Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Noushzad, Gelareh, Mahrokh, or Sadri (the king) and i don't own the plot up until well.....the actual beginning of my story. Frank Stockton does.
A/n: so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. as i have said before and as i will say again many times in my life.......school sucks me and all other writers/artists of all of their creative juices. but i have a four-day weekend....and i'm planning on getting a couple of chapters up.so enjoy! these little bursts of updating only come every so often in the school year. anyway..enough with my blabbering...on with the fic!
_________
Slowly Noushzad opened his eyes. He was still groggy and his eyes still wouldn't open completely. Of course, there was hardly a difference, since it was almost as dark with his eys open as when they were closed. He could make out the vague outlines of a few things, such as the foot of the bed, and there was a faint light that had struggled through the tiny holes in the curtains. It wasn't a happy glow, like the beginning of sunrise, but it was a little eerie and half-way trying to make it's appearance, giving Noushzad the impression that it was cloudy outside.
He reached up and rubbed the sand from his eyes, and then ran his fingers through his hair, feeling as if he'd had a little too much wine last night.He turned onto his side and jumped, nearly having a heart attack at the sight of a woman in his bed. What was Gelareh doing here?
With a start he realized that he wasn't in his room. He was in a bedroom in the palace! What were they doing there? How drunk could they have been to stay in the palace? Noushzad's heart started to feel as if it would beat it's way out of his chest.
He jumped out of the bed and scanned the room frantically for his clothes. He spotted his shirt and started to dash for it. They were going to be caught. How would they not be? This was exactly why he and Gelareh would never stay anywhere within the palace walls when they were together. It was far too risky.
Wait. Noushzad stopped in his tracks.
He and Gelareh would never stay in the palace.
Like a monsoon it all came flooding back to him. He and Gelareh would never stay in the palace. And they never had. This was Mahrokh. Not Gelareh. Mahrokh. Noushzad sighed deeply and walked slowly over to the bed and sat down.
He had to think about this. He had to get past it. He had spent all of yesterday and last night and all the days before since his arrest dwelling on how horrific his situation was. He'd already thought about how much he would miss Gelareh. He had already mourned.
What he really needed was to move on. There was no way he would ever stop loving Gelareh, because he did. God, how he did. But it had come to an end. Their relationship was dead. Hope was not possible. He was married. Noushzad was many things but he never thought that he would be unfaithful to his wife if he had one. And now he did, and he didn't want to become a person who would do something like that. Last night had really severed the cord. He thought it would only be the beginning to his misery, but he had been getting over it every day since his arrest. And, if he was completely honest with himself, he had been pretty sure they would be caught from the beginning.
So that was it. This was a new life. The question was, what would he start over with? What did he have to chisten this new age for him? How was anything actually different?
"Good morning, my husband," said his wife's voice from behind him, with a cheerful sleepiness.
~***~
Gelareh had stayed up all night coming up with a plan. Because, she had reasoned to herself, there is no situation which is impossible to get out of. And she had thought of something. They would run away together. That was it. The end of all of her problems was exactly that simple.
All freed prisoners had breakfast with the royal family before they were sent to live their new lives. Of course, her father would be watching her like a hawk. But, somehow, she would give Noushzad a signal. And they would meet afterwards, in the hall or something. Maybe she would volunteer to see the 'happy couple' to the castle walls. And then they would find some way to leave the palace, and then the city. They would get all of the way out of this godforsaken country and find someplace where they could live in peace. Gelareh didn't need a castle to live in. Any place would be better than here.
This had cheered Gelareh up immensely, thinking to herself that they would be gone within a matter of days, to live and grow old together. How perfect.
She took exact care to look gorgeous today. Even though she knew that she was the one to have Noushzad, she still had a slight pang of jealousy, with good reason as well, as she was his wife. But that was no matter. You couldn't really call someone a person's wife when their husband would never see them again after the day after they were married.
Gelareh combed her hair so it hung in perfect sheets around her face and put on enough makeup to make even an old man look like a nineteen year old girl. She put on her most luxurious light blue gown, because that was Noushzad's favorite color, and draped her neck with her finest diamond necklace.
It was still much too early to go down to breakfast so she sat on the bed, with an enormous smile plastered on her face, thinking about how wonderful everything was going to be.
~***~
Noushzad turned around and smiled. Of course. This was the exact way he was going to move on with his life. He was going to find some way to love his wife. Unfortunately, he didn't see much there to love, but he couldn't compare her to Gelareh. He would just have to find something positive about her. She really was quite beautiful. There, that was one thing already.
"Mahrokh, how are you?"
"I'm absolutely wonderful," she said coyly, putting an exaggerated smile on her face, hinting obviously. Noushzad didn't know whether to smile or to sigh in frustration so he did a kind of combination of both, most likely making himself look extremely funny.
"Don't do that, Mahrokh. You are my wife now. You don't have to win me over. I'm won."
She looked a little flustered, her eyes got a little wide and she looked at her husband as if he had surprised her, but she quickly regained her composure. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, my husband."
"Mahrokh, I can't live with you like this. You can't live with me like this. Not for long, anyway, not without breeding resentment," said Noushzad, sighing once again. He scooted himself over, next to her on the bed, and looked at her in the face. "We are a married couple, like it or not," and his voice choked on this part a little, because he knew that he should mourn his love for Gelareh for longer than he was, and even though it did hurt him to say that Gelareh wasn't his wife, it almost killed him to think that it didn't hurt more than it did. "We are going to have to get to know eachother. And I don't sincerely believe that you are only what you have been showing to me."
Mahrokh just stared at him for about thirty seconds. "I don't know what to make of you, husband..." Her lips hung suspended like that for a few seconds, and she seemed as if she would say something else, but suddenly something shifted behind her eyes, and she got up to get dresseed.
"We have to get ready to go to dinner with the royal family. With the princess." And with that last word she turned around and pierced him with a gaze that would most likely kill if he hadn't had that exact same look a thousand times from Gelareh. And since he had, it only made it a thousand times worse.
Noushzad stared open-mouthed for a moment. He hadn't expected such a blunt accusation. Not from Mahrokh at least. And the strange part was, that now he wasn't sure who he felt he was betraying.
~***~
Gelareh checked her hair one last time in the hall outside of the dining room. She really had to stop twisting at the cloth on her gown. It was going to wrinkle, and then she would look just as nervous as she felt. She took to wringing her hands instead, while absentmindedly tracing the intricate carvings on the frame of the mirror with her eyes, not really knowing what to think about in this huge chaotic mess that she'd created.
She stalled in every way possible, checking her makeup time and time again, going over in her mind the exact words that she would say to create the effect that she needed to create, taking in all of her surroundings as if she had never stood in this hallway before. Of course, this was hardly true since almost every meal she'd had since she was born had taken place there, with the occasional exception of breakfast outside or dinner at a foreign dignitary's home. Finally, deciding that there was no way to put it off any longer without upsetting her father, Gelareh nodded to the servants who pushed open the doors for her to enter the dining room.
The scene was horrible. Her father sat at the head of the table, looking nothing like the 'caring' father that had visited her in her room last night, but more like an executioner that was trying to make the blow a little softer. Possibly by dulling the blade so you had to hack at the head, I'm sure. That seemed as if it were a way her father would look at being kind. He wore his formal attire, which was almost entirely gold. Next to him on either side was an empty seat. One was reserved for Gelareh, and the other was always kept empty, in the memory of her mother. The seat next to the one reserved for her mother was another empty seat, one which was reserved for Noushzad. Well, so much for making an entrance for him. She'd beat him there. And unfortunately, the seat next to Gelareh's was not empty, as Mahrokh was sitting there. Father was going to make them sit together.
Gelareh sighed to herself and then dutifully curtsied, though not very deeply. Even if she had made an effort to do so, her father would have been immediately suspicious, so being especially polite would do her no good.
"Good morning and praises to you King Sadri. And good morning Lady Mahrokh," she said in a kind of monotone voice. She walked as silently as she could to her chair and sat down.
There was an uncomfortable silence for a while, with someone making the occasional neuteral remark about the weather or where Noushzad was or sometimes Gelareh's father would clear his throat and cough a little. Fortunately the awkwardness ended when the doors once again opened.
___________________
A/N: tada......4th chapter...took me long enough, huh? lol. well everybody needs to review so i can continue!!! (and also semi-sorry for the semi-cliff hanger i left you on......it's not that bad really......unless you know what's coming.......
A/n: so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. as i have said before and as i will say again many times in my life.......school sucks me and all other writers/artists of all of their creative juices. but i have a four-day weekend....and i'm planning on getting a couple of chapters up.so enjoy! these little bursts of updating only come every so often in the school year. anyway..enough with my blabbering...on with the fic!
_________
Slowly Noushzad opened his eyes. He was still groggy and his eyes still wouldn't open completely. Of course, there was hardly a difference, since it was almost as dark with his eys open as when they were closed. He could make out the vague outlines of a few things, such as the foot of the bed, and there was a faint light that had struggled through the tiny holes in the curtains. It wasn't a happy glow, like the beginning of sunrise, but it was a little eerie and half-way trying to make it's appearance, giving Noushzad the impression that it was cloudy outside.
He reached up and rubbed the sand from his eyes, and then ran his fingers through his hair, feeling as if he'd had a little too much wine last night.He turned onto his side and jumped, nearly having a heart attack at the sight of a woman in his bed. What was Gelareh doing here?
With a start he realized that he wasn't in his room. He was in a bedroom in the palace! What were they doing there? How drunk could they have been to stay in the palace? Noushzad's heart started to feel as if it would beat it's way out of his chest.
He jumped out of the bed and scanned the room frantically for his clothes. He spotted his shirt and started to dash for it. They were going to be caught. How would they not be? This was exactly why he and Gelareh would never stay anywhere within the palace walls when they were together. It was far too risky.
Wait. Noushzad stopped in his tracks.
He and Gelareh would never stay in the palace.
Like a monsoon it all came flooding back to him. He and Gelareh would never stay in the palace. And they never had. This was Mahrokh. Not Gelareh. Mahrokh. Noushzad sighed deeply and walked slowly over to the bed and sat down.
He had to think about this. He had to get past it. He had spent all of yesterday and last night and all the days before since his arrest dwelling on how horrific his situation was. He'd already thought about how much he would miss Gelareh. He had already mourned.
What he really needed was to move on. There was no way he would ever stop loving Gelareh, because he did. God, how he did. But it had come to an end. Their relationship was dead. Hope was not possible. He was married. Noushzad was many things but he never thought that he would be unfaithful to his wife if he had one. And now he did, and he didn't want to become a person who would do something like that. Last night had really severed the cord. He thought it would only be the beginning to his misery, but he had been getting over it every day since his arrest. And, if he was completely honest with himself, he had been pretty sure they would be caught from the beginning.
So that was it. This was a new life. The question was, what would he start over with? What did he have to chisten this new age for him? How was anything actually different?
"Good morning, my husband," said his wife's voice from behind him, with a cheerful sleepiness.
~***~
Gelareh had stayed up all night coming up with a plan. Because, she had reasoned to herself, there is no situation which is impossible to get out of. And she had thought of something. They would run away together. That was it. The end of all of her problems was exactly that simple.
All freed prisoners had breakfast with the royal family before they were sent to live their new lives. Of course, her father would be watching her like a hawk. But, somehow, she would give Noushzad a signal. And they would meet afterwards, in the hall or something. Maybe she would volunteer to see the 'happy couple' to the castle walls. And then they would find some way to leave the palace, and then the city. They would get all of the way out of this godforsaken country and find someplace where they could live in peace. Gelareh didn't need a castle to live in. Any place would be better than here.
This had cheered Gelareh up immensely, thinking to herself that they would be gone within a matter of days, to live and grow old together. How perfect.
She took exact care to look gorgeous today. Even though she knew that she was the one to have Noushzad, she still had a slight pang of jealousy, with good reason as well, as she was his wife. But that was no matter. You couldn't really call someone a person's wife when their husband would never see them again after the day after they were married.
Gelareh combed her hair so it hung in perfect sheets around her face and put on enough makeup to make even an old man look like a nineteen year old girl. She put on her most luxurious light blue gown, because that was Noushzad's favorite color, and draped her neck with her finest diamond necklace.
It was still much too early to go down to breakfast so she sat on the bed, with an enormous smile plastered on her face, thinking about how wonderful everything was going to be.
~***~
Noushzad turned around and smiled. Of course. This was the exact way he was going to move on with his life. He was going to find some way to love his wife. Unfortunately, he didn't see much there to love, but he couldn't compare her to Gelareh. He would just have to find something positive about her. She really was quite beautiful. There, that was one thing already.
"Mahrokh, how are you?"
"I'm absolutely wonderful," she said coyly, putting an exaggerated smile on her face, hinting obviously. Noushzad didn't know whether to smile or to sigh in frustration so he did a kind of combination of both, most likely making himself look extremely funny.
"Don't do that, Mahrokh. You are my wife now. You don't have to win me over. I'm won."
She looked a little flustered, her eyes got a little wide and she looked at her husband as if he had surprised her, but she quickly regained her composure. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, my husband."
"Mahrokh, I can't live with you like this. You can't live with me like this. Not for long, anyway, not without breeding resentment," said Noushzad, sighing once again. He scooted himself over, next to her on the bed, and looked at her in the face. "We are a married couple, like it or not," and his voice choked on this part a little, because he knew that he should mourn his love for Gelareh for longer than he was, and even though it did hurt him to say that Gelareh wasn't his wife, it almost killed him to think that it didn't hurt more than it did. "We are going to have to get to know eachother. And I don't sincerely believe that you are only what you have been showing to me."
Mahrokh just stared at him for about thirty seconds. "I don't know what to make of you, husband..." Her lips hung suspended like that for a few seconds, and she seemed as if she would say something else, but suddenly something shifted behind her eyes, and she got up to get dresseed.
"We have to get ready to go to dinner with the royal family. With the princess." And with that last word she turned around and pierced him with a gaze that would most likely kill if he hadn't had that exact same look a thousand times from Gelareh. And since he had, it only made it a thousand times worse.
Noushzad stared open-mouthed for a moment. He hadn't expected such a blunt accusation. Not from Mahrokh at least. And the strange part was, that now he wasn't sure who he felt he was betraying.
~***~
Gelareh checked her hair one last time in the hall outside of the dining room. She really had to stop twisting at the cloth on her gown. It was going to wrinkle, and then she would look just as nervous as she felt. She took to wringing her hands instead, while absentmindedly tracing the intricate carvings on the frame of the mirror with her eyes, not really knowing what to think about in this huge chaotic mess that she'd created.
She stalled in every way possible, checking her makeup time and time again, going over in her mind the exact words that she would say to create the effect that she needed to create, taking in all of her surroundings as if she had never stood in this hallway before. Of course, this was hardly true since almost every meal she'd had since she was born had taken place there, with the occasional exception of breakfast outside or dinner at a foreign dignitary's home. Finally, deciding that there was no way to put it off any longer without upsetting her father, Gelareh nodded to the servants who pushed open the doors for her to enter the dining room.
The scene was horrible. Her father sat at the head of the table, looking nothing like the 'caring' father that had visited her in her room last night, but more like an executioner that was trying to make the blow a little softer. Possibly by dulling the blade so you had to hack at the head, I'm sure. That seemed as if it were a way her father would look at being kind. He wore his formal attire, which was almost entirely gold. Next to him on either side was an empty seat. One was reserved for Gelareh, and the other was always kept empty, in the memory of her mother. The seat next to the one reserved for her mother was another empty seat, one which was reserved for Noushzad. Well, so much for making an entrance for him. She'd beat him there. And unfortunately, the seat next to Gelareh's was not empty, as Mahrokh was sitting there. Father was going to make them sit together.
Gelareh sighed to herself and then dutifully curtsied, though not very deeply. Even if she had made an effort to do so, her father would have been immediately suspicious, so being especially polite would do her no good.
"Good morning and praises to you King Sadri. And good morning Lady Mahrokh," she said in a kind of monotone voice. She walked as silently as she could to her chair and sat down.
There was an uncomfortable silence for a while, with someone making the occasional neuteral remark about the weather or where Noushzad was or sometimes Gelareh's father would clear his throat and cough a little. Fortunately the awkwardness ended when the doors once again opened.
___________________
A/N: tada......4th chapter...took me long enough, huh? lol. well everybody needs to review so i can continue!!! (and also semi-sorry for the semi-cliff hanger i left you on......it's not that bad really......unless you know what's coming.......
