch half off the armchair.
“Jannat,” Mehrunisa’s quiet, soft voice broke the stalemate. “Nobody will threaten anybody. We are here this late and alone to talk through this. Faiz?”
“Yes, Aapa.”
“We agreed.”
He got to his feet, trying to grin, trying to assert supremacy when Atharva’s fist connected with his jaw. Iram recoiled into the armchair.
“That is for threatening my wife while she was a guest in your home.”
Her heart raced. She began to push to her feet to put herself in front of Atharva lest Faiz hit back but the unhinged man was horrified. He held his cheek and took quick steps back, blinking rapidly, his hand shivering. Mehrunisa was immediately by his side, running her hand up and down his arm — “It’s alright.”
His lip quivered. Atharva took one step and he took two back. Atharva stopped.
