Chapter 21- Fate of Afzal
Razia woke up and freshened up herself, it was just a day before Eid, her Abbu,Iqbal bhaijaan and Nasir bhaijaan and Fatimah along with Afzal had also returned the very last night,the sun was about to rise, Razia’s almond eyes scanned the reddish-orange sky as she combed her hair, although maids were available but she preferred to her personal tasks all by herself , just then a lady servant came,and bowed her head while calling out for Razia’s attention ” Shezaadi, Malika-e-Hind, Qtub begam has ordered you to arrive in the Darbaar( royal court room) within a hour, the Darbar is to set up by an hour and everybody has to attend it.” she said in a low voice with her head still bent and her eyes on the floor beneath her shoes hearing this , Razia dismissed the servant and dressed up her self as fast as possible,she choose a red and sky-blue colored attire for this special day, she knew that abbu was to decide Afzal Mohmmed’s fate.
Razia managed to reach the darbaar on time , before the darbaar was set up, the women had to sit behind the curtains,with their veil on their face,Razia sat beside Shazia, soon the Nasir and Fatimah entered the darbaar,then Sultan Iltimush appeared,everyone in the room stood up to greet him, Iltimush seated himself up on his throne and ordered Afzal to be brought before him , his ordered was followed and Afzal was brought.
” Mohmmed Afzal,you…have stabbed the Dilli Sultanate at it’s back,and my special spies have information that you were planning an assassination of me and my sons everyone including Razia gasped with surprise and horror, no one knew about this, not even Nasir,but Fatimah stayed calm,it was she who had gathered such an important information,and Iltimush was extremely thankful to her. ” What shal I do to you Afzal?” asked Iltimush with a cold voice throwing a questioning glance at him, just then a minister raised from his seat and suggested “CAPITAL PUNISHMENT sultan, what else.” he said confidently everyone seemed to had agreed and and supported the minister, but Razia was lost in thought ” What if in future any other subedaar, does the same and what if he succeed.” she thought in her mind ” No, you nee d to fix it Razia, go for it.”
she said to herself and raised her voice grabbing everyone’s attention ” Sultan, may I suggest something?” she asked while coming out of the curtains, her face was covered with a red net cloth,till her nose,only her eyes were visible, she lifted her face up and looked straight into Iltimush’s eyes, everyone was surprised by this action of hers as women were not expected to give suggestions on political affairs , but Razia had crossed this barrier, yet she was not afraid , Iltimush smiled a bit, he was actually expecting Razia, on the other hand Nasir and Iqbal were feeling happy that at least someone had the courage to do so.
“Sultan, today Mohmmad Afzal did so, tomorrow it might be someone else, may be his own son or may be someone who has no connection with him to how many shall you give capital punishment?” she asked looking straight into the sultan’s eyes, Iltimush thought for a while then questioned her back ” Well, you are right,but do you have any other suggestion.” ” Yes I do have, Mohmmad Afzal could do so since the troops were under his command, what further , you completely trust your subedaars and hence send no spies to their palaces to keep an eye on them. What if the troops come under your command, so that you can protect your regions as well as yourself and your Dilli ,futher you can send some special spies behind them to keep an eye on them.” she replied with a slight smile on her face, everybody including the Sultan was stunned
” This girl has tremendous ability to handle tremendous.” Iltimush thought , ministers present there begun to whisper among themselves , they had never thought this way , but a woman did, how could this happen, after all, she’s a ‘girl’ , Iltimush raised in hand on air to silence them , he stood up and announced ” Today, my youngest daughter, Shezaadi Razia has proved her intelligence and far sightedness to all, I shall accept her suggestion and , Afzal, shall get capital punishment.” with these words of his, he dismissed the court , he was proud of his daughter , even Nasir and Iqbal were as proud and happy as Iltimush , Yakut came forward and congratulated Razia , he knew his childhood friend and had no doubts on her ability ” Great idea shezaadi” he said to her with a smile, Qtub and Shazia smiled,seeing Razia getting such respect at the court, but there was somebody who was not so pleased , it was none other than Shaad, Qtub’s mother ,” This girl, she has crossed her limits today.” she thought in her mind.
****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Sorry for any mistake(s) if there is, it’s not always possible for me to edit , so please excuse me. Please do comment.
Precap- Altunia, along with his mother and sister arrive on the morning of Eid, on the other hand Iltimush promises Razia that she will get anything she asks for as Edie(gift give on the occasion of Eid) , what will Razia ask for?