Fibs and Fables

Chapter 10

Mariam felt as if she were on a guided tour through an art gallery—one in which all her contemporaries stood enthralled by a painting, waiting with thinly veiled anticipation to see if the lifelike piece of art was indeed lifeless, or if they so much as blinked, the strokes might come alive.

The once lively chatter had simmered down to conspiratorial whispers and coy murmurs. But everyone's gaze was focused on the couple now seated on the stage. Though the tension had considerably decreased, an uneasiness hung in the air.

Murtasim had changed into the spotless white kurta set that Mariam had chosen earlier. The striking yellow shawl blended quite well with Meerab's ornate attire. The parting rays of the sun painted the couple in all shades of fiery red and yellow, the color of festivities. At a glance, the setting would have been a lively picture of wedding bliss, but for someone like Mariam, the flaws and cracks were glaringly obvious.

She scoffed as the older matriarchs pushed their glasses up their noses, squinting and leaning forward to get a closer look at the groom and bride. It was a common trend, she observed. There were a few hundred pairs of eyes scrutinizing every move the couple made.

The stunt the Alis had pulled off had been an utter failure, at least on the political side. But the commotion had attracted quite a bit of unwanted attention from the onlookers, and the rumor mill was churning rapidly.

"It was the Khan who proposed. Why do you think he did that? The Maliks are weak. Once Zubair ascended as the head of the clan, we could have easily wiped them off."

"I agree; there was no need for the Khan to taint his bloodline. All this would have eventually come under our rule."

"Did you hear what Imtiaz said?" The voices grew quieter, and Mariam strained her ears as far as she could.

"She had spent years outside; of course she would have had trysts with strangers. Maybe she seduced the Khan on one of his foreign trips."

The audacity. Mariam bristled at the insinuation, but she did not get a moment to make her displeasure clear as the hushed whispers continued on.

"She is a real chameleon, that one. Everyone knows how she used to cling to Zubair in her younger days. Once she went abroad and her horizons broadened, she might have realized that Zubair was nothing when it came to the open sea. So she set out to latch onto a better option."

"Please, Murtasim won the lottery. Look at her. The girl had proposals from all around the world. Do you think a girl like her would want to be chained to this corner of the world? I heard that she was interested in the proposal from the Asizs."

"Of the north?"

"Yes. She wanted to settle in Britain. You know how their eldest son settled in London. He had always desired Meerab, and even Mukhtar was looking to move forward with the alliance. But the Khan disrupted his plans when he put forward the proposal. What else could Mukhtar want? Word from the servants is that Mukhtar threatened to disown her if she did not agree to this proposal."

"Poor girl. To live with a brute of a man."

"He would never respect her."

"Of course he won't. He is a Khan, and she is a Malik. If the bad blood between the clans wasn't enough, Zubair had committed countless crimes against his people and land in the past couple of years. This is the best way for him to extract revenge."

"By stealing his woman." Muffled snickers rose.

"Murtasim is no saint. He tossed Nooran's daughter away as soon as the Malik princess came into the picture."

"Are you sure he tossed her away? The Khan seems to have a rich palate. He might want to indulge in different flavors."

Their laughter died down abruptly as a menacing shadow fell above her. Mariam tilted her head to spot an enraged Ma Begam gliding towards the center of the group.