Chapter 15: "Murdering Marriage"

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Salma glanced at the people around the room. Her mother and Aunt Farhiya had turned white as a sheet to see her standing in the midst of them all. And so was Asim. Even her father seemed paler than usual.

"What were you doing, girl?" someone asked.

Salma turned to the source of the voice but through the panicked static fogging her brains, she could not comprehend who asked her the question. She just saw three malice filled faces leering at her.

"I had a task assigned," Salma addressed Gul Nar, Ghamey's mother, trying to not lie. "Mum told me to be back before dark but I ran into some car issues. I was just coming back in when . . ."

She pointed towards the door behind her. As the guests studied her excuse for any lie they could catch, Salma quickly went over her words in her head again. Even if she did not say it, she was scared she might have let slip the fact that her father had full knowledge of their arrival and that he had sent her away for her to avoid meeting them.

A cushion knocked off of her shins out of nowhere. Salma jumped back. Her eyes snapped towards the three.

"Sit," Gul Nar ordered as she rearranged her gold bracelets. Salma figured the woman would speak more politely to a rabid dog compared to her.

Salma continued to stand.

Gul Nar paused and turned to her, raising a perfectly shaped brow as if to question Salma's hearing or her ability to comprehend simple words. Probably both. Salma, on the other hand, had focused all her attention on the old man sitting in front of her.

"Girl!" Gul Nar said, louder this time. "I said sit down."

Salma kept standing.

She felt, rather than saw, the occupants of the room exchanging questioning glances.

"Sally, take a seat," her father said.

Salma looked at her father. He looked confused, scared and angry at what she was doing, but most of all, concerned. Salma felt her heart stab at the panic behind his calm façade. She looked away and turned to everyone else before firmly fixing her gaze on Agha Gul once again. She refused to sit.

The air in the room changed. Everyone realized she was waiting for Agha Gul's permission to sit. Both, a daring move – coaxing the old man to acknowledge her presence and existence – and a stupid attempt to show utmost respect.

The old man had been ignoring everything so far. Slowly twirling the staff in his hand, he had been studying its ornate designs – something he deemed much more worthy of his attention than a mere girl from the enemy clan. As pathetic a pest as she may be to him, Salma would not have it. Finally, he breathed in, tilting his head away from her. Though extremely foolish, Salma celebrated the small win of having ruffled his feathers. He gave the slightest nod.

For once, Salma forgot that she was literally walking towards a life of torture. Trying not to smirk, she took a seat on the cushion.

Game on, Rotten Wrinkles!

She had to remind herself to look away and act upon of the fear that she was feeling.

"We're glad you're here, girl," Gul Nar said. "We wanted to talk to you about something."

Salma nodded meekly.

"Do you know why we are here?"

Salma shook her head.

"We are here to see your parents," Zaryab continued. "Can you now tell why?"

Salma's heart jumped to her throat. However, once again, she shook her head.

"Farhiya?" Gul Nar ordered. "Inform your sister's family of the absolute nightmare Agha Gul and we have been through."

"Yes, Apa Gul," Farhiya said quietly.

Salma threw her aunt a quick glance. The way she wiped the sweat off of her upper lip and sat all stiff with jittery mannerism, it was clear that she was about to parrot what she had been told.

"Our child, Asim's, life is in danger," Farhiya began, to Salma and her family's surprise. Salma had expected the subject of their supposed 'concern' to be her, not her brother.

"What?" Atif Rahman barely managed to hold back a scoff.

"Yes, Agha Gul's men have found out that there are people who are trying to target him."

Salma was careful not to look at her parents, especially her father who was obviously angry, and everyone else, but she was scared and unsure and wanted to know how much of what Aunt Farhiya was going to say was truth.

"But why?" Salma could not help but ask.

"He's the last male living descendant of the Zamarud family from Grand Chief Sulaiman. There are people --"

"I am doing everything to ensure my family's protection," Atif Rahman interfered. "My son is absolutely safe."

"Atif Lala," a voice startled Salma. She turned around to see a hooded figure standing in the corner with his face towards the wall. "I understand your value, and recognize your skills and intelligence, but I can tell you with hundred percent confidence that you do not know of certain attacks that befell your son."

Salma was shocked to realize this was Toryal Gul, the spy, standing in the room with his back turned to the family. Supposedly he was there to protect Agha Gul, but Salma was certain his presence had other purposes.

"He has been attacked several times but I was there to foil them and protect him," Toryal said. "Last year, your kids had an accident on their way to the mountains. It was no accident. It was an attempt to kill Asim."

Salma glared at the spy's back, infuriated. Everyone already knew about the accident and that it was a deliberate attempt to murder them. Much mental gymnastics was not required to understand the game that was being played. Toryal was giving no information to her father about the threats to Asim's life. Rather, she was being warned ahead of time what was at stake if she did not comply; Toryal had done it before. He would do it again.

"There's always a sniper locked on Asim," Toryal continued, making Salma's eyes snap towards her father in alarm.

"That's just outrageous!" Atif Rahman thundered, getting to his feet and startling Salma. His explosive reaction confirmed every fear she had had about the message Toryal had conveyed between the lines. There was a sniper locked upon Asim and if she refused their demands, they would blow his skull off.

The sharp strike of Agha Gul's staff drowned the room in silence. Everyone froze. Salma felt her heart sink. She wanted to glance at her father to see how he was taking it but fear kept her immobilized with its invisible binds.

"Sit down, Atif," Agha Gul said, calmly.

In her periphery, Salma could see her father glaring at the spy, breathing heavily. He was silently fuming at him for threatening his son's life to blackmail his daughter into submission.

Slowly, he sank back into his seat.

"The matter is of grave concern," Agha Gul continued in a silky soft tone that made creeps run down Salma's back, "therefore, keeping a leveled head is of utmost importance."

Atif swallowed, his features grim and jaw set.

"Acting on impulse," Agha Gul said, as he went back to inspecting his staff, "can result in causalities, and regrets."

Salma could feel her father wrestling his raging thoughts and emotions. After a moment, he nodded.

As the silent seconds stretched, Salma felt the tendrils of dread crawl over her skin, digging its claws of fear deeper inside her. It became abundantly clear to her what she must be doing. Her stomach knotted in painful bundles of nerves and her throat clogged with anguished tears, but it had to be done. She summoned the courage to ask.

"What can we do to protect Asim?"

Her parent's shocked eyes snapped at her. Her cheek seared under their gazes mixed with anger and disbelief. Her father was probably beyond annoyed with her at this point but Salma kept her resolute stare fixed on the old aristocrat in front of her. He was not going to hurt a hair on her brother's head.

What can I do to protect Asim, is what she had asked.

As the meaning behind her words set in to Ghamey and his family's heads, their reaction was in stark contrast to her family's. The excitement and thrill dawning on their faces was nauseating.

"Agha Gul has figured out the identity of the people with malicious intent," Zaryab Gul began. "He has sent them a warning to not hurt his family, or there would be consequences. Our centuries old tradition of 'panah' still holds true today, but there's a loophole."

Salma's quirked a questioning brow, not giving a damn anymore that she staring down a Tor Gul man. He was lying to her upfront and was about to hand over a sentence. What was there to lose?

"Is that so?" she scoffed.

The man's demeanor changed. Salma looked away. Lying poohole.

"What's the loophole?" she asked, instead.

"You're not part of the Tor Gul family," Gul Nar returned.

And we'd rather never be, Salma thought to herself.

"Your only tie to us is my wife," Zaryab continued. "Not a direct blood relation. They might take our warning as a bluff, thinking we would not retaliate since we don't have much to lose."

Salma gritted her teeth. One, she was expendable in the grand scheme of things, she knew. Zaryab did not have to rub that into her face. And two, she was very much familiar with the tradition of 'panah'. It did not distinguish between family and non-family members. Her ancestors had given 'panah' - asylum - to everyone and anyone fleeing the Tor Gul persecution, and continued to do so, till this day. Zaryab's audacity to assume her ignorant of her own culture angered her.

"I understand," Salma forced a normal reply. "So how do we counter this loophole?"

"We don't!" her father intervened firmly. "My children are my problem. I'll deal with the issue myself. Thank you very much!"

"Atif Rahman," Agha Gul muttered, this time, an angry edge to his tone. "Let the alternative be known. Your children are my concern too."

"I appreciate that Agha Gul but –"

Agha Gul raised his hand to silence the Green Coat.

Salma scoffed mentally. Agha Gul's only concern with them was to squeeze the Zamarud out of her family before murdering them. However, she kept her eyes trained on her fingers. Her father's anger was radiating off of him in waves. The heat of it was becoming unbearable. At this point, Salma was more scared of facing her father's wrath at defying his orders and messing up his plans than of what was to come.

"Did you know that we had plans to bring you into our family?" Farhiya began upon getting the cue from Agha Gul. Salma turned to her aunt. Farhiya looked sickly pale. If it wasn't for her, Salma knew her father would have already exploded the Tor Guls to hell and back for all the brazen threats they had made.

Not knowing if they were talking about the match for Fahad or Ghamey, Salma decided to act ignorant. She was supposed to not know about Ghamey's match.

Salma shook her head.

"So you were married to this foreigner man without the knowledge that Agha Gul had arranged another match for you?" Zaryab Gul asked.

Salma's heart threatened to race out of her ribcage.

"Yes," she mumbled.

"Is that so . . ?" Gul Nar and her husband shared an excited glance.

"Well," Zaryab began again. "Back when the matter was first being discussed, your father said he wanted your opinion on it. However, we never found out. We would like to hear what your choice is."

Salma swallowed. Her choice was quite obvious. A sack of rat dropping would hold more worth to her than bondage like that.

Salma took in a deep breath, bracing herself. Her next words would serve to be a point of no return.

"My choice is whatever my elders choose," Salma replied with what they wanted to hear. "I do not have any other choice."

A ripple effect took place in the room. While everyone on Salma's left became restless by what she had just said. The family seated on her right became giddy with excitement. Gul Nar and Zaryab Gul were barely holding themselves back. Ghamey was practically drooling like a rabid dog. Nerves bundled up in her stomach, clenching her gut in a vice-like grip. She was going to throw up any minute.

"Well, she sounds like a well-groomed, obedient daughter, now don't she?" Zaryab clapped his leering son's shoulder.

Salma clasped her shaking hands, trying her best to shield herself from the panic and misery radiating off of her parents in waves. She silently prayed for them to have enough strength to go through this.

"So," Zaryab continued. "Would you . . . actually go for it, if you were told to?"

Salma swallowed trying to keep her breathing normal.

"Go for what?"

"Cut off the knot that your father has tied, and marry my son, Ghamey?"

A reverberating wave of fear and panic raked through Salma, making her visibly shudder. She tried to collect herself and gather her nerves, but her skin crawled and seared, trying to contain the absolute horror she felt.

"You will become part of the family and your brother will have the necessary protection he needs," Zaryab continued. "Everyone knows the Tor Gul's might. Our enemies have felt our wrath over generations. No one dares forge enmity with us. He'll be safe."

Salma felt her eyes tear up. Yes, she knew the consequences of being the Tor Gul enemy. Her ancestor Zamarud had earned it centuries ago, and many generations later, it was still burning the old man to a jealous, bitter crisp.

Sorry Zayn . . .

"I-if that is what the elder of the t-tribe wants," Salma barely muttered. "That is what the tribe's woman would do."

It was never meant to be.

***

Aghast, Zayn watched the whole exchange from his hiding spot near the window.

"What did she say?" he whispered. Too shocked to come to terms with her reply. "What the hell did she just say?"

The two Green Coats stayed quiet. They were looking at their friend's daughter through the glass, looking disturbed. None of them could believe what they had heard.

"Are you absolutely sure, child?" the man asked her, sounding giddy. "Your father said he wanted to know your choice. Is this your choice?"

They watched in a stunned silence as Salma sat there, stiff as a statue. Zayn waited for her to break out of her stupor and voice her rejection

"Yes," Salma said, making a pain pierce his heart. "My choice is the choice of my elders. As a Pukhtana Sthoorey, I was raised to obey my Mashraan."

"My God," Spogmae whispered.

"That sure sounds like someone who's lost her mind." Burak snorted.

"Yeah? No thanks to you!" Zayn growled.

The man inside started to speak, making them attentive to the madness inside.

"The Mashar in the family has decided that you should be married to Ghamey."

"Then that is my fate and I will accept it wholeheartedly," came her robotic reply.

Zayn was shocked to hear the complete madness that was coming out of her mouth. He could see that Mr. Rahman and his wife were having a hard time coming to grips with what she was doing. Asim looked absolutely devastated. Zayn knew it was a mistake to allow her to come back. Agent Tufan was right. If Salma herself was to agree to their terms, her father could do nothing.

The old intimidating man, who up until now was silently sitting on the couch, put his staff down. As if getting the cue, absolute silence fell upon the room. There was this ominous air about him. Zayn felt like the sword that was dangling on his head was about to be dropped.

"Atif Rahman," he said in a deep voice that carried a strange sense of foreboding.

"Yes, Agha Gul," Mr. Rahman replied. Zayn could feel the pain in his voice that he was trying to hide.

"Prepare the divorce papers."

"What?" Zayn stiffened.

"We'll take her with us to Tor Mahal as our child's bride in two days."

"No!"

All breath got knocked out of Zayn's system. What the hell was happening?

"Zayn!" the two Green Coats shot him a warning. He felt someone placing a hand on his shoulder. To restrain or reassure him, Zayn could not tell.

"She's going to get married to Zaryab's eldest, the day we land in Tor Mahal."

"The hell she's notwddam--!"

In a flash of confusing events, as Zayn jumped towards the window to grab his legally married wife and get the hell out of there, a hand around his mouth gagged him and a strong arm restrained him. Zayn screamed in anger as he struggled against the person seizing him.

He had to get her out of there. She did not want to marry that piece of shit. Desperate to avoid a marriage to him, she had resorted to staying with Zayn. He had to –

"Calm down!" Spogmae hissed the order in his ear, her grip around his limbs tightening.

No! Zayn tried to yell. He watched in absolute horror through his struggles and screams and panic as the vulture-like woman draped a red and gold embroidered cloth over the ghost-like statue that was Salma and placed a ring on her finger.

"Listen to me!" Spogmae shook him. "Zayn listen to me --"

"He's not going to comply," Burak said sadly, not looking away from the one-sided celebrations inside.

Spogmae swerved Zayn around to force him to look away from the insanity taking place in the house. The vile woman was now shoving sweets through Salma's mother's stiff lips.

"You need to calm down!" Spogmae said fiercely, shoving Zayn into the wall, all the while, keeping a firm hand over his mouth. "Calm down this instant and trust me! She'll needs you."

Zayn felt drained. Even through the mess, he could not believe how strong the agent was. He stopped struggling. His chest raising and falling with heavy, labored breaths.

"Just trust me," Spogmae said quietly, finally removing her hand from his mouth.

She felt wetness on her fingers. Zayn promptly turned away, trying to conceal the moisture around his red eyes.

Author's Note:

Zalma just got bolted 😰. Poor Sally got led like a lamb for slaughter and Zayn could only watch 😭. Such a mess!

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J.