You lot posted quite amusing reactions in the previous chapter. You're so naive x'D. Anyway, remember to vote and comment as you read.
Goals: Same as last chapter ;)
Asim, who was sitting on the couch sick with worry and misery, was flicking through the channels absent mindedly. His unfocused eyes were trained on the wall instead of the screen of the television. The horrid information that Fahad had related to them was constantly roaming in his mind.
He could hear his sister going about her business upstairs. Last night, Asim found Sarah's number in the family phone book where all the important numbers were written in case of an emergency. He contacted her and asked her to look out for his 'rogue' sister. She put him out of his misery by letting him know that Salma was with her and he need not worry.
As Salma descended the steps, Asim's finger froze on the remote control, letting the television run a news channel. He turned around to face his sister. The new reporter continued relating to them the news of an accident in the background while Asim studied his sister's face.
"It is unclear, however, if he will be playing in the match against traditional rivals, Atlanta united. As confirmed by LA Galaxy's manager, Stephen Walter, the forward has sustained minor injuries –"
"'M Sorry," she apologized, her shoulder slumped.
"- a passenger in the other car. Are –"
The room went silent when Asim switched the TV off. Salma looked up to meet her brother's gaze, feeling guilty for giving him such a scare last night. She sighed.
"I was just so mad, it just terrified me . . ."
Asim raised his eyebrow. Salma's frown deepened expecting some sort of a lecture from her younger, 'self proclaimed' more mature sibling. He pursed his lips before turning away.
"I know," Asim muttered, much to her relief, "Are you better now?"
Salma let out a slow breath, plopping on the couch next to him. Asim noticed the heavy bags under her eyes – a telltale sign of no sleep and loads of distress.
"I am." She nodded.
Twenty minutes later, the two sat in silence as they drove to the campus together. Both of them were quiet, driving themselves sick with worry.
Last night, Salma had blindly driven to the gym, forgetting in her desperation that the Sarah closes the place down not a second later than seven. Once she reached there, she realized her mistake and headed to the campus instead.
Salma tried to explain the pinch she was in but for that she had to tell Sarah a well kept family secret. Salma was worried about letting Sarah in on such a dark side of her ancestral history but she needed a cool, impartial head to give her advice and she could not think of anyone besides Sarah for the job.
"Sthooriya – my ancestral land – is a valley surrounded by a strong fort of the mountains of Himlayas," Salma began, "The Sthooriy, or the people of Sthooriya are a warrior race divided into four different tribes. Centuries ago, the tribe living on the plains, or Landhini Sthooriy, were mostly farmers. They lived by the river and cultivated crops. They provided the grains. The tribe living on the meadows on the hills, called Manzanee Sthooriy, was largely shepherds. They provided meat and dairy, leather and wool for clothing.
"The Tor Gul Tribe, or the tribe living on the rocky slopes of the mountains, was largely concentrated on slanting slopes on either sides of the mountainous pass, which was the only way in or out of the valley. They built strong fortresses on the pass and served to control the movement of man and goods to and from Sthooriya. These were strong people and were usually considered as Sthooriya's defense against a foreign invasion. These people were also good at making and using weapons and raising strong fortresses,"
"Last were the people of Oochath tribe, my tribe. These were the poorest and the most humble of the Sthooriy. Living high on the mountains, the Oochath usually lived off of hunting in the wild forests and picking the fruits that grew there. Apricots, plums, walnuts and almonds were usually collected and stored for the cold winters. Some of the Oochath offered labor in the other three tribes - building structures, working on the fields or herding their animals - in exchange for grains, or weapons, or dairy products,"
"The Sthooriy were a self sustained community with little exchange with the rest of the world. The valley and its people were separated from the outer world not only by the sky high mountains of the Himalayas but also by their strong traditions and distinct customs. Free, unconquered, and hardened by battles and brutal winters, the Sthooriy lived according to their own rules and with their own rich culture, passed down with purity from one generation to the next. When the British colonized the neighboring India, the Sthooriy were left alone after a few unsuccessful attempts to force the tribes to kneel,"
"The valley was usually peaceful, with each tribe going about its business, but there were times when the Sthooriy fought amongst themselves - breaking and making new pacts. The Tor Gul being stronger than the others militarily, usually coerced the Manzanee and Landhini tribes into giving up a large share of their grains and their dairy to the 'Protectors of Sthooriy'. The two tribes were unhappy with this unjust coercion. Not only because they were not able to trade the excess of their produce, but also, because in case of an attack –which was an extremely rare occurrence - the four tribes protected Sthooriya with equal contribution of body count and material. The weapons stores that the Tor Guls boasted of and used for intimidation were full, with little use or need to add to. They had no contribution in the production. Consequently, the Tor Guls' claim on the produce was largely seen as unfair. However, fearing plunder and brutal punishments, they made sure the ever growing bellies of the Tor Guls were full, even if they did little for the benefit of Sthooriya except perhaps not slitting throats for fun."
The Oochath tribe lived far away from the dirty politics of the richer, more important tribes below. They were comparatively underprivileged, but they were a happier people. They had little to offer in form of natural resources and it was hard to attack a community located at heights which were not only tough but dangerous to climb. This served as a protection from the manipulations of the other tribes – especially the Tor Guls. Peaceful and humble, the Oochath rarely invited trouble while working for the other tribes. Physically light and speedy with strong limbs, no one could outrun a Oochath who would always race up the steep slopes to take cover amongst the tree, in case of an emergency."
"One very cold winter, however, the Oochath were faced with the horrific threat of the entire tribe starving out. The weather that year had been colder than it had been for decades. The crops were affected. The produce was small and poor in quality. The meadows never turned green and as a result the animals became weak, decreasing the milk and meat production of the Shepherds. The river froze, fish were scarce. As the winter started drawing close, each tribe became more and more protective over their scarce supply of food in the stores. The Tor Guls made an open announcement. Not a single grain or an ounce of animal produce was to be consumed until the Tor Gul's store houses for winter were filled to the last inch. The Manzannee and the Landhini openly refused to comply, but with the first elder whose head was chopped of in front of everyone in the tribal gathering, the rest of them quietened down and obliged. However, behind the backs of the Tor Gul soldiers, the two tribes risked harsh punishments by trying to steal out of their own food to feed their kids when the snow would start falling,"
"With all of this going on, the Oochath tribe was facing the worse kind of trial. Like usual, they offered firewood and labor in exchange for grains, meat and dairy products. However, with the brutal demands of the Tor Guls, the farmers and the shepards demanded more firewood and labor in exchange of lesser amount of produce. As the two tribes emptied out their stores to fill those of the Tor Guls', they became more and more reluctant to sell their own bread and butter. However, once the Tor Guls were satisfied, there was little left for the tribes themselves. By the time winter drew near, the producers flat out refused to do business. The Tor Guls demanded that the Oochaths also contribute to the needs of 'The protectors of Sthooriy'. Knowing the Tor Guls would consider themselves too important to tire themselves with the painstaking climb, the tribe of climbers told them there is nothing to give up, which was quite literary true. The fruit was barely enough for the tribe itself, there really was nothing to give up."
"Foreseeing a terribly cold winter in which most of the valley would be buried under several feet of snow, the Oochath Elder knew their half empty stores of dried fruits and fire wood would vanish long before mid - winter. Cold, hungry and fearing for their tribe's existence, the Elder decided to send his son Zamarud out of the valley in search of aid for the starving Tribe. They had to hurry. For once the snow started falling, they would freeze to their death before they could even cross through the pass. With what little the Oochaths owned of valuables, Zamarud and a group of young men set on dangerous journey down the snow capped peaks of Himalayas in search of food for their people,"
"Zamarud managed to travel down to the warmer south with splendid cities, plentiful food and bustling bazaars. However, he and his group had little to offer to the eager business men; hand woven rugs, shawls, hats and cloth, copper and stone bowls, goblets and plates with intricate designs skillfully carved out on its surface, bags and shoes made out of leather and jewelry that the Oochath made out of colored rocks and crystals they often found around the slopes and in the caves. What they had was immensely valuable as they found out later, but being inexperienced and ignorant of the true value of the things they had, each of the greedy city businessmen tried to trick them."
"Zamarud although only fifteen, was wise beyond his years. Before putting any of his items on display, he went around the bazaar and found out the prices of various things being sold. He estimated the amount of gold he needed to buy enough food, and also the value of the items he had. The next day, Zamarud started business by displaying only half of the items he wanted to sell. He noticed very quickly his goods interested the businessmen immensely but when it came to the price, they offered little and told Zamarud none of the riffraff he had was valuable. He also realized that each of the merchants tried to buy all of his items on display, quickly, quietly and for even less gold then the Prices of the bazaar."
"Zamarud refused to sell his items unless it was for the same amount of gold coins as the current market. Much to his expectation, the merchants after a mock show of reluctance willingly agreed. However, he also refused to sell more than three items to one person. This, he realized, caused a lot of agitation in his buyers. Soon enough, he saw people with similar crooked noses, eye colors, and bodily structure or accents crowding around his stall asking to buy three items. Zamarud realized what he had was precious, especially the jewelry and the merchants were sending their family members to collect as much of his rare items as possible without letting him know that they were robbing him off. He stayed quiet however, and did his business. With the last ten items of his first half left, the merchants lost patience in their greed. They crowded around his stall offering ten times the market price for a single rug, goblet or a orange sized rough green crystal – especially the orange sized green crystal. He saw the men coming to blows with each other over the crystal. Zamarud gathered the rest of his items and shut up shop. He had found the actual price of his items, and one of them was priceless."
"The next day Zamarud made a lot of money. He did not put the crystal on display and replaced it with a ring which had the same kind of green crystal in it, the size of a grape. It seemed to draw equal amount of attention, but he realized it must have been comparatively less valuable because a lot of the merchants kept offering him large sums for the crystal and inquired him about it."
"While conducting business, zamarud saw an old merchant approach him. Just by the way the old man carried himself, Zamarud could see he was a man of importance and class. Soon enough he found out why."
'This is really valuable,' the old man said, examining the ring with much interest.
'Yes, Sire,' Zamarud replied, watching the old man closely.
He had no idea how valuable the ring was, but he had figured it was costly. Each of the merchants kept raising the offer from one gold coin to more than a hundred gold coins but Zamarud refused to sell it. The ring was how he tested the honesty of the men he was dealing with.
"How much are you asking for it?" the old man asked.
"The initial price was ten gold coins –"
"Ten gold coins?!" The old man cried out in surprise, "My dear boy, do you even know what this is?! This is an Emerald! The most colorful, most transparent piece of Emerald I've seen in years! I am not expert but this should be at least five hundred gold coins!"
Impressed by the man's honesty, Zamarud decided to show him larger crystal. The man gasped, completely enthralled by the beauty of the exquisite green gem.
"This is unreal!" he whispered.
Zamarud watched him observe the gem with awestruck eyes. The old man returned it quickly.
"My dear boy, you must not show this to anyone unless you want to be robbed or worse killed for it!" he advised. "This is an extremely valuable piece you've got there. These people will fight tooth and nail to get their hands on it but they will never pay you the gold it is worth."
"How much is it worth?" Zamarud asked the man, eyeing him shrewdly.
"I don't know, my child, but I know a few men who deal in gems We can find out."
The next day, Zamarud and the old man visited many gem dealers and jewelers. They offered gold in thousands, but each time the old man would shake his head and leave.
'They lie,' he would say, 'it is worth more.'
Finally, they visited a man the old man trusted.
"Twenty thousand, at least," the gem dealer said. "It is not just the size of it, but transparency and the hue as well. Never seen a specimen more striking than this, have I now? I only know of two men in the city who can afford something like this. One, of course, is the Maharaja who runs the state."
"And the other?" Zamarud asked.
"The wealthiest merchant of the state," The gem dealer pointed to the old man.
Zamarud was surprised. He looked at the man's relatively simple clothes and absence of the air of arrogance and greed that he had seen lurking around the merchants at the bazaar.
"Sire?"
"I would like to buy the crystal for twenty thousand gold coins if you agree to sell it to me," The old man smiled.
Zamarud did not understand. This man could have bought the crystal from him for a cheaper price. And yet he went around the city to find the exact value of the gem before making an offer to buy it? Skeptic of his intentions, Zamarud refused to sell the crystal.
"I do not require so much of the riches," Zamarud excused himself, trying to turn down the offer politely. "And I would not be able to keep it safe or carry it back home."
Quite unexpectedly, the old man let the matter be and offered to buy the ring instead. Zamarud agreed. He was vigilant, expecting some kind of a trick or foolery, but he was surprised by the man yet again when he paid him five hundred solid gold coins and bought the ring.
The following day, Zamarud spent most of his fortune on buying food for the starving people of his tribe. He was greatly intrigued by the strange old man he had done business with the previous day. Unable to figure it out himself, Zamarud decided to visit the old man before setting out on the long, treacherous journey through the mountains back home.
"Elder, you could have cheated me like everyone else tried to," Zamarud said. "You could have bought the crystal for a lot less gold and I wouldn't have known. Why didn't you?"
The old man smiled.
"I would cheat a man the day I learn to cheat Al Baseer," he replied. "He watches over everything I do. He provided for me when I was a poor shoemaker's son and He provides for me now. I have to be a special kind of shameless to cheat under His watchful eye after everything He does for me."
Zamarud was muddled.
"Who's Al Baseer?" he asked, looking around him to see where Al Baseer was hiding.
"The One who created all of us." The old man pointed towards the heavens. "He's Allah, our God, the One and Only."
Zamarud stared at the old man in wonder. He had never quite met someone like him. Everything about him, from the way he conducted business to the things he talks about, were quite unusual. Impressed, Zamarud inquired more about Allah. He learned that the old man followed Islam. The more he learned about this new religion, the more he was filled with awe. By the time he was ready to set out for Sthooriya, he was quite convinced. He wanted to become a Muslim.
After promising to visit the man once the winter was over, Zamarud headed back home as the first Muslim of Sthooriya.
Author's Note:
It was long so I split it into two. The next part or Chapter 92: "Guardians of the Zamarud-II" is already up on Patreon. Become a patron for early access chapters and enjoy Patron-exclusive content which includes deleted/alternate scenes☺️.
Lots of Love.
J.