Hijar
                     part 3

The sky darkened, into an utter black void and then lightened again, a navy blue and then slowly, the sky blue. The once visible moon slowly hid away, secretly, as the first rays of the sun came out.

Every second of the night, as the sky had been black, she had been numb. Absolutely numb. Then it was excruciating pain, the way it felt if you were being burnt alive, torn apart limb by limb.

Every second of the night, she had wished death upon herself and him.

Him.

She didn't move an inch the whole night and in the morning even when the sun came out and she was able to see him passed out next to her.

Some meters apart.

All she saw was a haze. A silent stare, emotionless, as she watched him wake up and then glance at her.

Emotionless, as she watched him move about the room, go into the bathroom and come out and then stand in front of the mirror as he got ready. His eyes , for once, encountered her, curled in the same place he had seem before.

In the mirror, his eyes met her emotionless gaze and his expression changed, from pinched brows to expressionless. Staring a moment too long, he turned around to leave, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

——————————
In the bright sunlight, outside the haveli, he sat with Mufti Sahab, who was thinking with a wise look on his face,
" Shah Sahab, saara gaun aapsey badzan hai."
( The whole village is offended.)

" Inki kya majaal hai, Mufti Sahab?"
( what's their importance)
He was dressed in black like always, his eyes blank and chilling like always, stoic.

" Aap uss larki ko iss tarha apnay paas nahi rakh saktay, un ka kehna hai k phir tou aap kisi ki behn beti ko utha k ley jayein."
(You cant keep that girl with you like that, they say if you keep her, you may want to keep any of their daughters or sisters in the future.)

The Mufti explained the thoughts of the people of the village, it was clear that people were scared and some angry but none had the power to say anything to Shahs directly.

" Bhagaa kar nahi laya ussey mey, meray bhai ko qatal kiya, aisay hi jaanay dun un kamzaat logon ko?"
( I haven't eloped with her! They murdered my brother, will I let those people get away just like that?)

The hatred in his voice was visible as his brother's body flashed before his eyes.

" Shah Sahab, maaf kijiye magar aapnay bhi uskay baap aur bhai ka qatal kiya. Yay Larki zaat hai, gaun walay aisay nahi chorengay yay baat, aaj kal mey dharna dein gay, naaray lagayein gay, aur phir baad mey election mey vote nahi milengay."
( forgive me, but you have murdered her father and brother too. It will prove to be problematic, she is a woman and people won't leave this matter. Your votes may suffer in the next election.)

The mufti tried his best to argue, to get his point across.

" Aap kehna kya chahtay hain, Mufti Sahab?"
( What do you want to say?)

There was a little annoyance in his tone but he and his whole family respected the Mufti who had helped them in crucial times and advised them all along.

" Ya tou aap larki ko chhor dein, ya Nikkah karlain uss sey."
( Either leave that girl, or marry her.)

" Mey uss kamzaat sey nikkah karunga?"
( I will marry that woman?)
There was a very little patience left in him.

" Nikkah karain bas, biwi mat banayein."
( Just marry her, don't make her your wife.)

" Aap sochnay dein mjhey, phir koi faisla karunga."
(Let me think.)

     —————————————-

He didn't come to her, she didn't see his face for a few days. He was gone, maybe. She heard he had left the city urgently, because he had just murdered in cold blood. A few days of remembering that pain, the torture, how he had turned her life upside down.

She fell ill, awfully ill. The day he had beaten her, she got the fever which had her fainting  throughout the day. There were a couple women who looked after her, she was not even moving. They bandaged her, cleaned her, fed her.
She was still ill, half alive in bed when the door burst open, the woman next to her jumped in fear while she, she was as stoic as before, frozen.

Shahir Shah entered the room,fast strides cutting the distance between them before them as he gestured the woman to leave the room. Black Shalwar Kameez, the beige coloured shawl, his stature tall and strong as stopped on front of the bed, his eyes emotionless, on her.

Unwantedly, she still felt chills down her spine, she felt the tremble in her bones due to his presence. His eyes assessed her form, lying on the bed, broken and they settled on her face.

Bruised but recovering, her skin was pale, her lips a little blue and pale and her eyes bent, not daring to look at him. Why was he here?
She could feel the chilliness of his eyes, the hatred, the loathing that she got ready for the torture again.

He stepped closer,
" Meri taraf dekho."
( Look at me.)

She tried to raise her eyes but they felt heavier than anything, her eyes scared as she gathered herself on the bed.
With fury, he bent down, grabbing her face with force that made her wince and made her face him.
" Idhar dekho."
( Look here.)

Her eyes raised for an instance, but they bent down in the millisecond, the hate burning his eyes was too strong to look at. Her eyes filled with tears as his fingers dug in her flesh.
" Tumsey jitni mey nafrat karta hun, uski tou abhi thori si numayish ki hai menay.
Sakoon tab milay ga mjhey, jab tum saari zindagi tarpo gi, yahan meray saamnay."
( How much I hate you, I have just elaborated a portion of it, I will get peace only when you suffer your whole life, here, in front of me.)

His lehja was so sharp that she felt her skin being sliced by his words. She could only tremble with the chills settling in her bones.

" Tyaar hojao, Nikkah hai hamara."
( Be ready, it's our marriage.)

Her eyes quickly shot to his face, all colour leaving her face as she stared at him in shock. Why was he doing this? Nikkah? For what? He could everything he wanted to her, everything, without anyone ever questioning him. It was what she feared, he will take everything from her, every little piece of her soul until she was left empty. He would tie her to himself for life, till death. Body and Soul.

" Abhi ghantay mey molvi aye ga, aur agar qabool hai ilawa tumharay mu sey aik lafz bhi nikla, tou yaad rakhna k tumhari jaan...aur  izzat, meray haatho mey hai."
( The priest will come in an hour, and I don't want you hear anything other than 'I accept" from your mouth, remember, your life and your respect is in my hands.)

She wanted to cry no, she wanted to scream but the way his eyes bore down in her, looking at her very soul, she gave up.

              ——————————

She was sitting with that man, a dupatta draped over her as the Molvi read the Nikkah. She was here, doing what every girl dreamt of, what she dreamt of always, but this dream had turned into a nightmare.

" Kya aapko yay Nikkah qubool hai?"
( Do you accept this marriage?)

Her heart died inside her the very moment she nodded her head, unable speak, and her dreams cried on the deathbed of her heart.

All life left her body when she heard the same question asked from him and in his strong, willed voice, he said,
" Qubool hai."
( I accept)

               ——————————-

Howls of joy, men laughing, the clinking of glasses and the faint sound of music being played outside hit her senses like a hammer. She was sitting on his bed, like a bride, dressed like a woman entering the next phase of her life.
While she was entering her own cage, her captivity. They had dressed her like a bride, painted her lips red. She had protested, she had done her best but the most she could do was smudge the blood red lipstick. They had her captive, her body and her soul.

Her eyes welled up once again as she heard the double wooden doors open with a bang, the sounds from outside swarmed in, shouting men and their laughter.

He entered, like he always did, proud gait, broad shoulders and head held high, nose arrogant. He was dressed in the black shalwar kameez he wore mostly, a skin shawl wrapped around his shoulders and his peshawari chappal ticking against the floor as he walked. She looked at him for a second before she removed her gaze. He held a glass in his hand, half filled with a brown fluid which he placed at side table before he sat down on the bed, the luxurious sheets crumbling beneath him.

She fisted her hands, tears bubbling inside her as he raised the veiled dupatta above her face, his dark eyes dancing around her face, the red lips, the shadowed eyes and the tear stains, before he burst into laughter.
His laughter echoed in the room, the air tense with how his cruelty had crossed every limit.

He looked at her face again, really looked at her, before he said in his voice intoxicated with power and arrogance,
" Inn logon ko lagta hai k mey tumhey haath bhi lagana pasand karun ga."
( These people think I will ever even want to touch you.)

He laughed again, the chuckles vibrating through his chest,
" Itna tyaar kis liye ho kar ayi ho?"
( What are you so dolled up for?)

Her face was burning with embarrassment, with hatred and with an emotion so new that she felt herself heart burning.

"Khair," he paused as he stood up, dragging a chair from the side to the middle of the room and then picking up his glass of booze before he sat down on the chair, leg on leg as he took a sip leisurely,
" ab aisay tyaar hui ho tou idhar aa kar kharri ho."
( Since you have done so much, why don't you come stand here.)

His voice was almost intoxicated, like he had been drinking, otherwise he was not the one to give explanations, he was the one to order.

Mehek looked at him with confusion, not understanding what he was doing or what he wanted her to do.

" Suna nahi tumney?"
( Didnt you hear me?)
When he growled at her, she stood up from the bed quickly, handling her dupatta properly which was very heavy and hard to carry when she heard him order,
" Uh uh, yay dupatta udhar hi chhor ao."
( Uh uh, leave the scarf there.)

Her mind became blank, hands trembling and sweat gathered at her brows as she looked at him in fear while he took a sip of his drink, eyes still on her observingly.
With trembling hands, she took the dupatta off, the heavy worked shirt and lehnga encased her as she walked to the middle of the room, in front of but far from his chair.

His dark eyes looked at her properly again, every little crevice, every crest of her body, every embellishment from her eyes to her toes, to the hair curled behind her back and to the sweat gathered at the base of her neck.

He tapped the side of his glass before reclining on the chair,
" Naacho."
( Dance.)

She looked at him in question, her face pale and lips not being able to speak.

" Sunai nahi deta tumhey? Menay kaha naach kar dikhao. Kabhi kisi aurat ko naachtay nahi dekha?"
(Didnt you hear me? I said dance. Haven't you seen a woman dance before?)

Every little fibre of her being burned at his demand, and every nerve ending standing at attention as eyes darted across the room to look for something to defend herself with, she will not let him get away with this, she will kill him.

He stood up, coming right in front of her as she desperately looked around to look for something to use as a weapon when he raised her face, two fingers gripping her dimpled chin,

" Idhar udhar kya dekh rahi ho? Mjh akelay k saamnay nahi naacho gi kya? Aur aadmi bulaun?"
( Why are you looking here and there hmm? Don't want to dance in front of me alone? Should I call more men? )

The hatred in her eyes matched in his, her eyes now red and her body trembling but she did not move an inch. She would die but she would not move even an inch.

" Ho tou tum khubsurat, magar bewakuf lagti ho jo meri baat nahi maan rahi."
( You are beautiful, but you seem dumb since you haven't been obeying me.)

His finger trailed across her face, fron her temple to her cheekbone, down to her lips as his adam's apple bobbed.

It was clear challenge in his eyes as shouted,
" Rahim! Rahim!"
He was calling his servant.

She felt like all blood left her body, like her soul had departed. He was going to call those men and they were going to-

The servant came running in, eyes down as he stood beside the door,
" Jee, Sahab."
(Yes, sir)

Shahir looked at her scared eyes, not even looking at the servant once as he tilted his one side of his lips in an arrogant smirk, he fed on her fear, like a monster.
"Yay glass bharr kar lao."
( Fill this glass.)

The servant immediately cane forward, picked the glass up before scurrying away, not even once raising his eyes to look at her.

            ———————————

Phewww.
It took hours and hours to write, bro!
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