INTERCUT SCENE (18) – LAST NIGHT OF SULTAN
Setting
Stage Left: Orchard beyond palace walls. Moonlight, leaves, shadows.
Stage Right: Sultan’s private chamber. Warm lamp, low stillness.
Lighting shifts guide the audience.
Sound of night insects, distant drums, muted palace bells.
STAGE LEFT — PHULJANI & GANESH
(GANESH waits. Still. Alert.)
STAGE RIGHT — SAFA & THE SULTAN
(The SULTAN paces. Agitated.)
(SAFA seated, pouring wine.)
SULTAN
Council makes decision and I have no idea. Regiment has shifted without my permission. I cannot believe it. I need to check the palace guards’ roster tonight! Who keeps it?
(He looks at her. She doesn’t respond.)
You are quieter tonight.
SAFA
I am listening.
SULTAN
What time is it?
(She gave SULTAN the wine glass.)
SAFA
Late enough for thoughts to grow.
(She moves to the window—closes it gently.)
The wind carries rumors tonight.
SULTAN
About whom?
SAFA
About everyone.
SULTAN
Stay.
SAFA
I am here.
(She sits—not beside him, but near enough.)
STAGE LEFT — PHULJANI & GANESH
(PHULJANI enters, hooded.)
GANESH
I was worried if you can come.
(She removes her hood. Moonlight lights her face.)
PHULJANI
I was too. You are walking on the edge of a sword.
(He looks around carefully.)
GANESH
This place—
PHULJANI
—is where walls forget.
GANESH
Imperial agents are everywhere.
PHULJANI
I kept them engaged until I return. They will be in somnolence for some time.
Inside the palace, I am watched. Inside myself, I am exhausted.
STAGE RIGHT — SAFA & THE SULTAN
SULTAN
Nobody answers me. Why?
SAFA
Everybody is confused; they are afraid.
SULTAN
Of whom?
SAFA
Of the situation.
SULTAN
Tell me—how do I take it back?
SAFA (with no hurry)
First—you must slow your breath.
(She pours water, hands it to him.)
Anger blocks logic. And logic is the only weapon that still obeys you.
SULTAN
You speak as if you see the end.
SAFA
I see the turning.
SULTAN
You keep me from anger.
SAFA
Anger leads to mistakes. Quiet keeps you alive.
SULTAN
Come.
SAFA
I am here.
SULTAN
Closer.
(She sits beside him. Boundary dissolves. SULTAN looks SAFA through her eyes.)
(Lights soften. Time stretches.)
STAGE LEFT — PHULJANI & GANESH
GANESH
He knows?
PHULJANI
He suspects.
GANESH
You should not have written.
PHULJANI
I could not speak.
My bloom was intended for your garden. You shouldn’t have Safa voice my words.
GANESH
I had to vet the source. Trust is a luxury that I can’t afford now. Your seal was not enough.
PHULJANI
Situation has become difficult for us to meet.
GANESH
It already has.
PHULJANI
Do you remember our first meet at this orchard?
GANESH
Yes.
PHULJANI
That was when I still believed I could be two people.
GANESH
No one is one people.
PHULJANI
What are we giving up?
GANESH
You are choosing danger.
PHULJANI
I am choosing clarity.
STAGE RIGHT — SAFA & SULTAN
SULTAN
Tell me the truth. Who send you here?
SAFA
Destiny.
SULTAN
You are not an ordinary girl.
SAFA
Destiny rarely sends anyone unprepared.
SULTAN
How do you know everything?
SAFA
I learned how to listen, even silence – the most important sound.
SULTAN
Listen silence?
SAFA
Yes, my Sultan. Silence reaches faster than news. It is trustworthy.
SULTAN
I trust no one.
SAFA
Then trust stillness.
SULTAN
Who taught you all these?
SAFA
Sufi Nur Qutbi Alam.
SULTAN
You will be the minister in my council. I will announce it tomorrow.
SAFA
But there are no seats for a woman in the council.
SULTAN
Begum has a seat.
SAFA
I’m a harem girl.
SULTAN
You will be my begum tomorrow.
SAFA
Then you will lose what you value in me tonight.
You will only hear my voice. Leave me where I am, you will hear everything else.
What you seek from me survives while it is unclaimed. Once claimed, it must perform.
(She meets his eyes.)
I do not wish to perform for you. I wish to protect you.
SULTAN
What should I do tomorrow?
STAGE LEFT — PHULJANI & GANESH
GANESH
Sultan has lost his command.
PHULJANI
Command can be restored.
GANESH
Time has already moved past him.
PHULJANI
What will you do now?
GANESH
The river has already chosen its course. Throwing stones now only makes noise.
PHULJANI
You could still act.
GANESH
I will not swim against it.
PHULJANI
If you do nothing –
GANESH
If I do anything, he will rally.
PHULJANI
So you wait?
GANESH
I let history speak.
PHULJANI
Then he will fall.
GANESH
Power never falls alone.
PHULJANI
Then let it fall correctly.
Am I a part of the fall?
GANESH
Not if you choose your house correctly.
PHULJANI
You are being careful tonight.
GANESH
Care is necessary when words travel faster than men.
STAGE RIGHT — SAFA & SULTAN
SULTAN
Why do you care for me? When no one does.
SAFA
You gave me a place when I needed it.
SULTAN
No harem girls dream what you just refuse.
SAFA
That’s why they are where they are. And not with you.
I dream for your safety.
SULTAN
I am surrounded and I am alone.
(Distant drums—border unrest.)
SULTAN
Even the borders—
SAFA
—are restless when the center shakes.
SAFA
I will not add another danger.
(She holds his hand.)
No one will know what this night. I promise.
Tomorrow will be a better day for you. I pray.
STAGE LEFT — PHULJANI & GANESH
PHULJANI
Where will you be tomorrow?
GANESH
Where I am most useful.
PHULJANI
You have allies — outside the palace, inside the provinces.
GANESH
I have listeners.
PHULJANI
And soldiers.
GANESH
Soldiers listen too— before they move.
PHULJANI
Am I included among those who listen?
GANESH
You are included among those who must not be surprised.
PHULJANI
Who else?
GANESH
Patience will answer.
PHULJANI
What happens to him?
GANESH
History does not ask permission.
PHULJANI
Ganesh—
Please do not kill him.
Whatever he has lost—do not take his life.
(She steps closer. GANESH meets her eyes.)
GANESH
I am not hunting him.
I am stepping aside from where history is impatient.
PHULJANI
That is not a promise.
GANESH
No.
It is a direction.
PHULJANI
Say it clearly.
GANESH
If I speak clearly, it becomes a plan.
And plans are accused before they are executed.
PHULJANI
You frighten me more – when you sound calm.
GANESH
Too many things are moving without warning, and accidents are no longer rare. This is not fear—protect yourself until the air clears. You need to return to your quarter. Now.
PHULJANI
Do not come again.
GANESH
Let destiny take over from this moment.
(They stand apart—connected, divided.)
(PHULJANI exits.)
(GANSH watches her. Then GANESH also exits.)
(Lights fade on Stage Left permanently.)
STAGE RIGHT — SAFA & THE SULTAN
(SAFA notices PHULJANI and GANESH leave orchard.)
SAFA
My Sultan, you need to sleep now. You have a lot of works tomorrow.
SULTAN
Where shall I start from?
SAFA
Pray in the morning. Strength comes when the body bows before the mind breaks.
(He looks at her.)
At Adina Mosque. At first light.
SULTAN
I need to speak to Imam too.
SAFA
Speak to Sufi Nur Alam also. He will guide you correctly.
SULTAN
You are an angel.
(The SULTAN finally sleeps.)
(SAFA remains awake, seated, alert.)
(She listens—to footsteps, to silence.)
SAFA (to herself)
Conspiracies grow when men sleep too deeply.
(She does not move.)
(Lights fade to black out.)
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