The Fallen Widow

Chapter 16: Making His Mark

Hoorayn jumped back in shock. It was her mother-in-law. Her face was weak and bony, wrinkles didn't spare any space of her skin. Holding her walking stick, her back hunched over and eyes blurry, she'd aged a hundred years in under a year. Hoorayn gasped with shock.

"Oh khala! It's you!" Her eyes filled with tears looking at her. She inched closed but the old woman spat at her just missing her.

"How dare you stand before me with your blackened face?!" Kaneez crooned. "I thought you died and eaten by hyenas and beasts in the woods! But oh no!"

Hoorayn was moved to tears seeing Kaneez before her. Guilt poured out of her every pore.
"I have been burning in hell that you made." Kaneez pointed at her with her long bony finger.

"You killed my son. Then my husband died due to the grief. It's all your fault. My son was my support for my old age. I have no one now and my eyes are failing. Who is there to provide for me? To put food on my table. I am alone and it's your fault."

Hoorayn sobbed gently. "Please let me help-I'm sorry- I didn't want it to happen- and all this." She looked behind at the haveli.
"I don't want it. I don't want any of it." She denied the luxury, the marriage, the proposal.

"If you had any shame you would stand on that balcony and jump off." Kaneez yelled as the guards looked around the area for intruders.

"You wouldn't go through this sham of a wedding. You disgraced yourself in the panchayat and now you have the audacity to marry our king. "Kaneez blamed Hoorayn for everything. No one else was at fault.

"I didn't want it- Choudhary Saab..." Before she could complete her sentence and tell the truth, Kaneez chopped her words.

"What? Are you blaming our Choudhary? He is wealthy and from a privileged lineage- why would he chase a nobody?" He was the pride and joy of Jahanpur. No one dared point a bad finger at him.

"It's married women like you who corrupt good men" Kaneez accused. "Throwing your bodies at them."

Hoorayn cried out. "Let me help you- what can I do?" She stepped forward to do something to ease her guilt, but Kaneez pushed her back and she fell on the ground.

"Kill yourself and that will give me peace. I will never forgive you for what you did. I hope you get punished for what you did!"

With Hoorayn on the ground sobbing, Kaneez spat on the ground and turned her back on Hoorayn and walked into the fields. Hoorayn held her face and cried. Shafiq's death tormented her, and the poor state of Kaneez riddled her with guilt.

***

Distraught about meeting Kaneez, Hoorayn was swept away with grief and guilt. She ran into the haveli bumping into the maids cleaning the rugs, the chairs and scrubbing the pots and pans

"I'm sorry." She mumbled through her chiffon dupatta, tears streaming down her cheeks. She ran into Shah Nawaz's haveli her sandals slapping on the marble staircase tears filling her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. Where was Shah Nawaz? He had to do something about her situation. She made her way along the corridor and knocked on his bedroom door. She sniffed back her tears and tapped again. No answer. She looked around and then decided to go into his room. The bed was made. The room was quiet. There was no sign of him.

Leaving the room, she made her way along the corridor. She asked the maids, but they were unsure. She made her way back down the staircase and a maid pointed to the far end of the corridor. When she turned the corner, she heard voices. She rushed towards the voices. Breaking all etiquette, she knocked on the door and burst inside the room without waiting to be called into room. A strong scent of oud sandalwood oil assaulted her nostrils. Hoorayn was confused, she never seen this dimly lit relaxation room before.