****
Its been well over fifty hours and i still had absolutely no idea what to do about my uncle. If i set foot in the palace, I'm a dead man. If Yasmeen turns her self in, she's as good as dead because no one will ever see her again. And he'll definitely kill her brothers because they will not stop fighting him, I hope. We can't even involve the police. We know how that ended the first time. Basically, we are at a dead end.
To top it off, Yasmeen isn't talking to me and I'm sure she's been crying. My head was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to split open. I spoke to Hammad and he suggested i spoke to him. Come to a "compromise " he said. How the hell do i compromise with an abuser?
I picked up my phone and dreadfully, I dialed my uncle's number.
"Its Mubasshir "
"Yes did you bring the girl?"
"You know I'd rather die than do that" he chuckled.
"You've always been as stubborn as a mule. Well let me tell you something James bond. In the next few hours, i will cut the tongue out of her brother's head and send it to you. And you know if anything happens to her brothers, she'll never want to look at you again because it'llbe your fault"
"Let her and her brothers go...I'll leave rimi for good and never return " the weight of the words I just uttered lay heavy on my chest. I just willingly said I'll leave my town and birthright forever because of a girl? What in the bloody hell?
"You were already exiled. You leaving doesn'tmean anything!"
"You are about to lose the throne because of what happened on your so called wedding day. And the moment you get dethroned, the sentence you passed on me will lose its meaning so I can stake claim to the throne. But if you let them go, I will withdraw my accusation and leave Rimi and so will they" there I was, saying it even more clearly. I can't believe this. It must me derangement.
He stayed quiet for a while and then he spoke.
"No"
"What?!" How can he refuse my offer? Its what he has always wanted!
"I said 'no'! You don't get it do you? I love Yasmeen! I want to spend the rest of my life with her! She is beautiful, she is feisty and-"
What he was saying faded out. Not sure why but him saying he "loves" her sent anger coursing through me. My head was ringing and all I wanted to bash his face in.
"...i have to go. Bring the girl, within the next five hours " and the line went dead
After an hour, i decided what to do and I went to the room to tell Yasmeen but she wasn't there. My blood ran cold. No. God please no. I searched all around the house but there was no sign of her. No!
**
Mubasshir yelled and cursed loudly. His breath was coming out in pants. A cocktail of fear and anger almost made him wretch out his non existent lunch.
He drove through the streets like a maniac. She has no car so hopefully she has not gotten far. What if she left hours ago and has arrived the palace by now? He shook away the nauseating thought and pressed his accelerator almost to the ground.
Yasmeen was trying not to think about Mubasshir. If she did, she knew she would turn back around. "She had to do this" she muttered to herself.
"This is the only logical thing to do". Many people have been in forced marriages, she won't be the first or the last. Atleast her brothers and hopefully Mubasshir will be safe. They have suffered enough because of her.
The palace gates were at a hundred metre distance. Her heart rate doubled. She was really going to do this. The moment she made it to that gate, it was all over.
