Hand in hand, they walked on to their destination, the Governor's House, where they were to meet Senator Fareed-Ullah Khan, a close friend of Shair's late father. He was from the North-West Frontier Province and was visiting with his family.
Fareed-Ullah's booming laughter echoed through the reception area as he enveloped Shair in a bear hug, "Shair, my boy! What a delightful surprise!"
Shair returned the embrace with the warmth of a long-lost son. "How have you been, Uncle?"
"Well… well, as well as your aunt allows me to be," Fareed-Ullah chuckled. He then turned his attention to Asiya, who stood timidly behind Shair. "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting here?" he roared.
Shair placed a protective arm around Asiya's shoulders. "Uncle Fareed, this is my wife, Asiya."
Fareed-Ullah's charming smile vanished. He stepped back, his eyes narrowing as he peered over his thick, bushy eyebrows. "What? How is it that I haven't heard about this? This is… unforgivable, Shair!" he thundered.
A shiver ran down Asiya's spine. She instinctively wrapped her arms around herself, moving closer to her husband for comfort. Shair, however, remained unfazed.
"That's because… well, no one knows about it yet," Shair confessed. "We, uh… we sort of eloped. Er… yesterday!" he whispered, his eyes sparkling with a mix of mischief and defiance.
Fareed-Ullah's expression changed from outrage to undisguised amusement, and his reverberating laughter was even louder, filling the air as he embraced Shair once more. "That's my boy! Your father would have been proud!"
He then kissed Asiya's forehead and touched her head in blessing. She smiled timidly, still slightly bewildered by this wonderfully intimidating old man with the fantastically large moustache that framed his round cheeks. Asiya felt a warmth spread through her, a comfort she hadn't realised she craved.
"Come inside and tell me everything!" Fareed-Ullah proclaimed. "In fact, I'm expecting some guests. I'd love for you to regale them with the tale of your escapade." He ushered them toward the drawing-room, his arm around Shair's shoulder.
The casual lunch with the dignitaries and diplomats was a relaxed and witty affair. As everyone shared amusing anecdotes from their lives, Asiya found herself completely captivated by her husband. She laughed when Shair laughed, observing how he carried himself with such effortless charm, how he joked, commented, smiled, and how his eyes sparkled with warmth and intelligence.
After lunch, the group went for a stroll. The Governor's House was a magnificent relic of the British Raj, and Fareed-Ullah showed it off to his guests with the pride of an architect displaying his masterpiece. He kept Asiya close by his side throughout the tour, treating her like a long-lost daughter. She welcomed his warmth and attention; the man seemed like a Pathan version of Santa Claus.
Once the guests had departed, Fareed-Ullah, Shair, and Asiya enjoyed tea on the sprawling lawns, the snowy peaks of Kashmir providing a breathtaking backdrop. Shair explained the circumstances that had forced him to set aside tradition and elope. He spoke of his mother's staunch opposition, the societal pressures, and Asiya's understandable fears. Fareed-Ullah listened, nodding, his gaze occasionally sweeping over Asiya with a knowing look. A little embarrassed and a little guilty, Asiya quietly enjoyed the expansive view—that seemed to her to be a scene straight out of a fairytale, a world away from the harsh realities of life.
***
Fallen maple leaves crunched beneath their feet as the honeymooning couple strolled back toward their haven. "Fareed Uncle is so loving," she remarked. "I feel like I've known him my whole life."
Shair smiled. "Yes, he has that effect on people, but no one dares cross him; he's not very forgiving. My father and Uncle Fareed were inseparable, practically joined at the hip throughout their school years. That is, until my mother came into the picture. He never got along with her. So, he stopped coming to our house after my father passed away."
Asiya stopped in her tracks. "Oh, that's sad," she said sympathetically.
Shair smiled again and responded. "Not really. He calls on me whenever he's in town, and I meet him when I can. Like today, I knew he enjoys spending his summers here, so I checked and as expected, he was here."
Asiya nodded, taking in her surroundings. She noticed that the foliage had grown darker as the afternoon faded and that a thick fog was swimming in the deep valley below. She stopped abruptly. "What a lovely little building. Is this a…" she began, then noticed the cross on the rooftop. "…a church?"
"Yes, it's part of Saint Deny's Convent; this is where the daughters of the elite families come to study. Would you like to see inside?" Shair asked.
"Oh, yes, please! But not today. It'll be dark soon, and I'd like to be home before then." Just then, Asiya squeaked.
Shair spotted the furry squirrel that had startled her and burst into laughter. "Come here," he said, pulling her close. "Close to me, where I can protect you from all the dangers of the world."
Asiya blushed. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "This is so much like Srinagar, yet so different." A wistful note entered her voice as she considered how much she'd missed the crisp mountain air and the natural beauty, yet how irrevocably her life had changed.
As they continued walking beneath the dense foliage, Shair put his arm around Asiya, drawing her close. She looked at him questioningly. "You'll see…" he replied, a broad smile lighting up his face, his eyes dancing with excitement. Almost as if on cue, tiny white flecks, shimmering like dust motes in the air, began to drift down from the thinning canopy of leaves above. It was snowing. Beautiful, cotton-like miniature flakes transformed everything they touched. Asiya, her face alight with childlike wonder, ran toward the edge of the road, gazing at the scene stretching out before her. As far as the eye could see, the world was being painted white, all distinctions, all imperfections, all distances disappearing beneath a magnificent blanket of brilliance.
"I missed this the most," she said, turning to him, her face flushed with exhilaration. Shair smiled, his heart swelling with tenderness. He didn't want anything to break the spell of the moment for her… or for himself, for that matter.