The Fallen Widow

27: A New World

Author's note: Writing happy, love, wedding night scenes is the hardest. It's a balance between not being cringe, and moving the story forward. That's why it's taken me time. So, bear with me as I try my best to make the next chapter less cringe, more meaningful with love and happiness. 
Let me know your thoughts. 

***

The world shifted that day when Shah Nawaz, kneeled before Hoorayn and took her mehndi adorned hand in his hand. He took out a large red diamond ring and gently dressed her finger whilst he looked up, his grey eyes dressed in black kohl, taking her all in adorned in exquisite jewels, striking in red wine dress. Hoorayn's heart fluttered in fear as she was overwhelmed by his grand presence. She couldn't look at him, eyes bowed with modesty and setting her cheeks on fire. Her hands visibly trembled as he stared with his wide eyes and mesmerised. Once he placed the ring on her finger, he gently lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles unable to tear his eyes away. Finally, she braved the courage to look up and meet those orbs of grey like the moon glimmering on a dark night. Her mouth dry, her heart wildly pounding behind her ribcage, her eyes over his thick black beard and full lips behind his moustache. His gaze was soft but overpowering at the same moment, almost like the time when she first saw him at the bazaar and caught her heart in her throat taking her breath away with fear.

"Choudhrani Hoorayn Shah Nawaz Qureshi." He declared first intimately with his wife, wrapping her in his strong, protective name that was her future.

As he stood up, with reluctance, he yearned to whisk her away from the world of tradition, pomp and custom which he had to carry out throughout the day. He stepped back, his eyes still pinned on her as the women swarmed in to congratulate the new queen of Jahanpur. His heart with Hoorayn, Shah Nawaz reluctantly returned to the crowd where the drums pounded shaking the ground, fireworks exploded in the blue sky and Jahanpur had their new queen.

*****

In the distance sitting in the courtyard of a small, modest hut, Shah Gul gazed into the sky watching the explosions. Her son was married. The son she fought to educate, she took punishment, lashings from her husband as she was being too progressive demanding to send her son abroad and having an alternative vision for him. Tears ran down her cheeks sitting on a small stool and watching the pot of tea boil. She looked around her. She was alone. She lost everything. Her family. Her title. Her home. As the chai brewed and came to a boil, she watched it boil over onto the stove burn on the steel. She lost control of everything.

***

The courtyard pulsed with life as the evening drew on. Villagers returned home, but the special guests congregated into the courtyard where there was special musical guests and celebrities. The beat of dhols thundered against the stone walls, echoing through the open arches as men danced in circles, their white turbans flashing under strings of golden lights. The air was thick with roasted meat, saffron rice, and the sweet smoke of hookah drifting lazily above the crowd. Servants weaved through the guests carrying silver trays stacked with kebabs, biryani, and jalebi glistening in syrup. At the centre Shah Nawaz stood surrounded by the city's elite — politicians, police chiefs, and businessmen leaning in close to invest in the new world; Jahanpur. Their voices low and eager as they spoke of new contracts, new alliances, the future of Jahanpur. He nodded, played his role as king, each handshake firm and deliberate. But his mind wasn't there. Between one conversation and the next, his gaze kept slipping toward the haveli, the faint shimmer of red and gold he could almost imagine behind those closed doors. His bride. Every beat of the dhol seemed to pull him toward her.

***

As the evening progressed, Hoorayn was showered with gifts of gold, diamonds rings from dignitaries, wives of special guests competing with each other and out doing the other. Hoorayn was drapped in layers of gold necklaces and decorated in a large gold nath, a gold nose ring that covered the right side of her nose and her mouth, with three chains pinned up to her chair that restructured her face, she struggled to eat or even put a spoon to her mouth.