The Fallen Widow

Chapter 8: Jahanpur Again

Author's note: An extra long chapter with elongated scene with #Shahrayn. Enjoy.

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The haveli was bubbling with whispers and gossip since Shah Nawaz carried Hoorayn over the threshold and fearlessly carried her unconscious body to his bedroom. The kitchen maids knew Hoorayn very well, they worked with her in the kitchens of the haveli, the orchards, gardens and cleaning the rooms of the haveli. Now, she was a captor of Shah Nawaz soon to be punished for stabbing him and betraying her husband. It was Ulfat, chief of the maids who made her way up into Shah Nawaz's bedroom carrying a tray of fresh fruit and breakfast ordered by Shah Nawaz. A young maid followed Ulfat eager to lay eyes on Hoorayn. How was she after spending months in the jungle? Did the wild animals chomp her face.

The door flung open and Ulfat pushed her nose into the air frustrated that she had to serve the fallen widow. The young maid spotted Hoorayn perched on the red velvet chaise lounge dressed in a beautiful wine red dress falling to her feet. She was alive! Her thick auburn hair, messy yet still beautiful framed her face and bunched around her shoulders in curls. The young maid stared rudely. She was still so beautiful despite living in the jungle.

Ulfat screwed her nose and put the tray on the table like she was ordered to. She despised the woman- the woman who ruined her family, her husband was sacked and her son was beaten.
"So, you're alive. We thought you were dead! We found a body!" Ulfat spat out.
Hoorayn concealed the tear on her shoulder with her hand.
"How dare you return and show your face! You confessed your dirty deeds to everyone! You then stab our devoted king!" She charged her hands into fists tearing into her.
"Veiled as a dutiful wife- you were a brazen harlot. No wonder your husband died!"
Hoorayn looked up with her eyes full of tears.
"Your mother in law in dying alone!"
"How is she?" Hoorayn pounced forward.
"How dare you ask?" Ulfat gasped! "She is suffering every day with shame. Her lineage has ended. There is no one left. She is waiting for death to knock on her door."
Hoorayn stepped back and away.
"I'm so sorry." She sniffed

Ulfat shook her heads looking at her state with disgust.
"Your miserly words mean nothing. You confessed you are a harlot. Now, here you are - in his bedroom like a mistress. That's all you will be degraded, humiliated with no honour." Ulfat showed no mercy tearing into Hoorayn who turned her back on the maid.

"I am loyal to the haveli. We have served the family for generations, we have eaten their salt. That is why I am here serving the likes of you- doing my duty. Or else I never want to look at a woman like you ever again."

Hoorayn expected a brutal reception from the maids. This was what Shah Nawaz wanted, to keep her as his mistress; humiliated and without any honour.
Ulfat continued her barrage of insults and verbal attack, but the young maid could see Hoorayn was in distress and constantly tried to cover her bare arm. She pretended to wipe the dust from the surfaces and scurried into Shah Nawaz's walk in closet.
"There is nothing left for you in Jahanpur. You have no honour!" She repeated like a broken record. 

Hoorayn knew Ulfat was right. After her confession at the ultimate panchayat and then stabbing Shah Nawaz, the people of Jahanpur hated her.
"I know you all hate me-" Hoorayn began. "-but can you get me some clothes?" She pulled her dress together as it was falling apart.
"I do not take orders from you." Ulfat scoffed. "Oi young girl! Come!" She called the young maid as she emerged from the closet. Ulfat marched out expecting the maid to follow closely behind.
The young maid placed a white kurtha on the chair.
"Here!"
Hoorayn looked at the piece of white cloth.
"Their clothes cast aside for charity. Take it."
"I can't wear this, it's Choudhary Saab's clothes." Said Hoorayn.
Ulfat yelled from the corridor making the young maid jump. She rushed to the door and stopped turning to Hoorwayn. She smiled.
"I'm glad you're alive. I prayed for you."
Hoorayn was surprised.
"Remember it was my first day at the haveli- they made me cut all those onions and I cried for days. You helped me. I'll never forget it." The young maid smiled and closed the door.
Hoorayn tried to recall the day, but her time as a maid was meshed into one.