Izzy and Rania helped Uncle EJ up the stairs and I turned the duvet for him. He came in, his face tired but relieved. Ammi Jaan came up at the rear, her eyes narrowed.

"I'll ask Andaleeb to send some soup" and with that, she exited the room. I helped him lie down on the bed. His eyes closed as soon as his head hit the pillow.

I entered my room, elation, and relief mixing in together. One problem down, several more to go. Jumping up, my feet brushed against the paper. Another letter. Excited, I bent over to pick it up.

"My dearest Elena,

God was today a day. I could not stop the crazy thoughts in my head this morning. Varying scenarios flickered through my mind. I can not imagine how you felt. I saw how worried you were and how you kept biting your lip. Your eyes kept darting back and forth, searching for him. Oh, Elena, he is lucky to have someone like you. I can not explain the relief I felt when he was granted bail. It was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could breathe again.

You know what your Uncle means to me. He supported me at the darkest time of my life. The best part about meeting him was that I got to work here and meet you. The girl who had haunted me since I was ten. Of all the things he has done for me, asking me to come here was the one I would owe him for the rest of my life. I wish I knew what was going on in your head right now. I want to know whatever nefarious scheme you're cooking up. That brain of yours...

If there are any more late-night trips, I am, as always, at your service.

Yours,

Zaroon

P.S Rania has a really good taste in music."

I sighed and flopped down on the bed. Who knew Zaroon could be such a romantic? I reread the letter with a huge smile on my face and placed it in my drawer with the first one. I rolled over and stared at the ceiling my mind drawing up comparisons. I had told Feroze not to talk to me and he had not. Zaroon had found a way to do so. If only I had this much sense when I was at that age. I had wasted three years of my life waiting for some sort of acknowledgment from him.

Which made me come back to Naila. Boy, had she confessed. Now I had to tell all of that to Uncle EJ and define our plan of action. She and Feroze were going to be away for the weekend. We only had Aunt Mamo to contend with and she was not much of a threat after the Hassan mishap. Danial and most of Feroze's staff had left with him. Finally, the castle was as close to being empty as it was ever going to be for the next five years.

A knock sounded on the door and Rania walked in.

"Hey" I greeted with a huge smile. Her eyebrows went up.

"Okay... what's up?"

"Nothing"

"Did you talk to Zaroon? That's usually when you're this happy. Honestly, I should thank that guy for making you bearable" I threw my pillow at her and she laughed. "Ready to go over the week's events?"

"Before I forget, I invited Hussein and his dad for dinner tomorrow. Oh and Sameer will be there too"

"Awesome...you have an event to attend tomorrow afternoon, you also have an engagement on Sunday. I have sent the itinerary to Zaroon bhai. I'm thinking of hiring a secretary for him. He can not possibly be on top of everything and still take care of you" I stared at her.

"First, stop calling him Zaroon bhai, that sounds like..."

"You're married to him?" I glared at her. "We all have a bet on how long it's going to take"

"We? Who's we?"

"Ammi, Hania, Izzy and I. Uncle EJ can't be trusted because he can manipulate the two of you to his advantage"

"What is going on in this house?"

"Lots of things. You're just focused on the serious stuff. You have to lighten up a bit. That's why you have people to share it with" I laughed at her mockingly serious tone.

"Who's winning?" I said, asking about the pool.

"Not going to tell you that... just know that we all approve"

"Well, he approves too", I muttered. Ugh, marriage? It wasn't an unthinkable thing. Married to Zaroon? The idea was growing on me.

"What did you say? Did he ask you already? Elena tell me!" I rolled my eyes at her excitement.

"No, and with the way things are going, you might get married first" she blushed and looked at the comforter. "He said you had a good taste in music"

"He did? Woah! ... wait, I thought you guys weren't on speaking terms" I blushed.

"Uh... events" she looked at me as if I had lost my mind but let it go.

"Now... moving on. Monday, you're inaugurating the orphanage. Hussein told me it's ready" I clapped, excited.

"Good job Rania," I said giving her a pat on the back.

"Oh and that poverty initiative that you have planned? I sent out the emails to the relevant people and they've agreed. So, we'll announce that on Tuesday"

"On election day?"

"Yeah... "

"Great. Oh and arrange a meeting for the southern leaders on Friday. The election results would be confirmed by then. We need to come up with how we're going to proceed" she nodded and added it on her calendar.

"I'll forward this to you"

"Awesome. Thank you, Rania, you've made this so much easier"

"Don't be ridiculous. What are you planning to do about Naila? And her dad?"

"I have to talk to Uncle EJ"

"Someone say my name?" Uncle EJ said from the threshold. We rushed towards him.

"You should not be moving around..." Rania said.

"I was tired Rania, not sick," he said coming to sit on my bed. He winced as he sat down. "Elena, do you have a painkiller?"

"Yeah, top drawer," I said, worried.

"I'll go get the soup," Rania said running out of the room. I moved to get him a glass of water from the jug placed on the coffee table.

"What is this?" Uncle EJ asked, pulling out the dagger Zaroon had gifted me. "I think I've seen this before"

"It's a birthday present"

"From whom?"

"Uh..."

"Elena..." he said a warning in his voice. I brought the water to him and sat down on the bed beside him.

"Zaroon gave it to me" his eyes widened.

"Do you know what it is?"

"A dagger"

"It is a ceremonial dagger... given by a man to the woman he loved. In ancient times, this was a southern tradition that symbolized undying love." I blushed. Well...okay.

"I don't think he knew about all of that..."

"Elena, Zaroon majored in history. He knows. I'm surprised you do not. Although I guess you were more interested in how she ruled then her personal life"

"Who's personal life?" Uncle EJ placed his hand on mine, his eyes dancing.

"Rani Noor. Her husband gave her a dagger to tell her how much she meant to him. He only had his craft to offer her. Obviously, she was a princess..." I stood up to stop his rambling.

"What are you saying?"

"Her husband Jehanzeb worked in the castle. Worked for her. He fell in love with her and she with him. He saved her at a time when her whole world was tumbling down. She was alone, unsupported and tossed aside. Her brothers had escaped, leaving her to salvage what she could. He became her only ally." this could not be happening. "He gave her the dagger to show his love for her. She kept it with her till she died. Haven't you seen it in her potrait"

"So you're saying..." the air in the room was not enough. I was having trouble breathing. I needed to open a window.

"The dagger was his marriage proposal to her. Honestly, he could have gone for a ring but..."

The ground seemed to be shifting underneath my feet. Zaroon had asked me why I had loved that portrait so much. That was where he had seen me when he was ten. That was where we had met years later. That was the painting he had been looking at.

I heard Uncle EJ call my name and I came to.

"Is this... is the dagger..."

"A marriage proposal? Definitely. He's very sneaky like that. I wonder if he had a clock in his head... just to see how long it would take you to figure this out"

"He proposed" I repeated like a parrot. I felt like an idiot. Uncle EJ stared at me, his amusement knowing no bounds. "You can't tell him. You can't tell him that I know. You can't tell anyone" I said grabbing his arms. He nodded a bit shocked. I took another glass of water and drank it to calm myself down.

There was something I had to tell Uncle EJ. What was it? Damn it. He had proposed. He had proposed. With a dagger. Rani Noor. Jehanzeb. Zaroon had proposed.

"Eli... you okay?"

"Yes yes," Naila. I had to tell him about Naila. "Naila. She confessed..." and then I told him how I had tricked her into answering. He laughed out loud, his eyes shining with pride.

"So... what do we do now?"

"Well, I have an idea" and then for the next ten minutes we plotted and planned.

"The soup is here" Rania announced as we were hammering out the details of our scheme to uncover the traitor in the castle. "Did you clear up the whole Zaroon thing with her? She has not talked to him since you were taken away" I rolled my eyes.

"It's only been a day," I said. He had proposed. He wanted to marry me.

"Elena... he got caught up in the New Revolutioniers when he was working at curtailing the rebellion in Hussein's area. He did not understand their main goals. He was angry about his mother's death. He held resentment for the system. The very system that protects the elites. So he joined in. I got to know about this when I went up there and recognized him as Azhar's son. He told you about why he left the military?"

"Yes... that his ideas were not aligned with theirs. That he could do better"

"He caught the people spreading misinformation in the ranks and was awarded a medal for his efforts" I nodded to show I knew about the medal. "I asked for him to come and work for me but he wanted to work on his own" I knew that too. "He started his own security company providing security to different events and people. He's also involved in planning raids and strategic attacks. He was offered a job as the strategic advisor to the Defense Minister" that I did not know.

"And you called him here?"

"Your mother asked me to call him here. He was someone we could trust. He's honorable and loyal. I called him up and he agreed. However, he was contracted to provide his expertise during the wedding." he gave me a knowing look and Rania let out a low whistle. "He chose to stay"