Malikati

chapter 2

Chapter 2

Raghad’s wedding

Hamama Umar Farouk

She stepped backwards once again, his brows carved in confusion, he had said the right words but unfortunately to the wrong person. “I wish you all that your heart desires, son of the sheik”. She said and prayed that he ends the conversation as eyes of passerby’s were now on them. “why...” he began to say but his mother interrupted with haste as soon as she came out of the tent and saw her beloved son and the sinful woman standing so close together, almost too close for her comfort “Assalam Walaikum Ummi Saleem” “assalam walaikum, wife of the sheik” Hamama bowed slightly to the older woman whose eyes couldn’t stop wondering between her son and her nemesis. “I see you have come to enjoy the feast?” “of course, how could I miss your daughter’s wedding feast. Raghad wouldn’t forgive me for such a grievous sin”. At the mention of her daughter’s name, the woman’s scowl deepened. She seemed to be helpless at separating her children from people such as these. “Please go towards the other tent. That is where the women are…” she looked towards her son, glaring at him. “The men… are supposed to be at this tent negotiating the dowry with the groom and his men.”

Hamama nodded and looked towards Saleem, the boy was so focused on what Jafar, the neighbor’s son was showing him by pointing repeatedly towards the ground. “He is safe Sayidati, you have no worry,” Raghad’s mother said and she nodded. Bowing slightly, she turned and went towards the direction of another tent. It wasn’t a long distance, although the sheiks land was very big, the tents were muddled together. Only the prayer ground covered half of the land. “Assalam Walaikum” she said as soon as she entered into the big tent filled with women and different colors of scarves. Raghad sat at the middle with her face covered and legs dipped in water.

She sat regal, powerful, like a queen waiting to rule her husband’s heart and home. Hamama stood at a corner and watched the subtle tremble of her friend’s hands, smiling sadly. She knew those feelings, she was well aware of that familiar anxiety, the questions, the need for reassurance, the hopelessness. She felt it in her father’s house, sitting with her face covered and her legs washed in water and covered in oils by the women of the eastern border where her father ruled before his death. “Young bride cover your eyes in kohl, entice your husband lest his eyes wander…” they sang and she had giggled stupidly.

She had believed that she was her husband ‘the sultan’s’ only wife, that the scowl on his face at their wedding day was just him being nervous. The Shiek had officiated the wedding and although it was not a big feast as her baba was afraid assassins would be sent again to kill the young Ameer who was not yet a sultan then, it was just enough to make her young naïve heart fall in love again just as it had when she once knelt and begged her baba to ask the young Ameer for marriage as a repayment of his kindness to him.

After the marriage, he returned to the Caliphate, a promise to invite her after he had overthrown his brother on his lips, and he did, he kept his promise after four years, married with a Malika already by his side. And she, the fool who had once swoon in his love, was titled a concubine.

“Quickly, the time has come” Raghad’s mother said excitedly, as soon as she entered into the tent. The dowry list was now completed and Raghad could now be called a partly married woman, all that remains were to ask them both if they agreed to be married. Before anyone else could touch her daughter, Raghad’s mother was already holding the girl steady and leading her towards the tent where the men were meeting.

It was a big tent, and the crowd of people in it was even bigger. From her little corner, Hamama could see the dowry items being placed neatly in front of the bride’s father. Spices found only in the capital and silk clothing’s folded in colors of different types. The groom himself was seated regally in front of Raghad’s father, Raghad was placed besides her father who kept giving her little pats on the head. Hamama watched as the groom kept glancing at his bride’s direction. “…Raghad Kabir Sighn, daughter of Mahmoud Kabir Sighn do you agree to be joined in marriage to Vermoud Khanna Yal son of Ahmid Khanna yal, do you agree?” the sheik asked and everyone held their breaths even though they already knew the answer “yes I agree” her soft voice said and everyone breath out a sigh of relieve. “Do you agree? the gruff voice said again, and again she answered for the second and third time. Her answer was yes.

The same question was asked of the groom, he didn’t hesitate, he answered, so sure of wanting Raghad for a wife. Hamama felt a bitterness and myth crushing her heart at her own situation, the forgotten concubine was all she ever was. Not a wife, not even a favored mistress. she made a decision to take Saleem home immediately the sheik ended the ceremony, she wouldn’t be staying for the feast. The Sheik joined them in marriage after the third question and Hamama took it as her queue to leave. She asked around for the host’s mother, even though she knew the woman wouldn’t be bothered knowing she left without informing her in the first place, she still had to fulfil an action because courtesy demands. “I am leaving now Ummi Raghad, please whisper my congratulations into her ears when she is unoccupied. I will stop by tomorrow before she leaves for the capital” she said as soon as she met the older woman in the tent where the food to be served was being prepared, without looking at the speaker the older woman simply nodded and resumed shouting at another younger woman to knead the dough faster “Sayidati, if you knead the dough like that, we might as well starve to death at the feast” she said before pushing the younger girl away and taking over the kneading herself. The young girl rolled her eyes subtly and whispered something under her breath before walking away.

Hamama laughed silently at the chaos before slipping away quietly to find her son. By now the sun had begun to give way to the moon giving the sky an orange hue, she walked behind the tent where she left him, her eyes expertly scanned the play area, her son was nowhere in sight. “Saleem!” she called hoping he hears her, hoping he comes running to her at the sound of her voice. There was nothing, no response. Her breathing started coming in shot gasps and she cleaned her sweaty palms with her cloth. “Saleem!” she called again and got the same response, her son wasn’t there and neither was Jafar the neighbor’s son.

“Ya Allah, have some mercy on me, I beg of you. This son of mine might end my life one day, I placed him here and now I search for his shadow like a pin in the hay” Anxiety began to creep into her bones but she held strong. “Zahrah, where is Saleem?” she asked Jafar’s sister, who was just sitting there playing all by herself. “I don’t know” the young girl answered and went back to digging the ground with her bare hands. Her heart skipped a beat. “Where is Jafar?” she asked. “With Ummi” the little girl answered unknowing about the turmoil going on in Hamama’s heart.

With shaky legs, Hamama walked to find Jafar’s mother, praying that she had seen her son Saleem. She walked back into the now noisy tent, walked through the crowd of chatty women until she could locate the woman she was looking for. A tall woman with river falls of dense brunette hair slightly covered. She tapped the woman lightly and when the woman turned slightly enough to give an attention to the intruder she asked “have you seen my son Saleem?” the other woman’s brow carved in confusion. “Have you seen my son Saleem?” she asked again, this time her fears and emotion slipping into the question. Making it teary and panic filled.

“I haven’t seen Saleem today, I didn’t even know you were here, you told me you weren’t coming Umm Saleem” the other woman responded, although her tone slightly accusatory, her face showed that she was genuinely worried.

“Ya Allah please help me, I can’t find Saleem anymore, I can’t find my son Saleem!”