Note: To some of you, a few of the names here might sound odd. That's because the prologue is based in lesser-known, foreign culture. Don't worry, chapter 1 onward will have a more familiar, common-place setting and names.
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Bare black stone walls. Black carpets. Black furniture and black high arched ceiling. Everything in the courtroom of the Tor Mahal – literally 'The Black Palace' – was in the grim, haunting hues of black. The room had a cold, unwelcoming air about it. And why wouldn't it? This was where dirty secrets were discussed, warnings issued to the unruly, punishments announced to maintain order, and death sentences handed to those who refused to stay in line. Indeed, as the cloaked figure cowered in the shadows next to the raised platform, it looked like someone was just about to have a sentence handed over to them.
The middle aged woman, Farhiya, had her face obscured by the cloak draped over her head like a hood. Although she tried to stand still and alert, it was obvious that she was in a lot of anguish. She did all she could to hold back her tears and not fidget or clench her fists, however, she couldn't help herself. She threw a terrified glance towards the only other occupant of the room.
Sitting on his throne-like seat on the high platform, was the old aristocrat; owner of the Tor Mahal, and chief of the Tor Gul tribe, Agha Barlas Gul.
Agha Gul was a tall, thin man. He had a pointy beard and piercing, cold grey eyes. With a dark cloak draped over his shoulders and a heavy black turban over his head, he looked as intimidating and unforgiving as ever. The old man completely ignored her existence, waiting. What exactly for? Farhiya could only dread to know. His long, slender fingers kept spinning his gold staff as each painful second dragged by. Her quick glance swept over the staff's top which was carved into a squawking eagle's head. The bird's eyes, a glittering pair of tourmaline crystals, shone maliciously with the reflecting light. Trembling with fear, Farhiya quickly looked away.
Blinding pain kept shooting from the small of her back to the toes of her right foot. She was frightened and in pain, but the old man always got more annoyed if she showed signs of weakness. She gritted her teeth in agony, waiting for permission to be granted to take a seat. Agha Gul was made aware of her worsening sciatica a few weeks ago, but protocol was to be followed at all costs. Favors were only granted to those who were worthy of such luxury.
And not everyone was worthy.
Farhiya, for one, was definitely not worthy. Although supposedly family, she was nothing but a tool. To be used and then discarded.
At long last, her silent prayers were answered. The courtroom doors opened and heavy footsteps echoed across the walls as the man's boots collided with the stone-floor. Farhiya glimpsed the man that passed her and her heart sank. It was Toryal Gul, Agha Gul's distant relative and a loyal spy. He had icy-grey eyes and light hair, like every other pure-blooded Tor Gul. Yet, the scar stretched on his temple just across his left eyebrow was a feature unique to him.
Taking a step or two towards the platform so he had his back to her, he bowed his head, respectfully.
"Agha Gul, you summoned me?" he asked, breaking the overwhelming silence in the room that seemed to echo off of the high ceiling.
"Ah, Toryal Gul," Agha Gul acknowledged the man who was dutifully standing in front of him. "What news did you bring us?" he inquired, his voice exuding authority and a coldness that made his challengers tremble and cower in fear.
Although in no position to confront the old aristocrat, Farhiya still felt the urge to recoil into the shadows. Yet, she stood unmoving and alert, doing her best to not to give in to excruciating pain that threatened to knock her down.
"The girl and her brother are leaving Blue Riverdale for a camping trip in the mountains," the spy, Toryal Gul, reported.
"When?" Agha Gul asked.
"Three days from today."
"And their father?"
"My source says Atif Rahman is scheduled to visit Turkey tomorrow," Toryal Gul informed the old man. "He'll be staying there for a month."
Upon hearing her brother-in-law's name, Farhiya's gaze betrayed her again as it shot towards the old man. He sat upon the gold throne-like seat he had made for himself thirty five years ago. To the old man, this was supposed to be the High Chair of Sthooriya. He was supposed to be the Supreme ruler of all of Sthooriy people, but instead, he was robbed of his birth right. Now this chair gave him neither power, nor the authority that he sought, and deserved. Like his ancestors before him, what belonged to him was snatched away, only to be given to men of much less worth, if any at all.
"Very well. Make arrangements to fly to the States," Agha Gul ordered. "If the vermin is lost in the mountains, we have everything to gain."
Farhiya's heart seem to pause.
"Yes, Agha Gul," Toryal Gul replied. Bowing his head, he turned towards the door.
While her heart resumed pounding at an even faster pace, a ripple of fear raked through Farhiya's body. After her parents passed away, being defenseless was all that she knew, but she had never felt this powerless. She had just heard a plot to get her niece and nephew murdered and yet, she could do nothing about it. The fact that Agha Gul didn't even bother keeping his schemes a secret from her was a testament to how incapable and weak she was. For all she knew, the old man enjoyed watching her cower while he rubbed her helplessness into her face.
"And Toryal Gul," the old man called, making the spy halt next to the door. Agha Gul's cold stare turned even icier. "Keep an eye on the Green Coat," he ordered. "He'll lead us to the imbecile. Find the hole the scaredy cat is hiding in and yank him out! Our meeting is long overdue."
Farhiya's lips parted but she swallowed the startled gasp just in time.
"Understood, Agha Gul." The spy bowed again, a sinister smile playing upon his lips. "I will inform you the instant the first paw prints are found."
Satisfied, Agha Gul nodded his appreciation. The spy took his leave.
Farhiya was struggling to keep her trembling fingers steady when the door opened once again. This time she heard multiple footsteps. Her husband passed by her to climb the stairs, followed by his first wife and her son. He took his shoes off at the top step.
"Agha Gul," he muttered, obediently crouching down to touch the old man's feet.
Agha Gul's reaction was minimal. He acknowledged his son with the slightest nod of his head. Other than that, he just kept spinning the staff between his fingers, his eyes firmly fixed on its fierce eagle's head. The first wife and her good-for-nothing son, Ghamey, repeated the same ritual. Agha Gul totally ignored the woman; however, when Ghamey approached, the old man reached out to clap his grandson's back. Ghamey's mother looked ecstatic. Almost as if Agha Gul had given her the attention worth of a bug he was about to step on.
Fahiya's husband stole a sweeping glance at her as he turned around. There was a hint of concern in his expressions, but he did well to mask it. He loved her. Unlike his first wife, who was nothing short of a headache, Farhiya was a graceful person, but he did not dare ask her to sit down, or even acknowledge the fact that she was in excruciating pain. She was, after all, a pawn on his father's chessboard, and their marriage was nothing but a game move.
Dolled up and donning a ton of gold jewelry, the first wife passed by Farhiya, throwing her a condescending look. Farhiya's heart sank even lower and her gut coiled upon itself. The fact that the old man had gathered almost all the members of the family had her frightened and confused. What was he about to demand of her yet again?
"Settle down," Agha Gul told the three as Farhiya's son, Fahad, entered the courtroom. Unlike the rest, his full attention immediately focused on his mother. He opened his mouth to protest, but without making any eye contact, Farhiya shook her head infinitesimally. She did not want her son to suffer.
Clenching his jaw, Fahad bit his tongue. He seemed to be having a hard time trying not to glare at his father for being a coward and not standing up for his ailing wife. He approached his strict grandfather with stiff steps and took his shoes off on the top-step.
"Agha Gul," he muttered, crouching to touch his feet.
With his face turned away in distaste, the old man gave a curt nod. Of course. Fahad reminded Agha Gul of the man he detested the most, Sulaiman. In the old aristocrat's head, If it wasn't for that imbecile and his cunning wife, he would have been the Supreme ruler of Sthooriya today – or so Agha Gul thought.
Fahad hurried back down the platform towards Farhiya, not really caring for permissions and protocol. She knew, like herself, Fahad was only begrudgingly accepted into the family. With her genes of dark eyes and darker hair dominating over the grey eyes and lighter hair of his father's, he looked more Oochath than a Tor Gul. Not to even mention his name, Fahad – a foreign name of Arabic origins, that reflected nothing of his nationality or his culture. He was, after all, the enemy's grandson too.
Farhiya panicked when her son reached her.
"Mum, sit down," he said, ignoring everyone's warning glances. "You're in no condition to -"
"I'm okay!' Farhiya whispered past her clogged throat. "Sit down, Fahad, I'm -"
"You're not okay!" Fahad raised his voice, his temper flaring.
"Fahad!" his father warned him quietly.
Fahad's jaw ticked. He turned to glare at his father.
"She needs to rest her leg, dad!" he seethed. "My ears were still ringing from her anguished cries just a few hours ago. How's she even standing without --"
Farhiya grabbed her son's arm, forcing him to stop. Scared that Fahad was about to get himself in trouble by throwing a fit, her husband threw a quick glance at Agha Gul. The old man ignored the whole exchange. Thinking it alright to do so, he turned to his wife.
"Farhiya, take a seat," he muttered hesitantly.
Not waiting for Farhiya to accept or turn down the offer, Fahad put an arm around her to lead her to the couch nearby. Farhiya didn't budge. Fahad thought she was being stubborn because she was not allowed to sit on the couch, but when he saw her crying profusely, he realized her stiff back and leg were locked, making her unable to move. Looking like he was about to explode, Fahad impulsively bent down and picked his mother up in his arms.
A startled cry of pain escaped Farhiya's lips before she could stifle it. Her fingers dug into her son's arms. She could tell Fahad just wanted to carry her back to her room where she could at least lie down and take medicine, but he knew better than to put his mother in the direct line of fire like that. Behind him, his father had hastily gotten to his feet, but instead of helping his wife, he had started explaining why his son was being so disrespectful.
"The problem with her back, Agha Gul, she can't -"
"Settle down," Agha Gul cut his ramble by repeating the words with much indifference.
Not knowing what else to do, Farhiya's husband took a seat. Fahad was busy trying to settle his mother more comfortably, when the foreboding crash of the staff hitting the platform echoed through the courtroom. Farhiya, doing her best to disregard the stabbing pain in her leg, grabbed her son's arm, pleading with him to take a seat.
Two servants entered the courtroom through a side chamber. Fahad and Farhiya were equally surprised when one of them made his way straight towards her with a glass of water and some painkillers. Everyone in the room, except Agha Gul and the two servants, exchanged confused glances. Not waiting for any explanations, however, Fahad helped her take the medicine.
"You are to call your sister," Agha gul said, after a long and uncomfortable silence that stretched between them for what seemed like an eternity.
Farhiya almost choked on the water. She did not require the old man to say her name to know the order was for her. When the second servant approached her with a phone, she understood why she was given the pain killers. Agha Gul needed her to pass a message or extract information, and that would not be possible if her sister detected the distress in her voice.
Absolutely abhorring the dirty work she was being forced to do, Farhiya gingerly grabbed the phone. She was about to press call when the second order was issued.
"Put it on speaker."
The servant that had handed her the phone, also gave her the script she was to parrot. She was barely allowed to call her sister, Aliya, and when she was, their conversation was heavily censored. She was to say exactly what they asked her to. A word out of the line, and she would get blamed for trying to pass information to the enemy. Over the years, she had become a robot, reading off of notes that were handed to her, one after the other, as she talked to her sister.
"Inform her of my decision," Agha Gul said as Farhiya dialed her sister. "Tell her, her daughter is to move in to the Tor Mahal by the end of this summer."
Bewildered, every eye in the room snapped towards Agha Gul.
"As Fahad's wife," he finished.
"What?!"
"No!" Fahad shouted.
"B-But Agha Gul . . ?" his parents stuttered, flabbergasted.
"Silence!" screamed the old man.
Fahad looked aghast, Farhiya horrified, while the other three seemed shell-shocked by the unexpected order. Barely anyone had the chance to gather their wits when Farhiya's sister picked up the call.
"Hello?"
Author's Note:
This will give you a taste of what my writing is like. If you like it, please vote. If you want me to continue all the way to this scene and past it, then vote and comment ;)
If you didn't like it, still leave a criticism on how I can improve in the comment section. Be nice :)
I know there's quite a bit of unfamiliar words. Should I make a glossary?
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Lots of Love.
J
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[EDIT]
Glossary:
1) Places
Tor Mahal: 'Tor' means the color 'black' and 'Mahal' is Palace. So it's 'Black Palace'
Sthooriya: 'Sthooriy' means stars. 'Sthooriya' is a fictional place. A valley. So it could be the 'Land of the stars'
Tor Gul: It is the name of one of historic tribes in Sthooriya. It translates to 'Black Flower'.
Oochath: Another one of the historic tribes of Sthooriya. Oochath means a place somewhere 'above or on top'. This tribe lived on the peaks of the valley of Sthooriya.
2) People
Agha Barlas Gul: 'Agha' is a title of respect given to senior/old men.
'Barlas means 'powerful' or 'authoritative'.
'Gul' means 'Flower'. It is a commonly used surname.
Toryal Gul: 'Toryal' means 'sword fighter'
'Gul' means 'Flower'. Again, it's a surname.
Ghamey: 'Ghamey' translates in a 'gem'. Funnily enough, this word can be used sarcastically for a complete fool. For example, speaking of an utter idiot, you can say "Right, the president totally deserves a second term since he's such a gem (Ghamey)'