1K votes!!! Fast to the next update in Aahil's POV. There will be six month leap in the next update
Ruhani POV
I could feel the wind changing in the servant chambers. Most faces told me they did not like my decision but had no other options left, and the remaining portrayed satisfaction.
I curved my lips into a slight smile, and when I turned back to leave the servant quarters, his mother came my way.
I stopped and bid her my good wishes. She returned the gesture but not with the same happiness that I carried for her.
"This Is Not Right, Begum Sahiba,"
Her face was revealing utter anger and frustration towards my decisions. But, I improvised with a warming smile and signalled something with decent gestures, which Shaheen translated for her.
"Badi Begum, the Begum is just performing her duties what Sultan told her before leaving,"
Her face changed to shocked and confused.
"He...he asked you to do all these?"
Her fingers moved to animate it, signing towards my decisions.
And I nodded simply and moved on.
The following two to three days passed in handling the resignations that did happen even after my warnings. But, I considered them good because the loss was better than betrayals.
His mother kept showing me frustrated and hateful looks, but I ignored them for the sake of people. My ideology was completely different from a good wife. Sure, I was a wife and a daughter-in-law, and it was my responsibility to keep them happy and walk in their decisions.
But, before being a wife and a daughter-in-law, I was a Princess, daughter of Sultan Rafiq Sulaiman. It was my duty and responsibility to keep my people healthy and safe.
You see, marriage was not just between two people. It was much more beyond the bedroom, kitchen and producing babies. My responsibility was to take care of the Sultanate when he was far away, fighting for us and keeping our bothering away.
Our people need more than they ever did. Because now our Sultanate was at a stage where it could either completely shatter or rise.
A wrong decision could make thousands of people suffer.
And I decided to keep my family away for some time and do what was needed to do.
Rule.
I was discussing a few things with some officials. And made very important amendments. I removed all the managers recruited from Rabia's Sultanate and promoted ours to take those positions. I also shifted the job responsibilities of people working in the same position for more than five years.
Because the changes in the persons could help me in findings the corruption in Sultanate. The main idealogy behind it was the poverty of our Sultanate even after winning Seven princely states in the war. We owned most states and were still very poor in financial, literacy and human resources terms. And it was not possible without corruption.
Suddenly, an attendee came and caught my attention.
"Begum, Amir Haider from Darmiyan Sultanate has arrived,"
My eyebrows thinned slightly, and I looked at Shaheen in confusion.
I signalled him to bring him here, and she translated it for him.
What was Haider doing here? My heartbeats raced with imaginary thoughts until he came into my chamber.
I stood up from the couch and walked to him, spreading my arms wide for a hug.
He collected me in his arms with care, and I could smell my home, my family. And it instantly soothed my body and running thoughts.
Releasing the hug, I looked at him. He looked a little tensed and concerned. And, I signalled him asking about his bothering.
"Aahil, Aahil Sultan sent us a letter,"
He exclaimed, and my eyebrows curved deeper with confusion.
He sighed and blinked nervously before saying.
"He asked us to take you home for some time,"
Resentment and frustration travelled instantly through my body, and I signalled to ask why.
He gulped.
"We do not know the exact reason, but it might be concerned with your safety,"
'My safety?'
I questioned in signals.
He nodded lightly and said in a slow voice.
"Yes, the war is around, and I think he is concerned with your safety,"
I sighed with frustration.
'Why my safety?'
I asked with furious signals, and he thinned his eyebrows.
"Ruhani, you look angry,"
He muttered with concern, and I inhaled a deep breath calming myself down. He placed his palm on my shoulder, and I closed my eyes to inhale a few deep breaths.
And, then, his voice brought me back into our conversation.
"I think he is concerned because we families are included in this war. And, it can mentally drain you seeing your brothers and husband on opposite sides,"
I clicked my tongue lightly and looked at me.
'I cannot come with you,'
I signalled, and it took him a few moments to digest it.
"Why? Why do you not want to come with me?"
He asked with confusion, and I did not know how to explain this. But, leaving at this moment would cost us beyond imagination. This was my only chance to bring things on the right track.
And, If now I would get concerned about anything but our people, then we would be left with nothing.
"Ruhani, I think you should come with me,"
He said, gaining my attention back to him, and I gulped before signalling him.
'This is my home, and I am safe here. In his absence, my people need me,'
He nodded lightly.
"You are right, but father told me to take you home,"
He said, and I curved my lips into a slight smile.
'Just tell him that I can take care of myself and do not worry about me,'
I signalled, and he asked.
"Are you sure? Ruhani,"
I nodded with a warm smile.
He nodded, too, but his expression revealed slight worry for me.
And then, I remembered about Shehzaadi ghazal. I immediately collected his attention back and asked.
'Have you found Ghazal yet?'
His gestures first told me that he was shocked by my question and then hid them the very next moment.
"No... not yet,"
I inhaled a breath, and he continued.
"I do not even know where she could be. I mean, where could a girl like her go after what happened,"
I nodded to his question and moved my gaze towards the window. My eyebrows thinned into a line when I imagined myself in her scenario, and looking at the castle's building outside the window made me first think that she only had one home, her Sultanate, and the kind of man his father was unknowingly making me think that he could be the man behind her motive of being missing.
And only he was the person who was seen in a beneficial position for her missing daughter. He knew that we did not have his daughter because then we were not replying to the question of war with war. And, instead of finding her daughter, he was raging a war.
Now, here two possibilities were there. Either his daughter did not matter to him, or he already knew where his daughter was.
The former idea seemed less possible because if he did not care about his daughter at all, then why would he actually rage a war where he knew that the winning probability was actually half-half?
Surely, it was not for his daughter, but my instinct told me to believe in the second option. As for the safer side, he probably would have captured his own daughter so that no one else would find her.
And, in that case, his daughter could be in her own Sultanate but captivated by his own father.
It ran a thrilling shiver down my spine, and I immediately looked at Haider. Because if we could find his daughter, then probably the war could be postponed.
As he presented his daughter to be the reason for the war.
I explained everything to Haider and he understood me completely.
"I think I should find her then,"
I immediately held his hand and stopped him. It was way too dangerous; with the war at the door, the soldiers in the Sultanate would be very alert, and if he found Haider in his Sultanate, he could do anything.
Shaking my head, I stopped him from going there, but he took my hands and looked into my eyes.
"You have to trust me, Ruhani. At this moment, nothing matter to me more than finding that girl alive and safe,"
I nodded, and when he took his steps back, my heart felt heavy. The tears themselves made their way down my eyes onto my cheeks, and I closed my eyes to pray to God for his well-being and health.
'May Allah keep you safe and take me if death comes closer to you,'
"Begum,"
Suddenly Shaheen's voice caught my attention, and I looked at her washing my tears off.
"The head commander entered into the Sultanate,"
I nodded and asked her to set up a meeting in the court.
She nodded and left.
While I made my way towards the courtroom.
It was empty when I reached there. The visuals of my husband being there crossed my mind, and I could smell his faded presence, the voice echoing around the rounded hall. Everyone was bending in front of him, and it made me nervous and excited altogether, he was my husband, and the people followed. A recent memory.
I do keep myself busy with work these few days, but my soul was crying aloud for him.
"Begum Sahiba,"
A manly, strong voice caught my attention, and I looked at the well-built man in front of me. Shaheen walked to my side, and he bent to wish me.
And returned the same gesture.
"You called for me, Sultana,"
He said, and I could see his eyes down on the floor.
"Yes,"
Shaheen said for me, and I signalled her the matter that needed to be asked.
"Begum wants to know about the details of this war. When will it start? How many soldiers are taking part in it from our Sultanate and Ayzan Sultanate and each and every detail about it,"
He inhaled a breath and replied a little calculatingly.
"Begum, the war at this time is not suggestible if we look into our condition,"
I gulped.
"But, it cannot be avoided any further,"
He stated.
"We have only seven thousand soldiers ready for the war, and the Ayzan Sultan asked us to fight in the first batch, and then they will provide his fifteen thousand men,"
My eyebrows thinned as I knew that Hamid and Darmiyan, in total, had twenty thousand soldiers.
"And, we will face a drastic calamity no matter whether we win or lose. Our soldiers are fewer and will not be able to survive the war if truth be told,"
He took a pause.
"And, about starting, I received a letter. Just before I came here that it would actually start after four months, and till then, we will try to negotiate and train our soldiers in the battleground. Because, before your wedding, we fought a battle, and for this period, the soldiers were resting,"
I nodded and signalled Shaheen to ask him the next question.
"Head Commander, The Begum wants to know how we can prepare for the post-battle scenario. She is asking if we could recruit more soldiers,"
And, he immediately replied.
"It can help,"
Then I signalled afterwards.
"Head Commander, the Begum, is asking you to bring in the combat trainers in the Sultanate, and nothing we discussed should reach any ears, even Sultan's,"
He turned serious all of a sudden.
"Begum, are you asking me to hide this from Sultan,"
Now, I gulped with fear. I knew if he told me about these to him, he would work against me because he was angry at this point in time with me.
But I inhaled a deep breath and nodded.
"Yes, Head Commander, because the Sultan himself left all these responsibilities on Begum, and she does not want him to be disturbed during the war,"
Shaheen said, and she even showed the Sultan's stamp that I asked her to show to him.
He looked at it and nodded.
I nodded, too, and he took my leave.
Suddenly, I felt like throwing up again and walked towards the corner in a hurry.
"Begum, are you alright?"
Shaheen asked with concern holding me.
I vomited.
And Shaheen muttered in a slow voice with tense expressions.
"It seems like a good news is here around the bad times,"
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