"Open the stuff... put it on the stall" the voices seemed to get louder by the minute.

We stood outside the makeshift doors of the market. Vendors were still organizing their things in their stalls and calling out greetings to one another. The market seemed to be getting ready for the Saturday rush. The air was heavy with the anticipation of possible customers.

"Do we go in now?" I asked Zaroon, partially hiding behind him as a man tried to move from beside me. Zaroon moved to my side and glared at the man.

"There are pickpockets here, be careful" he then led me inside the market. It was full of vendors displaying their goods. One of the stalls had the traditional work of the south, black and blue mixed on the fabric. I touched the garment in fascination. I'd seen my parents gift this to the foreign dignitaries who visited us but I'd never owned one for myself.

The old man who was setting the clothing in neat little racks offered me a smile and I smiled back. He gestured for me to check the other clothing but Zaroon hurried me off to the next stall.

"I wanted to talk to him"

"He was about to make a sale" I huffed, annoyed. He was treating me like a child. His eyes weren't even on me, they flicked from one person to another, checking for danger. I didn't know who was going to stab me in the middle of the market.

"You're just doing this to humour me aren't you?"

He stopped and looked at me. His tall frame making it easy for him to try to intimidate me.

"You're leaving tomorrow"

"This is not a game for me. I do care" I said crossing my arms, frustrated.

"So you keep saying" I walked away, trying to control my anger. A part of me knew he was right. I was leaving tomorrow, but I was going to set this right. I was going to tell Ammi Jaan what was truly happening. She would fix it. If she wanted to fix it, it wouldn't have gotten to this position, would it?- my mind whispered back.

Chewing my lip I examined my options. Either way, I had to talk to the people first. That's what I had been taught. To listen to the people most affected. To try a bottom-up approach. The revolutionaries were counting on us not knowing the full extent of what was going on in the city. What if the reports had been falsified and sent to make us look incompetent? My mind was churning out conspiracy theories by the dozen now.

"Sahib... " A vendor called out to Zaroon. "Your wife is upset with you, why don't buy her these flowers?" I bit back a laugh as Zaroon stiffened.

"Let's go..." he said, coming to stand behind me. I walked ahead to the next vendor and ignored Zaroon.

"Salaam (greetings) Baaji. Do you like these?" the next vendor said gesturing to a collection of exquisitely crafted shawls. I nodded, my eyes wide. I'd have to tell Rania about this.  "This one will look beautiful on you," he said handing me the maroon shawl I had been admiring. He also turned the small mirror my way so I could see my own reflection. It really was lovely and the colour made me look radiant. I turned to look at Zaroon with a bright smile on my face. His face was blank but his eyes... his eyes were looking at me in a way I did not want to know.

"How much?" I asked, placing the shawl in his hands.

"For you? Fifteen thousand" I closed my eyes. If only I had bothered to get cash. I could not expect Zaroon to pay for this. "It really does look good on you, like it was made for you" I smiled and shook my head.

"How long can you keep it? What if I come tomorrow?" or send someone.

"I can't baaji, we're already losing so much money daily. Sales have gone down" right. That was my main objective, not shopping.

"Is it that bad?"

"It's very bad. The oil prices have gone up so the manufacturing costs have gone up. Labourers are not being paid well baaji. We don't have enough money. The taxation officers came here yesterday, warning us to be a part of the tax net"

"But paying taxes helps the country"

"Why is it always us baaji? What about the ones who are smuggling goods from the ports? Why not tax them? Why must it always be the poor man?" I nodded, tucking that piece of information in my mind. "The rich man wants his luxuries and the poor has to suffer from taxes. There is no equality" he ranted, moving to fold the shawl.

"Wait, can I take a picture of it... please?" he nodded as I took out my phone. With a sigh of disappointment, I handed the shawl back to him.

"Good day to you"

"And to you" I muttered walking ahead. The narrow streets were quickly filling up. I heard many women haggling for their goods and the counter-arguments presented by the vendors. I tried to stop at another place but the women there did not provide me with any time to ask any questions.

"Oh my God, it's 10," I said looking at my watch. Zaroon looked at me, the shock clear on his face.

"We should head back," he said. I agreed, people would be waking up by the time I got back. It would be much harder to sneak in.

As we turned to exit the market from another route, I saw a bangle stand. I had seen many jewellery stands and not being a fan, I had not stopped to examine the goods. I had talked to the sellers and they, after learning I was not going to buy anything, would not talk to me. The story had been the same so far. Not earning enough, a lot of expenses and unfair taxes.  The bangle stall was small compared to the others that I had seen. A young boy stood there, his eyes bright with hope as he called out to women. I stopped at the stall and smiled at him.

"Bangles baaji?" he asked. I smiled and said yes. "Which ones would you like?"

"Which ones do you think would suit me?" he jumped up excited and moved around trying to find the set, muttering to himself. As he did so, I turned to Zaroon.

"Can I get a loan? I'll pay you back"

"This one baaji! This will fit you..." He then proceeded to show me the most gorgeous set of bangles I had seen in a while. They were maroon and white, decorated with crystals and mirror work. Hmm... this was maroon too. I moved my hand forward so he could check the size of my wrist. "It'll fit you baaji, will you help her wear them sahib (sir)?" before Zaroon could answer, I looked at the boy and nodded at him.

"Will you help me?" he smiled, even brighter than before and gently smoothed the bangles on to my wrist. They really did look lovely. I giggled, happy at his excitement and showed them to Zaroon. He smiled back and took out his wallet to pay the kid.

I caressed the bangles and stared at them. They looked so pretty. My arm seemed to have come alive from them. A ringing snapped me out of my daydreaming. It was Zaroon's phone. Uncle EJ, he mouthed to me. We moved away and I waved at the boy, who waved back, carefully storing the money in a small tin box. My heart broke at the image. The child should be in school and here he was, trying to make an honest living.

"Yes, yes...right away" I stood next to him fiddling my hands. He turned to me after he was done with the call.

"I'll explain everything. I'll tell him this wasn't your fault" He looked at me, his eyes oozing patience at my rambling.

"He doesn't know anything. It was some other thing. I'll have to drop you home first"

We found another taxi and this time, it dropped us closer to the main gates.

"The poor guards, they must have thought I had run away like before" I wondered out loud.

"Like before?"Zaroon said, his voice curious. I groaned at the slip.

"Figure of speech" I amended and moved to walk to the castle.

The guards had been worried but only a little bit. They said they understood my need to getaway. I tried not to think too much about that statement and walked in, with Zaroon following me. The castle was fully awake, with everyone getting ready for the lunch. I could feel myself getting tired at the thought of interacting with the same people again. We got to my room without any questions. The guards posted at my door nodded at Zaroon and let us go through to my room.

"Well that was an eventful day," I said sitting down on the armchair. He stared at me. "Thank you for this," I said gesturing to the bangles. He smiled. "I'll pay you..."

"No need...it's a gift. An early birthday present if you will"

"You know about my birthday?" He gave me a strange look. "Well, in that case, thank you. I love it" he gave me a short bow. "And don't worry about Uncle EJ, I can handle him"

"I'm sure you can," he said with a parting smile and left the room. I smiled at the closed door and got ready to write down my observations for Ammi Jaan.

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The market and some of its goodies.