A/N: Okay...I am DONE with waiting for reviews (yay for all of you who want updates this century) so i'm just gonna write and take what i can get :-D. so have fun with many updates and if you DO happen to read, plz review.
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ch. - HER NAME IS MAHROKH
Noushzad waited silently. He was silent in speech and his mind and heart as well. He should have expected this, really. And he should have been shocked since he didn't. But he wasn't. He was far too numb to feel any emotion as great as shock. 'Well, this is what you get for getting yourself involved with royalty', a nagging voice said in the back of his mind. But he didn't respond. He just stood there, leaning against a stack of sacks of flour. He had no sense of purpose any more. He would just do what he had to do.
Footsteps. There was someone rushing down the hallway to this closet. It didn't even cross his mind that it could be someone besides Gelareh. No one else would know to look here. Noushzad started to massage his temples, trying to keep the numbness there. He would not let feelings show on his face when Gelareh was there.
Footsteps were slowing. A few yards away, she had started to walk. Numbness. Unfeeling. Stay that way. Her face would NOT affect him in any way. The close proximity of this closet would NOT cause him to be unfaithful to his wife. His wife. Gelareh could not do that to him any more. No. No. No. No. No.
Now her hand had touched the doorknob. And it was turning. And no matter how much he fought to stay numb, Noushzad's heart sped up at the prospect of seeing her. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...
Yes.
There she was, tentatively stepping through the door, smiling a nervous, sort of awkward smile. And right there, his heart melted, all thoughts of numbness gone, just as it had when he had seen her at breakfast. But he had kept it under control then, and he could do it again now. He would keep himself under control. He had a wife. He had a wife. He had a wife.
He had already been on trial for this.
"Hello," she said. And she stepped into the closet, with about a half a foot to spare between the two of them.
Remember your wife. If only her name wasn't so hard to think of right now. 'M' something. Mah...Mah....
"Hello, Gelareh," he replied, with every nerve in his body poised, trying to keep a straight face. I do NOT love her any more. I am over her. I have mourned for her. There is no turning back. But she is standing right there....
And then she stepped forward, removing any extra space between that either of them had and she was kissing him, and there were no more thoughts in his head, though he was far, far from numb. Perfect. This was where he belonged, right here with Gelareh....
Oh. Shit.
"No," he mumbled pushing away. "No. Gelareh not now, not..." he tried to explain. He needed her to know. He needed her to understand that he could not go back. There was not an 'us' any more. But, that was the message he got across. Because now she was smiling a thousand-degree smile, with no trace of disspointment.
"You are absolutely right. We have no time for this, it will come later," she purred mischeviously.
"But Gel..."
"I have the perfect plan. But it has to happen right now."
"Gelareh..."
"No, no. I am sure that you have thought of something as well, but my plan is fool-proof. We must use it."
"I need to...."
"Just let me finish. Please?" He met her with silence, knowing he would never get to say anything until she was finished with whatever she had to say.
"Good. So, right now they are packing your bags. They are preparing a packmule as we speak for you and Mahrokh to leave the palace," she said Mahrokh with no small amount of disgust. "But I already have a bag packed for you. And me. We will get changed, disguise ourselves as servants. And my personal maid is waiting for us at the gate, and will get us through. I have a route planned so we will not pass anyone leaving the palace. Then we will go to a safehouse that I have also had prepared by my maid. No one lives there. There we will stay just for a few days until I can get new identities for us and..."
"No." He said it forcefully enough to catch her attention. He had had enough of this. Any more, and he might go along with it. Gelareh looked at him with a slightly stunned and confused expcession, wondering why her plan had been so readily rejected.
"But Noushzad I didn't even get to finish."
"Look, Gelareh," he said quietly, putting his hands on her shoulders, to ease the blow and also to keep her at arms length, "I cannot go with you." She opened her mouth slightly to protest. "No, I mean that I will not." Do not let the look on her face bother you. No. This has to be done. "Gelareh, like it or not I am married. I am married to Mah...Mah...someone else."
Her face was falling so quickly, it was painful. Noushzad suddenly had the urge to defend himself.
"Besides, weren't you the one who sent me to be killed?" He said it with much more malice than he had intended. Gelareh looked even more pained, and shocked, and confused. And now she looked totally ashamed.
That look on her face was too much for him to handle. There was too much emotion in this small amount of space. A few minutes ago he was numb. Why couldn't he be numb again? Why?
"I have to go Gelareh. My wife is waiting."
He said it without looking her in the face. He said it meaning for the last words to be a horrible blow, but he wasn't sure why he needed to say them.
And then he left her there, in the place where he had first fallen in love with her.
~***~
"My name is Mahrokh."
As Noushzad stepped out of the closet, his jaw dropped. His wife was standing right outside the door. She had heard everything. And there were two guards standing right behind her.
~***~
A/N: tada! new chapter! hooray. aaaanyway.....I hope this thing picks up speed soon. because it's about to get good and I get kind of bored having to write all of the pre-stuff. anyway....i hope you liked it....and even though I'm not waiting for them, I hope you'll review anyway. :PLEASE?!?!?!?! ;-
~***~
ch. - HER NAME IS MAHROKH
Noushzad waited silently. He was silent in speech and his mind and heart as well. He should have expected this, really. And he should have been shocked since he didn't. But he wasn't. He was far too numb to feel any emotion as great as shock. 'Well, this is what you get for getting yourself involved with royalty', a nagging voice said in the back of his mind. But he didn't respond. He just stood there, leaning against a stack of sacks of flour. He had no sense of purpose any more. He would just do what he had to do.
Footsteps. There was someone rushing down the hallway to this closet. It didn't even cross his mind that it could be someone besides Gelareh. No one else would know to look here. Noushzad started to massage his temples, trying to keep the numbness there. He would not let feelings show on his face when Gelareh was there.
Footsteps were slowing. A few yards away, she had started to walk. Numbness. Unfeeling. Stay that way. Her face would NOT affect him in any way. The close proximity of this closet would NOT cause him to be unfaithful to his wife. His wife. Gelareh could not do that to him any more. No. No. No. No. No.
Now her hand had touched the doorknob. And it was turning. And no matter how much he fought to stay numb, Noushzad's heart sped up at the prospect of seeing her. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...
Yes.
There she was, tentatively stepping through the door, smiling a nervous, sort of awkward smile. And right there, his heart melted, all thoughts of numbness gone, just as it had when he had seen her at breakfast. But he had kept it under control then, and he could do it again now. He would keep himself under control. He had a wife. He had a wife. He had a wife.
He had already been on trial for this.
"Hello," she said. And she stepped into the closet, with about a half a foot to spare between the two of them.
Remember your wife. If only her name wasn't so hard to think of right now. 'M' something. Mah...Mah....
"Hello, Gelareh," he replied, with every nerve in his body poised, trying to keep a straight face. I do NOT love her any more. I am over her. I have mourned for her. There is no turning back. But she is standing right there....
And then she stepped forward, removing any extra space between that either of them had and she was kissing him, and there were no more thoughts in his head, though he was far, far from numb. Perfect. This was where he belonged, right here with Gelareh....
Oh. Shit.
"No," he mumbled pushing away. "No. Gelareh not now, not..." he tried to explain. He needed her to know. He needed her to understand that he could not go back. There was not an 'us' any more. But, that was the message he got across. Because now she was smiling a thousand-degree smile, with no trace of disspointment.
"You are absolutely right. We have no time for this, it will come later," she purred mischeviously.
"But Gel..."
"I have the perfect plan. But it has to happen right now."
"Gelareh..."
"No, no. I am sure that you have thought of something as well, but my plan is fool-proof. We must use it."
"I need to...."
"Just let me finish. Please?" He met her with silence, knowing he would never get to say anything until she was finished with whatever she had to say.
"Good. So, right now they are packing your bags. They are preparing a packmule as we speak for you and Mahrokh to leave the palace," she said Mahrokh with no small amount of disgust. "But I already have a bag packed for you. And me. We will get changed, disguise ourselves as servants. And my personal maid is waiting for us at the gate, and will get us through. I have a route planned so we will not pass anyone leaving the palace. Then we will go to a safehouse that I have also had prepared by my maid. No one lives there. There we will stay just for a few days until I can get new identities for us and..."
"No." He said it forcefully enough to catch her attention. He had had enough of this. Any more, and he might go along with it. Gelareh looked at him with a slightly stunned and confused expcession, wondering why her plan had been so readily rejected.
"But Noushzad I didn't even get to finish."
"Look, Gelareh," he said quietly, putting his hands on her shoulders, to ease the blow and also to keep her at arms length, "I cannot go with you." She opened her mouth slightly to protest. "No, I mean that I will not." Do not let the look on her face bother you. No. This has to be done. "Gelareh, like it or not I am married. I am married to Mah...Mah...someone else."
Her face was falling so quickly, it was painful. Noushzad suddenly had the urge to defend himself.
"Besides, weren't you the one who sent me to be killed?" He said it with much more malice than he had intended. Gelareh looked even more pained, and shocked, and confused. And now she looked totally ashamed.
That look on her face was too much for him to handle. There was too much emotion in this small amount of space. A few minutes ago he was numb. Why couldn't he be numb again? Why?
"I have to go Gelareh. My wife is waiting."
He said it without looking her in the face. He said it meaning for the last words to be a horrible blow, but he wasn't sure why he needed to say them.
And then he left her there, in the place where he had first fallen in love with her.
~***~
"My name is Mahrokh."
As Noushzad stepped out of the closet, his jaw dropped. His wife was standing right outside the door. She had heard everything. And there were two guards standing right behind her.
~***~
A/N: tada! new chapter! hooray. aaaanyway.....I hope this thing picks up speed soon. because it's about to get good and I get kind of bored having to write all of the pre-stuff. anyway....i hope you liked it....and even though I'm not waiting for them, I hope you'll review anyway. :PLEASE?!?!?!?! ;-
