Ali's pov
The road wound up the mountain, the slope steadily becoming more level as we came closer to the residential part of the Valley. There is no real residential colony among the mountains, since the land is cheap and it's easier to buy a plot here, than the inner part of the capital.
We pulled over at a pit stop, and got out to stretch our limbs. Me, Jala and Salman were riding in a open hatchback so we had enough room to stand up and move around and groove to the music much better than the bullet proof jeep that was first offered to us.
"Its only half an hour ride up from here," Jala tells Salman, taking a sip from her water bottle. "You only stopped for eating." She points an accusatory finger towards him.
"Yeah, no shit. If you worked out as much as me, you would be hungry, too." He saunters after, flexing his bicep.
"Says the guy who sits behind a computer screen, everyday for eighteen hours," She flips her hair and takes a seat on the bonnet of the car.
"Do you even know how much energy the brain takes up, when you're encrypting codes? No, that's because all you got is beauty, and no brains."
"That was a horrible compliment, by the way, affirming you as an asshole for the rest of your life, in my eyes."
I shook my head and walked over to the stereo, tuning up a classic song by Vital Signs, from the nineties and picked up my own canteen of water.
"Ham kiun chalain, Uss raah parr,
Jis raah parr, Sab hee chalain?
Kiun na chunay wo raasta,
jis parr na koi gaya…?"
("Why should we walk on the path,
A path that everyone takes?
Why not choose the path
The one that's not been taken, yet?")
The soulful voice of JJ, the band's singer, continued to belt in the background and Jala and Salman passed each other a look after which smiles slowly spread across their faces, that turned to hearty laughs, soon after.
We walked on the mountain road for a bit, admiring the valley and the view that was laid before us. In this moment and place, we could be anywhere, secluded from the rest of the world and the rules that applied to it.
It was a few hours until we arrived at the sector, greeted warmly by Demir Chacha and Abdur Rehman.
"How was your first mission?" Demir asked Jala, after giving her a hug.
"Great! It's only been forty eight hours, but so much has happened. Much more than what has happened in the last 18 years of my life anyway."
"Umm hello? I think I exist?" Salman waved sarcastically behind her.
"You came back? I thought you were going to run away at the sound of a gun."
"Hardy har, har." Jala was already making her way upstairs, and Salman followed suit behind her, both desperate to clean up.
A comfortable silence fell between us, save for the muted footsteps and occasional bickering of the two upstairs. I took a sip of my water, staring at the water falling from the fountain into the pond in the garden.
"Welcome back, champ," Demir chacha said quietly, giving me a pat on the back. I could hear the genuine pride in his tone and feel him watching me from the corner of my eye.
It was playing with fire and we had mastered it over the course of years. Having fought battles side by side, we knew anything could go south considering the circumstances we were in. And this time, not only my life was on the line but also of my companions.
"How are they doing?" He asked me, softly.
"They're happy. Content. That's what happens when your intentions are pure."
Our purpose was greater than our lives. We would never turn away from it, even in the face of death.
"You're still spilling blood. What makes them different from the men you killed before?"
"My purpose." I replied, with an edge in my tone and he knew he must back away.
Even if Demir chacha didn't agree with me at times, he knew I wasn't dumb enough to do anything rash and hurt Khan's reputation. My identity remained a secret all these years and it would have remained so, if it didn't mean gaining the army as our potential ally. If all things failed, he would stay faithful to me out of his loyalty for my father, maybe even out of his love for me.
After all, he found me before the great Khan himself.
Jala's pov
The water felt like heaven on my dirt ridden skin, as I attempted to wash away the impurities. The rhythmic pitter patter of the water on my head created a massage-like sensation as I let it rinse the shampoo off my scalp and hair.
The adrenaline was still high in my body, and my mind was still in a state of disbelief that I had accomplished such a feat. But what did this all mean? So many questions were still to be answered and secrets uncovered. All of it seemed like a haze.
Maybe, this was all just a dream, and once I opened my eyes I would wake up on my bed within the walls of my room, ready for another day to be dictated by the rules of others. Boring, dull and lifeless. Was this why I took heed of Ali's invitation? To sate my lust for adventure? For a sense of authority over my life?
A higher purpose. The greater good.
The words splayed before my eyes before I opened them and watched the water cascade down my arms like beads. I remember how I sat in front of Gul Badin, like a piece of bait waiting to be devoured. Anything could have gone south. What if I failed to slip the drug in his drink? What if he…
I felt dirty and exposed, nothing more than a piece of meat.
I shuddered at the thought and quickly lathered on some soap and scrubbed the grime away on my skin, before getting out and wrapping myself with a towel. I took out a cream crochet blouse and soft linen pants from the wardrobe and threw a cardigan on top to keep warm. After towel drying my hair, I combed through the tangles with a brush, a handful of strays coming off.
I laid for a while on my bed and drifted off to the same dream, soaring through the skies and ending up at a higher place before meeting the other three. Before coming here, the dream was a form of escape and lifted my spirits. Today, it was a tiring journey.
The last of the sun rays dissipated through the window into the room, never failing to show how exquisite it looked even in its departure. Although, all departures are beautiful, how painful they may be.
"It's for the greater good, isn't it?" The voices of my siblings echoed in my ears. How they said it with such conviction, as though they knew I was going to achieve what inset out to achieve. It was the first time I felt that my brothers actually trusted me and my sister looked up to me, even though I had been such a weak figure to witness in the short span of time she spent with me.
This gave me a little bit of courage to get out of the bed and head downstairs. The smell of charcoal cooked meat was wafting up my nostrils, enough to make my empty stomach growl in response. I brushed away the flyways and tied my hair away from my face before making my way downstairs.
Instead of the kitchen, the smoke and smell was brewing from the lawn. The boys were standing by the grill and monitoring the chicken and kebabs hovering over the molten coal. The embers flew as Demir chacha moved them around to reignite the flames. They beckoned me over, cracking jokes about how awful each of their cooking was, to which I laughed along.
It seemed like a moment of respite before our next challenge began and I was going to enjoy every moment of it.
I helped arrange the table with Abdur Rehman Baba in the lawn, bringing out the plates and glasses, as he gave the salad and hummus the final touches. The man knew what he was doing and he was really good at it, so I wasn't going to tell him otherwise just because my stomach was rumbling in hunger.
The kebabs were done and they were roasting the final chicken pieces were being cooked over the flames. The table was laid with all the goodies before Demir chacha, Ali and Salman came over.
After dinner, we had coffee in the grassy lawn before, Demir chacha telling us about the Northern village he once lived in and found Ali. The people would call him the Mountain Bear, and I could see why. Apart from his physique, Demir was a fierce warrior. I saw that when he trained me and the boys and I respected that.
He was why I managed to survive on the battlefield and take on all the men. Ali went inside to attend a call while he asked me about how I handled my situation, careful not to worry me or make me uncomfortable.
I could see Salman watching me from the corner of my eye, waiting for a reaction. I survived, I came out unharmed, that's the important part, I reminded myself.
"It went alright," I managed to say.
"You didn't have to go for it, you know. We could have found another way," Salman said. Was that pity?
"Look. I know what I signed up for. Whatever that vision is, it is as important to me as it is to you. I am willing to play my part in it, even if it means losing everything, because we know that it is worth it."
Ali came out of the house, his phone in his hand and with an expression that told us he had some news, and not the best one we could hear.
"It was Khan baba. He is calling me back home, in Egypt" he told us.